Read Online Darkness Risen (The Ava'Lonan Herstories Book 4) by Ako Emanuel - Free Book Online Page B

Queen
than as a mother.
    “She seems to be in a joining that is stronger than
any D’rad’ni has come across. It is so advanced that the ol’bey’woman suspects
- that it might be something akin to the Solu’san. There are overtones of
death-defiance in it, but there are other, unexplained components. She feels it
is unlikely that she would be able to sever the link without killing the Heir
and the other she is attached to.”
    Audola sat down slowly, assimilating this
information a bit at a time. And she reached the same conclusion that Luyon had
reached and that accounted for his reticence. Only one other link like this had
ever been documented, and that was Jenikia. And the Lor’av’ona creature.
    “And who is she linked to?” Audola asked, not
looking up.
    “That the Heir has not said, but she said that she
came close to what she was looking for,” Luyon reported.
    “That creature ,” the words slipped out,
bitter and anger-filled. Luyon’s hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her
close.
    “It seems he saved her,” he said gently, trying to
soften the blow. “He did pull her back from the brink of death.”
    “Yes, but what else did he do to her? The Solu’san?
How could she have a link so advanced, a link that formed in ten’turns what
would not even form after tens of cycles, unless she committed the Solu’san?
What if the eyes of the Goddesses and the Supreme One have turned away from
her? The future of the Realm is resting on her shoulders. If she is rendered
illegitimate because of this, we will have played right into our enemies’
hands.”
    Luyon wrapped comforting arms around her. “Then we
will just have to determine whether she is still fit to rule,” he said
matter-of-factly.
    Audola looked back at him and poured her fear into
his supportive hands. “And if she isn’t?”
    “Then,” he said, resting his chin on her shoulder
and kissing her cheek, “there may be a way to make her so.”
    Audola did not protest as his arms tightened and he
kissed her again. She gave him her fear and worry, and he gave her possible
solutions. And she thanked the Supreme One again for his presence.

 
    CHAPTER
IV

     
    seething with hatred and purple with
rage, the darkness turned..
    ...Gav’av’aron limped beside Cedagav, his left hind
leg still sore from his cousin’s hoof - as was his chest. They entered the obin’toyo
and there, in the dark, was the self-same cousin Mendicuv. Ol’bey’women were
gathered around him, and his low moans were counterpoint to their whispered
chants and finger drums.
    Cedagav
watched them work for a long moment, then turned to his adopted half-son.
    “See
what you have wrought,” he said, without rancor or rebuke. “You are Coaltam -
you are held to a higher standard than others.”
    “Yes,
Cedagav,” Gav’av’aron said in a subdued voice. “I was defending myself.” He
said it as undefensively as he could. “I did not provoke him.”
    “Yes,
I know, Coaltam. I am not blaming or chastising. But as Coaltam, and one turn,
Stallyn, you must take responsibility for the actions of others - like
Mendicuv. And since your actions harmed him, you will help heal him. And though
he hates you for taking what he saw as his rightful place, you must love him
like a brother and look out for his well-being. One turn you will show him who
leads the Herd. But you must still love him because he is part of the Herd.”
    Gav’av’aron
did not argue. He stepped forward, then looked at the other with a question.
    “And
will he look out for my well-being, should I need it?”
    Cedagav’s
deep black, copper-flecked eyes narrowed slightly. “Very good Coaltam. You are
right to question. The problem of one is the problem of all, in the Herd. If
the two of you cannot resolve this between yourselves, then the Clan Herds will
find a way to resolve it for you.”
    With
that slightly ominous, matter of fact statement, Cedagav left. Gav’av’aron
moved closer, feeling just the