Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance (Legacy #3)

36. Eviana

36

EVIANA

C urled in the chair she’d dragged over to the window, she stared out at the falling snow. As much as she hated it, there was an odd comfort in being seated here. Some sort of normalcy that allowed her to simply…be. With Valter, that chair by the window meant she wasn’t needed. There were no commands to follow or orders to carry out. Whenever he’d told her to go to her chair, a part of her would breathe a sigh of relief. Even if the respite was only for a minute. It was the singular thing she’d ever really considered her own.

Not even her flesh and blood was her own.

Eviana tipped her head back, letting her eyes fall closed. She slipped her hand in beside the cushion, feeling a large shard of the wine bottle she’d stashed there. Obviously it was still there. No one else had been in this room to take it, but she obsessively checked multiple times a day to make sure. And the one in the small dresser. The small pieces she’d carefully and painstakingly pressed into a thin shirt. It would do some damage if raked down bare flesh. There was the neck of the wine bottle under her bed, and the wineglasses themselves she’d hidden in the back of the small bathroom cabinet.

I am wasting away down here, my flower, came Valter’s voice down the bond.

She didn’t bother opening her eyes. Every time she was enjoying her solitude, he reminded her she was never truly alone.

They are not feeding you, my Lord?

Nothing of sustenance.

He meant nothing grand and fancy. He was likely receiving the food she was often served. Plain chicken and rice. Baked fish and vegetables. Not premium cuts of meat with expensive aged alcohol. It was the symbolism of it all for him, but to her, food was food.

Hopefully we will see each other soon, she consoled.

I have asked every day.

Thank you, my Lord.

He continued to ramble about the condition of the cell he was being held in, and she ran her finger over the smooth, flat side of the glass until she reached the edge. She pressed the tip of her finger to the jagged point. She felt nothing as she dragged her finger along it before lifting her hand to peer at the cut. Blood welled, running down her finger to her palm and dripping onto the pristine white chair. How much more blood would there be if she was dragging that piece of glass across Valter’s throat?

And she’d say “Thank you, my Lord” as she watched him panic, unable to breathe. Unable to scream for help.

She frowned.

She couldn’t do any of that until she made sure he was cut off from his magic. Otherwise it was pointless.

Which was annoying, but she had time.

Not as much as she used to have, but she had time.

A knock sounded, and Eviana found herself smiling. Not a big smile. Just the faintest tilt of her lips. Tessa had a specific knock. This was only her third time coming to see her, but she already recognized the sound. It was softer than a male knock, and there was a…buzzing to it. A vibrating energy. She didn’t bother getting out of the chair this time, only lifted her head to watch the female breeze through the door.

The first thing she noticed was that Tessa’s hair was pulled back today. It was half up with two combs. They were beautiful, if not a bit flashy. A silver crescent moon with black antlers on either side of them. The second thing she noticed was that Tessa was barefoot. That wasn’t surprising. What had been surprising was the last time she’d shown up here, she’d been wearing boots. Tall black boots that laced up the front and had buckles on the sides, and they’d seemed a touch too big for her. She’d taken them off by the door before settling into the same chair as before, pouring herself a glass of wine from the new bottle she’d brought.

She’d conveniently forgotten to take those boots with her when she left, and even more coincidentally, they fit Eviana perfectly. Now those boots were hidden beneath a stack of blankets neatly folded at the end of the bed.

Tessa’s hands were full, a pastry box in one hand and a wine bottle in the other. Placing everything down on the small end table, she pulled wineglasses from a swirl of magic before opening the pastry box and plucking out a doughnut with chocolate frosting.

“Want one?” Tessa asked, nudging the box an inch closer.

Eviana blinked at the sweets. Valter rarely allowed her such a thing. A piece of chocolate cake as a Winter Solstice gift. Desserts at special events, but that was it. She never really minded. Food was sustenance. Something needed to fuel her power. That was it. Some tasted better than others, but all of it served a purpose.

“How did you sneak away today?” Eviana asked, still in her chair and ignoring the pastries. She wouldn’t drink the wine until after Tessa left either.

Tessa’s smirk was all delighted mischief as she set the doughnut aside and said, “I’ve found dragons to be bigger than angels.”

That was…a bizarre statement. The girl was full of those.

“Which dragon?” Eviana asked.

Tessa paused with her glass halfway to her lips. “What do you mean which dragon?”

Valter had told her Tessa had been visiting Xan, and she seemed far too clever not to have put it together yet.

When Eviana only held her stare, Tessa slowly set her glass aside, sitting up straighter. “Of course you know he’s down there. Valter truly tells you everything, doesn’t he?”

“Not everything,” Eviana answered.

