Enthroned by Amethysts (A Dance with Destiny Book 3) (36 page)

“Mama.”

Jenevier looked up to see her son’s loving face, twisted with grief.

“He’s gone, Mama. He died saving me.”

She stared at Tenshi for one uncomprehending moment, then slowly back down to the only keeper of her heart… cradled in her blood-soaked arms, motionless.

“You’re wrong,” she whispered. “You’re all wrong.” Her voice rose. “If no one will help me, I will drag him to the waters by myself.”

Trying in vain to lift his enormous body, she heard a shaky whisper, one that rocked her cracked soul back to reality.

“I am so sorry… I thought you were dead… I am extremely… dreadfully… morbidly… sorry.”

Her tears dripped upon Varick’s cooling cheeks. She lifted her face towards the heavens. An unearthly scream tore her throat open, mingling her blood with the tears now falling upon her true love’s silent heart.

She gently lowered Varick’s beautiful form back to the ground. Affectionately fingering the bloody golden strands framing his lovely face, she bent down and whispered in his ear. “Tell Father I said thank you. Give Him my sincerest gratitude for letting me hold you once more. For letting me touch you, letting me look upon you before you turned to ash, leaving me forever.” She tenderly kissed each closed eyelid and then his cold lips. “Farewell, my beloved. Forgive me for not being there to guard your back as I had promised. Your death is on my head. I will never smile again.”

Jenevier kissed him one last time and then released him.

Before her eyes his body fell to ash, blowing away on the wind. She stared at the black soot stuck to her bloody hands.

She stared at her hand, the one Apollyon had healed, had left his blue glow upon, the same one that bore the tattooed ring left by the manacle marking her eternal binding with Varick. She watched, astonished, as the intricate design laced out from her finger and wove a beautiful pattern across her entire hand. This glorious new tattoo covered the whole of her azure skin and would serve as the constant reminder of her unfathomable bond with her beloved Guardian husband. An ethereal symbol of their eternal love.

Varick’s blood and Varick’s ashes… I will never be whole again.

Black and red streaks marked her face where she ran her fingers down her cheeks. Standing, she slowly turned to face the Prince of Hell.

“What have you done, Vindicus?” Her words hissed and slithered from her lips.

He didn’t respond.

“Let me hear the truth of it spew from your dark lips, Devil. What… have… you… done?”

His words were tiny, his voice cracked. “I thought you were dead, my love, and our son as well.”

“What have you done?” she yelled.

He was silent. Dropping his head, he tried to avoid the hate he saw so plainly within her magical eyes.

“You thought we were dead, so you took your vengeance out on the whole universe?”

Still, he did not answer. What was there to say?

“You wished my epitaph to be written with the blood of millions? To be written with the blood of other mothers and their babies?” She took one step toward him. “And you justified this apocalyptic revenge by
my
name and that of your only son?”

Apollyon turned teary eyes toward Tenshi.

“Don’t look at him,” she screamed. “You don’t deserve the joy of getting to look upon him.” Bitter poison dripped from her words. “He is no longer your son. He will spend eternity fixing what his wicked father has destroyed.
That
is his inheritance.
That’s
your legacy to him.” She saw the tears spill down his face. “Do not cry, Devil. You don’t have the right. Nor do you deserve the luxury of mourning the destruction wrought by your own hand.”

Daichi approached her, placing a comforting hand upon her heaving shoulder.

Apollyon looked at him and then back to Tenshi.

Daichi laughed. “I am not your son, Demon. I am her Blessing, and
your
replacement.”

Understanding and pain crossed the sapphire Prince’s face.

She spat her blood upon the ground and held her freshly marked palm up toward him as she spoke.

“I bind you, Apollyon. I bind you from doing harm unto others.”

At her words, he dropped his sword and staggered back.

“No,” he whispered.

“I bind you, Apollyon. I bind you eternally to the other side of that gate you once pretended to guard.”

He pleaded with her. “Do not do this, my love. Even Father wasn’t so cruel in His punishment.”

“I am not Father,” she hissed. “I bind you, Apollyon.”

“Wait, Jenevier. Please… just wait,” he begged. “Do what you must. But show me the slightest bit of mercy. Grant me but one plea. Remove yourself from my heart, please. Tear our precious memories together from my tormented mind. I cannot bear the weight of your hatred.”

“After all you have done, you still have the audacity to plead for mercy? Very well then… do unto others. Am I right? Let your own actions determine how much mercy you shall receive. Tell me, Vindicus. Plead your case. During this apocalyptic outrage, how much
mercy
have you shown? It doesn’t matter how small. It can be but one thing. Just speak it. Give me
one
example of the mercy you have shown to all humanity.”

