A Soul For Chaos (The Soulbearer Trilogy) (6 page)

Dev’s nostrils flared, but he said nothing. He didn’t need to. The power of his carefully contained anger sent a shiver down her spine.

“I like the accommodations the way they are,” she replied, pressing her hand against Kell’s chest and pushing him back. She explored the rest of the cabin, painfully aware of how the horizon rolled from side to side. “There appears to be a small bed here, Dev. Will this work for you?”

He tossed his things on the built in bench that was long enough to serve as a third bed. “It will. This way, I can keep an eye on who’s entering your room.”

“Feeling threatened, Dev?” Kell came behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder as though he was her blood.

She shrugged it off and picked up her pack. At the rate they were going, she’d probably spend the rest of the voyage keeping them from beating the crap out of each other.

“Not by you. There are more important things for me to protect Arden from—like magic.” Dev caught her gaze. The seriousness behind his green eyes made the hairs on the back of  her neck rise. “Deadly magic.”

Chapter 6

The high priest of Nelos hurried through the underground corridors, nearly drunk from giddiness. Not only had the Tribunal of the Gods called a new meeting to discuss the Soulbearer, but he was now armed with information from Nelos himself on how to destroy Loku before the cursed god landed in Gravaria and plunged it into panic and disorder. Once chaos was vanquished, he could help usher in a new era of law and order. There would be peace and prosperity, and the people would no longer have to fear Loku gaining control of his Soulbearer and unleashing havoc on their homeland. 

He was the last one to enter the temple. The woman wearing the mask of Ivis glared at him from behind her glittering mask and slammed the doors behind him with a flick of her wrist. “At last, here’s Nelos.”

He ignored the sarcasm dripping from her voice. “The law never sleeps, and neither do its servants. I was preoccupied with my many duties.” Including a summons from my god.

She turned her attention from him and addressed the room. “We have received word that an attempt was made on the life of the Soulbearer in Ranello.”

The priest forced his body to remain still, grateful for the mask that concealed his face from the others. How did she know about the attack? Or worse, was this meeting called to thwart his efforts before he struck again?

Jussip peered down the blade of his ax as though he were inspecting it for any nicks that might dull its edge. “Not surprising, considering how much those backward Ranellians fear magic. I’m more surprised she’s lived this long.”

“The attack didn’t come from the hands of her people.” Ivis wove in a pause for pure theatrical purposes. “The attack itself was magical. Someone summoned an earthquake in Trivinus.”

Her accusing gaze lingered the longest on him. If she was expecting him to confess, she would be sorely disappointed. Nelos had granted him the power to make the earth buckle and sway under Ranello’s crown city, but he refused to brag about it. Not when he’d failed to complete his objective. The god of chaos still lived, trapped in the body of a witch who fell deeper and deeper under his control with each passing second.

“What makes you think one of us was behind the attack?” Sulia asked.

“Only a powerful mage could summon an earth spell and carry it that distance.”

“Then perhaps you should be interrogating the Mage Primus or one of the other mages in the Conclave,” Kylow sneered.

“No,” the winged goddess, Lireal, replied. “The Mage Primus is not behind this, nor is any common mortal.”

“Lireal speaks the truth.” Ivis stood and came to the center of the circle. “A spell of this magnitude requires the assistance of a deity, which is why we’ve all gathered together. One of our gods tried to kill the Soulbearer, and we need to petition him or her to stop.”

Fury boiled up inside him, both from him and the god he served. “And why should we dare interfere with the workings of a god?”

Ivis spun around to him in a swirl of her golden robes. “Because even gods are fallible.” Her heretical declaration boomed off the walls, echoing long after the words left her mouth. In a softer voice, she added, “Or did we not learn that when Loku opened the portal to the realm of chaos?”

He stood to join her in the center of the circle. As he drew closer, he could hear her heavy breaths from behind her mask. He was wearing her down, turning the tide against her. He only wished he could see the fear on her face. “One god has proven fallible. That does not mean the rest of them are.”

