A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 39

As Jabez had foreseen, he was right, and he could tell from the moment they walked into the conference chamber.

The councilmembers watched them enter with softer and more inquisitive gazes, and their postures lacked the sticks-up-their-arses quality from before. Ulric had his arms folded like he was a petulant child who hadn’t gotten his way, and his refusal to look upon Jabez was telling.

With Zylah kneeling at his side, he had to refrain from grinning like an overconfident bastard. He kept his back straight, leaned his head back superiorly, and let his eyes trail across the faces in front of him.

Silveria was the first to speak. Despite her gentle and angelic voice, she addressed them firmly. He had a feeling she was the one to deliver the news due to how soothing her voice was.

She looked down at a small pile of neatly stacked parchment in front of her. “We have decided to approve your stay within the city so long as you adhere to a few rules.”

I figured there would be restrictions placed upon us , Jabez thought, as his grin finally filled his features. So, here is where we’ll be staying.

More than ever, he was thankful for Zylah refocusing his thoughts when he’d been struggling to on his own. If it hadn’t been for her, he wouldn’t have had the clarity to speak of what likely helped them make this decision.

“Firstly, until we are fully confident that we can trust you, we will be assigning you a guard who will follow you wherever you go. Any form of evading them will be considered a violation, and you will only have a limited amount of strikes before we deem you incapable of following our rules. This means that you will be allowed the use of your magic within the city, and we believe that to be a fair compromise – unless you’d prefer it to be the other way around.”

He’d expected them to restrict him in some way, but not that he’d have an option of choosing how they did so.

“I would prefer a guard,” he answered, refusing to have his magic locked away. “Will Zylah have one as well?”

“Temporarily, yes. You’re a pair, and we can’t afford for you to distract us while she goes off to enact any potential plans.” Silveria nodded and then looked down at the parchment once more. “Secondly, if you are found anywhere near the room that holds the mana stone to our protective dome, where our soldiers are housed and train, or anywhere near the walls of the city without permission, we will consider this a breach of security and you will immediately be thrown from the city. Considering your ability to teleport on a whim, we’ll be increasing our watch in those areas, and those there will flee from you to inform us of your trespassing.”

“That sounds justified to me,” he easily conceded.

“Good. If you instigate any violence within the city, steal, or do anything that would be considered a crime, we will punish you how we punish everyone.” She lifted her gaze from the parchment just to narrow it at him. “We will imprison you temporarily, and your mate will join you. If you commit manslaughter, whether incidentally or purposefully, you will be thrown from the city, but we will place our magic nullifying bracers on you as additional punishment for such callousness.”

“Tsk.” Jabez clicked the inside of his mouth while rolling his eyes. “That’s rather cruel.”

“We consider murder to be the vilest thing a person can do. Life is sacred, and you have already ended the lives of many upon your escape. Such a punishment would be deserved.”

“Am I allowed to defend myself?”

“No one would dare–”

“You currently have a bull-headed Duskwalker in your midst,” Jabez stated over the top of her with his eyelids lowering. “Merikh is no stranger to swinging his fists.”

Silveria’s expression inwardly cringed, and her eyes darted to the side. He wasn’t able to grasp who she looked at quick enough before she looked back at him.

“ Should you be attacked for any reason, you may defend yourself. However, we implore that you use your teleporting ability to evade such instances and ask that you report them for the record. Like I said, any death, even to a deathless creature, will not be tolerated, as it’s preventable.”

“Understood. Anything else?”

“Those are our restrictions, but we wish to discuss what you have offered, as well as make some requests.” Silveria shuffled the top page of her parchment to the back so she could keep reading. “We will take you up on your offer of obtaining mana stones for us, and we will assign you a team that we would like for you to train with.”

“I would like Merikh on that team,” Jabez quickly cut in, making a few on the council frown in confusion.

“If this is a way to get back at him,” Raewyn started, her voice ringing with concern, “then we ask that you let go of the hostility between you two. He has a justified reason to be angry with you.”

“Hostility?” Jabez stated with his head rearing back before he shook it. “It has nothing to do with hostility. He’s likely the strongest being within the city, including myself. His echidna quills make him the best at defence, his large size would be a formidable blockade against a swarm of Demons, and he is ruthless in battle. If I’m going to endanger myself, I would rather the best chances of success. Now that I’m aware he is the Duskwalker in the city, I’d rather he was the one watching my back. To be honest, assigning a team would be useless when all I would need is him. Everyone else would just get in our way.”

