Chapter 45: The Radiant’s Inspiration

Note: Thanks to WRC 264 for beta reading this!

Sven Falk

I sighed as I watched Aingeal swooping down at me. I brushed off the clod of dirt from my shoulder, noting the purple outline around me. I wouldn’t escape. This would be so much easier if my women weren’t so Las-damned skilled.

Umbral shadows melted off of me, revealing my form. I turned to face Aingeal only to see Zanyia streaking at me at a full run. I only had a moment to set myself before she slammed into me. I grunted, her weight crashing into my body, her arms and legs hugging tight about me, clinging to me in that desperate, passionate way only my lamia slave could. My armor’s strength kept me upright from the force.

“Zanyia!” I groaned, voice tight from the impact.

“I’m not letting you go, Master!” Zanyia said. “You own me. You don’t get to leave me behind.”

Aingeal landed a moment before I could answer, her hands on her hips, her large, naked breasts bouncing. “What is going on, husband?” she demanded, anger rippling across her face. “Why are you running!”

In the background, horses galloped towards us. My other women had followed my example. They would be here soon. Maybe I could convince Aingeal and Zanyia to let me go. Without their abilities, I would slip away from the other women.

The pain swelled in my heart as I said, “I have to leave Kora.”

“What?” Aingeal asked.

“You’re not going anywhere, Master,” Zanyia said, crushing me with her lithe limbs.

“What do you mean, you have to leave Kora?” demanded Aingeal, a look of such confusion on her face.

Hooves slowed. “Leave me?” Kora asked as she reigned up, her pink robes hugging her body. She looked so tiny atop the tall warhorse. “Why would you have to leave me, brother mine?”

I groaned, the pain in her blue eyes stabbing into my heart. I wanted to avoid this. It would be an easier wound, a clean slice instead of a ragged cut, if I had slipped away without having to say these words, but...

I owed it to them to explain. I could see it in their faces as the others reined up. They dismounted, rushing around me. Kora looking stunned, the others assaulting me with questions, demanding answers. I was a coward to slip off without telling them.

I had to be a man and explain why I was breaking their hearts...

“Please, brother mine,” Kora said, her eyes liquid, “why are you doing this?”

I wrenched my gaze from her and settled on Ava. She clutched herself, the wind rustling her strawberry-blonde locks. “Ava ... I know you want me to settle down and rule but ... what if I can’t? What if I need to have adventures?”

“And?” she asked.

“Even if I don’t, even if I can do that, even if I can stick around and help, I would be working to putting your princedom to right. That would require a lot of moving around.”

Ava nodded her head. “It will be. I can’t possibly hold all the territory my father conquered. We’ll have to negotiate with the other princes, release land. The negotiations will probably last years. You’re shrewd. I need you.”

“And that means travel, travel, travel.” I glanced back at my sister. “But you need stability to practice your art. Rithi ... She...” I took a deep breath. “I’m leaving you, Kora.” I gripped my fists. My words sounded so foolish. I hated myself for every word I said. But I had to make sure it stuck. I had to make sure Kora understood. “We’re siblings. What we have isn’t right. We can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t be around you at all. I never should have taken your virginity. I never should have surrendered to the weakness in my heart.”

Instead of pain, anger exploded across my sister’s face.

Kora Falk

“Not right!” I shrieked. “A mistake?”

I marched at my brother, his face twisted with an expression I had never seen on him. It was almost like contempt, or even disgust, but it wasn’t directed at me. It was directed at himself. His eyes grew dull. He shifted, Zanyia turning her head to stare up at him. “You don’t believe that one whit. I know you, Sven Falk! You don’t hold back. You had no reservations when you took my virginity. You never regretted once what we shared. You reveled in it!”

He shifted but held his gaze. His expression hardened like clay drying beneath the withering heat of the kiln.

“So why are you saying this... ?” My words trailed off. “You made a deal with Rithi and ... She...” I shook my head. After returning from Faerie, Ealaín talked to me about leaving my brother, hinting that it wasn’t right for me to be with him, that my art suffered. Now Sven said that same thing. He wanted to drive me away with these lies.

“Ealaín wanted me to leave you. She kept nudging me in that direction for a while. I just thought she didn’t understand you. When she finally surrendered to your passion after we killed the naga, I thought she understood that you were necessary for me, but ... You had already bargained with Rithi. During the miracle! Didn’t you, brother mine?”

“If I don’t let you go,” Sven said, his voice sounding dead, bereft of any hope. What little light remained in his blue eyes died. A purr rose from Zanyia. She nuzzled against him like she was trying to show him differently. “If I don’t leave you, Kora, then you all die. You, Zanyia, Aingeal, and Nathalie. Rithi will take back her miracle.” His shoulders bowed, crushed by an unseen force.

Gasps echoed from the other women. Zanyia’s purring stopped. She trembled, holding him so tight. “Master...” she whispered. “Oh, Master, that’s horrible.”

“And she’ll let me live knowing my selfishness got you killed so...” Sven took a deep breath. That hardened expression returned. The self-loathing twisted his features. He spat out, “We’re done!”

His words slapped me.

He whirled around in place, Zanyia still clinging to him. He marched away, not bothering to hide, his back straight. The lamia stared at me over his shoulder, her golden eyes wide, her face pale. Even her triangular ears had fallen. Nathalie sobbed nearby.

“Sven,” groaned Ava, her voice thick with pain.

My heart wanted to break. This was terrible. Monstrous. He was destroying himself to save me. Us. He loved us that much that he would rip out his heart. I clutched at my breasts, my own heart screaming in pain.

“No!” I shouted, such anger surging through me, swallowing my agony. “Rithi!”

Ealaín – The Adamant Palace, The Astral Realm

The walls of The Adamant Palace quivered with Kora’s rage. Her words echoed through the halls. I lifted my head from the comfort of my mother’s embrace. She soothed me in my death. My soul had returned to my home. Rithi stiffened, lifting her head from me.

Kora was a Radiant, a priestess of my mother. She could commune to the Goddess. Every time a priestess prayed, or used divine magic, it echoed through the walls, whispering to my mother. Normally, it didn’t shake the foundations.

Kora’s righteous anger assaulted The Adamant Palace.

“Fool girl,” Rithi said. Her face tightened. She had the same midnight-hue to her flesh as me and my aoi si sisters.