Imperial (Insight #8)(33)

“Oh, I thought it was,” she said as she clenched her fist. “I listened to him talk for days, and before long we were not speaking to each other as Firsts of a sovereign; we became friends. He often stated that he never felt the connection he was supposed to, that when he questioned Xavier about it, Xavier told him that it was because the emotion was shock and it would claim him when it saw fit. Colton didn’t believe that. He said that the rest of the line felt what he could not.”

“So he had no loyalty? Is that what you are telling me?” How could she not see how obvious his actions were?

“He had loyalty to our existence, but not his sovereign. I remember one night we were watching the mists fall from above, watching the energy of you and Vade divide and find beings that wanted to become what we were…he spoke of how fragile those mists were, how fragile they would be when they were born. He even asked me if I thought it was possible for a mist to be taken from its sovereign.”

I hissed as I thought of those stolen from me. “You do realize that more than likely he had heard his king plot of such a course, and that was where those revelations came from?”

“Maybe so, but even after all of this I have my doubts. Xavier never let Colton near him, or anyone really. I told Colton that was why he didn’t feel connected, that both Rasp and I were always with you and Vade.” She glanced down. “He wanted you to claim him.”

“What?”

“He wanted to be claimed by you so he could couple with me,” she stated nervously, judging every movement of my body.

“Mazing, he could have said that just so you would ask me, and if I had accepted it would have been an act of war.”

“I thought the same. That is, until I found him trying to plot his end. He stared at the mists each time one of you would let them fall, trying to see a defining mark on that essence. He did plot. He plotted to end his life and for me to find his essence and ensure that your mists collided with it.”

“That is beyond believability,” I bit out, knowing that as far as I knew, that was impossible; otherwise, all those in the past that had asked Vade to claim them would have discovered that very course of action.

“I agreed. But he said that he spoke to the Creator in his thoughts often and that he never felt a ‘no’ from him. He thought that as long as he held my image in his mind—your lines—as he perished, that he would find his way into your line.”

“We hear what we want to, Mazing.” That was meant for both her and Colton.

“I agreed, and I urged a delay. Promised him that a change would occur.” Her eyes moved into a past that brought her nothing but agony. “When you announced that our line would not invoke emotions, I told him the time was coming, that a revolution was coming. He said that he was going to come to you and beg to be claimed. The next day, I heard your fight with Vade, and I knew that him speaking to you then would not fare well, especially as enraged as Vade was. I went to tell him to wait, that you and Vade would find a compromise within a day’s time. That was when I saw what I saw. When I all but destroyed him.”

Mazing was tearing at her nails. At one time they were perfect, just the right length, perfectly sculpted, thick and healthy, but ever since that night she tears at them, refuses to let them hold any beauty.

I asked the obvious. “With all that has occurred, do you still feel that his words were true when they were spoken?”

“I cannot answer that.”

“You need to try.”

“That night…he kept saying my name. Like he was in some kind of trance. But my wrath would not let me see anything beyond that Creator-forsaken petal.”

“Did Colton ever tell you that Xavier was working with other lines? Did you sense them when you went to them?”

“No. Not once. Yet it all made sense to me that night. Anyone from Fielder’s line could invoke grief, and in turn the death of something. For all I know, Colton was trying to get Cadence to kill him so he could be with me. Even if that is the case—he touched her, said words that belonged to me. Impatience is one of the many toys of evil.”

“I don’t think he went to her for that reason. Xavier announced the girl’s name, that they would be coupled.”

She let out a sharp hiss before she spoke again. “Then I have nothing but wrath for my memories.”

I swallowed harshly as I prepared to say my next words. “He exists no more.”

All the color from her now nourished ivory skin vanished and she swayed unsteadily. I caught her as her knees buckled. Slowly, we fell to our knees as I held her shoulders up. I had to hold out my hand to tell Rasp to keep his distance.

I then cradled her face as I stared into her eyes, which refused to connect with reality. “I was told that moments before we reached Xavier’s throne, he shredded Colton’s energy.”

She moved her head from side to side in obvious refusal. “I felt him. I know I did. He has been within The Realm recently, on the higher levels.”

“All I know is what I was told.”

She knew Vade was my source. That he never spoke lies to me. That he very well did not have the power to. Silence was his way of hiding anything from me.

“It can’t be,” she said in a tone that was laced with imminent tears. I reached for her, but she pulled away. “Then you must do the same. You must have your vengeance with me before the Creator takes me—that is fair.”