DragonBound, page 12
Sighing, he closed his eyes. “Why doesn’t Serenia want me to reconnect to the citadel?”
“I don’t think she expected you to try, and for some reason she was afraid when you did. For that alone you need to reconnect, but you need a SoulBreather to bind your soul into the citadel for it to work, and we no longer have one of those.”
“That’s why I was so affected when I landed in Eidolon. I not only lost my soul but the connection to the citadel as well?”
“I’m so sorry, Mav. I think when Athenia took your soul, she also severed the connection.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“But Mav, you need to be bound to…”
“Mav?” Adriz’s voice was hushed as she leaned over him.
“Yes?”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m not sure. Did I defend the count?”
“It is in review. Felather is trying to argue your case. What did you do, Mav?”
“What my brother should have done years ago.”
“And what was that?”
“Recharge the citadel. The citadel guards us all but only if the angels within are in tune with it, in alignment with its objective to protect all. Amaridin and Serenia have allowed that principle to dwindle and die over the years. I bet some of those seraphim have never felt the citadel before. Never felt the true connection, been one with the purpose.” Mav chuckled. “I just undid five decades worth of brainwashing. Someone is really going to be upset.”
Adriz hissed her breath out. “It will make little difference if we can’t get you out of here.”
“Where are we?” Mav lifted his head and groaned.
“Lay still for a moment. Your body is still waking up. Serenia had you placed back under arrest; you are in the cells.”
Mav eyed her. “And you are here because…?”
“I didn’t trust them, and I can’t protect you if I’m not with you.”
Gritting his teeth, Mav sat up. A growing sense of anger stirred in his gut. His brother had much to answer for. Why had he allowed the citadel to become dormant? He should have sustained his connection. Mav was sure one archdeus connecting would have been better than none. “I can’t stay here. There will be questions. Those angels need explanations, otherwise this was all for nothing. Why would Amaridin and Serenia stifle the citadel? What are they afraid of?” Mav paused and rubbed his face. “Was that really only the second count? Feels like it should be more.”
“Apologia is in recess due to your actions, and Serenia is using it as an excuse to detain you on the grounds that you are a threat to the citadel.”
Huffing, Mav ran his fingers through his hair. “A threat? When I am the one who woke it? I would suggest she is the threat for trying to subdue it. What about Amaridin? How did he react?”
“All colour drained from his face; I thought he was going to puke. Didn’t move a muscle. He was still sitting there with Eodan standing behind him when we carried you out.”
“I am surprised Amaridin chose Eodan to stand in for his scribe as well as his captain. Not that Valerian was just a scribe; he was Amaridin’s partner for life.” Mav scowled up at Adriz. “I don’t care what you say, Valerian would never have left Amaridin. They were devoted to each other. I don’t believe Valerian would have left of his own free will. Did anyone go after him, check he was alright?”
Adriz stared at him. “Why would we? Amaridin said they had parted ways amicably.”
Frowning, Mav rose to his feet and stretched, his back cracking as he rotated. “Anyone else in the chamber react?”
“Difficult to tell. Everyone looked stunned.” Adriz’s lips curved into a small smile. “I’d forgotten we used to hear the heartbeat. It felt good, but it’s gone again.”
“I couldn’t hold on to the connection. The citadel was trying to tell me something, but the images flashed by too fast for me to grasp them. It must have known we wouldn’t connect for long. It seems I need a SoulBreather to bind me back into the citadel as well as return my soul. And I let her slip through my fingers.”
“Shhh. Don’t say that too loud.”
“God, what a mess.” Mav peered through the bars into the empty corridor. “Why are we locked up? We need to get out of here.”
“They will kill you on sight if you try to escape. We have to wait for Apologia to be in session. They can’t touch you unless you fail to defend a count.”
Lips twisting, Mav spun and leaned back against the metal barrier. “Can’t touch me? They seem to be doing a good job of preventing me from defending myself.”
“Then use the time to plan your next move. Once Apologia is in session, if they ratify count two, which they will have to as the citadel’s heart beating is proof that your father lives, you will have to defend count three immediately. Which count are you going to choose next?”
“Good question. But we’ve only proved my father lives, not where he is.” Mav scowled. “The only reason he would not intervene in this mess is if he is beyond the plane and cannot return.” Mav rubbed his chin. The only possibility he could think of for his father’s absence was that someone had posed his father a puzzle to solve. Something that he hadn’t seen an immediate solution to, and he had gone off to one of his retreats to study it. With the connection to the citadel being severed, he had been unable to return. “I told him he should stay here, but he was bored. There is always a risk when he travels beyond our world. Maybe he accepted a challenge, but I have no proof of that either, nor who may have challenged him. When I last spoke to him, he had no intention of challenging anyone.”
“When did you last speak to him, Mav?”
Pushing himself off the bars, Mav limped over and sat beside her, back against the wall, legs straight out before him. He began repeating the conversation he’d with Xylvin.
“You should’ve told us,” Adriz said, her gaze boring into him. She had been growing gradually stiffer as he spoke, but Mav had kept going and told her everything he knew about his father’s plans.