Although what he said was true, he did have an ulterior motive for requesting Merikh.

Jabez didn’t want some snivelling, weak, inexperienced soldier protecting him. He hated people who were overconfident when they were actually nothing but a bumbling babe. They’d been locked behind these walls their entire lives and had likely rarely left the city to face any real danger.

Jabez imagined he would end up needing to protect them instead, as many would freeze up and piss their pants if a Demon were to attack them in the wild. And should he fail to save their lives, he’d be blamed for it. They could accuse him of killing them, or that he didn’t care enough to prevent their death.

He’d rather avoid such an argument in the future.

He could protect himself, and Merikh would just be additional muscle and his handler for these councilmembers.

“We would have to ask him if he would be willing to work with you,” Raewyn stated quietly.

“He’s not wrong, though,” Cleth translated for Mericato, who had a faraway look in his green eyes. “I’ve seen Merikh spar with my soldiers, and he is completely untouchable. We were concerned for Jabez’s safety while he risked serious injury to procure stones, but this could be an alternative to endangering him, and it would prevent the possible loss of my soldiers. They’re both deathless.”

When no one objected, a grin so large it revealed the full expanse of his fangs beamed from him. Ha! You fucker. I’ll force you to my side if need be, and if you give me shit like earlier, I’ll make you eat your own tail.

Hopefully over time, he could find out what Merikh had shoved up his non-existent asshole and get the big guy back on his side.

Because, if he were being honest, the likelihood of Jabez befriending anyone within the city was low. Considering he distrusted everyone, was disgusted by Elysians, and was probably hated within the city for his past actions, kindling any friendships was doubtful. He could tolerate Merikh, and hopefully they became what they had once been: companions.

It was something he could look forward to.

“Regarding your secret revolving around Demon completion, we’ll have you speak with Raewyn tomorrow so we can begin that project immediately. We’ll be keeping you close, so you will remain in the central tree for the time being, and we’ll have our soldiers escort you both to your new home after this meeting. You may relocate after you’ve gained our trust and we no longer feel the need to keep guards on you.”

I don’t care where we are so long as they don’t disturb me often. The central tree was usually the nicest place to live, so at least that was a benefit, but it meant he’d be at their every beck and call.

“Regarding the potential of building a Demon village, we’ll discuss this at length with you in the near future. There are still a lot of concerns and unknowns, but we’re fully open to the idea of helping those outside our walls and obtaining peace. Since you already have experience in establishing such a feat, we’ll seek your advice regarding this. Consider that a token of our faith in you, as your involvement will be vital, but it also poses a risk we’re aware of.”

A sense of relief washed over him that they were open to the idea. At least part of his goal could be achieved.

“And what of those in Spiral Haven?”

Silveria’s lips thinned momentarily. “If it’s the best option, and we’re able to make contact with Weldir to see if it’s viable, we’ll consider it. We’d like to remove the Demons from Earth if possible, and we’ll reveal ourselves to the humans in order to take back their world once we have managed to save our own. We’re aware that we have a lot to make up for there, as well as to the Anzúli who have aided us. If Spiral Haven is a start to making amends, then we’d like to go down that route.” Then Silveria clasped her hands on the table before her, as if she was done reading her notes, and met his gaze. “We have two final requests of you. Firstly, Zerik was interested in the texts you found in Tck’ith. Can you elaborate on the state of the mountain library?”

Jabez’s brow cocked, and he shifted his eyes to the man to his left. The elderly Elysian gave him a sheepish smile, his eyes hungry for knowledge and the ability to preserve it. Jabez figured he was still the head of the library here in Nyl’theria, even after all these years.

“The main area is completely decimated,” he stated, making the man’s smile fall. “However, the inner sanctum does have a few books that have survived. I will admit, my discovery of it has rapidly increased its deterioration, but I could obtain everything there easily since no Demons have ever found it.”

“Whatever you are able to procure, even if it’s just one book, I will be pleased with,” Zerik offered. “Thank you.”

“The last note on our agenda is the magic you have obtained,” Silveria stated firmly. “Merikh has recounted all he knows of your abilities and the spells he’s witnessed you use.”

“Has he now?” Jabez said with a smile, despite clenching his jaw in vexation.

“We would like for you to teach us what you can, especially the spell that protects Demons from the sun. Merikh said not only can you shield just your body, but also an entire castle. Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the Delysians within the city would be greatly appreciated.”