He was silent. But she already knew the answer minus his words. He could only stare at her, pleadingly.

Her lips pulled back in a ghoulish snarl, showing her bloodied teeth. “I bind you, Apollyon. I bind your heart to me forever. And I bind that blackest of hearts to the ones you have destroyed. May you know shame and guilt and sorrow and bitterest regret throughout all time and eternity… in this life and the next.”

The ground of layer nine rumbled and split between them. She saw the fallen ones being pulled back down into the pit. When she beheld Apollyon’s glorious form sinking into the melting earth, she dropped her hand and raced toward him.

His tear-filled eyes sparkled with blessed hope as she drew nearer.

Jenevier didn’t hide the wicked smile now spread plainly across her face, sparkling in her magical pink eyes. She slid in toward his sinking form, swiftly drawing Iole Máni from its scabbard. She made one clean slice across his perfectly sculpted chest.

She watched the glimmer of hope melt from his azure eyes as he looked down at the blood now spilling from the gaping wound.

Realization didn’t set in until his questioning gaze went back to his only love and eternally blended mate, standing there before him.

He visibly cringed when he saw the bitter hate dancing in her celestial eyes. Then, he noticed what it was she held triumphantly in her white-knuckled fist. His treasured picture pouch… covered in
his
blood, dangling there in her tiny hand, gently swaying with the breeze.

“
This
belongs to me,” she hissed.

The last thing Apollyon saw was her vicious smile and hate-filled eyes as he was swallowed up forever.

When the ground of layer nine closed anew, she could hear his pitiful scream,
Noooooo
, resonating throughout hell, and beyond.

She swayed. Daichi caught her before she hit the ground.

“I have you, Milady,” he whispered. “It is finished. Rest now.”

A roar went up from the forest bordering their littered battlefield. The people of Jinn stepped into the light of the first fearless day they’d known in years.

Munenori approached them. “Your Emperor is dead and hell has returned to the darkness it sprang from. Gather your children. Go back to your homes, back to your peaceful lives. You are saved this day by the tiniest of warriors.”

Nilakanta raised his head and sent a mighty stream of lava flames toward the heavens.

“What’s her name?”

“Will she rule us?”

“Does she command the fire lizards?”

“Where did she come from?”

“Will she stay with us? Will she protect our children?”

Munenori raised his hands, halting their many questions. “Her name is Naga, Kagi Naga.”

Jenevier opened her weary eyes when she heard the cheering masses chanting out her new name.

“Empress Naga. Empress Naga.”

Daichi lowered her to her feet, steadying her.

Vittorio took her tiny hand in his. “Aye, mine Angel, yer people cry oot for ye. It seems yer nae longer my wee Princess, but my wee Empress instead. Will ye answer their call?”

She threw her arms around his glowing neck and cried like a little girl. “Varick’s gone. My Alzeen is dead. I killed him, Vittorio. I was his Anicee… and I killed him.”

“Aye, Lass, that wasnae yer blade I saw come down upon my brother. Dunnae seed those dark words upon yer fragile heart. There lies the path tae madness, wee lamb.”

Munenori approached her. “What say you, Naga?” He bowed in their Dragon manner. “You have rightfully won the crown by your glowing purple blades. This day, you have been enthroned by amethysts, Milady.”

She looked to the cheering masses and back to the mossy lavender Angel, the one who had brought her back to life, opened the way to her new destiny.

“I cannot think, Angel. Neither can I breathe. Tell them I will return to them. But for now… I must go see to my family.”

“As you wish, tiny Empress.” He inclined his head toward her. “Namaste, little Angel. I bow to you.”

Jenevier held her right hand in front of her forever broken heart, and returned the gesture.

Chapter 49

Izadori

(iz-ah-DOOR-ee)

“How is it I come to find you outside the forest?” The regal man spoke as he approached Alastyn and Izadori. “You know the punishment for leaving Mangladune.”

“And yet, here you stand, Father. You left the trees and the world didn’t cave in around you.”

“Do not sharpen your tongue with me, Izadori. The Council has demanded your presence. We have combed the entire forest looking for you.”

“Don’t blame her, Father. The guilt is mine.” Kias and Jezreel stepped through the back door of the little rose-covered cottage. “I did not wish to defy you. Nor did I ever dream of angering the Council. But I had to leave. I had no choice.”

