He was tall—impossibly tall—and gave off an aura of foreboding. I felt like I couldn’t look directly at him, but I pushed past the discomfort to gaze upon his face.
Fate wore a black cloak, but it glowed softly. I strained my eyes and could just barely make out thousands upon thousands of glowing and pulsating runes. I couldn’t see his face, so hidden by his cloak, but his voice was amorphous. I knew it, but I couldn’t place it.
The whole effect was incredibly disorienting.
My eyes focused next on Faylinn hanging limply in his arms.
“Where are you taking her?” The strength of my voice surprised me.
“Away from here. I have a . . . deal with her mother.”
I was shocked Fate answered my question. He must have seen my surprise because he chuckled lowly.
“You won’t remember anything I don’t want you to, boy. My secrets are safe,” he admitted, and I nodded my head.
“Will I remember her?” I gestured to Faylinn, and Fate shrugged his shoulders before removing one hand holding Faylinn’s body. He reached toward me, but halted, folding his arm back under her body.
“She’s marked you,” he said, almost quizzically. “And you’ve marked her. But not in the sense I would have expected. How . . . interesting.”
Marked?
My hand involuntarily flew to the back of my neck, and I felt the rune there. But it was no longer an open wound. It was smooth, flat. I knew, even without being able to see it, that it wouldn’t be visible.
“Will she be safe?” I asked when Fate supplied nothing else.
He dipped his head once.
“Yes. She will be safe.”
I nodded, wanting to demand something of him, but scared to anger a god.
Fate laughed.
“Speak your mind, boy.”
“Take away her memories of this place. And of the place before. Please. Let her forget. Let her live in peace,” I pleaded, my voice cracking.
Fate went eerily still.
“You desire her to forget everything? Even you?”
“Especially me. I don’t want her to feel guilt. Or pain. Or remember suffering. She’s good and kind. And strong. But no person should have to live through these memories,” I admitted.
“Someone has to carry the memories, Lex d’Talionis,” Fate said dryly.
“I’ll carry them,” I said without hesitation. “I’ll carry them for both of us.”
A strange humming filled the air, and Fate was suddenly in my cell, towering over me with Faylinn still in his arms. I quickly scrambled to my feet, desperate to see her face one last time.
“You are a strange human.”
I shrugged my shoulders, and Fate sighed.
“Very well, the bargain is struck. Come here.”
I shuffled closer to Fate, laying my hand on Faylinn’s arm and stroking softly.
“Goodbye, Faylinn,” I said as I leaned over and softly kissed her forehead. I hoped I never saw her again. I hoped I would see her every day for the rest of my life.