“I will teach you everything that I’m willing,” Jabez answered, lifting his chin defiantly. “Much of what I’ve learned would be considered taboo, cursed, or wrong – such as the ability to transplant body parts to myself in order to regenerate limbs. I also won’t teach anyone how to teleport.”

“Why not?” Ulric snapped out, bashing the side of his fist against his tabletop.

“It’s always good to keep your most valuable attribute close to your chest,” Jabez stated with a dull expression and his lids lowering in disinterest. “I like being powerful and needed. Makes me feel important.”

He pushed his bottom lip forward to feign a pout and fluttered his eyes coyly.

When Ulric opened his mouth to be pissy, Silveria quickly spoke before him.

“Agreed. We already discussed the possibility of you rejecting such a request, so the fact that you are willing to teach us some things is better than we hoped for. Your sun barrier is what we are most interested in, although your ability to create stable portals with nothing but a wave of your hand is also high on our priority list.”

“I don’t think you will be pleased if I reveal the main requirement for such magic,” Jabez answered, and sheepishly averted his gaze to the ceiling. “You may throw us from the city once you learn of it.”

A few of the councilmembers shared wary looks due to his dark, humour-filled tone.

Silveria waved her hand towards Mericato, and the soundproofing dome from the first meeting enclosed them. They had a quick conversation in private amongst the council to discuss what he’d said. Once they were done, it disappeared.

“If you’re willing to share it, we have agreed that we’ll overlook it and our approval will still stand,” Silveria stated.

“I have your vow on that?” Jabez asked, and she confirmed. “It requires the use of gilded ore.”

Ulric stood so fast that his chair knocked back and crashed against the ground, then he bashed both his palms against the table. “That’s sacrilege! No one is allowed to touch the Gilded Maiden’s tears! To mine such ore is one of the few restrictions the deities have placed upon us.”

“She is a goddesse who rules over Elysians, not Demons,” Jabez told him, his grin widening.

“You are an Elf, whether you accept it or not!”

“And yet here I kneel, unscathed,” Jabez rebuffed. “In order to control such chaotic magic, you need a power source strong enough to withstand it. I also used such ore to extend the life of a human well beyond her years, something considered impossible with a regular mana stone.”

The ore itself was difficult to mine, and its metal was so soft that it dripped like tears when touched. The moment he touched it, his hands had started to decay and his veins had blackened like flaming ink had slipped inside his bloodstream. He’d torn his own forearm off to prevent it from infecting the rest of his body, and it’d taken him multiple attempts at finding a material that could withstand it. Solidifying it was also difficult, and Jabez had success using only a tiny amount mixed with other metals. Once combined with other ore and the aid of prolonged stabilising magic, it was usable.

At the ashen, sickened expressions in the chamber, he brought his head forward to meet Silveria’s annoyed gaze. “You made a vow, or is the word of your people so hollow?”

“We can’t allow this,” Ulric bit. “He will curse us all for such actions. The Gilded Maiden will not look down on us favourably should we allow such wickedness into our city.”

“Sit down,” Cleth demanded at the man, before folding their arms and leaning back. “You did say you were cunning. You knew we would be outraged, yet you still dared to speak the truth while forcing us into a corner.”

“Is there anything else?” Jabez asked, tilting his head condescendingly. “I tire of being in this stuffy chamber.”

“No,” Silveria said as she motioned to another councilmember. They promptly stood to walk towards the exit doors. “Upon entry into the city, we provide everyone with a home and their own personal pouch of coin. You are free to go, but remember what we spoke about here today, Jabeziryth, and remember, we will be watching you closely.”

He stood just as the door to the conference chamber opened and two guards came to release him and Zylah.

“I have a final request,” he stated as he rubbed at one of his wrists once he was freed.

“Speak it.”

“Stop calling me Jabeziryth,” he demanded, cutting her a glare from the side. “I haven’t worn that name since I was a child, and not even my family spoke it. My name is Jabez.”

When they agreed, a deep, overwhelming sense of triumph crashed over him. He’d won.

Walking side by side with Zylah, he caught her looking down at her unbound wrists when they were exiting the chamber. “Are we staying?” she asked.

Placing his palm over her waist and pulling her closer with a smile curling his lips, he answered, “We are.”

I’ll speak to them in the future about what she can do here. He would also obtain books for her to study Nyl’kira so she could speak to everyone freely and integrate into this society.

He was curious to see what she’d make of herself.