Prisoner of Chaos (Redemption Book #4)

Chapter 42

Kyla

"Kyla!" Helle exclaims the second she catches sight of me. She rushes to embrace me and I'm aware of her growing abdomen. She pulls back and smiles hugely, holding her distending belly with pride.

I'll never experience this kind of pregnancy. For some reason I don't want to tell her about the fact that instead of carrying a child I now have an egg waiting on an island all alone.

"How are you feeling, my sister?" I ask her. 

"Very well! I only was sick a little," Helle answers with a grin. "But why have you returned?"

"I'm not marrying Wes. Ever," I say pointedly.

Helle cocks an eyebrow. "What happened? You need to share some details!"

"Far too much to explain," I say with a sigh. "But the end result is, Erlund is about to go to war with us and Dark magic has a hold on this world as it never has before."

"I was hoping to hear better tidings," Helle says, frowning in worry.

I don't blame her. As a fellow mother about to have a child in this world of chaos, I'm just as concerned.

"What are we going to do then?" Helle asks.

"Stand our ground and fight," I say with a shrug. "What else can we do anyway?"

"Kyla, is there something you're not telling me?" Helle studies my face, she knows I'm holding back, but I can't bring myself to discuss my odd reproductive situation. Helle doesn't need to worry anymore for me than she already is. Especially while she's pregnant with her baby.

"No, I'm just happy to see you after everything that happened," I say. "It's been so long, how are you doing with Kalvar and Anette?"

"As I told you before, I believe I like Anette as a friend. We get along quite well. In fact, I learned she herself was antagonized by her controlling sister, so despite the sorrow over Ava's death, I can tell she's not exactly surprised by her sister's way of handling things over here... or her betrayals," Helle says solemnly, I know she's recalling her miscarriage, and the Sorceress breaching the palace because of Ava. "I have a feeling Kalvar will eventually warm up to Anette and accept her as more than an accessory for an alliance."

"You mean he doesn't treat her like his wife?" I stop myself from saying or thinking more about it. I already know more than I'd like to about my brother's love life.

Helle laughs at my blush. "Not trying to be awkward, but I know Annette is in love with Kalvar's good looks already. I think once he gets over what happened with Ava, he'll come around for her."

I cough to stop her from giving me anymore details and say hurriedly, "I hope that you can all be a happy family."

"Me too," Helle says, resting a hand on her baby belly. "For my child's sake especially."

The way Helle tenderly cares about her baby tortures me. Just because I'm afraid of the egg, doesn't mean I don't already feel an incredible yearning to hold it just as Helle holds her baby inside her.

Rift

As the day passes my strength is returning at an alarming speed. Dark energy buzzes in the air like a heavy curtain all throughout Underland. I wonder if Kyla can sense it too. I'm practically able to trace myself to travel again.

Which means we're screwed.

My dark powers should be diminishing not returning now that the Dark Lord has left me.

On a more positive side, having him out of my head makes my thoughts clearer than ever. Perhaps if he hadn't been there in the first place I'd have a level enough head to discover a way to defeat him instead of resurrecting his body.

The Sanctuary is at peace when I arrive riding my elefont at it's gates.

Here where the lilies sway in a tropical breeze, no one would know the storm coming unless they could feel magic like I can. I'm sure my father can sense it.

Brother Karl is out on his hands and knees tilling the Sanctuary gardens. His white priest's smock is covered in dirt as he rises upon seeing me.

"Rift," he says my name, giving me a wary eye. It's clear he's never going to feel safe around me.

And that's alright with me.

"Brother Karl!" I shout from the other side of the gates. "How is Father Ryland?"

"He's well," Brother Karl says, swiping the mud from his hands. "A little too well even..." Brother Karl adds under his breath, "Arlite, where does he find these people?"

I assume he's referring to Belinda's exotic presence at the Sanctuary. I'd left them with Belinda still wearing next to nothing, showing off her well endowed breasts and pierced nipples.

Don't you see? I'm just here to make your job more fun, Brother Karl.

"Will you let him know I'm here and that I need to talk with him?" I say, dismounting from my elefont onto the soggy ground, but I'll take soggy over trudging through snow drifts.

"Why don't you go in there yourself?" Karl asks. He walks over to me and narrows his eyes, studying me. "You're not possessed anymore, are you?"

"How do you know?" I ask raising me eyebrows and regarding him curiously.

"I may not be gifted in Light magic like Father Ryland, but I've spent enough time serving the way of Light to see when it exists in someone."

"Should I start donning priest robes then?" I ask him with a chuckle.

"Not even close!" Karl snorts, and a ghost of a smile twitches the corners of his mouth. "I suppose I can get Father Ryland for you, mage."

"Appreciate it," I mutter, shaking my head at him as he walks into the Sanctuary. I gaze up at the sky, the sun beats down hot after the recent rainstorm causing a mist to rise up from the ground.

"Rift!" Father Ryland says, Belinda follows close behind him like a puppy dog. She's wearing a priest's smock, and I can tell how annoyed she is by it because she keeps pulling at the scratchy fabric.

"I'm glad to see you on your feet, father," I say. "And you Belinda, do you like being out of that stuffy tomb?"

"Yes, I like this man, I've decided I will follow him instead of the Dark Lord," Belinda says, nodding at Father Ryland. "His magic is beautiful, and he is quite kind. He told that mean man at the entrance that I wasn't a prostitute and that even if I was I had as much a right to be in the Sanctuary as him."

I can't conceal my snort of laughter.

Father Ryland looks at her with a grin. "She can teleport us anywhere we need to go. So where do you want to go first, Rift?"

"How about Nyst?" Kyla says, her voice coming from above us. She lands with purpose on the roof of the Sanctuary in her human form, and I'll confess, I'm kind of turned on by it. "I've got a baby on that island, and I'm not leaving it there a second longer!"