Chapter 97: Chapter 97

Two long weeks passed after our return to Mortain Castle. I slept next to Carmichael’s lifeless body every night, which put some people off, but I didn’t care. And every second tortured me with a question: will he come back? He had always come back, but I had never witnessed it, so a doubt still lingered in my mind.

I remembered Magnus’ gesture towards his son. His morbid jealousy and his madness had taken my mother with him. Rage twisted my features as I thought back to that fateful moment. Estelle tore me from my morbid reflections by dropping off my meal. I never left our room. I stayed with him and waited. My arm was already almost healed.

A whisper caught my attention, and his body moved with a spasm. He was coming back! A smile immediately appeared on my lips, and my heart filled with new energy. He was alive! It was the first time I had witnessed this phenomenon with my eyes. My own experience was still vivid in my memory, and I didn’t envy my husband for what he was going through right now. He moved a finger, then a hand. His eyelids began fluttering, and a few minutes later, he finally opened his eyes. When they met mine, his lips curved into a thin smile.

“We won,” I said cheerfully.

His head moved on his pillow. His memories came flooding back.

“My mother attacked your father after what he did to you. Then the false gods killed them both before reducing them to ashes.”

“A very disastrous outcome. I owe Isabelle Castellane for still being in this world today. I’m sorry she died.”

“I’ll never know her,” I say, moved after a long silence, “but I’m happy to have at least been able to meet her.”

“And how is your brother?”

“He’s very bad, but he’s holding up.”

“I wish I could have helped you until the end.”

“We won,” I said before throwing myself into his arms, “I was so afraid that you wouldn’t come back, Carmichael!”

“I always come back.”

I then went to get him a glass of water. He raised his upper body in a gesture that seemed to cause him some difficulty and downed his drink in one gulp. I put a hand to his face, feeling the need to feel his alive, warm skin under my fingertips. His gaze returned to my direction as his hands caught a few strands of pure white hair, which slipped through his fingers.

“I don’t know what happened,” I said as I lowered my head, somewhat embarrassed. “My brother’s also changed colour. It looks like Egeria, well, if we omit her wrinkled skin.”

He put his hand under my chin and lifted my head. His emerald eyes pierced me, and his smile mesmerized me.

“It looks like a well of light in the dark,” he said in a majestic voice. “You’re beautiful.”

Reassured that he still finds me to his liking despite my hair transformation, I smiled at him and went to snuggle up against him. The warmth of his skin contrasted sharply with the coldness of his death. I lost myself in that delicious sensation as his fingers now explored my face. We were separated by his desire to take a shower, which I could easily understand under the circumstances.

I took the opportunity to go and warn everyone of his awakening and went to the common room to reassure others. The news quickly travelled through the castle. Coming back, I found him standing in the living room. His gaze was lost in the flames of the fireplace, as he was immersed in thought.

“So is it over?” he said.

I walked over and put my hands on his back.

“Yes, it is. They are all dead.”

He turned around and faced me. His lips suddenly melted on mine. He kissed me with such passion that I felt through my whole being his happiness to be alive, to be victorious, and above all, to be with me, his wife. Life had taken him away. The Six were reduced to dust, a future calling us. He realized all of this right now.

“Come on, come on, now,” I asked him, “let’s go see your subjects?”

Despite some weakness, he went to put on clothes while my phone vibrated. I read the notification displayed on the screen:

Eric: Come back to me

I stared at my phone for several minutes. I missed him so much...

My thoughts had been racing in every direction since Carmichael had woken up from death a week ago. He was recovering from his injuries and I was taking care of him with the help of Estelle. I brought him his food, took care of urgent matters and was very caring for His Majesty. A small council in the Pomona room was soon to be held. We had lost a hundred and fifty of ours, and they lost six hundred of theirs. Our preparation had assured us of victory. A thousand joined me after the battle, and each returned home in peace after a funeral ceremony held in honour of the castes fallen in battle. The castle was now emptied of most of its inhabitants, and it was necessary to recognize that a little peace wasn’t unpleasant. As soon as the council started, my phone vibrated again.

Eric: Come back to me

This time, again, I couldn’t find an answer and began to resent him for torturing me like this. I remained pensive alongside my husband and the most powerful castes of the world, whose discussions made me forget Eric for a moment.

