AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“By our Oath, we will continue to face the truth together, with courage. Ask me what you will.”
“Phaedros was the only survivor of Hagia Notia, as Kia said?”
“Your first question regards what he suffered, not the suffering he caused.”
“It has always been my way to seek to understand people rather than to judge them. In the past, morality was irrelevant to me, even counterproductive to my quest to see through others. I sought only to predict what goal a person would pursue against me or discover how I could use their motivations to my advantage. Now I hope I am willing to attempt understanding and withhold judgment for kinder reasons.”
“I do not disagree that Phaedros deserves our compassion. In his time, no one imagined conflict of opinion would erupt into violent conflict. Hagia Notia was the first temple to fall. The war mages descended on them without warning. It was the opening strike of the Last War. Because of Phaedros’s status and connections, the Aithourian Circle spared his life on the Akron’s orders. But Aithouros made Phaedros watch.”
Cassia sank down next to Lio on the bench. “I can only imagine what he endured.”
“Don’t imagine. What you have endured is enough for your mind and heart.”
“People who have suffered less than Phaedros have committed greater crimes with fewer scruples.” Cassia wrapped her arms around herself. “Did Phaedros really believe in what he was doing? Was he earnest in his desire to create a better world?”
“Yes, he was a genuine devout of his mad dream. He sought to liberate everyone from the dominance of the cult of Anthros by ensuring Hespera’s victory. He envisioned a future in which everyone was a Hesperine.”
“Who can deny the logic in his plan? He would let the Gift cure the world’s ills for him. Everyone living in Blood Union? I can imagine what life would be like, if all of us had such empathy.”
“Forcing the Gift on anyone defeats the purpose. Violating their Will violates everything Hespera stands for. By subjecting terrified mortals to the Gifting, Phaedros caused the very suffering he claimed he wanted to prevent.”
Cassia looked around them at the garden, her eyes haunted. “And thus he cost himself his place in the Sanctuary he sought to build.”
Lio nodded. “He could have been a founder of Orthros alongside my father, my aunt and uncle, and all the elder firstbloods. The Queens have given him every opportunity to rejoin our people, but he rejects their efforts at reconciliation. He has made it clear he is still a danger to humankind.”
“I cannot imagine any other reason why the Queens would subject one of their children to such a horrible fate as spending Orthros’s entire history apart from everyone.”
“It is a wound on their hearts that will never heal. We all know that, because we feel it too. All of us are complicit in Phaedros’s suffering. His time in exile has only broken his already fractured being. Perhaps that is the foremost reason why Hesperines cannot bear the thought of him. We cannot save him.”
“Do you really believe anyone is beyond saving?”
“I don’t want to. But everything about Phaedros challenges my dearest convictions.”
“Phaedros must have been a good person once. He survived his Gifting, after all.”
Lio started. “As to the…consequences that can occur when the Gift is given in the wrong way, or to the wrong people…”
“That’s what the mages of Anthros don’t understand, isn’t it? Phaedros didn’t intentionally commit murder, he simply gave the Gift, and those whose consciences could not endure the transformation did not survive.”
Lio hung his head. Goddess have Mercy, they were going to confront this truth in the context of Phaedros! “We had no idea it was possible for the Gifting to be fatal, until the Phaedric Terror.”
“So there was no trickery in Phaedros’s promises of immortality. He didn’t know he might kill someone.”
“When he made that discovery, it only aggrandized his vision of purging evil from the world.”
“While the rest of your people were heartbroken.”
“You have drawn the truth out of tonight’s discussion.” Lio put his head in his hands. “That wasnothow I wanted you to learn such a thing is possible.”
Cassia lifted his face to her. “Actually, your mother and I happened upon the subject of the Gifting last night. She acquainted me with the facts in a much gentler way than Hypatia’s circle, I assure you.”
Right after confessing she longed for a taste of his blood, she had talked to his mother about the Gifting? Lio’s worry gave way to relief, and he could see elation on the horizon. “You just…happened upon the subject, did you?”
“Just as you said she would be, she was happy to tell me about how she came to Orthros. She is very easy to talk with.”
“I’m glad you feel at ease with her.”
Cassia’s smile did not reach her eyes. “I learned so much I didn’t know.”