He turned to address the other high priests and priestesses. “Brothers and Sisters, we’ve struggled for years on what to do with the problem of Loku’s soul. It’s time we band together and destroy it as we did his body centuries ago.”

Ivis came up from behind him. “You can’t kill a god, Nelos.”

He looked past her at the winged priestess of Lireal. She was the guardian of the sacred flowers that could destroy souls. “On the contrary, you can, and we all know how.”

“And what of the girl?”

“Just an unfortunate victim who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Precisely.” Ivis circled him, her attention focused on the others. “What Nelos fails to see is the flaw in his plan. Whoever conjured the spell acted irresponsibly without considering the consequences. Arden Soulbearer is an innocent, a girl who, as he said, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when Loku was freed from the body of his previous Soulbearer. If whoever tried to her kill had succeeded, he would have gone to the body closest to him. In this case, it would have been the Third Prince of Ranello.”

A shocked chorus of murmurs rippled through the temple. Even he couldn’t believe the implications of their act. If a member of the Ranellian royal family had the magic of Loku at his command, it could tip the balance of power among the three nations and destroy the fragile peace they maintained. “My lord, did you not know that?”

“I know and see all, my servant. Do not question me again.”

His cheeks burned from his god’s reprimand. “I apologize, my lord.”

Ivis continued to speak to the others. “We need to return to our initial strategy—to contain Loku in the bodies of the right kind of individuals. Ones that will not succumb to his influence. Ones that will control him and keep him from threatening our world again.”

“Then perhaps we need to appoint a new protector to the Soulbearer and re-establish the old traditions,” Sulia suggested, standing and moving to take her turn at the center of the circle. “Devarius Tel’Brien has let Loku slip away from him too many times. Furthermore, he is not fit to become a Soulbearer because of his crimes.”

Lireal rose from her chair. “Sir Devarius was never convicted of the crimes he was accused of.”

“He stood before the Mage’s Council and claimed responsibility for Minius’s death,” Sulia countered.

Lireal stretched out her wings, making her appear three times the size she was, and closed the space between her and Sulia. “I have seen into his soul, and Minius’s bloodstain is not on it.”

“Then why would he confess?”

Ivis wedged herself between them. “Silence, both of you. Arguing will get us nowhere. Let us all return to our seats and discuss this problem with the decorum befitting our gods.”

“Yes, let’s have blessed order.” The priest of Nelos watched the others return to their chairs, but he remained in the center. “Instead of trying to decide who is fit to contain Loku, might I suggest another possibility?”

Ivis leaned her chin on her fisted palm. “Which is?”

Now was his moment to convert the rest of the Tribunal to Nelos’s plan. “Without a body to conduct his powers, Loku is nothing more than a weak soul. If we can kill the Soulbearer in a place where no one is around to house his soul, then Loku ceases to be a problem.”

“What you speak of is impossible.”

“On the contrary, Ivis, it is quite possible. The Soulbearer has already left Boznac, and the waters of the sea are deep.” His robes flapped behind him as he exited the circle. “Discuss that with your gods.”

Silence followed him along the corridors of the underground temple until he came to a  magic curtain that would whisk him away to his temple on the surface. No one would stop them. Nelos would use him to destroy Loku once and for all, and then an age of peace would reign over the world for centuries to come.

Chapter 7

If Arden feared drowning would be the death of her, she discounted the rough waters of the sea. After one week, her clothes hung loosely on her already thin frame, and every meal time triggered the violent lurching of her stomach.

Kell offered her a sip of water. “My poor Arden,” he murmured. “I never imagined you’d be ill this long. If you wish to return home, I can always order the captain to turn the ship around.”

Dev leaned against the doorway of her tiny room. “The journey is only three weeks. If we turn back now, it’s another week to Boznac, and then we have to start our voyage anew.”

Kell paused from wiping her forehead and clenched the damp cloth in his hand. “Or you can just let her stay in Ranello.”