It was decided that a ball would be held in honour of the victory. Johnny was overjoyed as his work in the service of the castes became essential by the multiplication of events to celebrate. It made me happy to see my best friend, a human being, fulfilling himself among the castes. Now he was swimming like a fish in the water among them.

A toast was raised in honour of Carmichael. He conversed with everyone as if his momentary death had been only an illusion. He often looked around for me during the buffet, and I looked for him too. Until Thomas came to meet me.

“So, Goddess Everliegh…”

“What are you talking about!” I said, punching him in the chest.

“What? You don’t know then,” he said smiling, “everyone thinks you’re a goddess now.”

“Everyone?”

“I remember there was a time you were my goddess.”

“A very carefree young goddess, then!”

He laughed and enveloped me in a current of warm air. Thomas’s company had always been pleasant, but his look, suddenly more serious, made me realize that our conversation was going to take another turn.

“My brother is leaving tomorrow afternoon for America.”

He had said that while trying to be as detached as possible, but I knew it hurt him to talk to me about it. His gaze locked on mine. His revelation had cut my voice. America! How far was that?! Why there and why now?! I thought. Eric had told me he would leave after the victory, but this way?! Already?! This news disconcerted me. Even twenty minutes later, while I was still sitting in the Pomona room, I hadn’t recovered. I couldn’t stop thinking of Eric, who I had missed so much since I had brought him to safety in London. I was asked questions which I didn’t answer. I ignored the laughter, the outbursts of voices. Nothing touched me because my spirit was no longer there. My fingers twisted. An unpleasant sensation in my rib cage prevented me from breathing. He was leaving! Lost in my thoughts, an indescribable sadness came over me. I put a hand over Carmichael’s.

“Will you excuse me?”

“Sure.”

His eyes followed me to the exit of the room. I went to the Eleonore suit and dove on my bed. I needed peace and solitude. I couldn’t think anymore, I couldn’t be lucid anymore. Eric occupied all my thoughts. I curled up and saw on the table the computer that Johnny still hadn’t picked up. I couldn’t resist and went to start it. I switched on the video and saw him on the screen. His smile, his penetrating gaze, his way of moving, his body that I so wanted to touch. Only a few weeks of my existence seemed to me the most precious in this world. When the image of Eric kissing me appeared, I ran my fingers over my lips. I would have liked to feel his kiss at that moment, how I missed him! If he left, what would I do? After weeks of patience and various temptations, the video revealed the inevitable. I wanted to feel his caresses on my skin. I wanted him. I burst into tears.

I went to find Carmichael around midnight. He had returned to our apartments on the top floor. I found him sitting in an armchair, consulting notes transmitted during the council. He smiled when he saw me appear.

“Do you feel better?” he inquired immediately.

I nodded. I still had no idea how I was going to go about it. I took a deep breath.

“I came to talk to you about something important.”

“You’re going to join Eric, aren’t you?”

The blood left my face.

“Everliegh,” he said in his deep voice, “I lived hundreds of lives before knowing you, so I don’t find it abnormal that you wish to live one as well before binding yourself to mine.”

“I... I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Yes, you know very well.”

A silence settled, and he stood up and faced me.

“Go.”

“What?” I said, livid, “Carmichael, I didn’t want…”

“I said go.”

“You don’t want me?”

“You’re so young and I have so much experience. Let’s be clear; you would never have married me if it hadn’t been for the Six. You could then have lived your life as you wish and wouldn’t have had to make this decision today. I can’t deprive you of this chance to live.”

Stunned by his statements, I couldn’t utter a single word. He came over and held my hand. His warmth invaded my arm, and my eyes met his. His striking beauty fascinated me as his lips approached my ear.

“I want you just for me,” he whispered. “Live your life with him, and when you’re ready, come back to me whole.”

Come back to me. The words imprinted on me as tears impregnated my fascinated eyes. My lips approached his and my kiss was a mix of passion, sadness and fever. We were both aware that this was probably our last embrace for a long time. His hands buried themselves in my hair, mine roamed his broad shoulders, and as the inevitable pull coursed through each of my veins, I pulled away hard, then backed away. The separation seemed like an amputation of my soul. He held my hand for a moment, and then I disappeared into the living room.

A few minutes later, my eyes brimming with tears, I rushed to my room while searching my pocket for my cell phone.

“Hello, Johnny? I need you.”

Early the next day, we both boarded a flight to London.