“I had intended to. But events overtook me before I had the chance. When I woke up in Eidolon. I was confused, disoriented. It took a few years just to regain my balance, as it were. I do not recommend you ever have your connection to the citadel severed and your soul removed at the same time. It is the most debilitating sensation.”
“But if you don’t have a soul, then what do you have?”
Frowning, Mav contemplated the far wall. “Something that is equally acceptable to the citadel, I assume. It didn’t reject me when we briefly connected; it was pleased. Though seeing as it has been absent for so long, maybe that doesn’t mean anything anymore.” He chuckled. “Me surviving that first day was a farce. The citadel hasn’t been checking for souls for decades. It’s funny how everyone assumed that it still was.”
Adriz inspected his face and then nodded. “But it didn’t reject you when you did connect, therefore whatever you have for a soul is acceptable. If we can identify what you have, how you got it, then it could be possible to redeem the soulless. Do you know how to help them?”
“I’m not sure how to give others what I have when I have no idea what I have become. Until I met Solanji, I didn’t even know I had these shadows.” Mav fidgeted. His bottom was getting cold. “We need to get her out of Kyrill’s clutches. She is part of the answer, I’m sure of it. Not only can she help me understand the shadows, but I think she can help me remember who I saw in the hall. The citadel shared some memories, but I can’t quite grasp them. They are at the tip of my fingertips, but it’s like they are just out of reach, as if they weren’t transferred over to me properly or something. I am positive I know who it was; I must be suppressing it for some reason. It’s got to be someone I know, someone I like, otherwise why can’t I remember?”
“Maybe don’t try so hard. If the citadel gave them to you, they will come back to you,” Adriz suggested.
“I don’t have time to wait. We need to solve this now.”
“So, assuming Felather ratifies your second count, you’ve got two left. Either flare your wings or prove you didn’t kill Athenia. Which is it to be?”
Mav sighed his breath out and lowered his voice. “I haven’t flared what’s left, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to prove I’m not Athenia’s killer if I can’t prove who is. I need Solanji to help me remember. We need to get her away from Kyrill. He’s claimed her as a fledgling, so unless we can make him reject her, we can’t touch her.”
Adriz stiffened and her eyes widened. “Oh my god. You can’t flare your wings?”
Mav shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I didn’t say that aloud. Has your mind speech returned?” Adriz whispered. “You heard me? Can you hear anyone else? Can you reach Felather?”
Mav sat up. “I thought it was Xylvin amplifying my ability. I don’t know. Let me try. Felather? Can you hear me?”
There was a startled silence, and Mav grinned as Felather spoke. “Mav? Thank goodness. Are you and Adriz alright?
“As well as can be expected after a night in a cell. I need a bath.” Mav sagged in relief as he realised his ability to speak to his oathsworn had returned. Maybe his brief connection to the citadel had helped. Solanji, as his oathsworn, should also be able to hear him. “Solanji? Can you hear me?”
There was no answer, and Mav grimaced. Seeing as it was the middle of the night, she must be asleep.
“Count two has been struck.” Felather said. “Golaran and I managed to convince Amaridin that the citadel’s response confirmed your father is still alive. As there is still some question as to your father’s whereabouts, Amaridin instructed his scribe to withdraw the count and the charge has been struck. Serenia was not happy. I must admit, it was touch and go for a while. I didn’t think Amaridin was going to stand up to her, but he did. You’ll have to defend count three next.”
“Well that’s something, I suppose. Does that mean they will release us now?”
“I’ve spent the day arguing for it. Serenia has finally agreed as long as you stay in your rooms when Apologia is not in session. She wants to speak with you. I think she wants you to swear you’ll be on your best behaviour and abide by her rules.”
Adriz spluttered beside him. “They are the ones who need to behave with honour.”
“You should be set free momentarily. I’ll come down and meet you.”
16
DEMAVRIAN
Archangel Serenia stood with her back to the room, gazing out of an arched window that was open to the afternoon sun. Straight-backed, her blonde hair plaited into loops currently hanging unadorned, she was as unyielding as the stone framing her. Golden sunshine bathed the room, and Mav relaxed into the warmth. He knew it wouldn’t last long. Serenia’s summons had been brief and to the point.
“Serenia,” he said after the door had closed behind him.
She finally turned and inspected him. A slow perusal that would have had him squirming in his younger days, but he stood still and waited. Serenia had been his father’s trusted advisor for centuries before Mav was even born. She had been a close friend of his mother’s. She had stepped in to help when his father, overcome with grief at his wife’s passing, had retreated from their world. It had only been within the last few centuries he had returned, but even so he had left the running of Angelicus in Serenia’s capable hands.
Growing up under her steely gaze, Mav had learnt to survive her scrutiny and her interrogations. An elegant eyebrow rose as she met his eyes. “Where have you been, Demavrian?”
“You must know where I’ve been.”
Serenia shook her head. “No, I don’t. No message, no explanation. Just decades of silence.”
“Did my father not share his plans with you?”
