Imperial (Insight #8)(67)



“Full form?”

Vade wrinkled his nose. “In the flesh, he looks like he is a million; half his skin is gone.”

“No way.” One thing for sure about the seven kings was that they were built like gods, beautiful creatures that had no flaws to be seen.

“I guess that is what happens when you toy with your power.”

“He had the nerve to ask all of you for that?” I asked in utter dismay.

“You have no idea,” he seethed. “Donalt swore he was needed, that if he was taken out of our circle that fear would seize creation.”

“Has he forgotten that he has failed to do his job for eons now?”

“Apparently. He also has forgotten that I am not a fool. That this king has been awakened.”

“They still don’t know that you are aware, that they have stolen our mist, or that I have returned, do they?”

“Not a clue.”

“What about Fielder, though?”

“He didn’t have the chance to say a word. The death of his petal was trivial compared to the likes of Donalt.”

“Was a conclusion reached?”

“Mine was. I wasn’t giving Donalt a damn thing. Not sure where the rest stand. They have weaved themselves so deeply that I doubt they even know what the beginning goal was. They’re so high, complete addicts, that they cannot think clearly or long enough to remember their point.”

“I really thought they had hurt your Fated, that Silas was involved, that they were calling you there to kill you, to overpower you.”

His expression changed once more; the angry king was gone, and there was a sense of bliss in his eyes.

“They were stopped.”

“By one of yours?” I questioned.

He breathed in deeply as his eyes closed. “Glory, you’ve felt what you spoke today for the first time in your core in the past, haven’t you?”

I turned crimson. Often when Vade held me, that girl on the inside would escape to the surface and bask in all that Vade was. That was the only way I could appease her whilst I played the role of queen for the rest of the world. “I suppose it was under that armor of wrath, that in my core, the soul I share with you, that emotion was there.”

“I knew that it was.”

“Then why didn’t you say it to me?”

“I would have a million times over, but I was told not to push this fragile soul that was given to me. To let her bloom in my arms, or otherwise she would run from me.”

“Creator.”

“You had to feel it, Glory, really feel it, feel it so intensely that the world could sense it. That was the first step in an evolution.”

“At least you knew I felt it before,” I said with a ridiculous girlish smile. I literally had no defenses up at this point. I was one with that girl inside now.

“The Creator knew as well.”

I furrowed my brow to question him.

“He told me exactly when to send my energy out with yours.”

I felt my soul seize.

“I thought the timing was bad, not because of how we felt about each other, but because the world was horrid. The other kings were already showing signs of addiction. You went from a timid girl to a wrathful sovereign. But nevertheless, I obeyed Him. I suppose one day we’ll know why He thought that was the perfect time…”

“Vade, don’t stop now. Is this it? What you have been hiding?”

His eyes shined. “Yeah.”

The springs around us began to ripple, and the images that appeared took my breath away.





Chapter Seventeen





A mist is absolutely breathtaking. As it leaves the sovereign, it is a pure light, imitating the stars in the heavens. It lingers there for some time, then guided by a divine hand it drifts through the heavens and finds the soul that is seeking it, then a vessel to be created within.

I was seeing mists across the springs. One mist was brighter, stronger and held the slightest tint of purple within it. I assumed it was the Fated that we had let loose just before our tragic fight.

Vade lifted me, then stood behind me as we watched this history unfold together.

When Vade and I sent our energy out, it would always linger together, drift together, then divide like a shooting star across the heavens. That was happening now and it was breathtaking.

But that was not all that I saw. After the shooting lights of the mists descended below, there were two that remained in the heavens: one of mine, and one of Vade’s.

These two mists danced around each other for what seemed like forever. They would move close, then jerk away…they would float side by side, then drift apart…then all at once they divided to the opposite sides of the heavens, refusing to descend with the others.

A wave of energy vibrated the air around their separate places, then the light purple energy turned darker in each and they soared through the air at the speed of light at each other. I cringed, thinking I was about to watch the death of the Fated that had never fallen to their host. I was wrong.

The mists collided with a stagnant force, then a beaming light came from that source, hiding the stars, hiding the darkness.

Vade’s arms tightened around me as I watched this mist pulse with a raw power, as it turned dark, then light, and finally rested with a rich metallic shade, the shade that reminded me so much of Vade’s eyes, the deep gray with light beaming through it.

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