Page 26 of Lady of Starfire
“You fault Serafina for falling in love with Arius instead of Achaz?” Cyrus asked.
“What is love?” the Sorceress replied. “Love changes the course of the realms. It upsets the balance.Theyupset the balance.”
“Arius and Serafina?”
“They upset the balance. They could have ended one war, and instead started another. And now they must pay the price to right it,” the Sorceress continued. “He hunts them. All life they created—together and separately. He will not rest until not one remains, until dreams are gone and death is dead. Not until they have answered for their betrayal. But there are many realms. He could not find them all on his own, so he created new life.”
“The seraphs?” Cyrus asked, trying to piece together everything she was saying.
“They aid him, but he createdmore,” the Sorceress said, her smile widening. “He created the Hunters. Night and shadows thought she could hide them behind the mirrors, but she cannot outsmart him. Oh, no.” She tipped her head back, an eerie laugh coming from her throat. “Her own flesh and blood let the Hunters into this world, into her own kingdom, and when the gateway is unlocked, they will return and tell him what they have learned. Then he will come for them all, and the Maraan Prince shall pay for his failure unless he can fix his errors before he arrives.”
“Who are the Hunters?” Cyrus asked.
“Whatare the Hunters,” the Sorceress corrected, her head tilting as she began studying him once more.
“What are the Hunters?” Cyrus agreed.
“You do not know?”
Cyrus shifted on the ground. “No?”
“But you were across the Edria,” she said, watching him carefully. “The Cursed King did not tell you?”
“Tell us what?” Cyrus asked, unease creeping up his spine at her referring to Cethin as ‘the Cursed King.’
Her lips tilted again. “Perhaps he will not need to come here after all.”
Cyrus was silent, trying to think of how to pose his next question in a way that would keep her talking, but she spoke again first.
“Would you like to make a bargain?”
“No,” he said immediately.
“I will tell you of the Hunters if you tell me where my spell book is,” she continued as though he had not spoken.
“No,” he repeated.
Her lips pursed, and her shoulders fell in disappointment. “We were having a pleasant conversation, and you ruined it.”
He’d been nibbling on some stale bread while she spoke. He didn’t eat a lot, never knowing what kind of nightmare she was going to throw him into next. At her obvious displeasure, he set the bread off to the side.
“Would you like to hear another story?” she asked suddenly.
And he could tell by the look on her face this was a bad idea. But would it be worse than her dragging him back into a memory or Merrik or Thia? He doubted it.
“Sure,” he said, tipping his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. “Tell me a happy one this time.”
“A happy one?” she repeated. “Like a story oflove?”
“Fuck,” Cyrus muttered. He should have known better.
“In all things there must be balance,” she started, and he relaxed a bit when the story started the same way the others had. “Love is no different. It has the power to create balance, but more often creates chaos.”
That…was actually a fairly accurate statement when he really thought about it.
“When the gods began to have offspring with the mortals, the Legacy came into being. Some said they loved their mortal partners. Others simply did not want the other gods to have something they did not. But as more and more Legacy were born, the gods began to fear being overthrown by their children.”
“I thought this was supposed to be about love?” Cyrus said.