“No, he did not. Did he share them with you?” she snapped back. Her voice was so sharp it could draw blood.
“I do not believe my father would exclude you from his plans. You are his most trusted aide.”
“Not as trusted as you, obviously. Please do tell what he told you and not me.” There was bitter resentment in her voice, quickly hidden. Mav inhaled in sudden doubt.
“Did Amaridin not tell you?”
“Tell me what? He blathered on about a ridiculous idea of his to reunite Eidolon and Angelicus. I mean, how silly was that?”
“So silly you’ve never acted on it,” Mav said.
“Of course not! Whoever heard such nonsense. I soon put Amaridin straight. But you. Running away. I never thought it of you, Demavrian.”
Mav glared at her. “You had me arrested for Athenia’s murder. Why?”
“You were caught, red-handed as they say.”
Mav winced. “In no lifetime is that amusing or appropriate.”
A muscle in Serenia’s cheek twitched, and her shoulders dropped. “I suppose not, my apologies. I didn’t mean to be facetious. But you ran without telling me why.”
“There was nothing to tell.”
“There is always something to tell. An explanation would be helpful.”
“I found Athenia on the steps. She just kept urging me to leave her. I think she knew she was too far gone.”
“Did she tell you who attacked her?”
“No, but I couldn’t leave her, not to die on her own.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing, just to go.”
“That is not helpful, Demavrian; didn’t you ask her?”
“Of course I did, but she told me to go.”
Serenia wrinkled her brow. “Told you to go? Or was she trying to say Golaran?”
Mav stared at her. “That is a bit of a leap. Why would you assume Golaran was involved?”
“You are saying it wasn’t you, so it has to be someone else, someone powerful. If not you, then who? The only word Athenia said, according to you, was ‘go’. It doesn’t take much intelligence to make that connection. You mean to say you haven’t?” Mav stiffened at the contempt in Serenia’s voice.
“I don’t believe Golaran would hurt a hair on Athenia’s head.”
“Someone did.”
“Are you calling my judgement into question?”
“I wouldn’t say it is particularly trustworthy at this time. You’ve been missing for a long time, and only now, when Amaridin has finally given up on you, you decide to return.”
“You sound like you would have preferred I never came back.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, but unless you start explaining, you may well end up back in that cell. You still have to prove your innocence.”
“To whom? The citadel accepted me, allowed me entrance.”
“To me. To Amaridin and the rest of our brethren. You cannot expect to be welcomed back when you are the only named suspect.”
“Did you even bother to look for another culprit?” Mav asked, walking across the room to join her at the window. Looking out over the golden city, for a moment his heart squeezed so tight at the familiar view that he thought he might pass out. He waited for Serenia’s reply, and when it didn’t come, he turned to face her. “Well? Were you so determined to believe it was me?”
“Of course we considered others, though you running didn’t help. The host were more interested in searching for you.”
“You mean Julius was.”
“And he was the one to find you in the end.”
“And yet he didn’t bring me here. Why?”
“The case was given to the host to investigate. I trusted Julius to do what was needed.”
Mav stared at her in disbelief. “You trusted the man who lost his beloved to be fair and just in his dealings with those he thought to be the cause?”
“But you said you were innocent. If you could prove that to Julius, then you could prove it to anyone.”
Mav exhaled. “He never gave me the chance.”
“The chance to do what?”
“Prove anything.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Julius is a captain of the Heavenly Host. He has no choice but to uphold the law.”
“You don’t think his personal feelings may have clouded his judgement?”
“No.”
At such a bald response, Mav bit his lip. “Do you know where I have been for the last year?”
“I haven’t seen or heard from you in fifty years. Why would I know what has been happening in this last year?”
“Are you even interested?”
Serenia drew herself up. “May I remind you that you are the one under suspicion. If you wish to be heard, I suggest you consider your words more carefully.”
Mav almost laughed. “Or what? I have just spent decades in the depths of Eidolon and the last year in a personal hell and you want me to consider my words?”
“Demavrian.” The way she said his name was a warning.
“What, Serenia? If you won’t believe my word, then what will you believe?”
“I expect you to tell me who did murder Athenia.”
“I don’t know.”
“That is not good enough.”
“Why do you assume I would know? Don’t you think I would have said before now?”
“I thought you were out there searching for proof. I didn’t expect it to take so long, nor for you not to report back.” She took a steadying breath. “Why did you run, Demavrian?”
“I didn’t.”
“You expect me to believe that, after all these years?”
“Yes, I expect you to believe me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because you were caught covered in Athenia’s blood and kneeling over her lifeless body.”
“I told you, I found her like that.”
“Why didn’t you go for help?”
“I couldn’t leave her to die on her own.”
“You might have saved her.”
A pulse beat under Mav’s eye, a tiny flutter like a bird’s heartbeat. “She was dying.”
“According to you. You don’t know that.” Serenia gripped his arm and stared at him. “How did you get out of the cell?”
“I don’t know.”
“How can you not know?”
“Julius knocked me out. When I awoke, I was in Eidolon.”
