Exaltation (Insight #11)(63)
“I am your sovereign. I rule this emotion. It is my divine charge.”
“A charge that is being challenged if the barest of rumors hold any truth.”
A wry smile emerged. “Why would you say such a thing? Why would you assume this line is challenged by the five deaths?”
“You tell me. You’re the sovereign. Felt a little weak lately? I know nothing beyond the other lines are at war, and we have no justification to be excused from such a war. As far as I know we’re the cruelest.”
“The cruelest? Do we terrify souls? Do we shock them to the point where they trust nothing, or worry them to the point where they are wrought with anxiety? Do we bring them grief; enjoy watching them ache from the pains of those emotions. No. We simply allow them to chase a desire. And every once in a while we give them a taste of victory.”
“You’re stopping evolution. Bringing dark times.”
“And why should that stray me from this path? Even in the darkest times our emotion can be found.” He smirked. “If not in the arms of a passionate embrace it can be found by giving them food, or saving them at the last moment. We will never starve.”
“I want to understand the curse.”
“Why?”
“So I can figure out how to do your job the right way.”
Rydell braced himself for a blow but one never came.
“I’m going to tell you. You want to know why I’m going to tell you?” Rydell said nothing. Only stared forward. “I’m going to tell you because you’re a spawn from me and I know that you could not bear the weight anymore than I would or could.” His iced eyes stared into Rydell’s. “They call us the party house. The fun ones. The ones that excite the souls but that is a myth.”
He tilted his head. “Our charge is the hardest of them all. The other kings are only meant to relieve the emotion. To serve as protectors. We are to pick and choose.”
Rydell had never heard this before so Revelin had his rapt attention.
“That’s right. Exaltation is a driving force that pushes souls forward. It rewards them with satisfaction and evokes cause to seek it again, to move more people forward. But you see, my First, not all souls are driven the same. We are meant to look deep in the soul. To look through the soul’s entire life just before and just ahead and decide if they are worthy of the emotion. If their intent is pure, if they want their desire to help mankind or to appease a status among men. It’s exhausting and absolutely no fun at all to be judge and jury. I have the hardest rule of all the sovereigns, and long before you arrived I decided it was not fair that the Creator bestow such a heavy burden. So, I as you say, decided to never allow them to reach the emotion. I decided that way the ones that really reached for it, who finally got their desires, deserved it the most.”
“Do you honestly think self centered people would not be driven to go all the way? If not more so.”
“Not at all, and if they do, bravo. That’s when the curse comes into play.”
“You’re telling me the curse is only in play when the reasons are selfish?”
“Correct. So, my precious First, that would mean all this time, each time you have witnessed a curse, represents a time where you have failed. Where you decided to give an unworthy soul an emotion they did not deserve. You do not have the strength to rule this line the way the Creator meant for it to be ruled. No one does, not even me. Apparently not even him since he decided to push it off on me.”
“That can’t be all of it. There’s more to it.”
“You asked about the curse and I told you why it exists.” He raised his chin. “Now I’m done being pleasant. It has come to my attention you have stolen from me.”
“How is that news?”
“You stole a soul from me which was designed differently from the others.”
Rydell had stolen several souls from him. That was his first game plan, before others started to follow him on their own.
“Who do you want me to send home?”
“All of you.”
“You either kill me or let me return to my faction. You explained the curse therefore I will return the soul you feel I stole from you.”
“No need. He found his way to me. We had a nice warm chat. And I bestowed upon him what you robbed from him.”
“Which is?”
A sardonic grin came to him. “Let’s just say it’s a birthright.”
Rydell didn’t bother to respond. Revelin was threatening to take Rydell’s status as a First away from him. Rydell could read between the lines. And he wanted him to.
“This is your last chance, King. You come home now. Stand with us. Allow your line to show a united front, or you will leave me no choice but to act accordingly to your actions.”
“If you’re going to kill me, do it. This conversation bored me years ago.”
Revelin pinned Rydell with his ice glare. That was the last thing Rydell saw before excruciating pain began to shred his soul, piece by agonizing piece.
Chapter Nineteen
The twins’ door was locked. When Raven reached for the skeleton key above the doorframe and opened the door she ran into a dark sheet that apparently had a nightstand behind it. She dropped her bag with a curse as she fought the sheet like a ninja. She felt a hand go around her mouth before she could scream any louder.