“Right. Your daughter,” she said, sitting back once more and swiping up her glass, taking a healthy sip. Her nail tapped against the glass as she contemplated something or other. Then she said, “Do you know Lange and Corbin?”

“Two of the Fae Theon claimed early this Selection,” Eviana said. “Valter was upset for a short period of time.”

He’d been particularly rough with her that night. She’d still had bruises on her hips the next morning. Normally those healed within hours, but those had taken nearly two days.

Tessa set her glass aside again, pulling the combs from her hair and laying them on the sofa beside her. Running her fingers through the strands, she tugged on the ends a little as she said, “They are friends of mine. It is why he claimed them.”

Eviana nodded.

“But I’m guessing after Valter looked into their information, he wasn’t quite so upset anymore?” she added.

“I cannot tell you my Master’s secrets,” Eviana answered, letting Valter hear the words.

They are questioning you again? Valter demanded.

They are trying, but they never succeed.

Good, Eve. Very good.

She sighed, propping her chin in her hand while she watched Tessa. She hadn’t worked out what these visits were for. Tessa truly appeared to come just to chat.

And leave her things.

“I know you can’t betray Valter,” Tessa said, picking up her wine once more. “I would never ask that of you knowing how he enjoys…correcting behavior.”

She knew nothing.

She’d never experienced Valter’s sick pleasure of inflicting pain in the name of punishment and correction. Theon had always shielded her. She’d always had someone who cared about her. Eviana could tell it was more than a Source bond the minute Theon brought her home to Arius House. The moment he’d tried to make a strike against his father at the mere mention of sharing Tessa. She’d had her vines wrapped around him, holding him hostage. She’d whispered to him how he was going to want to believe that Tessa loved him too when she finally gave in. He may have locked the girl in a wine cellar, but he would never dream of handing Tessa over to Julius and Mansel. He would have never let another carve into her flesh. Would never let another impregnate her and then tie her down while that babe was taken from her the moment she took her first breath.

He wouldn’t use an innocent child to keep her in line.

“Can you speak of Cressida?” Tessa asked, snapping Eviana back to the present.

“What of her?” Eviana replied.

Tessa shrugged. “I rarely saw her with Valter outside of dinners. What does she do all day at Arius House?”

“You want to know of her daily activities?”

“I never see Rordan’s wife either,” Tessa said with a shrug.

“Their wives are matches for breeding children.”

“I know that ,” she said. “But surely they must do something else?”

“I was always at Valter’s side. I know little of Cressida’s daily activities.”

Tessa only hummed at that, taking another bite of her doughnut. “You’ve known Theon and Axel their entire lives, right?”

“Yes.”

“And Luka?”

“His father was one of Valter’s advisors for a short period of time.”

“Interesting,” Tessa mused.

“To some people, yes.”

“How old is Valter anyway? I don’t think he’s as old as I believed.”

“Why would you believe any different?” Eviana asked.

“Because I saw your file. I know how old you are, and if you were tagged to be his Source from a young age, he would still be in his first century of life,” Tessa answered.

Eviana smirked. “So clever, yet so na?ve.”

“What does that mean?” Tessa asked, immediately defensive.

“Theon and Axel wouldn’t know any better, I suppose. But I was not Valter’s first Source.”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “His first Source died?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Eviana slipped her hand beside the cushion again, feeling the slice of the glass on her palm. “I don’t know.”

Tessa went quiet, and Eviana left her with her thoughts as she got lost in her own.

The first time she’d ever seen Valter, she’d been six years. She’d lived at the Celeste Estate. Mother Cordelia had even been her Estate Mother, just like Tessa. Eviana had never been allowed to be near the other children, and she’d never understood it. Not until decades later. Instead of sharing a room with several other females, she had a room with only one other. That female was also claimed for the Arius Kingdom during their Selection Year, although Eviana never saw her again. When the others would be sent outside to play, she was given books to study and read. Her assessments were harsher right from the beginning. Even her attire had been different.

But when she was six years, seated at her own small table in the dining hall, a male had walked in. The entire hall had fallen silent. He was tall. Handsome. Hazel eyes and black hair. Power emanated from him, but he wasn’t who had snagged her attention. It was the female Fae a step behind him. Her icy blonde hair was pin straight, and her eyes were the color of a clear sky. She was beautiful, and Eviana had immediately been enamored with her. Valter’s gaze had slid over everyone, lingering on Eviana for what felt like a full minute before Mother Cordelia had led him through the hall.

She didn’t see him again for ten years. Then his visits became more frequent, but he didn’t speak to her until she was nineteen years. Her Selection Year would be when she was twenty. The female that followed him everywhere appeared more and more haunted each time Eviana saw her. Three months before the Selection Year was to begin, she disappeared all together. Two months before, she learned Valter planned to Select her as a replacement. One month before, she had a “trial run” with Valter. The night before her Emerging Ceremony was the night she was introduced to Mansel and Julius.

