Silver's Redemption (Soul Merge Saga Book 3) Read online

  SILVER’S REDEMPTION

  M. P. A. HANSON

  Silver’s Redemption

  Copyright: M. P. A. Hanson

  ASIN: B01CODDNRM

  Published: 1st May 2016

  The right of M. P. A. Hanson to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  This book is dedicated to Susan and Anne.

  Chapter One

  THE COUNCIL ADJOURNS

  Kate looked around the Council room, just as bored by the blandness of it as she was every time she came here. She herself enjoyed bright, vibrant colours or soothing ones depending on her mood; needless to say the cavern where the Ancients held their meetings fit neither of those descriptions.

  It was huge and domed, with sunlight coming in from the tiny circular skylight while the smooth stone walls were painted an off-white colour. The raised thrones that she and her fellows sat in were exactly five foot from the ground, set into alcoves in the wall and carved exquisitely from a rare dark wood. The twenty-one stately chairs were equally spaced in a circle around the empty raised dais, upon which mortals who required their attention were summoned and usually chained. Looking around, she saw the others start to arrive. Marigold, her most gentle and reserved sister, appeared to her left while Llewellyn, the disgusting man, sat down on the opposite side of the room to her. A few of them nodded to her as they sat down nearby, but most never spared anyone else a glance.

  She did not expect him to come, so when he did, it took her twice as much effort as usual to conceal her reaction to his presence.

  Gaillean, the oldest and wildest of them all took his seat on her right. And she fought the battle of a lifetime trying to keep her traitorous eyes from straying towards him. Instead, she forced herself to focus on the others who were still appearing one by one. She would not show the weakness that she had indulged in almost two decades ago, nor would she repeat it. The others would never stand for one of their number being weak, and there was no way she would allow herself to be reassigned away from her daughter’s world, not when she was finally able to be the mother she’d always wanted to be.

  Gaillean was Romana’s father, yet he showed no sign of ever wishing to see their beautiful and proud daughter, even after all she had done these past few years. In fact, Gaillean cared for very little; he spent all of his time in the heavily forested parts of the world he watched over, and barely any on the Council. Though he carefully managed to just follow the rules, he had no interest whatsoever in creating or enforcing them.

  A part of Kate wanted to argue that Gaillean did care, and it was that part that had gotten her in trouble all those years ago when she’d started the whole mess. None of the Council had ever really forgiven her for having a child so powerful that for a moment their own powers were called into question, but Gaillean had never been to blame according to them, since she was the one who had decided to keep the baby.

  No one had seemed to care that Llewellyn had fathered scores of half-Ancient children that were developing a tendency to become power hungry brats. The pervert liked anything that walked on two legs and it was disgusting. Kate had secretly wanted Gaillean for years before that one night when she had gathered up her guts and approached him, and there had never been another for her afterwards, even though some part of her had known his wild nature would never let them become a partnership. Her foolishness had dared to hope he may feel something for her in return.

  Everyone except one was seated, Kate looked around for Harmony but she wasn’t in the cavern.

  “Where is she?” She muttered to Marigold.

  “Harmony has had trouble on her own world.” Mari whispered. “There are rumours of a civil war between the two races that live there.”

  At that moment, Harmony, looking slightly frazzled, appeared on her throne.

  “Council is now in session.” Marcus announced, his copper piercings glinting like the stones on his robes. “We are all aware of the decisions we now face, I trust?”

  Kate nearly jumped out of her skin when Gaillean spoke in that deep and commanding voice of his.

  “Forgive me, however I have not attended Council in some years, and would request to be updated briefly.”

  “I would also appreciate an accurate recounting of the tale; the troubles in my own world have distracted me from the goings on of Kate’s.” Harmony spoke up.

  Marcus sighed. “Since last you attended Gaillean, your daughter took her place as queen of the wytches on Kate’s world. Princess Talia of the Elves gave her life to protect our niece after defeating Kobos in mortal combat. But it is the future we must concern ourselves with and it is the future that we discuss now.”

  “The problem, as I understand it, is pretty simple,” Gaillean interrupted “Llewellyn’s spawn are causing difficulties wherever they go. Why not just end them and be done with it?”

  “End our own family?” Darren spoke for the first time. He was a tiny man, no taller than the dwarves of Kate’s own world, yet his words always carried weight for the sheer amount of knowledge buried behind them. “It would be preposterous to do so, not to mention we would break the code that we set ourselves after the last time. Llewellyn clearly does not wish for all his children to be murdered by what little there is of his own race.”

  Actually, Llewellyn looked like he couldn’t have cared less, Kate thought as she ran her gaze over the tall dark haired man who, in her opinion, only just qualified as more intelligent than a pig. But yet again, in this Council, Kate had to hide all her thoughts, hopes and emotions. Perhaps even Llewellyn was only playing his part.

