The Veiled One

Chapter Twenty-Eight: All's well that ends well

We land in Endor's makeshift bedroom in Sibyl's castle. The tapestry bed's sheets are perfectly made, probably thanks to whatever forces keep this castle running when we're not here. I tear the sheets back, gently laying Endor down on the mattress. He shifts in his sleep, and I pull the coverlet back over him.

Sighing, I pull an armchair over from the sitting room and put it next to the bed. I settle myself in it, propping my feet on a nearby ottoman. Sibyl looks on, puzzled.

"What are you doing?" she asks, lingering behind one of the bedposts.

"I'm going to wait here until he wakes up," I decide. "And also..." I murmur a few words and the crown that had been in the throne room appears in my hand. "I have to touch an object in order to do this, but..."

Sibyl's face takes on a look of wonderment, and I think that maybe I've scared her.

"I'm going to try to only do good things with this magic now, Sibyl. I lost myself, and for a minute, I was going to choose revenge over my last surviving family member. If that's what this magic pushed me to, it's for the best that I learn to control it."

"It's not going to be easy," Sibyl warns me, backing towards the door.

"I understand that. But with your help, I think I can manage it."

Sibyl smiles at me, then leaves the room.

"I'll let you and Endor spend some time together. He's missed you these past few weeks."

The door closes behind her with a soft thud, and I turn to my sleeping brother. I take his hand in both of mine, stroking the back of his palm with the tips of my fingers.

"What's happening to you?" I murmur. "We've got to find a way to get these visions under control!"

Endor shifts slightly, then blinks open his eyes.

"Sylas?" he croaks weakly. I smooth the hair from his forehead; it's too short to tie back, but it's getting longer.

"I'm here," I whisper.

"Sylas, I think..."

"What? What is it?"

"I think that you and I are... more powerful than anything the world has ever seen."

I frown. "Why do you say that?"

"That crown... in your hands." Endor points to the king's crown, which is propped on my lap. I hold it out to him, but he shrinks away as if it's poisonous.

"Do you see that gem at the top of the tallest spire?" I nod. There's a large blue stone shot through with streaks of green and brown. It's a beautiful, milky stone that would look wonderful as a necklace, maybe as a present for Sibyl on our...

"Sylas!" Endor's voice brings me back to the conversation at hand. I examine the stone more closely and feel a strange... sensation. Not a pull, exactly. More like... a gentle tug, almost like when someone snags your fingers lightly from behind. Intrigued, I bend over and press the tip of my finger to the stone.

Instantly a flood of power surges through me, coursing through my blood and shaking me to the core. I shudder as if jolted by electricity, because that's what this is. It's pure, undiluted magic, stronger even than what I was dealing with previously. In fact, it makes what Lisentia could do seem like a parlor trick at a jester's show.

Magic explodes out of me in waves of pure light, so bright I screw my eyes shut and Endor ducks away. Finally, with an ominous rumbling of the floor as it settles down again, I relax. I stare, open-mouthed, at the stone in the crown.

Sibyl comes running in.

"What was that noise? And that shock! It felt like an earthquake!" she cries, skidding to a halt when she sees the expression on Endor's and my faces.

"There's a stone on this crown that just... Power just came..." I can't even find the words to speak, and my voice is hoarse, as if I haven't drunk in a million years. Sibyl crosses the room quickly to investigate.

She looks at the stone, then backs away and kisses her fingers five times, fumbling and nearly completing a sixth before catching herself.

"What?" I demand, startled and alarmed to see her making that gesture. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"That... that's no ordinary stone," Sibyl whispers. "That's part of Lisentia's Heart."

"Heart? Just how many body parts does this woman have lying around?" I cry, throwing up my hands in exasperation. Sibyl shoots me a nasty look.

"What? I can't help it! Don't deny you were thinking the exact same thing."

"Anyway," Sibyl continues a little more pointedly, "when my siblings and I were born, Lisentia... feared that we could be used against her, prevent her from taking power. So she tore out her heart and broke it into five pieces. One for..."

"...each of you," I finish. Sibyl nods.

"But if the king has a piece, and he's from your bloodline, it stands to reason that there's one for each of the noble houses. After all, they're the only ones with magic."

"Dammit," I curse. Endor reaches for my hand and squeezes tightly, his eyes pleading with me to be calm, to fix the situation. Except I don't know how to fix something like this. I don't think there's any sort of right answer to this question I'm trying to solve. Just when I think that there's a chance that we're finally done, that we've won, something comes along to ruin the little bit of happiness I've worked so hard to create.

"How did the houses get the pieces?" Endor ventures. Sibyl shrugs.

"I don't know. But the fact that you and Sylas could touch it and didn't die means something big. That's twice now you've handled artifacts of enormous magical magnitude. I don't understand how you're still alive."

"Thanks for your confidence in me," I mumble. "And anyway, it was three times. Remember The Tales of the Arcana?"

"You're right. But I wonder... Sylas, whose idea was it for you to go to your house and take revenge?"

I frown, remembering the way Lisentia's pale spirit had come to me, the way even she had been doubtful of my true powers.

"Your mother told me about her secret library, and I found a book on magical ethics there. It got me thinking, and that's when I decided enough was enough."

Sibyl's jaw is set, her face grim.

"Then she wanted you to find that stone, no mistake. Even from beyond the grave, my mother has something planned. And like it or not, we're all a part of it."

She stands and wanders over to the window, staring out at the darkness gathering for a long time before turning back to Endor and me, the light making it impossible to see her features.

"Something's coming, something much more momentous and unavoidable than before. Somehow, you and Endor gained powers beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and I'm telling you that it was no accident. Lisentia wants you for some reason, and it's our job to figure out why. But in the meantime..."

Sibyl snaps her fingers, and three lap tables filled with miniature portions of a feast appear on Endor's nightstand.

"Let's eat!"

The End