Chapter 33

“She can’t!” Spoke Gideon outraged. “She’s mated to Lord Alexander.”

“Impossible. The princess is a wielder, and it is known that wielders do not have shifter mates!” Interjected Count Robin. He almost seemed insulted.

Gideon growled at the small man, “She is. I can smell it on her.”

They looked at me curiously and took that as my cue to unbutton my shirt and show them Xander’s moon crescent mark on my shoulder.

The leaders were silent, looking at each other, then taking steps back to discuss. Silas looked at my mark with an angry red face and said nothing. They must have thought they would pick the pieces up right where the uprising had left them. Me being mated changed everything.

“Alexander Kestrel is the bastard son of the most powerful lord under the Usurper’s command. We need a strong leader to help rule over Airedah when the princess becomes queen, not some lost pup playing turn cloak.” Said another leader.

“I agree with Lord Heron. King Cardinal had planned to wed her to Silas Starling. I think we should honour his wishes.”

That scene transported me back to when I was younger, and I would spy on my father’s meetings. The men went back and forth, offering points and counterpoints to this dilemma. The advisors always argued and disputed, just like what I was witnessing. Fortunately, none of them had the final say in who I married. That decision would be mine and mine alone, and I knew my father would have accepted my choice.

“Gentlemen, please settle down,” I shouted at them in a stern but polite manner. “I am marked and engaged to Alexander Kestrel whether or not you like it. I cannot marry Silas, as he is not my fated mate, and I would not produce any heirs with him. Above all else, should my father had known of this, he would have honoured what the Faiths have decided for me, and I wish you all to accept it as well.”

Another burst of outrage emerged from the group of men. I looked over where Silas had been sitting, hoping he would see sense in what I had said and take my side, but he had left sometime throughout the conversation.

At one point, one leader offered a satiric proposition. “A shifter’s mark is made of shifter magic; we may be able to remove hers with another type of spell! Do we have any information on how this can be done?”

An irritated Gideon snarled and came over to where I was standing and signalled for us to take our leave. Diana hurried alongside me, and we left the leaders to their argument. Gideon was sweating, probably out of fury. His eyes were wide in alert, and his hands were in fists at his side.

“That’s what happens when humans don’t understand the balance of things and think they can change the rules. This is an insult to the shifters, including the Lycans. Trying to remove someone’s mark,” he spat and hissed at the idea, “I think we’ve heard enough of this nonsense.”

As we moved through the tunnels, I tried to offer him some sort of comfort. His was not the only ego that was bruised. The leaders had thought me too soft to rule alone. They thought I needed help, and it was just downright insulting to assume that a woman could not make it without a man. Not only that, but they completely disregarded Xander in all of this. I thought he would make a fantastic partner. He had also lived through many injustices, and I watched his acts of kindness, understanding, and courage. Thinking he was a weak leader was a grave mistake on their part.

“Don’t worry, they’ll come to their senses, eventually. It’s just politics.” Diana said, trying to cheer us up.

Would they? Some of them seemed to agree. The others seemed to disapprove. I did not know which way they would bend, and if they bent differently than me, what would I do then?

Gideon plunged into a dark tunnel that I had not noticed before. It was covered by dead roots and tumbled rocks. It was narrower than the other passages, and there was little light. The only thing that illuminated the way was Gideon's oil lamp in his hand. I had to duck and jump over fallen stones just to keep up with his long strides.

Eventually, we came to an intersection that offered three other tunnels. Gideon took the middle one and pursued, walking at a quick pace. After maybe ten minutes, we stood in front of an imposing metal gate.

“The library is here, Ida. I know you wanted to come to see it. Hopefully, it will change your mind from this ridiculous meeting we just had. If you don’t mind, I’ll leave you and Diana and come to get you when it is time for dinner.”

Gideon moved to the table, scratched a match, and lit two other oil lamps. I barely had time to thank him when he bid us a good day and returned to where we had come from. I had no idea where he was planning to go, but I guessed he just needed to cool off. His broad back was still tense, and his eyes still seemed annoyed.

“What shall we look for?” Diana asked eagerly, trying to change the mood.

“I need books on magic. I need to pick up my training where I had let off with Otis.”

I picked up an oil lamp and started perusing through the shelves. There seemed to be hundreds of them. When John had mentioned that his brother had saved a few, I thought he meant only a couple of books, but looking at the stacks of books neatly placed on the shelves, they could take quite a lot. This would probably be harder than I thought.

Diana took the second lamp and searched for books that I could use.

I looked curiously at the ceiling and wondered where we were under the castle. The casemate and undercroft were near the edge of the ramparts. Judging by the roof of this area, which looked like that of a cathedral, I presumed we were nowhere near the ramparts. It was high, with stone arches and steep peaks. The space seemed untouched by the castle’s destruction, making me think the ceiling must have been reinforced. There were no fallen stones, and the floor was smooth white marble with black veins. It seemed old, so they did not add this after the castle fell. It was probably part of the original structure.

I went in the opposite direction of Diana while still keeping in sight of her. If something happened, I wanted to go to her quickly.

As I moved through the shelves, I thought I was maybe in the wrong section. Most of the tomes were about history, some regarding scientific research and mostly ledgers. I moved further in the darkness and stumbled on a box of old scrolls. Going through them, they seemed more like astronomical charts.

There was a stack of books near a pile of old robes left in one corner. I recognized some symbols as magic glyphs. Otis had scolded me thousands of times as he tried to have me memorize them by heart, but there were so many!

I went to retrieve them to bring them back to the table in the center of the room. I would need to go through them and filter out what I could use and discard.
Bending over to grab one, I let out a high shriek when I saw a pair of milky white eyes peering at me from under the bundle of cloth. I backed away into Diana, who had come running to find me.

“What’s the matter?” She looked me over to see if I was hurt.

“There’s something under there!” I pointed at the pile of thick black fabric.

It stirred and wriggled, slowly getting in an upward position.

“Give me some more light.” Asked Diana.

I obliged and sent a light orb over to where the thing was. Diana cautiously approached it and removed the layers until she uncovered a thin old man. His body was frail, and he had a starved look on his face. He was bald, with thick bushy white eyebrows, and only had some wisps of hair floating near the back of his neck and near his chin. His eyes were those of advanced blindness. However, they curiously looked at the orb I had created and floated over his head.

“I see you… Aeternum. Broken, then mended, but not completely whole.”

The old man went on a ramble and mumbled things almost incomprehensively. Nothing he said made sense.

“They bound you, Aeternum. I see the barrier within. Find the Binder, and you shall become whole once more. He is already looking for you. News travels fast.”

I looked at Diana, who was going through the old man’s vitals. She seemed nervous. I knelt beside her, helping her bring the man to a table. Once we could sit him down, he gripped my arm with an alarming strength and looked me right in the eyes. It sent shivers throughout my entire body.

“Be wary of the Sturnidae. He will try to claim you. A plan has already been set in motion.” His milky eyes petrified me, as did his warning. I did not know what he meant.

He placed his head on the tabletop and closed his eyes, breathing softly. My shoulders sagged when I heard him snoring. He spoke in riddles and used words I had no notion what their meanings were. Gideon had mentioned that they had saved a wielder. Was he the one that he spoke about?

Diana exhaled loudly, placed a hand over her face, and rubbed her temple. I sat next to her and nudged her upper arm.

“Do you know what Aeternum means?”

“Yes, I do. It’s an old word we no longer use. It means eternal being—Faith.”