Leeloo to wobble to her feet. She panted with the effort, but continued the story anyway. “Caius wanted to be the hero of Rome for sealing away the gorgons. If it broke after he was dead, some other hero could rise up to save Rome and earn his own name. He told me of his dreams for his grandson or great-grandson to be that man. He even asked how to make sure it would break at the right time for that. Since we didn’t have a child yet, we had a rather unpleasant argument, after which I took his enchanted sword and broke the seal.”
“I collected all that power so I could fix our mistakes. Thanks to his interference with my new effort, the result was a good, stable seal with me imprisoned inside it. Once again, as you can guess, he tapped into it and weakened the seal. This time, though, he went further and experimented with bindings and the horses they rode, and all kinds of things. I warned him, over and over. But all this,” she waved around the vast room, “had a price. He and his men were bound to the Palace. He created the Phasm problem. He forced it on all their bloodlines, including his own.”
Claire noticed her jaw hung open. The story explained everything, including why all the so-called corrupted Phasms wanted to destroy the Palace. Their ghosts could sense it wasn’t right. As in life, they only saw the immediate problem and its solution, not the long-term issues. Aside from the part where tainted Knights turned into even bigger idiots and jerks than regular ones, they actually had the right idea.
“Charge straight ahead,” she muttered.
“Very much so,” Iulia said with a sigh. “I’m still imprisoned here, of course. I don’t know how to fix that, other than to destroy the Palace.”
“Say I did destroy the Palace,” Claire said, not sure how to accomplish it or if it would backfire on her. The idea felt right, though. Sort of. After all the crap that had happened to her since this whole knighthood thing turned her life upside down, she could at least see the appeal. “Then what?”
“Then I craft a new seal. Because I’m bound to this seal, when it’s broken, I should be freed. I should also be in a position to contain the power it releases, just as I did last time.”
Claire imagined what things might be like without the Palace and Spirit Knights. Without the Palace, Justin wouldn’t be a Knight anymore. Neither would Claire. They could do regular people things. Without the Palace existing in the first place, she never would have met him and she’d still be stuck in foster care. Maybe someone else would lose out on that.
She patted Enion, wondering if their bond would break. Then she remembered what kept her alive and how Caius claimed it worked. Pulling down the neck of her armor to reveal the locket, she cleared her throat to make sure she had Iulia’s attention. “If the Palace is destroyed, I die. How do I fix that?”
Iulia approached with Leeloo’s help. Both dragons, Claire noted, had been remarkably quiet during all this. Iulia brushed her fingertips across the locket face. Something flashed across her face too fast for Claire to decipher it. “This complicates things.”
Chapter 9
Justin
Justin could barely think through his anger. He couldn’t remember the last time anything had inspired such rage in him. Claire deserved a fair chance to succeed or fail on her own merit, and they refused to give her that.
“That’s not what I see.” The Knight who spoke up had an Arabic accent and olive-toned skin, and seemed to be a few years older than Justin. He wore beige and brown linen clothes with sandals. Justin knew him only in passing. “I see a man defending his apprentice. Setting aside the idea of whether Claire is being treated unfairly or not, I’d expect no less vehement a response from any Knight over allegations against his apprentice.”
Though he still wanted to pummel Djembe into paste, Justin stopped struggling and looked away. Others in the crowd
“I collected all that power so I could fix our mistakes. Thanks to his interference with my new effort, the result was a good, stable seal with me imprisoned inside it. Once again, as you can guess, he tapped into it and weakened the seal. This time, though, he went further and experimented with bindings and the horses they rode, and all kinds of things. I warned him, over and over. But all this,” she waved around the vast room, “had a price. He and his men were bound to the Palace. He created the Phasm problem. He forced it on all their bloodlines, including his own.”
Claire noticed her jaw hung open. The story explained everything, including why all the so-called corrupted Phasms wanted to destroy the Palace. Their ghosts could sense it wasn’t right. As in life, they only saw the immediate problem and its solution, not the long-term issues. Aside from the part where tainted Knights turned into even bigger idiots and jerks than regular ones, they actually had the right idea.
“Charge straight ahead,” she muttered.
“Very much so,” Iulia said with a sigh. “I’m still imprisoned here, of course. I don’t know how to fix that, other than to destroy the Palace.”
“Say I did destroy the Palace,” Claire said, not sure how to accomplish it or if it would backfire on her. The idea felt right, though. Sort of. After all the crap that had happened to her since this whole knighthood thing turned her life upside down, she could at least see the appeal. “Then what?”
“Then I craft a new seal. Because I’m bound to this seal, when it’s broken, I should be freed. I should also be in a position to contain the power it releases, just as I did last time.”
Claire imagined what things might be like without the Palace and Spirit Knights. Without the Palace, Justin wouldn’t be a Knight anymore. Neither would Claire. They could do regular people things. Without the Palace existing in the first place, she never would have met him and she’d still be stuck in foster care. Maybe someone else would lose out on that.
She patted Enion, wondering if their bond would break. Then she remembered what kept her alive and how Caius claimed it worked. Pulling down the neck of her armor to reveal the locket, she cleared her throat to make sure she had Iulia’s attention. “If the Palace is destroyed, I die. How do I fix that?”
Iulia approached with Leeloo’s help. Both dragons, Claire noted, had been remarkably quiet during all this. Iulia brushed her fingertips across the locket face. Something flashed across her face too fast for Claire to decipher it. “This complicates things.”
Chapter 9
Justin
Justin could barely think through his anger. He couldn’t remember the last time anything had inspired such rage in him. Claire deserved a fair chance to succeed or fail on her own merit, and they refused to give her that.
“That’s not what I see.” The Knight who spoke up had an Arabic accent and olive-toned skin, and seemed to be a few years older than Justin. He wore beige and brown linen clothes with sandals. Justin knew him only in passing. “I see a man defending his apprentice. Setting aside the idea of whether Claire is being treated unfairly or not, I’d expect no less vehement a response from any Knight over allegations against his apprentice.”
Though he still wanted to pummel Djembe into paste, Justin stopped struggling and looked away. Others in the crowd
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