Divine and Devour, page 24
“What?” Ego shouted and incanted rapidly to seal the catacomb.
Xephriel leaned against the wall and cleaned his face. “I would reinforce the door if I were you.”
Ego groaned and added another incantation. The stones blared with indigo magic, and Cimmeria felt the shield snap into place. Even with her immense magic, she would not be able to break through the force of the barrier. Ego’s forehead dripped with sweat as he turned from the catacomb.
“I don’t want to know what happened. It’s paperwork I don’t need.”
“We know nothing,” Valen winked and carried her up the stairs.
Ego groaned, “I’m going to get an earful tonight.”
“By whom?” Cimmeria asked, but she didn’t receive an answer. The mystery of the witch council members remained a secret.
They passed through the council chamber and into a hall where there were nine doors that must lead to individual offices. Valen kept her tucked against his chest as they slipped through an entrance at the end of the corridor. After a few more turns, they arrived at a private salon.
A couch was by a bay window that was open to let the spring breeze in. The pale green curtains fluttered as birds chirped from budding branches. Valen lay Cimmeria on the couch, his actions gentle and careful. He brushed his palm over her skull, and he regarded her as if she were precious. She reached a hand out to graze his jaw and marveled at the contrast between bone and flesh.
Xephriel knelt beside her and instructed, “I’m going to separate your soul and bones. You’ll feel a slight pop.”
She turned her skull and, through the mystery of magic, replied, “I’m ready.”
Xephriel touched her humerus and directed, “Rest.”
True to Xephriel’s instructions, Cimmeria felt and heard a pop. She blinked and stared at her inanimate bones. She shivered as her soul became aware of the differences in her existence. Outside, the birds flew in chaotic circles. The breeze became a gale, and the sun glared with heat. After an unsettling minute, the elements settled. Cimmeria crossed her arms. She was getting frustrated with the world egg reacting every time her soul changed. Soon, she would be in balance, and so would the spirit realm and the physical plane. No more strange fizzles and unexpected storms.
Valen wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “How do you feel?”
She nestled into his neck and murmured, “Like I was stuffed into my bones and then extracted. What a fun trip through states of being. Let’s choose that as a fun date every week.”
He huffed a laugh into her hair, and divination magic built between them. She felt the beat of his heart, the press of his hands, and the undeniable radiance of his affection. No man would fall to his knees before a corpse, but Valen had, and it resonated inside her soul.
“I love you,” She whispered against the pulse of his throat.
He looked into her eyes, and his voice encompassed all the emotions radiating from his soul. “I have loved you since the day you agreed to be mine. Thirty years later, I’m still branded by that moment.”
“Khaos, but I’ve had enough of heart songs to last me a lifetime. I hope I don’t wind up like this,” Noble announced and headed for the exit. “Since I’m no longer needed, I bid all of you a good day!”
Xephriel groaned, and even though his face was hidden, she imagined he had a look of exasperation. “I’m sorry about him. I tried to teach him manners, but you see, it hasn’t worked out.”
“I heard that!” Noble called from the hallway.
“I hoped you would,” Xephriel returned and loped after his friend. “Good luck to you both.”
Ego was staring at the doorway as if he was trapped in a nightmare. “Khaos, save me from that witch. Noble is a plague worse than the Taxidermist.”
“Heard that too!” Noble shouted, but it was further away.
Valen laughed and released Cimmeria, so he was facing Ego. “What now?”
“Now, we wait for Hesiod. He will contact you with more details. We will place protection on the room, and I will personally guard it until we are ready to revive Cimmeria’s soul for the ritual. Flora will restore the bones so they are ready when we bind the rest of your body together.”
Cimmeria glanced at her bones. “It feels like a dream. Like I’m viewing the scene, but it isn’t actually happening to me.”
Valen tucked her into his side. “It’s real, my love.”
She swept her lips into a smile. “I suppose it is. Let’s head to your parents’ house.”