  “The future I have foreseen,” Marta, their strongest seer began. “Is bathed in blood, no matter what happens. No matter how many variables I alter, there is only one that both works and complies with our codes. Even then, the blood of innocent and good men will be spilled.”

  “I object.” Isaac claimed. “No bloodshed can be worse than what you are suggesting. The woman is insane and bloodthirsty. No justification is good enough for giving her back her life and making her more powerful than ever before.”

  Clearly some of the others had been talking and already knew what was planned, Kate thought. She had a rough idea, but just to be sure she spoke up. “I’m sorry, but please clarify, Marta. What exactly are you suggesting?”

  Marta smiled. “Our only option, since the bloodshed will inevitably continue from where it began on your world, is to reincarnate the person who stopped it last time. Talia, the princess of the elven lands on your own world Kate. But also, in order to be powerful enough to do what she must, Talia must be reincarnated as a half-Ancient with blood ties to the elven royal family and with all of her memories intact.”

  “You would be her warden, Kate.” Marcus continued. “Since this is your world we will not interfere too much, but Talia must be contained. Her madness could be the end of every living being that came after us, or it could be their salvation. Even Marta has no idea how to make the outcome we desire; all we know is that she has to be alive for there to be a chance.”

  With that grim news, everyone was silent for a while.

  “How long do we have till this vision comes true?” Harmony asked. “Do we have time to consider our options more carefully?”

  “You forget that the new form we give to Tali
a will need sixteen years to grow and set into maturity. It may be close but only if we act immediately the child can grow fast enough to mature on time.”

  “But which of us would create the child?” Marigold asked quietly. “You say it must be a child of the royal family, do they not still soul swap into their children – killing them at birth just to live for longer?”

  “It is true that the elven royals are becoming used to the idea of living forever.” Kate confirmed.

  “Then perhaps it is time we put a stop to it.” Gaillean said. “End their arrogance.”

  “Talia would not appreciate the death of her brothers; if we kill them she would become hostile towards us.” Kate advised, knowing Talia’s temperament better than any of them. “The royals require their four magicians to perform the ceremony, if we remove from them the powers that they stole in the first place, they would lose the ability to soul swap.” She paused to breathe deeply. “If Queen Hira was to be offered a child more powerful and with a longer life span, she would undoubtedly bear the child and attempt to soul swap with it. We could pretend the child was a gift for their help in removing Kobos, and then when she has had the child, we remove the magicians’ powers, and any other ones that the royals have obtained.”

  There were nods of agreement to that plan. “The practice was barbaric.” Darren said, “We were trying to find a way to remove it anyway. This would kill two birds in one stone, excellent suggestion Kate.”

  “This still does not solve the problem of who should approach her with this offer.” Marta pointed out. “Although it would appear if we are targeting the queen that one of the men among us should be chosen.”

  “I’ll do it.” Llewellyn muttered. “I have enough half-ancients under my belt, what’s one more?” Kate revised her opinions about whether Llewellyn was merely playing a part; the man was just a straight up pig.

  No, he could not be the one they chose, Kate decided. “Talia would likely find it difficult to destroy beings she shared familial bonds with, if Llewellyn were to do this, surely it would only damage our plans.”

  There were nods of agreement, and thankfully it looked as if the majority agreed with her.

  “Who out of all of us would be best? Most of us have had little contact with your world Kate; we have no idea about the customs or cultures of this race of elves.” Leo explained, and a few conversations began between groups of the Ancients as they attempted to find out among themselves exactly who knew the most about the elven race.

  Then a silky smooth voice cut over the babble, addressing the Council with her usual sensual and sophisticated manner. “I may be mistaken,” Ellamae began and Kate inwardly tensed for the verbal blow she knew was coming. Ellamae had a way of making any discussion finalised with the most brutal yet logical solution possible. “But is your daughter not now a person of power and importance in your world Kate?”

  Where was she going with this? Kate wondered as she replied. “She is partner to the king of one of the races, princess of the elves and the most powerful queen of wytches ever to walk my world. And yet she has never fallen prey to the power-lust felt by other half-Ancient children.” Had she let some of her pride leak out then?

  She felt Gaillean lean forwards at information about his daughter and that small part of her, which hoped he still cared, grew marginally.

  “Then surely,” Ellamae continued, yanking Kate from her fantasies about Gaillean. “If Talia were related to your daughter, she would have access to a greater range of resources and power. As I understand it they used to share a physical form; surely having your daughter and Talia on the same side and working together like they did before could only be beneficial in preventing Marta’s vision from occurring.” Ellamae’s voice resounded with a finality that made sure everyone knew she had the solution.

  Kate’s brain figured out what Ellamae was suggesting the instant she said it, and perhaps she had known this was coming all along but merely denied it. Since it had been decided Queen Hira would bear the child, Romana’s father, Gaillean should be the child’s other parent making Talia not only a half-ancient but Romana’s half-sister as well.

