Page 105 of Ruin of Revenants

At first, there was nothing but churning mist and a soft, whispering wind surrounding me. It was an odd echo of Mortius’ shadows, like the light to his darkness. My heartbeat tracked the moments as they edged toward a minute. Two.

Was the goddess taunting me? Had she changed her mind?

Gritting my teeth in frustration, I got on my knees, finding the mist soft but solid. It didn’t feel like earth beneath me, but something more cushiony, as if the mist itself had substance.

If Vithenna wanted me to beg for my kingdom, I would beg.

“Please,” I said, my tone low as I kept my eyes toward the swirling white ground. “I’ve come to break the blood bond the gods formed between Isoria Gildmere and me, and to request information about the revenant army threatening Emberglade.”

As suddenly as blinking, Vithenna was there. Her eyes were that same shocking blue they’d been when she first appeared to me, her hair an array of colors. She stalked close, her lips twisting in a smile that was anything but friendly. “Why would you care about Emberglade and its citizens? You are not a true Emberglade by blood, but the son of the Emberglade line’s murderer. Your father robbed the land of the royal family the gods chose to rule it. That is why the land does not recognize you, why you do not wield special royal powers like the ones who came before.”

I swallowed thickly at the reminders, like heavy blows against the gate of my heart. I was constantly aware of my failure to tap into the land’s magic, that power that was supposed to run through the royal bloodline and be as innate as the magic I’d been born with. But the land didn’t recognize me—and probably never would—for actions that occurred before I ever walked this earth and yet now defined me. “I was raised as the crown prince,” I said. “I am not my father or his choices and actions. I’ve lived my entire life in Rainsong among Emberglade’s people, learning to rule, learning to care. How could I not, when I’ve spent my life among them, serving them?”

Vithenna narrowed her eyes, but I couldn’t tell if it was because she was studying me more closely, like she was seeing me for the first time, or if it was because she didn’t believe me. “Even if you are sincere, it does not undo the crimes of your father, his loyalists, or the phoenixes who have wrought so much death. That’s why I revoked my magic from the phoenixes and let them suffer.”

My shock was followed swiftly by rage. Isoria and her loved ones were being punished for the violent actions of a few?

“The revenant army you came to ask about is also my judgment on your land, false prince.” As my fury increased to the point I thought maybe my blood was boiling, turning my vision red, I dared to lift my chin and defiantly meet her gaze. “Perhaps I should have left you to tear one another apart. But my revenant army is meant to purge your land, a chance to start over with new royalty chosen by a deity and new citizens to accept their rule.”

I couldn’t breathe. Black spots danced across my sight, obscuring everything. The world was closing in on me. I’d come here hoping for answers and help from the goddess of life, only to find that she was our necromancer, the one blaspheming death and trapping souls in their own bodies rather than allowing them the rest that the afterlife offered.

“You? You’re raising the dead, giving them magic? Controlling them so they form an army and cooperate together?”

“Me.” Vithenna didn’t quite smile, but she wore the look of a proud parent.

My stomach roiled. “You’re the goddess of life. How?”

“Well, I’m giving them a sort of second life—”

“How could you?” I demanded. “How could you create such abominations to kill and destroy? Not all in Emberglade are committing atrocities, and the ones who suffer most are far from my father’s deadly decrees and sometimes not part of the phoenix hunts. The revenants are murdering the innocent.”

Despite my anger, I forced myself to pause. She wants me to beg. With a deep breath, I pushed through the building heat and injected calm and humility into my tone. “Please consider mercy. Spare my people. Don’t let the innocent hurt alongside the guilty.”

But Vithenna shook her head. “More than your father are guilty of bloodshed. Phoenix shifters turned to darkness too, burning and killing, and so many of the Emberglade citizens have joined in on the hunts or sided with the phoenixes. Or they’ve permitted King Wystan to continue his bloody reign by not resisting. This is why I chose to purge your land. New fae will come to claim the vacant kingdom and Emberglade could start anew.”

I made myself breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth steadily before my rage made me do something rash. This goddess was the architect of my people’s agony, and she was trying to justify it as if it were a good thing. As if the unnatural army she’d resurrected, using the dead’s bodies as her puppets, was an instrument for wiping out evil.

“But I am not without mercy,” Vithenna added. “I see you prioritize Emberglade’s welfare, so I’ll make you an offer. The key to ending the revenant army is in your prophecy—in a way. I don’t need you to eradicate all phoenixes, only one. Isoria.”

What? Vithenna was toying with me, surely. Was she mad? Perhaps using her power as a goddess had addled her mind. How could she speak of wanting to purge Emberglade because of the bloodshed so many had committed and then tell me the way to end it was by…committing more bloodshed?

Was this really all an elaborate game to her?

Did she want me to entertain her?

Was the goddess simply…bored?

“But first, the blood bond that Solea forced Maris to create.” Vithenna’s mouth twisted in distaste. “It’s lucky for you that only Maris could forge the bond and not one of us gods now that we’ve ascended from earth, as one god cannot undo what another god has created. And shattering the bond doesn’t require taking on a mortal form—merely being here with you, where my strength is greatest. But I’m not going to do this favor without a price, young prince.”

I frowned, still trying to keep up with her revelations, her insanity. “What price must I pay?

“Memories. I’ll take some memories from you. Nothing crucial regarding how to rule Emberglade or the army—just some moments in your life.”

Unease rippled through me. “You won’t tell me which though, will you?”

Vithenna merely smiled in answer.

I sighed. If I didn’t agree to the bargain, the blood bond would remain and I’d have to stay close to Isoria. I wouldn’t be able to return to my responsibilities as prince and trying to save Emberglade while also sending her back to Everhaven and safety. And that’s what I had to do. This bond had to end in order to protect her, to free her.