Imperial (Insight #8)(70)

Sensing my thoughts, Vade let his kiss end slowly.

The springs around us flickered again, and this time Silas’ image appeared. He was still lying in that field.

“I have advice if you want it,” Vade said to me.

“Always,” I whispered.

“This is going to be hard for him and Mazing. The time they had before they were viciously separated was too short, and the time apart has been too vast. I believe they can find devotion, but walking up to either of them and saying to love her or him instead is going to be more than they can handle, especially in the middle of this war.”

“Then we are at square one. He will still assault your line.”

“Not if you tell him how you feel about him. Not if you open his mind to his past.”

“I should ensure that Mazing and I have a life first,” I said with a fading hope that I would witness all that Vade had revealed to me.

“The procession of death is at dusk, so you have time to do this. I will gather your First and mine. When you get back, we will travel to the cathedral.”

“The other kings will see you go in there.”

“And they better tremble because when I return, you will be at my side.”

I grinned, but then my wrath took over. “I don’t think I can look either of those two kings in the eye without destroying them.”

“Wit. Half of this war will be won with wit.”

That was Vade’s way, why he was such a great king: he thought deeply and wisely before every move he made. I swear, he could see the cause and effect of every action for eons to come, and he had the patience to wait for the effect. I did not.

I kissed him once more before I said, “I’m going to wake him. I truly hope he is not in pain.”

“You have just given him billions of warriors. He will not have to endure that any longer.”

“Our Escorts can take in that energy?” They were still Escorts in my mind. “They did not perish, so they were not risen as Witnesses. Right?”

“We die many times within one life, shed old ways and find new ones. Our lines have the power to take anger and wrath out of every emotion and instill love in its place; our Fated have done as much already.”

“Because they loved.”

“Fiercely,” he said with a wink.

“Wish me luck.” And with that, I manifested into the field Silas was still sleeping in.

I hesitated and glanced back at the bench I sat on with the Cowboy, my Creator; the bench where I shed my armor of wrath.

“I’m sorry I was blind to your signs and deaf to your words. I feel it now. I feel and hear you, and I will swear to never forget that emotion, to hold the soul of Vade forevermore in my heart, if you in turn will protect our girl, our symbol of love. Please don’t let anyone hurt her; please protect her.”

The sky opened, and the sun beamed around me. I felt the promise. It was a promise that assured me in the end that no matter what we endured, we would be safe, that the lessons we learn from agony are the ones that not only make us stronger, but also the ones we never forget.

I nodded once and then began a slow, graceful walk to my dear Fated Silas.





Chapter Eighteen





Silas’ eyes were gently closed as his body lay on the soft grass. The marks of agony were still displayed on the clothes around him that were ripped to shreds.

A gentle nod from me dressed him once more, covering his chest and restoring his torn jeans.

I sat down next to him and let my fingertips slowly caress the locks of dark blond hair out of his closed eyes. His skin was so much darker than mine, making him seem that much stronger. My fingertips traced his eyes, his powerful jawline, my cool touch next to his balmy flesh.

“My dear Fated…I am so sorry, so sorry that you have been tortured so, that agony has paved your path…I adore you.” His closed eyes twitched ever so slightly. “I love you.”

All at once his eyes flew open, revealing the deep, rich, beaming color of honey.

“You what?” he asked, focusing on me.

I smirked. “I love my adored, Fated soul that was chosen for such a precious charge. I love that the Creator used me to bring your power forth, that He used me to create a deadly weapon.”

He pulled himself up, propping his body up on his elbows as he tilted his head slightly. “I must be dreaming, for my queen has but two choices: to imprison or smite me.” The sarcastic smirk that followed that statement made me smile and suppress a laugh.

“Your queen was blind, fooled by the king that took you from me not once, but twice.”

He didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, and I wasn’t sure how to explain it to him.

“I have loved the King of Anger from first sight, but a savage lore was spoken to me. I believed it, and therefore I hid behind an armor of wrath. That armor has vanished and my emotions have surfaced. My line, Vade’s, and any Escort that chooses to follow our path, can now say and feel what has been absent to us for far too long.”

“I guess that will make it easier to figure out which Escorts to kill,” he said with a sly grin.

“I suppose,” I said with a stagnant grief in my tone. I despised the kings that had fallen into a savage addiction, but I had a hard time despising those they had led to follow them. I was saddened that in The Realm right now, as well as in the corporeal world, there were Escorts that had been forsaken. I made myself vow that I would reach out to them, and if any of them wanted to be claimed by me I would accept them. With that thought, white doves soared above us.