“That’s not possible, so quit trying to persuade her otherwise.”

Arden rolled her eyes. This debate had happened daily since they set sail. Kell wanted her to come home. Dev insisted she needed to continue on to Gravaria. And both of them declared they had her best interest in mind. “Stop it, both of you. I’m already miserable enough without having to listen to you two bicker like an old married couple.”

Loku laughed. “You have them spot on. Of course, my offer still stands. I truly hate to see you like this.”

“And my answer is still no, thank you.” For days, Loku had offered to use his powers to relieve her of the sea sicknesses, but she feared he was no better than Dev and Kell. She refused to give any of them leverage, especially the chaos god that would eventually drive her toward insanity.

But only if I let him. If Dev was telling her the truth, then her only defense from that dismal fate was containing Loku and not letting him have any control over her, even if it meant she’d suffer the rest of the voyage.

“You have me all wrong, my little Soulbearer. I only want to help you. I’m even being kind enough to wait for your permission instead of taking matters into my own hands.”

“As if you could.”

“Do not test me.”
Magic rippled down her body, locking her muscles to where she couldn’t even take a breath.
“I have more control over you than you think.”

The spell lifted, and she sucked in a deep breath. “
You bastard! You’re asking to be contained again.”

“Yes, and we both know how well that ended up for you and Dev.”
The last time Loku seized control of her without her permission, she managed to contain him with Dev’s help. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to warn her when Larenis and his men attacked them in their rooms, nearly costing Dev his life and leaving her at the mercy of a necromancer.
“Admit it, you need me as much as I need you.
”

“
Keep dreaming.
”

“Trouble, is someone bothering you?” Dev stared at her, standing straighter and looking ready to intervene if needed. He knew her well enough to notice when she drifted into these internal arguments with Loku.

Kell bolted up from his chair. “You can hardly say I’m bothering her, considering I’ve been the only one taking care of her since she fell ill.”

Dev’s gaze never wavered from her. She could almost hear him silently asking her if she needed help controlling the chaos god. “Let her answer the question.”

She needed to diffuse this potential explosion before they both drew their weapons or launched their fists at each other. She reached for Kell’s hand. “Please don’t be insulted, Kell. Dev’s question came off the wrong way.”

Kell’s eyes flickered back and forth between her and Dev as though he was trying to learn whatever secret they were keeping from him. She offered a silent prayer to the Lady Moon that she’d never have to go into much detail about the voice she constantly heard in the back of her mind. He’d probably declare her insane and help gather the kindling for her pyre.

“Whatever.” He flung her hand away and shoved Dev out of the doorway as he left the room.

Dev, however, lingered, still watching her. “He tried to take control of you again, didn’t he?” he asked quietly so Kell wouldn’t overhear him in the main cabin.

“More like reminding me what he was capable of doing.”

“
And don’t you forget it
,” Loku hissed.

Dev’s jaw tightened, and he came to her bedside. “Do you need my help with him?”

“
By all means, lock me away again, especially when we both know someone’s trying to kill you.
” Malice sharpened Loku’s taunt. “
Let’s see who dies this time.
”

She inhaled sharply, her stomach clenching even tighter than before.

Dev took Kell’s chair. “What is he telling you?”

“That if I try to contain him again, we might not be as lucky as before.”

“Ah, well, then perhaps he needs to behave.” Dev turned her hand over and ran his finger along her palm, his attention shifting there instead of her face. “If he continues to threaten you, I will show him no mercy.”

Loku laughed. “
And I’d like to see him try to attack me without harming you in the process. He knows that whatever he does to me will affect you, too.
”

She closed her eyes, focusing on the soothing strokes that traced the lines of her palm instead of the chaos god’s warning. “I hope the mages will be able to teach me how to control him like you say. It gets tiring, being constantly torn in different directions.”

“
Yes, it not easy being the popular girl, is it?
”

Dev cupped his hand around hers, pressing his thumb into the center of it. “Never give up hope, Arden. I promise things will get better when we get to Gravaria.”