Imperial (Insight #8)(50)

“How could you know then that He would need you to do such a thing?”

He smirked. “I have lived with these kings for more time than I care to evaluate. I knew it was coming, that they’d toyed with the idea of invoking emotions for some time. I knew once they did that it would begin our end.”

I stared at him in utter dismay. I knew after I was raised that there were several cycles of the four million year time span that we called eternity. I had no idea how Vade could have seen something that far ahead, or why the Creator had yet to take either of us up on our offer to aid Him.

“And you still trust Him?” I said finally.

Vade pointed to the table. “Glory, what did you learn? What lesson are you still missing?”

“If I’m missing it, how would I know what it is? I learned how to kill misguided Escorts, how to live off the scraps of essence that they had stolen.”

That wind came back again, moving those petals ever so slightly.

“Hindsight is always clear, not living through it, which is what you are doing right now. I’m going to be blunt. I have no idea if any one of these words will reach you, but I know one day they will ring true,” he stated evenly as he leaned forward.





Chapter Thirteen





I felt my soul seize. Was this it? Was he going to tell me the horrible truth that he and the Creator were hiding from me? Would I finally see how doomed we really were, how our final demise would come?

I nodded once, trying to reflect the powerful sovereign I was meant to be.

Vade adjusted the rose petals once more. “When you hit a wall, it is not really a wall at all. It is a clear sign that you have drifted to the wrong path, that the desire in your heart does not match the course you are on, the one you asked to be on, the course He honored. The Creator will remove you from your surroundings and place the lessons you have to learn in front of you.”

“How to die. Trust me, I heard a million stories on how such occurs.”

Vade clenched his jaw, a clear sign that I was nowhere near understanding this.

“The procession of death. The regrets, the ache, and desire to live on. You witnessed that, and there was a lesson there. Every soul that dared to speak to you, there was a lesson there. I would dare say they vanished into their next life not because they were forgotten by the past one, but because the Creator had used them to witness to you what you continue to be blind to.”

Vade waited for my argument, but I was out of cake and the will to mull over the same words again and again.

“He wanted you to witness last regrets and hear their perspective. He wanted you to see that so you would return and live your life without any regrets…He wanted you to be grateful for your existence and not see it as a design with only one purpose.”

“Even if that were true, we failed to provide for Him the one purpose we were designed to create. How or why would He give us more than one?”

Vade moved his head to the side as he took in a deep breath. “Right, you and I have failed to provide for Him the one purpose He meant for us.”

Something was odd about that agreement, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“As soon as we live that purpose, He will give us more,” Vade said with a sadness I had never heard in the beautiful voice of his.

“Glad to see that you understand how awful all this is now. We cannot recover our past, heal this race, and restore it to its former glory.”

The look in his eye told me that was not at all what he meant, but he shelved that pursuit and used my own words to get through to me.

“You cannot recover your past, but you can overcome it, forgive those who have wronged you.”

“Are you insane? How could you say such a thing! Those kings will suffer.”

“Your mother, Glory. Your mother.”

I cringed as wrath ripped through me. “What about her?” I seethed.

“Maybe He wanted to teach you that every soul that crossed your path was not meant to hurt you, but to make you grow.”

I fought back wrathful tears. “She did nothing for me.”

Vade reached for my hands, and with his touch I found a deep breath. “Right, very right on a physical level. But she did do something: she showed you hell, so now you appreciate bliss. With her, you saw the darkest hours of life, and that gave you the courage to face any and all evil…unfortunately, she also taught you to search for the negative, caused you to believe that every word spoken to you held false truths, that every path led to doom.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” I asked as exhaustion crept into my voice. This was one topic I hated to think about, much less remember clearly.

“It has everything to do with this, with us. You have to recognize this, how self-destructive it is.”

“It is not. I am the sovereign of wrath. I know the emotion, therefore I can easily relieve it from others.”

“And I am the King of Anger. I understand my emotion, but I do not dwell on the emotion and use it for negative intent. I do not seek it in the beings around me.”

“I do not seek it.”

“You do. Right now, this instant, you are looking for it, looking for something horrible between my words or the Creator’s lessons—and there is nothing.” He glanced down at the table, then to my eyes once more. “You have to find trust. When you do, you find gratitude…and a host of other emotions.”