Avow

CHAPTER 4

It had been five days since Raven had killed Scarlet and Tristan was drunk.

Again.

It was late in the evening and Gabriel sat in the throne room, watching his twin brother stumble through the doors with a jug of wine.

Tristan pointed a wobbly finger at Gabriel. “You may be in need of a new court healer. Your current one just ran away.”

Gabriel hung his head. “What did you do to him, Tristan?”

He chugged at the wine. “I merely asked him what form of magic could make a body disappear.” He took another swig. “I may have also threatened his well-being if he refused to tell me all he knew.”

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. “You cannot continue threatening the servants. They do not have the answers you seek.”

“But they do!” Tristan swung his arms out and wine sloshed from the jug onto the floor. “They must! Bodies do not disappear, Gabriel! They wither and dry up, but they do not vanish!”

Two mysterious things had occurred after Raven had shot Scarlet.

The arrow she’d shot had first gone through Tristan’s body—which he’d thrown in front of the arrow to protect Scarlet—yet he was fine, save for the abnormally green hue his eyes had taken on since that day.

And Scarlet’s body—which had been pierced through her heart despite Tristan’s best efforts—had fallen dead. Yet shortly after, her body completely disappeared.

Gabriel could not explain either phenomenon. A body that heals itself was almost as mysterious as a body that vanishes. But Tristan seemed to care little about his ability to self-heal

“Bodies do not vanish!” Tristan repeated, and the ring of desperation in his voice had Gabriel drawing in a long, patient breath. Tristan had loved Scarlet and, when he was sent away from her, asked Gabriel to marry and care for her on his behalf.

Only to have Scarlet die on their wedding day.

“You should go to bed, brother,” Gabriel said. “You are too drunk for conversation.”

“On the contrary, brother. I am not drunk enough.” He turned his attention to the wall and muttered, “I am never drunk enough.”

Gabriel watched as Tristan walked the length of the side wall, his footfalls echoing around the room as he stared intently at the royal weapons hung in pride alongside tapestries and flags.

“I know you’re in pain, Tristan. And I know you loved Scarlet. I loved her too—”

Tristan’s eyes shot across the room and ran through Gabriel like a blade. “You do not know love as I know love.”

Gabriel sighed and leaned back in the throne. “Are we going to be dramatic now? Maybe I shall call for some wine of my own and we can both wallow and aimlessly fight through our miserable drunkenness.”

Tristan turned a hazy smile to him. “Ah, yes. You are the earl now. I forget this sometimes. Earl Archer.” Though he tried to pronounce the title carefully, it slurred on his lips.

Tristan’s eyes went back to the wall and he reached above his head to lift a sword from its hook. He took another pull of wine before tossing the jug to the floor, a trickle of red liquid dripping from its spout.

“I enjoy weapons.” Tristan turned the sword over in his loose hands. “They make me feel powerful. Capable.”

Curse the stars, was he rambling now?

“Yes, well, that particular weapon is an heirloom, so if you would be so kind as to replace it—“

“Did you touch her?” Tristan’s lax body language stiffened, but his eyes stayed on the blade.

“What?” Gabriel tried to sound exasperated, but his stomach tightened ever so slightly. This was not a conversation he wanted to have with a drunk Tristan—especially when that drunk Tristan was holding a sharp object.

“Scarlet.” He ran a lazy finger down the edge of the sword. “Did you touch her?”

Gabriel paused for a long moment. “Does it matter?”

Tristan inhaled long and slow through his nostrils as he looked up at the ceiling. “I haven’t decided.”

Rubbing the side of his face, Gabriel said, “You are drunk. Now is not the time…”

“Did she touch you?”

Oh, for the love.

“Tristan, we were engaged. And might I remind you, it was your idea for me to marry her.”

“Yes.” Tristan shifted the sword to his other hand. “I believe I asked you to care for her. To protect her.”

Gabriel moved uncomfortably in his seat.

“Yet somehow,” Tristan continued, looking at the hilt of the blade as he squeezed the handle, “Scarlet ended up dead.”

Tension filled the room.

Tristan’s voice was deceptively soft as he looked at Gabriel. “You let your whore kill the woman I loved.”

“I did not let Raven do anything. Scarlet was my wife—”

Just like that, Tristan was upon him, the sword pointed right at Gabriel’s throat and held by the very steady hand of a very broken man.

Tristan’s voice was low and hard, his slur completely gone. “She was not your wife.” His eyes darkened. “She was not yours at all.”

Gabriel did not breathe for fear the movement would bring his throat against the blade. He knew Tristan would never harm him, but he also knew what it felt like to lose a loved one.

