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July 11 - July 24, 2022
If I had a child, or if any descendant of mine had been harmed, I would burn through both realms just so I could flay the skin from the body of the one who’d hurt them.
“And you, liessa, are very brave.” His thumb moved, sweeping over the curve of my jaw.
He was silent for a moment. “Are you seriously asking me why I haven’t thought about killing you?”
I threatened you. I pulled a dagger on you.” “More than once,” he corrected. “And I’ve been rude.” “Very.” “No one speaks to a god or behaves toward one in such a way.” “They typically do not,” he agreed. “Either way, I suppose I’m not in a murderous mood tonight.”
“If you’re not going to kill me, then you should probably let go of me.” “Will you try to stab me?” “I…hope not.” “You hope?” “If you try to tell me what to do or grab me again, I am likely to lose that hope,” I told him. A quiet laugh rumbled from him—through me. “At least, you’re honest.”
Make him fall in love, become his weakness, and end him.
“Death wants nothing to do with life. None of you can be surprised.”
My lips parted on a harsh exhale. “I…I just stabbed you in the chest, and that is what you have to say?” “No. I was getting to that.” Tilting his head to the side, dark hair slid across his cheek. “You stabbed me.”
“It stung,” he growled, head straightening. “Deeply.” “Sorry?” His chin lowered. “You are not sorry.” I actually was. Sort of. “You grabbed me.” “Do you stab everyone who grabs you?” “Yes!” I exclaimed. “Especially when I’m in a home with a dead body and someone grabs me from behind without any warning!”
“Has it ever occurred to you to announce your presence so you don’t get stabbed?” I shot back.
All I felt was the rough pads of his fingers trailing over my cheek, stopping just at the corner of my lips. “What truly scares you, liessa?” he asked, and I thought…I thought I heard a hint of approval in his voice. “If I do not?”
“After death, the soul is exposed. Raw. No flesh to mask their deeds,” he explained. “The worthiness can be read after death.”
An odd feeling pressed against the center of my chest without warning, where the warmth often gathered in response to death. The heaviness unfurled through me, feeling like a coarse, suffocating blanket. I drew in a shallow breath, frowning at the sudden, strange scent of lilacs. Stale lilacs. It reminded me of something I couldn’t place at that moment as I felt myself turn back to the body without consciously willing myself to do so.
“What does liessa mean?” The god didn’t answer for what felt like a small eternity. “It has different meanings to different people.” The eather pulsed in his eyes, swirling once more through the silver. “But all of them mean something beautiful and powerful.”
“Did you kill that man?” Smoothing out the skirts of the gown, I crossed my ankles. “I believe he slipped and fell upon my blade.” “Was it his throat that fell upon your blade?” “Odd, right?”
“What you can do is a gift, a wonderful one that is a part of who you are,” he’d said, kneeling so we were at eye level. “But it could become dangerous for you if others were to learn that you could possibly bring back their loved ones. It could anger the gods and Primals, for you to decide who should return to life and who should not. It is a gift given by the King of Gods, one that should be held close to your heart and only ever used when you’re ready to become who you were destined to be. Until then, you are not a Primal. Play as one, and the Primals might think you are.”
“You think?” Nyktos snapped. Ector cringed. “Sorry?” “You’re cleaning up this mess,” Nyktos directed Ector then led me from the chamber. “Gladly,” Ector remarked. “I think I’m going to need a bucket and a mop. Possibly a broom…” He trailed off under the Primal’s glare. “Or I could just use some towels and stuff.”
“It’s pretty noticeable.” “If one of us is touching him,” Ector returned. “And none of us walk around touching him. He doesn’t like to be touched.” I lifted my brows and looked over at Nyktos. “I didn’t get that impression.” “Yeah, well, he enjoys your kind of touching,” Ector stated. Shockingly, I felt my face heat. Nyktos turned to the god. “Do you have a death wish today?” he growled, and I began to wonder the same thing. “I’m beginning to think I do,” Ector murmured
“But I also saw her. I saw them. A Chosen and a descendant of the First.” The eather burned brightly in Penellaphe’s eyes as they met mine. “A Queen of Flesh and Fire. And him, a King risen from Blood and Ash, who ruled side by side with man. And they…they felt right. They felt like hope.”
“‘From the desperation of golden crowns and born of mortal flesh, a great primal power rises as the heir to the lands and seas, to the skies and all the realms. A shadow in the ember, a light in the flame, to become a fire in the flesh. When the stars fall from the night, the great mountains crumble into the seas, and old bones raise their swords beside the gods, the false one will be stripped from glory until two born of the same misdeeds, born of the same great and Primal power in the mortal realm. A first daughter, with blood full of fire, fated for the once-promised King. And the second
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And so it will begin with the last Chosen blood spilled, the great conspirator birthed from the flesh and fire of the Primals will awaken as the Harbinger and the Bringer of Death and Destruction to the lands gifted by the gods. Beware, for the end will come from the west to destroy the east and lay waste to all which lies between.’”
“You are the heir to the lands and seas, skies and realms. A Queen instead of a King. You are the Primal of Life.”
