The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(60)

Another thought sprang to his mind. “What you said before… That means you were around during the great battles, right?”

Caius nodded slowly. “I was.”

“Did you get to meet any of the Spellbreaker warriors, when you found your great love?” he pressed, not knowing if it was too sensitive a subject for the old man.

“I did. She moved in impressive circles, my beloved Guinevere.” Caius smiled sadly. “Love is the most precious of things, my boy… Never forget that. They write a million stories, a million poems, a million songs about it, and they do so for a reason. They do it to replicate a secret feeling that so few get to hold onto forever, and it can only be shattered by death, if the feeling is true. If you find it, don’t let it go,” he said, his mind evidently distracted, though his knowing glance toward Ellabell, still sleeping soundly, made Alex’s cheeks flush with sudden heat.

“So you met some of them? The Spellbreakers?” Alex asked quickly, wanting to change the subject.

“Would you like to hear some tales of the most fearsome of them all—the great Leander Wyvern?” Caius asked, an amused smile upon his face.

Alex nodded. “I would.”

“The tales I could tell of that man,” Caius chuckled, making Alex wonder what all these stories were that kept being deemed too inappropriate for his ears. After all, he wasn’t twelve. “But we’ll start with the one concerning you, shall we?”

Alex’s eyes went wide. “You know that story?”

“Know it? My boy, I was there.”

“You were there?” Alex whispered, barely able to contain his emotion.

Caius smiled with compassion. “I played a small part in the survival of his child, and so, I suppose… the survival of you.”





Chapter 19





“Before all of this existed the way it does now,” Caius began, gesturing around, “I met Leander at many underground gatherings, where sympathizers would meet in secret with the Spellbreakers, to show our support and to come up with ways of foiling my brother’s plans. We shared information and tried to devise a way of healing the rift between our two races, to fight for equality, the way my father had fought for such a thing. But I think we all knew it was too wide a conflict to traverse, even then.” He sighed wearily, a haunted expression lingering for a moment.

“But it was at one of these that I met Leander, and he was aware I stood with them as a Spellbreaker sympathizer and avid supporter. Being who I am, that was something of a rarity, and it intrigued Leander. His curiosity led to a friendship, which prevailed even though my brother forced me to fight on the opposite side, utterly against my will. I ran onto the fields I was pushed onto, went through the motions, conjured shields and tried not to die… It was my duty to be seen, but I only took wounds; I did not give them.” He smiled wryly, gesturing to the injured leg stretched out stiffly in front of him. “In all the wars, I don’t believe I killed a single Spellbreaker.”

“You were wounded?” Alex asked solemnly.

Caius nodded. “A particularly nasty bone-shattering spell caught me in the knee. It hasn’t been the same since. But it was nothing compared to what others suffered.”

Alex could see the strain on Caius’s face as he gathered his memories. A thousand ghosts shifted behind the old man’s golden eyes, clearly troubling him even now, after so many years. Alex almost felt bad about wanting to know more, staying silent until Caius was ready to speak again. He sipped tea from the china cup still clutched in his hands. It tasted of lemon, ginger, and cloves, the combination filling his nostrils with a rich, heavily spiced scent as the liquid trickled down the back of his throat, now less than lukewarm.

Visibly rallying himself, Caius continued. “A short while before that harrowing final day upon the Fields of Sorrow… Do you know of them?”

Alex nodded. “I do.”

“Good… Where was I? Ah, yes, a few weeks prior to that awful day, a letter from Leander arrived at my door, requesting that I help hide the woman he loved… A non-magical woman, from an ordinary town not too far from where I was staying. I can still remember her—one of the most beautiful creatures I’d ever seen, excluding my beloved, of course. The kind of woman you’d do anything for. At the time, I was a sucker for love. I had a secret love of my own, after all. Leander and I had a lot in common. He was willing to do whatever it took for the cause.” He paused again, with a heavy sigh. “I agreed to help, naturally, and squirrelled the woman away, somewhere she’d be safe, somewhere they’d never find her. As a royal, I could get her places other mages could not. I never revealed the secret of her whereabouts, nor did I tell a soul about the baby, though they tried their very best to get me to spill my guts, my dear brother and his cronies.” He grinned, but there was sadness in it. Alex realized it must be hard, to live so long, to know so much, and to lose so many.

“Strike two?” Alex asked.

Caius nodded. “Strike two, certainly. They didn’t even know about the boy’s existence until much later, and I only found out a few decades ago that they had finally gotten close to tracking down the descendants of that child… and now you are here.” He leveled his gaze at Alex. “In truth, I never thought I’d see one like you again. It is an honor to meet you. Though, as you already know, you are not entirely unique in this world. There is perhaps one story sadder than the one written by your ancestors.”