Just months ago, when word had come that Tristan had died in battle, Gabriel had been turned inside out and made hollow and fierce with the notion that he would never again see his brother. To lose his best friend—to lose a piece of his blood and soul—had been unfathomable. Tristan’s “death” had nearly destroyed Gabriel.

And it seemed Scarlet’s death was wreaking the same havoc upon Tristan; breaking him down, emptying all he was, driving him to desperation.

It was not Tristan who stood with a blade to Gabriel’s throat, but rather his broken heart. Gabriel understood this, even if Tristan did not.

Calmly, slowly, Gabriel answered, “I did not touch her.”

It was the truth and, although he knew it would not ease the ache in his brother’s chest, Gabriel knew it would at least remove the sword from his neck.

Tristan paused. Then whipped away from Gabriel, dropping the sword to the ground as he started for the throne room doors.

Gabriel ran a hand across his face. Whatever would he do with his wrecked, unstable brother with new, green eyes and a body that could magically heal itself—

“Wait.” Gabriel called after Tristan, a memory hitting him. “Do you remember when we were young and we saw that boy by the caves nearly cut his hand off?” Gabriel leaned forward in his seat. “It was a bloody, mangled mess and we watched him hold his hand in place while it healed. Do you remember?”

Tristan turned around and squinted. “Vaguely.”

“What if your body’s ability to heal itself is somehow linked to whatever that boy was able to do?”

“I do not care about my body, healing or otherwise.”

“Perhaps not now, but someday you may.” Feeling reenergized, Gabriel stood from the throne and made his way to the doors. “Sober up, brother. Tomorrow, we are going for a ride.”

Damn the happy sun.

Tristan’s head ached for wine as he rode alongside Gabriel to wherever the hell they were headed as the rising sun bit into his eyes.

A new day. A new nothing.

“Is it not nice to leave the castle?” Gabriel took a deep breath. “You lived as a dead soul this week, brother. Wallowing in darkness, consumed with sadness. I think this outing will be good for you.”

“I was not dead,” Tristan said, though he wished he were.

As a memory of Scarlet snaked inside his chest, he clamped down on the tight emotion it brought. He would not think of her.

Alive or dead. In his arms or gone forever.

He would not think of her at all.

Gabriel scoffed. “No, you were just in a drunken haze that lasted five days and cost me eight servants and two court healers. Who knew you were such an awful drunk?”

Tristan glowered at his twin. Awful or not, being drunk kept the memories away and, therefore, kept him sane.

“Here we are,” Gabriel said as they came upon a large house. He quickly dismounted his horse.

Tristan followed suit, but not as quickly, his sluggish body unaccustomed to being upright with the sun. “Where are we?”

“The Fletcher home.”

“The house of witches?” Adrenaline shot through Tristan’s body. “Is this not where Raven lives?”

“It was. But she is no longer here.” Darkness clouded Gabriel’s eyes. “If she were, she would already be in shackles.”

“If that horrendous woman is not here, then why are we?”

“Because her cousin, Nathaniel, is the boy from the caves. And he may have answers for us.” Gabriel strode to the front door and knocked.

Tristan followed after him and watched as a small, square panel in the center of the door slid to the side, revealing a pair of nervous eyes.

“Earl Archer,” said the eyes, blinking rapidly.

“Are you Nathaniel Fletcher?”

“I am.” The eyes widened. “But I do not know where my cousin is. Please do not kill me.”

“I am not here for Raven,” Gabriel said.

Nathaniel’s eyes shifted to the side. “Are you here about the pheasants? Because that was an accident.”

“What pheasants?”

“Nothing.” Nathanial seemed relieved. “One moment.”

The small panel slid back into place and the door opened to reveal an odd-looking fellow with bushy brown hair that stuck out on one side and a pair of eyeglasses caught in the mess. Despite the warm weather outside—and the fact that he was, indeed, inside—Nathaniel Fletcher wore a thick, black cloak that hung too long for him and dragged across the dirty floorboards.

“Welcome to my home, Earl Archer.” Nathaniel nodded at Gabriel as they entered and shut the door behind them. He then eyed Tristan and took a step back, stumbling over his cloak. “You must be the earl’s twin brother. But your eyes…how are they so green?”

“They were brown until your heathen of a cousin shot me through the heart,” Tristan said crossly.

“Ah.” Nathaniel nodded. “She used magic on you.”

“No. She used an arrow.”

“Then it must have been laced with magic.” Nathaniel examined Tristan’s eyes more closely. “Only powerful magic can alter physical appearances such as that. Perhaps a spell or a curse—oh! You were shot through the heart! And you are not dead?”