  Looking into Ellamae’s cool eyes, Kate knew nothing she said would change the Council’s mind. Ellamae wasn’t being cruel, just logical in the way of the Council. So even though her mind screamed at her not to say it, and she wanted to rage and yell at everyone in the circle for this, Kate kept her face perfectly impassive as she calmly sent the man she’d longed for over the centuries into the arms of another woman.

  “That is a logical argument Ellamae. However it is Gaillean’s choice, I can confirm that Romana would find a sister bond to Talia something absolutely binding, no matter how difficult being around her was for her.”

  In a bold and uncommon move, she turned to look at Gaillean, shrinking inside as she saw he was just as passive as the rest of them, but as he met her eyes, she saw the tense look there. It was like looking into the eyes of a lion which was caged and considering mauling you to try and escape.

  Gaillean cared; he didn’t want to do this. He’d probably never wanted Romana so fathering another child would be abhorrent to him.

  Gods this stupid act they tried to keep in place to avoid a war – all logic and no heart – was so frustrating. Right now Kate could really feel tears threatening to spring to her eyes, and all she wanted to do was teleport away and hide. But she couldn’t, if they were talking about Romana then they may use her absence as an excuse to do something to her daughter.

  No matter what, Kate would protect her daughter, now more than ever. She looked at Gaillean, awaiting his decision. But nothing she did could hide the way she tensed subtly at his mental knock as he opened a channel between their minds and spoke to her for the first time in over a decade.

  “Kate.” His greeting was hesitant. “How have you been?”

  What was he doing? He was supposed to be deciding whether or not to father a child for goodness sake!

  “Gaillean, I do not understand. You are supposed to be deciding in front of the Council.”

  “I noticed you looking at me; there hasn’t been as much as a look between us for some time. I worried something was wrong.”

  “Since when do you care?” Kate retorted.

  “You’re upset?” His mental voice actually did sound concerned. “Kate, we are going to discuss this after the Council meeting, but now I wish for your opinion.”

  “My opinion?” Kate was startled. “What on?”

  “You have the fortune to know our daughter better than I, do you believe that my fathering the child the others wish me to would mean that Talia would feel bound to protect her half-sister and would Romana feel inclined to defending Talia as well?”

  Kate was dumbstruck. “I did not think you cared.” She retorted. “You haven’t been in contact with me or Romana since you left to go back to your own world.”

  “What is your decision, Gaillean?” Marcus asked, impatient.

  “Answer the question, would they protect each other?” Gaillean demanded, while at the same time saying, “I was merely wondering if we would allow Talia to keep the wings we gifted her with during the war of her childhood to help the people with.”

  Debate struck up at that and Kate felt Gaillean’s golden eyes settle on her again within seconds.

  “Romana would do anything for her family, and Silver is fond of the girl in her own way. Silver is insane in a way that makes her unpredictable, but she helped Romana before because their lives were bound. If we were to tell her if Romana died she would too, it would guarantee her co-operation in protecting Romana.” Kate finally finished.

  “Are you talking about acting separately from the Council?” He gave her a puzzled look.

  “Yes. It is my world; the code is clear as to the degree to which I can rule my own world without asking Council approval.” Kate reviewed the rules in her head. “It is well within the rules to mislead her. She would never believe that we would harm Romana intent
ionally, so we would have to inform her that there was a problem with the separating of their two souls and they were merged further than we anticipated, thus meaning that for Silver to live again she would be bound to Romana and vice versa.”

  “You call Princess Talia by the name Silver, why is this?” Gaillean asked.

  “Since the moment she was bound to Romana’s subconscious, something fundamental changed in her and she ceased to be Talia in her own head. Prince Marten – as he was then – encountered her for the first time and gave her the name for the colour of her eyes. The name fit with one of her earlier aliases, The Silver Eyed Wytch and she used it. I never figured out why. But the name always fit in a way I could never explain, and I subconsciously began using it instead of her birth name.”

  “I prefer it.” Gaillean said. “For some reason, knowing who she is, a noble name could never fit her. Silver reminds me of blades and passionless violence.”

  “It is decided then, she will be allowed to continue to keep her wings. If we deem it necessary we can even gift her with further powers in the future and that will be the only way she can gain new powers when we put the magicians out of action.” Darren concluded. “Does that clear up your decision Gaillean?”

  “Yes. I shall consent to being the child’s father, but I wish for her to be known by this Council by a different name. Kate has informed me that during her time bonded to our daughter she preferred another name; Silver. I believe since the child will barely retain any of the personality of the original elven princess I should be able to rename her.”

  “Certainly,” Marta agreed. “I don’t think anyone will object.”

  “Council is decided then.” Darren concluded. “Princess Talia shall be reincarnated as Silver, a half-ancient of the line of Gaillean retaining all of her memories and her wings from her past life. Her elven family shall lose their unsanctioned ability to soul swap and all powers they have attained in this way. They shall be made aware of the reincarnation of Talia and assigned as her carers until she reaches maturity.”