Imperial (Insight #8)(10)
Others, when tested, hid from their deeds and their blindly chosen heritage. They became a part of The Realm, the energy that created the scenes that the living needed when they dared to share a dream, something that should be done but was now more dangerous than ever.
The Realm had changed, too. I could sense the mark of each of the lines in the air. I could feel battles that had recently occurred. Battles that should not have occurred. I sensed living souls within this spectrum. If my senses were on point, the playful war I left behind had now become ominously deadly.
Were humans aware and now opposing us? Were we now at war with the one race we were created to provide reprieve?
No one was in sight. I could feel them, though, meaning they were either cowards or that Rasp had cloaked us. Something only a sovereign or the first in line was capable of doing.
Massive moving stones ascended before me. It was the stairway that would lead me to the home that at one time I so mournfully dreamed to see once again.
Mazing shared one with me whilst Rasp took the one behind us.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Mazing said in a low tone to me as we began to ascend into the aged orange sky.
“I couldn’t agree more. Did you sense the recent wars? Humans?”
“Worse. I sensed the one Colton had forsaken me for.”
Not good.
Chapter Four
The First in every line is the fiercest soul within the line. Lore stated that they are created that way to be guardians of the sovereign. Not only are they deadly, but they are also the most beautiful. Only their sovereign surpasses their exquisiteness. In my case, I would never consider my name to be linked with beauty. I’ve been told my perception is faulty in that regard.
The First are precious to all sovereigns. Their every care and desire is heeded, and an abundance of respect and honor is returned. So, when mine found herself swooned by Colton, Xavier’s First, I should have been told. But Mazing was ashamed and shielded what she thought was a passing fever from me.
If Escorts find a fever with another Escort, they always find one in their own line, or not at all. Simple as that. Truth be told, commitment was not really our thing. In most cases, permission to be coupled only arose when an Escort developed a fever for a human. When that occurred, lengthy judgments were set in motion to ensure that the Escort was not under a spell or being threatened by an opposing race, simply because the opposing race often wanted what we could not freely provide—our kind could not state or feel the four letter word that begins with an ‘L’ in the English language.
The lore has various reasoning for that as well. One is that the word and emotion unite all beings as one, which is the goal, of course, but if we are one with them we cannot take the emotions that harm humans away. If we dared to, it would infect the masses. Can we say end of creation as a whole? Yeah, that would happen, no doubt.
It was an extreme tribulation to couple with a human. Basically, the Escort would be stripped of any knowledge of their heritage, yet the dreams and cravings would remain. More than likely, they would go insane and harm not only themselves, but also the one they chose to leave their race for. Because of that, some never bother to seek permission; they feel that they can control their urges and not harm their adored. They are always wrong. Death comes to the human, and the Escort lives out his or her existence in misery. Good for our kind. Not so awesome for the tortured soul of the Escort or the one they dared to adore.
Some lore, really old lore, has different reasoning for why that word—in any language—is our poison. It states that it is not felt simply because the sovereigns had not sensed such a thing. That until they not only lived through it, but also produced a symbol of that emotion, it would continue to be our demise. Basically, it stated we had to transcend. That when we did so, the souls we were meant to relieve would also transcend into a level of consciousness that would allow them to feel and set free the emotions that were too much for their souls to bear in the first place.
I didn’t believe that for an instant. In fact, in my opinion I would have told you that Vade and I had proven that to be a false lore. But then again, considering how we ended…I suppose there still may well be a shred of hope that one day we could all openly feel the emotion that is at the core of all creation.
Fever was our word for passion—rush was meant to be an eternal commitment. But like I said, commitment was not really our thing.
No one in the history of our existence had dared to cross lines or found an attraction with the opposing sovereign lines.
And even if there were a precedent—I never would have allowed one of my own to cross with Xavier’s line, especially my First. The emotion Xavier created was shock. He was known to be unexpected, to surprise his prey at the most unlikely moment, and when that strike occurred the victim of the emotion discovered they had been deep within a web of fate for quite some time and there was no way out at that point. That emotion usually led to fear, which was why Donalt, the sovereign of fear, and Xavier worked well together in the past.
Donalt was the first of our kind to take human form, to live and breathe in that state for an extended period of time. I’m not really sure how well that worked out for him. I died not long after he not only mocked the life of a current human king, but also convinced the entire kingdom that his name had always been Donalt. As far as I was concerned, Donalt could stay in his little world below and take Xavier with him.