“Unfortunately, no.” The snaking started around Tristan’s heart again.

Bloody hell, he wanted wine.

“That is why we are here,” Gabriel said. “My brother’s body is able to heal itself and I’ve seen yours do the same.”

”But I—but that—”

“I am not here to threaten you,” Gabriel continued, “but I need to know what witchcraft allows you to heal. I believe the same magic has been used against my brother and may be responsible for the disappearance of my bride’s body.”

Nathaniel sucked in a breath. “Then it is true! She did disappear? I had heard the rumor, but was not certain.”

“The arrow went through Tristan’s heart first, then struck my bride before her body vanished. Do you know of this magic?”

Nathaniel scratched the back of his head. “I know of magic, but this….” He retrieved his spectacles from the nest of his hair and put them on before tripping his way over to the tower of books. “Was she human?”

Gabriel blinked. “Pardon me?”

“Was your woman human?”

“She wasn’t his woman,” Tristan said.

Gabriel slanted his eyes at Tristan before answering Nathaniel. “Of course she was human. What else would she be?”

Nathaniel shrugged as he pulled a thick book from the stack in the corner and shuffled to a nearby table. “A demon. A shape-shifter. A nymph. A mermaid.” He turned through several crinkly pages. “A vampire. A ghost. A siren. A sea creature—”

“A sea creature?” Gabriel looked incredulous. “You want to know if my bride was a sea creature?”

“Yes,” Nathaniel said seriously. “Did she have webbed feet?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? Because women wear those awful shoes and you really wouldn’t know unless she were to take them off—“

“She was human,” Tristan said.

Nathaniel looked at Tristan, perplexed. “You saw her feet?”

“Yes.”

Nathaniel’s eyes darted from Tristan to Gabriel and then back to Tristan. “Right. In that case…” He turned another page and started reading. “Bodies only vanish after death for two reasons. Either they are called up to heaven by God,” he looked at them over his spectacles, “did you see any heavenly staircases or large groups of angels looming about her dead body?”

“What—no.” Gabriel rubbed his face impatiently.

“Then the only other alternative,” read Nathaniel, “is that she was infected with immortal blood prior to death.” He reached for something from the table.

Gabriel blinked. “But how—“

Nathaniel grabbed Tristan’s hand and pricked it with a small blade.

“Are you mad?” Tristan snatched his hand back from the over-cloaked boy.

Nathaniel looked at Tristan in confusion. “You seem unfriendly. I thought you were the kind twin. Aren’t you the brother that feeds the hungry and plays with children?”

Tristan jutted his chin. “You just stabbed me, witch.”

“I am not a witch. I am a wizard.”

“I do not care.”

“You’ll have to excuse my brother,” said Gabriel. “He’s had a difficult week and is not used to being sober, so perhaps you should ask for his permission the next time you feel the need to draw his blood.”

“I meant you no harm,” explained Nathaniel. “You said the arrow pierced your heart before striking the bride—what was her name?”

“Scarlet,” the brothers said at the same time.

“Right.” Nathaniel drew out the word, eyeing Gabriel before looking back at Tristan. “I needed a bit of your blood to do a test.” He spread blood from the knife onto a glass plate before retrieving a small vial of blue liquid from a false board in the wall.

Returning to the table, he added a drop of the blue liquid to Tristan’s dark blood on the plate and the blood instantly brightened, turning from a deep crimson to a brilliant red

Nathaniel looked up at Gabriel and grinned. “It appears that the magic that healed your brother is the same magic that stole your bride—er, Scarlet. You, my friend,” he turned to Tristan, “are filled with immortal blood.”

Gabriel’s brow furrowed. “That is impossible.”

“On the contrary,” Nathaniel pointed to the bright red spot of blood. “Immortal blood has a darker hue than that of mortals and brightens when mixed with this blue solution. I have immortal blood—which is why I can heal—and it seems Tristan does as well.”

“But how?”

Nathaniel shook the small vial. “Water from the Fountain of Youth.”

“Magic blue water,” Tristan said, remembering the story that Scarlet’s mother had told him about magic blue water being brought back from the New World by Scarlet’s uncle. “It gives eternal youth, but it is highly addictive.”

“Yes. And as it turns out, water from the Fountain of Youth also negates immortal blood, making it just the same as mortal blood.” Nathaniel pointed to the bright red blood on the glass.

“How do you know—bloody hell!” Gabriel turned furious eyes on Nathaniel, who had just sliced his hand with the same knife he’d used to cut Tristan. “You could have asked first.”