Valen moved them to the doorway. “We should be able to return home tonight. My father is doing better.” To Ego, he bowed and said, “Thank you for assisting us.”
Ego swept a hand into the air. “Good luck. May Khaos be with you.”
Cimmeria departed with Valen, and they made their way to the main foyer of the castle. The journey to resurrect her body was one step closer to completion. With Valen by her side, it felt like nothing was impossible.
Isn’t that what he said weeks ago?
‘Stick with me, and we’ll redefine the impossible.’
She put her faith in her heart song, and he, in turn, gave her purpose and freedom. Cimmeria stepped into the warmth of the sun. She might not have felt the radiant beams, but perfect euphoria permeated her soul. Together, she and Valen could do anything.
Even summon a miracle.
“How did the bone collecting go?” Agape asked Cimmeria as she swept her kitchen floor.
Cimmeria was perched on a bench in front of a stained glass alcove. Her mind was still reeling from the merger with her remains, but she retold the tale. “It was strange to be inside my body and not have all my body parts. My soul remembered what I was supposed to do, but the rest of me couldn’t follow the instructions.”
Agape gathered the debris in a pile and shushed it into a pan. “I’m glad it went well without much fuss. Khaos must love you very much to bring in a prophetic witch, one of the Pale Ones, and the entire witch council. He wants you to have your happiness.”
Cimmeria digested the last part and braided a strand of her cobalt hair. “It can be difficult to have faith in a being that zapped you into existence, waltzed off into the unknown for an eternal nap, and bound you to your heart song when you were a ghost.”
Valen’s snort of amusement mimicked her feelings on the matter. He set down his cup and crossed the room. As he sat next to her, he relayed to his mother, “Ego Numinous will watch over her bones until Hesiod sends for us. The resurrection ritual hasn’t been mapped out yet, so we have to wait until he has figured out the details.”
Agape brushed off her hands and set the broom aside. “I imagine it’s important to have every minute aspect planned out when performing a miracle.”
“I’m a little frightened,” Cimmeria admitted.
Valen raised their clasped hands and kissed where they joined. “I’ll be there the entire time.”
“The trauma of being stitched together piece by piece is going to stick with me.”
Valen slipped his other palm over her jaw and angled her face so she gazed into his slate-gray eyes. “You don’t have to go through with this. I’m perfectly happy being your heart song in any form.”
Cimmeria shifted and rubbed her cheek against his palm. “I want to be whole. The more time I interact on the physical plane, the more I want to be a part of it. I didn’t have passion and adventure when I was alive. It was about survival and training the people on the world to be independent. When I’m with you, I realize I want the second chance I’m being offered, even if the price is steep.”
“I will help carry the burden of what this will cost you,” Valen vowed and pressed his lips to her brow.
She knew he’d be there to share the weight of her fears, disentangle her worries, and take away the bellow of her suffering. Valen wasn’t a barrier between the hardships and her happiness. He didn’t extricate the bad times and replace them with good ones. He lifted the troubles into his arms and crossed the threshold of uncertainty without complaint or hesitation.
Valen was greater than any courageous soldier brandishing a sword for protection. He was more reliable than the most steadfast priest. His strength wasn’t in fists and clever phrases. Valen’s instinct was in the moment. He knew what to do and how to get it done. She needed his certainty when her future was so obscure.
She placed her hand over his heart and conveyed, “I love you.”
He pressed his forehead to hers and promised, “I will love you in life and in death. I will love you with my mind and my heart. All the things that define you, I will cherish. Good, bad, ugly, or beautiful. I accept them all.”
Agape cast a sweet sigh from the other side of the kitchen. “That’s the man I raised. I’m so proud of you.”
Agape placed a hand on her chest and left them alone to steep in the moment.
Valen dropped his hands, and his tone became serious. “This trial of resurrecting your body is going to be difficult for both of us. I’m not going to pretend I’m not scared. We can get through it together. Whatever you need from me, I’ll give it.”
