But I keep what little thoughts are still mine to myself. It’s almost done. All I have to do is walk into the light, which looks damn close to the spires lining the gold and silver leafed walls, and this will all be through.
Lord Arnik, the pale hunchback who first selected me for the Cage fights, raises his pasty hand toward me. His sharp, boney jaw works, like it’s nearly ready to fall off from age and decay, as he chants louder. Then he produces a small silver bottle. Holding it above his head covered with white stringy hair, he begins to fling droplets at me.
I flinch and look down at my robe they dressed me in. Mercury. The goddesses’ conduit. I doubt I really need any more help here. Bale is coming whether I want her to or not. It’s all moot now. And I thought I’d be completely gone—my mental state fully diminished—by this point. But for some cruel reason, I’m more myself and more aware than ever.
“The Goddess Bale is separating herself from your being, My Liege,” says Arnik, as if in response to my unspoken thoughts. I guess my face is pretty transparent. Not as transparent or translucent as his, all thin skin about to melt off by the sheer force of that light. But there’s no hiding my fear.
“Enough. Stop that,” I tell him, snatching the bottle from his hand. I chuck it at the platinum moon hanging above the dais. “Let’s get this over with.”
I step toward the spire of light, sucking in a deep breath like I’m about to submerge myself in water. Just going for a swim, I talk myself into it. What choice do I have? It’s gone too far. All of it. There’s no backpedaling. No apologies I could offer Kal. Or my kingdom, my people.
I’m a destroyed man.
As long as Kal stays far away, she’ll remain safe. That’s my one consolation.
My foot inches closer to the ring of light, my booted toes just penetrating it, when a shout sends a million shivers prickling down my spine. And then,
“Caben!”
My head jerks up. Kal bounds over a crack in the marble floor, sprints past the priests clawing for her, her elbow nailing one in his feeble head. In tow is my mother, Kal only releasing her to punch another priest in his face.
No. No! She’s can’t be here. Dammit! Why can’t she ever just stop. Being. Stubborn? But I don’t have any time to be angry, or scared, or even elated to see her and my mother…it all happens too quickly.
As Kal takes out each of the four priests easily—she doesn’t even need to rely on her subhuman strength for those old crusty fools—my mother stands against the wall, covering her ears against the cries and rising sounds of battle. I’m only able to think of Kal’s beauty, seeing her for the first time with clear vision, a clear mind—before the thought is ripped from my head.
Lord Arnik is next to me in a beat—how did he move that fast?
Kal stops suddenly in the center of the sanctuary. Her chest rises and falls, her green eyes solely on me, and Arnik’s hand. The one holding a dagger to my throat.
“I will kill him, Protector,” Arnik wheezes. “It makes no difference to me who the vessel is. But someone in this temple will bring our goddess forth tonight.”
I watch as Kal swallows. “I’m going to kill you, painfully, before you even have a chance to inch that blade one fraction across his neck.” She clutches her hand around an object and brings it to her chest—a syringe?—then she leaps forward and is running.
“Kal—No!” It’s the last words I’m able to force out before I’m swallowed by the light.
One hard push from Arnik, and I tumble. Sucked in and paralyzed.
A deafening silence whirrs in my ears. A warmth envelopes me, stemming from my chest and spreading outward. It wraps every bone, muscle, molecule of my body in a silky balminess that slides through me like I’m made of some weightless, watery matter. It’s euphoric.
My gaze travels slowly, almost like time has stopped. But I find Kal on the other side. Through the light, I see her hair whip wildly around her face. Her mouth presses into a determined line as her hands shove Arnik’s attempted attack away. She knocks his dagger from his hand, then anchors hers to his head. With one swift move, she snaps his neck.
As he falls to his knees and then splays out on the floor, her chest heaves. Then, slowly, her eyes lift and her gaze captures mine. I try to reach out to her, but my limbs are numb. I can no longer feel them or my body.
Tears fall from her eyes as she turns, still moving too slowly, toward me. I want nothing more than to touch her. Wipe away the tracks of tears staining her cheeks. Tell her that I love her and this was meant to be. Even though I know how ridiculously cliché that sounds…I just want her to know I’m all right. I’m not afraid. There’s no fear here, and I’m ready to let go.
I just wish I could feel her one last time.
She reaches the light and is jolted backward. She advances on the spire again. Like hitting a stone wall, she slams her fists against the beam enclosing me over and over. Her skin ignites in swirls of glowing silver. It radiates from her face and hands like she’s filled with the light of the spire. Only she’s brighter.
And as she mouths something to me, her lips forming the same words repeatedly, her fists beating the wall of light, I’m finally able to do one final act. I reach out and palm the light, cool as glass in winter. It should be warm, I think, but I meet her there.
Her shoulders and lips tremble as she stops her attack. She splays her fingers against mine, palm to palm. And it’s all I want. Just feeling the warmth of her body heat on the other side—one last connection.
Then, my chest explodes with a fiery burst of pain. A scream rips from my mouth, and I’m on my knees, praying for Bale to kill me quickly.
And she does.
? 30 ?