“What was so important, Kias? What did you have to do that would force you to break our most sacred of laws?”

“I had to come here… I had to sing to my bride.” He traced the outline of Jezreel’s lips as he spoke.

“Your
what
?”

Jezreel could contain her happiness no longer. She gave Kias a quick peck on the cheek and ran toward the ancient, ageless man standing openmouthed in the middle of her backyard. She flung her arms around his neck, causing them to spin in a circle.

Izadori tried to muffle her laughter. Kias shot his sister a stern look, then loudly cleared his throat.

“Father, I would like you to meet Jezreel, my beautiful wife.”

He gasped, dumbfounded. “Wife?”

“Hello, Father.” Jezreel kissed his soft cheek, yet didn’t release her tight hold upon him.

The royal monarch of the mythical Elven people didn’t know how to respond. He was in shock. He had no idea what to do with the girl now hanging from his neck, giggling in his ear. He uncomfortably patted her back three times, then let his hands fall back down to his sides. His wide eyes pleaded to his son for help.

Izadori could barely stifle the laughter that was building in her throat.

“This is a new day, Father. The men of Ashgard are all but gone, destroyed by the spawns of the Underworld. We will start anew with the fragment yet remaining.” Izadori took hold of Alastyn’s hand. “The days of Elves and man will be once more. You hold the proof of my words in your arms now.” She inclined her head toward the giddy girl still clinging to the King.

Kias’s beaming smile lit up the night. “This is the day magic returns to the land of Ashgard,” he proclaimed.

“We shall see about that, good Kias. Now, if you wouldn’t mind helping me, please,” the King said.

Kias touched Jezreel’s back. She let go of her new father-in-law, still smiling from ear to ear.

Izadori held fast to Alastyn’s hand as they left the little rose-covered cottage, heading toward the ancient forests of Mangladune.

“And just where do you think you’re taking
him
?”

Izadori looked at her father’s stern face. “His
name
is Alastyn, and… I’m taking him back with us.”

Alastyn stopped short, pulling his hand free. “I don’t want to go to Mangladune. I would prefer to say my farewells here and return to Tamar Broden.”

“What’re you saying?” Izadori skipped back over, taking his hand once more. “You
must
come with us. I won’t take no for an answer. There is much I wish to show you, much you need to know. If you don’t come now, you won’t be able to find us on your own.”

“I am grateful for what you have done for Jezreel. It heals my own heart to see her so happy. But, I don’t belong with the Elves. I am a man of Ashgard.
This
is my home.”

“But you’ll be all alone,” Jezreel whined as she tried to tug him on toward the tree line. “I’ll be ever so sad if you stay here. What’s left for you in Tamar Broden? Nothing, that’s what. But… if you come with me, you may find happiness.”

“My happiness will never come from those withered old trees.” He pulled her to him, hugging her fiercely. “Jenevier would be so happy for you.
I
am so happy for you. Go, Jezreel. Have many beautiful babies. And may you live ten thousand years before you see your first wrinkle.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll stay here, dear friend. You know where to find me if ever you’re lonely and wish someone to fight with.” He smiled tenderly and turned to leave.

“She’s not coming back, Alastyn,” she whispered. “You’ll sit there all alone, until your days are spent, without ever laying eyes upon her again. Please, Brother. Come with me. I love you too much to say goodbye.”

Alastyn only waved his hand back over his head, continuing on his way to the little cottage. Back to the one place containing the only hope he had left in this cruel world.

“Come, my love.” Kias took Jezreel’s trembling hand. “We will keep a close eye on him, always. I will see that no harm comes to him.”

“Yes, and I believe I shall start making regular visits to your handsome friend.” Izadori kept her eyes on Alastyn’s departing back. “One day, perhaps he will let me heal him as you have been healed, little sister. Let us go before Father becomes even more cross with us.” She giggled as she ran into the forest and disappeared.

Jezreel waited a moment longer until her old friend was out of sight.

Kias wove his fingers through hers. “Come, mi Sharna.”

She turned then, following her charming husband to her magical new home, with tears on her cheeks and joy in her heart.

“…Mi Shafeal,” she barely whispered.

*****

Alastyn made some tea and sat by the fire.

The hypnotic little flames sparked and hissed, blessedly lulling him to blissful sleep. There in his peaceful dreams, the same as every night since they had first met, Alastyn dreamt of holding Jenevier in his arms—winding her lovely curls around his fingers, listening contentedly as she told him all about her day and how madly she missed him while they were apart.

This was as close to heaven as he ever hoped to be.