“You said I only needed to ask Tristan for permission—because he is grumpy.”

Gabriel stared at Nathaniel. “Just because I am not drunk and angry with the universe like my brother—“

“I’m not drunk,” Tristan said. “Not yet, anyway.”

“Is your wound healing?” Nathaniel asked Gabriel.

Gabriel examined his hand, his sour face morphing into one of awe as he watched his wound begin to heal. “Incredible.”

Nathaniel added a drop of the blue water to Gabriel’s dark blood and it brightened just as Tristan’s had.

“It seems all three of us carry immortal blood,” Nathaniel said. “Which means we cannot be killed. Ever.” He grinned. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

Tristan frowned, not sure if he wanted to live forever.

He hadn’t even wanted to wake up that morning.

Forever seemed a bit ambitious.

Gabriel continued watching his healing hand. “How can you be sure our ability to self-heal means we are immortal?”

Nathaniel shrugged. “Because that is the magic of the Fountain of Youth. A magic so rare I know of no other immortals in existence. We are not created, you see. We are born—to mothers addicted to the fountain’s blue water. Very rare indeed. The fact that our mothers survived their addiction long enough to have us is astonishing.”

“Are you saying our mothers were poisoned with this water?”

“Not intentionally,” Nathaniel said. “Our mothers were pregnant with us during the time of the plague and both became quite ill. My uncle Eli traveled to Spain and purchased three vials of the legendary fountain water from a Spaniard named Francis. He then gave one vial to my mother—his sister—and sold the second to your father, Cornelius. Eli and Cornelius were good friends at the time and your mother’s illness was breaking your father’s heart. Eli wished to alleviate this pain from Cornelius. Sadly, the water only brought more.

“Upon drinking the water, our mothers were instantly cured of their sickness, yet began craving the water. They drained each of their vials just weeks after we were born and, without more to sustain them, they soon grew mad and, eventually, perished.”

“But what of the third vial? Why not give them that to extend their lives?”

“The third vile,” Nathaniel shook the vial in his hand, “was my uncle’s last resort. He did not want to poison his sister further so instead he attempted to make a spell to cure her, using water from the third vile. But he was not successful. After my mother’s death, Uncle Eli hid this potion away in the walls and spoke of its wickedness, forbidding us all of touching it.

“The day I realized I could heal, I began to wonder if the blue water had somehow changed me in my mother’s womb. After years of research, I learned of the fountain’s ability to grant immortal life to the unborn and it was then that I realized I my blood was composed differently than that of mortals, making me immortal.

“I found this to be a wonderful discovery, yet my uncle was not pleased and forbid me from speaking of it or indulging in my fascination with immortality and the Fountain of Youth. Naturally, I did not heed his command, which is why I know what I do of immortality.

“Dangerous water, this is.” He shook the vial again. “Although it has its benefits. We, of course, have the privilege of living forever. So that’s brilliant.” He glanced at Tristan. “And according to my books, your immortal blood may even bring Scarlet back to life someday.”

“What?” Tristan said, his heart instantly beating against his bones with ferocity he’d not felt in ages. “What did you say?”

Nathaniel shrugged. “Scarlet was infected with immortal blood before she died, which explains why her body disappeared, and immortal blood, if put into a mortal body, will always fight to stay alive. So you, essentially, have made Scarlet semi-immortal. And semi-immortal beings do not ever truly die. They vanish and return to the earth at a later time in the same body.”

Skepticism and hope warred madly inside Tristan.

“How can we bring her back?” His palms were sweaty and his heart on fire but, God help him, he would do anything, kill anyone, and break any rule to bring her back.

Nathaniel said, “Her return is dependent on the magic in her veins. It could take decades—”

“I can wait decades,” Tristan said.

“Or it could take a hundred years,” Nathaniel said.

“I can wait a thousand years.”

The wizard cocked his head at Tristan. “I’m confused. Did you know Scarlet? Because I was under the impression you were gone when she first came to the castle. You seem to care deeply for Gabriel’s wife—“

“She wasn’t his wife.”

Gabriel gave a long-suffering sigh and turned to Nathaniel. “Tristan and Scarlet were…close.”

“I see.” Nathaniel glanced back and forth between the brothers. “Well, either way, you cannot control her return. But since you are immortal, there is a good chance you will live to see her again.” Nathaniel grinned.

“That is not helpful,” Gabriel said.

“I never said I would be helpful. I said I would ask permission before stabbing you.”

Tristan was no longer listening because his heart had flown from his chest and was soaring in the sky. Scarlet would return.

He no longer wished to be drunk. Or dead.