That was the night she gave in to the life the Fates had given her.

That was the night she died inside.

Became nothing but a vessel.

That was the night she stopped feeling anything.

That was the night it didn’t matter what sins stained her name.

And the day that child was ripped away from her was the day she’d been reborn with a singular purpose.

“The Sirana Gala is next week,” Tessa said, filling the silence.

“A frivolous night,” Eviana replied. “Surely you are expected to fetch a fair sum.”

“What?” Tessa asked with a frown.

Eviana rolled her eyes. The girl truly was na?ve. “Sirana is the goddess of love and fertility, but the Legacy use it as an excuse for orgies and debauchery. The Sources are traditionally offered up for one night to the highest bidder. Then again, you are not a normal Source, so perhaps you will be spared such theatrics.”

Tessa’s wineglass slipped from her fingers, shattering on the floor as lightning flickered in her eyes. “The Lords and Ladies are all right with this?”

Eviana scoffed. “More coin for their accounts and securing coveted alliances? Yes. They are more than fine with the arrangements. Whose idea do you think it was? Offer something that is otherwise inaccessible, and the wealthy covet it as much as they covet riches. Lengthy contracts are agreed to, of course.”

“Of course,” Tessa parroted, clearly outraged by all of this.

Which was odd.

She’d been a part of the kingdom politics for months now. Why was any of this surprising to her?

“It is also when Match contracts are routinely announced for the year,” Eviana added.

Tessa frowned. “Theon’s was announced months ago.”

“Because he is an heir, and Valter was proving a point. But it will still be acknowledged at the Gala.”

“Right,” Tessa murmured, drumming her fingers on the armrest of her chair.

“Theon was always different,” Eviana said.

Tessa’s fingers paused their rhythm. “What?”

“Theon,” Eviana repeated. “Valter tried to mold him into a replica of himself, but Theon always resisted. I found it pointless, but he persisted.”

“Are you trying to tell me that beneath it all, he is good?” Tessa asked doubtfully.

“No,” Eviana scoffed. “There are no good Legacy in Devram. Only ones that try to justify their transgressions and balance them out with the occasional, almost decent, deed.”

Tessa stood abruptly, careful to avoid the shards of glass at her feet. “Sorry about that. I will send someone to clean it.”

“No need,” Eviana answered.

“Is there anything you’d like me to try to bring you next time?”

“Next time?”

“Unless you wish me to stop visiting,” Tessa added.

“You can do whatever you wish,” Eviana said. “You are the one with freedom.”

“What would you do if you had the same?”

“I don’t.”

Tessa nodded. “Lange and Corbin are quite trustworthy.”

So many random things from her mouth.

“Until next time, Eviana,” she all but sang before she left, the door clicking shut behind her.

Idly, Eviana wondered what Luka thought of her coming here. None of them cared for her, not that she could blame them. She’d inflicted Valter’s wrath on them more times than she could count. Or she’d sat in her chair and watched, doing nothing. That was the difference between her and Theon, she supposed. While Theon tried to justify his sins, she simply didn’t.

Interesting that Tessa had asked of Cressida though. The female must have slipped up to garner such attention.

Eviana uncoiled from her chair, the fresh cut on her palm still tender. The one on her finger was healing. Crossing the room, she picked up one of the hair combs. It was beautiful. The ends of the crescent moon were pointed, and the tips of the antlers were sharp enough to stab with.

Clever, cunning girl.

Picking up the other comb, she lifted the cushion of the chair and slid one beneath it. Then she wound her long hair up and used the other comb to secure it.

Truth be told, she would be a little disappointed if Tessa stopped coming to visit now. Disappointed but she’d move on. The female was providing her useful updates and information that she could potentially use later, and she was providing the same. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t doing so solely to lure her back here. And fine, the wine wasn’t terrible.

Swiping up the bottle, she didn’t bother with the other wineglass this time. She drank straight from the bottle when she went back to her chair and settled in.

The first time she’d laid eyes on Valter she’d been six years.

Three years ago, Valter had gone to the Serafina Estate and left her behind.

When Tessa had told her that was where she was, the pieces had all clicked into place.

Fifteen years.

That was how long she had before her Selection Year. To most immortals, fifteen years were nothing, but her immortal life suddenly had a countdown.

And she’d be damned if she crossed the Veil before Valter did.

She’d be damned if she crossed the Veil before that child was safe from any Legacy.

Because there were no good Legacy in Devram. Only those who tried to justify their transgressions and balance them out with the occasional, almost decent, deed. She had no such compunction. Whenever she found freedom, she’d leave more than a blood trail in her wake.

She’d leave her wrath.