Cimmeria set her hands in her lap. “I promise to be vocal about my needs. For now, I want to rest. I’m still freaked out about walking in my bones.”
Valen rose and held his hand out in offering. “Rest it is.”
Cimmeria placed her hand on his outstretched palm and rose to her feet. She loved this witch and everything that made him her heart song. The process of experiencing a miracle was going to be terrifying, but with Valen, Cimmeria felt it would all turn out well.
Tomorrow was uncertain, and the future was changeable, but here in the present, Cimmeria felt her path was clear. She envisioned her life with Valen, and it was glorious. The horizon wasn’t endless anymore but full of possibilities. With Valen by her side, Cimmeria would sail for them all.
Chapter 18
Valen sat across from his father at breakfast the following day. Dong Ahn appeared healthier. He was eating on his own, walking about the observatory, and mixing his own medicines.
“Your mother has been updating me on your heart song journey, son.”
Valen swallowed the grape he was chewing and picked at another with his fork. “It hasn’t been easy.”
Dong Ahn bobbed his head as he processed a response. “Most things in life and death are not mapped out. It is part of the adventure.”
“Have you ever heard of a ghost and a living person being fated mates?”
Dong Ahn’s droopy, monolid eyes crinkled at the edges. His smile was serene and warm. “Heart songs are a phenomenon no matter where you travel in the universe. They are unique to the world egg and to witches. Since magic follows us into the spirit realm, it is possible for this type of connection to have been formed. Maybe it’s the first in Libra, but I doubt it has not occurred before.”
Valen’s features favored his mother, but there were distinct impressions of his father. The eye shape was similar. Though Valen had the signature white lashes of the Lyra and a double eyelid like his mother, anyone looking at him would know he had Han blood.
“You are far away,” His father noticed and gave a soft laugh.
Valen felt adrift in the world, and no amount of magic could settle his unease. “I’m scared of what will happen when we perform the resurrection ritual for Cimmeria.”
“That can be a great burden to carry,” Dong Ahn agreed and examined the tea leaves at the bottom of his cup.
Valen was cautious as he asked, “Are the spirits revealing anything to you?”
Dong Ahn scrutinized his cup, and his indigo aura radiated as he divined the tea leaves. “I’m too weak to be certain. I thought advice might be found in an unlikely place. I believe in opportunities.”
“May I?” Valen held out his hand for the cup.
His father passed the cup over and crossed his arms over the table. Valen inspected the contents. The brown and green flakes collected in a lump on the bottom, and the shape was cohesive for the most part. Tea leaves weren’t the most common divination tool, but they provided a small measure of magic that was often overlooked. Healing witches were known to read the leaves if they had a degree of divination magic.
“What do you feel the spirits are imparting, Valen?”
Valen pressed his lips together and squinted.
“Don’t force an answer,” His father admonished. “Relax and open all the channels inside your mind and heart. Let down your guard. You are not the conductor but the instrument. Feel the souls of the universe work within you.”
Valen had trouble with relinquishing control. It’s what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. Instead of listening to others, he tried to figure his troubles out on his own, and it hadn’t worked in his favor.
“Let go,” His father encouraged, soft but with authority.
Valen blinked, and the spirit of a bear hovered above the cup. A maiden transformed with bear ears, long claws, and a puffy tail. She blinked at Valen as she floated with crossed legs.
“Shin Sung Goem,” Valen addressed the spirit.
The Sacred Bear Maiden.
The small spirit flexed her claws, and when she parted her lips, four large, sharp canine teeth were visible. Shin Sung Goem titled her head and watched him with round brown eyes. “You are troubled in your heart.”
“I am.”
The maiden clicked her tongue in disapproval. “The wheel is turning. The rotation must come full circle. Patience is the element you need.”
Valen scoffed and leaned on the arm of his chair. “I’ve tried, and patience is as elusive today as it was the day I was born.”
The maiden hummed. “I am getting that impression. You have no choice this time. You must wait. When the time is right, all the pieces will fall into place.”
