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Kalen let them approach. Bringing his right hand to his forehead, a pebble of light was summoned and then pulled from his mind into the world, balancing on his middle finger. Slowly, he ushered it onto the forehead of the youngest boy, anointing him. Then the eldest, and finally the mother. I saw her crumple at the slight brush of his powers against her. She started to weep.
Kalen did not move to comfort her. Instead, he stepped back with principal into the center of the crest. After a few lengthy minutes, her face emerged from the swathe of her mud-brown hair, tear-stained.
The mother finally gathered her wits enough to choke out, “We beg to pray, your grace.”
“You may.” Kalen remained emotionless. I, on the other hand, had already gathered tears in the wells of my eyes from the whole display. What had he done for them? They seemed as if they were indebted to his existence. I didn’t understand it, but I could feel their gratitude and relief just sitting at his feet. But my tears dried quickly, evaporated really, when all three of his servants dropped to one knee, elbow tucked in their left palm, the right splayed out to the center of their faces.
“Preserver of Light,” the youngest began, his voice shaking, and I thought I would faint. Kalen gently urged him on, sparking the fire in his eyes for the boy as encouragement.
Now the mother and eldest joined him. “Let no darkness befall you, no day evade your will.”
The hush that had fallen over the crowd minutes before began to slowly buzz back to life. Words I was too familiar with crooning towards the man who had taken me away from the place that required them, or so I had believed.
“Let the shadows be your place of rest.”
Kalen looked up then, beneath a tense brow. He was carryingshame in his broad shoulders, and the clenching in his jaw told me he would be digging his way out of this...thislie, later, but the shock of it had left me unoffended. As our eyes met, I could feel one consciousness bleeding into another, a mirror somewhere in my shattered soul recognizing his.
“For blessed are we who live in them.”
Kalen. Guardian to Light.God of my first World.
Preserver.
I DIDN’T KNOW WHEREthe strength had come from inside of me. I think it may have been the result of utter rage.
That is, if the cracking sound of Kalen’s head against the wood paneling of the war room was any hint.I had not spent much time in this world, but I was becoming increasingly aware that the longer I stayed in it, the more violent I was becoming. I thought perhaps it had something to do with my stones, or with Kalen and all the lies he told, or the fact that his lying to me was so easily accomplished, and realizing the fool I was had terrified me.No more half-truths, I made him promise, when it should have been,No more surprises.
“What was that?” Part of my hair had unwound itself as I pinned him against the wall with my forearm. I felt a pang of guilt for ruining Rebekah’s handy work. “Who are you?” I screamed. “I thought the Preserver was the Light Sage? Does that mean you…” I shoved him harder. “Who are you?”
“Let...me...explai...” Kalen croaked. I pushed even further into his throat. Somewhere in the fog of my anger, a little voice piped up to remind me that I would get no answers from a dead man.
But he is immortal. I could strangle him like this forever.
Kalen’s hand shot up instantly to his throat when I released him. I gave a decidedly grumpy huff, and watched him clutch the swelling skin. Stalking over to one of the lounges, I put some much-needed space between us. Immortal or not, I felt like I could seize his life in my grasp and watch it fade slowly from his eyes. When he finally did catch his breath, he got the message loud and clear, and didn’t dare come closer.
“Go on then,” I said, leveling my tone to imply he should waste no more of my time. Unless he wanted to compare the previouscrush of my arm to how the thick sole of my heels would feel on his neck. Kalen stood from the wall, and I watched purplish streams the width of my forearm fade as his body healed from within.
“By the Light! It’s a title, Gwyn. That’s all!” Kalen straightened out his clothes and repositioned the crown on his head before continuing. “The Light has been gone for decades, and the ranks needed filling. I inherited it years ago. Out of all the Guardians, I held the most powers after...well, after what happened. They elected me—the faction elected me, I mean,” he sputtered.
“Good story. Warms my heart, really, to think of you so honored by your fellow Guardians.”
Kalen seemed to physically shrink, his shoulders flattening out so much that the jacket he was wearing slipped a little from his shoulders. He looked strange, so out of sorts, flailing around, grasping for a way out of this lie. His hair was fussed like mine, cheeks flushed, and eyes wide. I’d never seen him look so young, so childish. I knew it wouldn’t last. He’d drop the innocence eventually and go back to insults once he saw I was unconvinced.
But I couldn’t bring myself to call him a liar or a fool or a pompous bastard, even though he was all those things and more. I couldn’t find the right words to insult him, couldn’t hear them through the chorus crying out for the glorious Preserver in my head. None of it would have rid myself of the sweaty guilt coating my skin, the extra layer of sticky film like the one I wore the night I’d forgotten about Prayer. It seemed so long ago, but here I was, seeking absolution.
After a moment of staring at him, I said, “What it doesn’t explain, though, is why you had me praying to you every night in the Binding.”
By all outward appearances, I understood why Kalen looked so afraid. I was trembling, surely red faced, and if I was mortal, the vein bulging from my forehead would have burst already. Inside,I was a rickety scaffold of emotions. One wrong thing said—or even one right thing—and I would collapse.
“You…” the word stuck in his mouth, Kalen’s face frozen in a look of shock. “You said the Prayer, every night?”
I watched his hands uncurl at his sides. He sighed with something like relief. Was the confusion that flashed across his face just another lie? Another mask of deception he donned to keep me in line with whatever motives he hadn’t revealed yet. But counting the short breaths coming from him, I realized it wasn’t shock he was feeling at all. Kalen was awestruck.
“Gywnore,”Sheepishly, he moved towards the chair next to mine. He paused just before he sat, silently asking for permission. I didn’t give it. I didn’tnotgive it either. So, he sank slowly into the cushion. “The Prayer is for protection,” he said, looking up at me with hooded eyes, trying to convince me. “Nothing more.”
“Why would I pray for your protection, Kalen?”
That inexplicable, hypnotic pull started between us again. I pushed back against it. He shifted uncomfortably under the weight of my stare. It was supposed to be filled with indignation toward him, but I was too exhausted, so it just came out weary and contrite. Clearing his throat, he attempted a joke to ease the tension. “You know, the thought of you on your knees for me does sound intriguing...”