Valen hated the vagueness of prophecy, but Shin Sung Goem’s message was consistent with all the other elements leading to his inevitable fate. Khaos had a plan. Wait. Be patient. Free will. Fate. It all wound inside his mind in a loop but didn’t provide clarity.
“Thank you for your advice.”
He watched as the Shin Sung Goem spirit faded, but her head remained visible on the physical plane. She had more wisdom to impart. “What was done must be undone. What died must be reborn. To complete the cycle, snip the lines between the stars.”
With a pop and a tiny snuff of light, the spirit was gone. Valen glimpsed his father’s expression across the table. “What do you think it means?”
Dong Ahn quirked his lips into a grin and winked. The same cheeky gesture Valen had perfected. “It’s not my fate, but I will inform you of this—The sacred bear maiden is unique to the Han Empire. She was created after the first witch of that nation was killed by a tiger demon. She symbolizes truth and patience. The Han people believe in the importance of tea leaves as a divination tool. It’s a vastly different outlook than Libra’s way. If the spirits are responding to you, then they are driving a point that Khaos wants you to hear.”
“She’s a long way from home.”
“You carry the blood of the Han witches, so she will answer you. What is interesting is the legend attached to her soul.”
A prickle trailed up his spine and jerked Valen’s shoulders. “Why do I get the sense that a bleak omen is in my future?”
Dong Ahn’s earthy gaze was transfixed to Valen’s as he relayed, “The sacred maiden was to wed a lord in the Bear Mountains. She had been kept secret for the day when she would unite her tribe through marriage. On her wedding day, she was given a bear cub as a gift. It was no ordinary animal. The bear cub was telepathic and a conduit for the lord’s consciousness. The magical creature sat in the carriage as the entourage made their way through the mountains. The lord and the sacred maiden chatted and, before long, fell in love. When the wedding party stopped by a river to rest and drink, a tiger emerged from behind a stack of boulders. The tiger beheld the sacred maiden and offered her a place as his bride and queen. The bear cub obviously didn’t like this one bit. The sacred maiden asked the bear cub to wait while she listened to the tiger and made her choice. The bear cub, fueled with the envy and terror of the lord in the mountains, refused to let the sacred maiden leave. Rather than give her a choice, he slashed her throat with his claws and killed her. The tiger, in turn, killed the bear cub, and the blood of both amalgamated in the river. Out of the foam between the rocks and water, the sacred maiden rose with the bear cub’s features tainting her soul. Even in death, the lord refused to let her have peace or free will. The tiger chases her about the spirit realm, attempting to free her, but her soul always eludes him. The lesson brings to light the importance of knowing when to act and when to wait for the right moment. The value of free will and choices.”
Valen allowed the silence of the room to be his response to the story. It was a wise tale.
“Thanks, Dad,” Valen said and slid his chair away from the table. “I’m going to head home tonight. You’ll be okay?”
Dong Ahn rose and wrapped his arms around Valen. “I promised your mother, and now I will deliver the same words to you. I will not travel for a while. It might be years before I fully recover, but I am not in danger. Be at ease in your mind, son.”
Valen hugged his father. “I’ll return in a few days unless the council summons Cimmeria and me.”
“Good luck,” Dong Ahn said and released his grip.
“Thank you,” Valen patted his father on the shoulder and departed the kitchen.
On his way out, he met his mother. Agape tugged him into her embrace and said, “Good luck. I will take care of your father; don’t worry about us.”
“I worry, Mom. It means I love you.”
“We love you, too. Go grab onto your happiness and don’t let go.”
Valen kissed her cheek. “I will.”
Agape released him and waved him out of the house. “We’ll be here waiting for you and Cimmeria.”
Valen glanced one more time over his shoulder as he descended the front porch stairs. His parents had each other, and they would be fine. It was time to make a home for himself with Cimmeria. Soon, their worlds would collide, and they would no longer be separated by life and death.
