SWNOVELS Chapter 496
Chapter 496- United Power Ella
I give Ariel one last kiss for luck and exhale deeply, focusing
My eyes on Henry as I lean against my partner, who puts an arm around me.
support.
“Actually, Ella,” Cora says, and my eyes flicker to her. She smiles at us and me from
the other side of the couch, with her arms around her baby in her lap. “I am the one who
“He has the news first.”
“Oh,” I say, my eyes widening as I move a little to direct my attention to
her now. "Sorry, I did not know…"
She shakes her head, dismissing my apology as Roger sits on the arm of the chair.
sofa behind her. She raises a hand and he takes it and gives it a little squeeze.
“Um, we contacted mom this morning,” he says quietly, an apology in full.
expensive. “To…ask what the Dark God might have been doing. I regret that
we have done without you. I know you would have wanted to be there...
“No,” I breathe, although I'm a little disappointed. "I mean, I wouldn't have been able to see her."
anyway, right?”
“Yes,” she says, tilting her head to the side. “Unless we go to the temple, it is
Kind of a… one-on-one experience, isn’t it?”
“But we can go,” Sinclair murmurs behind me, supporting me, “if we don't get the
answers you need…”
“Okay,” I say, nodding to everyone in the room. "It
I understand – you don't need to be so nice to me. I was completely unconscious
after delivery and we needed information quickly. Alright. So…"
I move my fingers towards my sister, smiling at her. “Please disclose. I'm dying to
know it.”
“Well,” Cora says, laughing a little and looking at Roger. “Mom was not happy to know that
“Her boyfriend visited you.”
"Actually?" I gasp, a little charmed by the immortal gossip.
“Really,” Cora confirms, eyes wide as a smile takes over.
his face. “She thought he knew about you, but she had no idea he would go as far as
to give the baby a gift behind his back.”
“Behind his back,” I repeat, shaking my head. "Wow. So? He said it was…
dangerous?
“She said he didn't have the guts to go that far,” Cora says, laughing and
shrugging his shoulders a little. “Or, well, those weren't his precise words, but
that was the feeling. That he's just trying to get her attention and let her know
who is angry, but who knows not to mess with his true lineage.”
“So,” I say, looking at little Ariel who lies curled up in my arms,
sleepy but idly kicking her little feet. “Was it really a gift?”
“Mom doesn't know what it was,” Cora says, shaking her head. “But she…she said no.”
may force him to recant, Ells. That immortal gifts are not… gifts that
You can return or re-gift. “They become part of us.”
“That makes sense,” I sigh, pulling my baby closer. “Well, at least we know it's not…
bad".
“Which doesn't mean it's good,” Sinclair complains behind me. He clearly wanted
better news.
“There is some precedent,” Henry says, leaning forward in his chair and
studying the baby as best she can. “The texts are old, but there are some that
They report on gifts granted by both the Goddess and the Dark Lord. It
interesting is that they seem to be reliable: there is one text in particular that speaks of a gift
of healing granted by the Goddess that is quite similar to yours, Ella,” he says, raising his hands.
eyebrows at me.
“Oh,” I say, perking up a little. “Well, that's interesting. Could you read that?
“I’ll have it translated,” Henry says, nodding, “and send it to you as soon as possible.”
“And what were some of the 'gifts' that the Dark God has given?” Sinclair asks,
with a heavy and doubtful voice at the word “gift”.
“He does not give everyday gifts like the Goddess does; his interests have always been more
domestic, for lack of a better word. She takes care of the heart and the home: she assigns
couples, heals the body, changes the climate to ensure good harvests.” He greets us
Cora and me as she lists our gifts and I turn my head, because she's right: yes
Well Cora and I have used them in very different ways, they seem to be gifts that
They could be used to build a family and support it. safe in difficult times.
“And the dark god?” Sinclair presses, his voice a little annoyed by his anxiety now.
“He,” Henry says, now directing his eyes toward his son, “prefers… more radical magic. No
things that can or should be used every day. “Things that… change the world.”
A shiver runs through me at this and I find myself holding my breath as
I look at my little girl.
"Change the world?" Sinclair asks, stiffening behind me.
“The text reports that he once gave a man the gift of the eclipse, allowing him
keep the shadow of the moon before the sun for days, and only relented when his enemies
"They gave in to their demands."
We all stood still and silent at this.
After a long moment, only Roger dares to break the silence of the room.
“What the hell, Ariel,” he breathes, leaning forward to look at his niece.
A ridiculous little laugh breaks out of me at this, and I shake my head as Cora and
Sinclair and then Henry start laughing too. I shake my head at my brother-in-law, very
grateful for him and his strange sense of humor, which was revealed so late in the game.
“Seriously,” Roger says, sitting up straight and running his hand through his hair, looking at
his niece with wide eyes. “She is the smallest of all of us, but
"It seems like it's going to have great power."
“Well, we don't know it's going to be anything like that,” he sighed, rolling his eyes and trying to
take the tension off my shoulders. “It could be… something smaller. Maybe it's just
“Trying to bother mom.”
“Or under her skirt,” Roger murmurs, and I smile when Cora turns to punch him in the face.
say such blasphemy about our mother and a deity. Roger just wrinkles
nose at Cora as he smiles and grabs his arm where she hit him, pretending that
The blow hurt when it clearly didn't.
“So, Ariel is clearly the most powerful wolf among us,” I say with a sigh,
lifting her a little in my arms so she can look at the family. “So, she is
the Alpha now.” Ariel, betraying my trust, simply gives a sleepy meow,
Her eyelids close as she snuggles back into my arm.
Cora laughs and I feel a small pulse of pride and pleasure in my bond with Sinclair.
“At least it means he can face his brother and cousin,” says Roger,
looking between the children: Rafe stumbling on the floor and Jesse in Cora's arms.
“Although… none of them are very impressive yet.”
"You think?" He asked, looking at the group. “Is it… I mean, does everyone have Christmas gifts?”
mom, right? But will the fact that she is strong make the boys strong, anyway?
through your links or something?
“I don't know,” Henry says, tilting his head and considering his grandchildren with interest.
“But,” says Sinclair, thinking clearly about it as he speaks, “that's not how
bonuses work, right? I mean, Cora and Ella are blessed with the gifts of
the Goddess, but Roger and I are not stronger for it.”
I click my tongue, offended, and turn to look over my shoulder at my partner.
“Excuse me, Dominic, but you have benefited many times from my gift…”
“Yes, honey,” he says, rolling his eyes a little and shaking his head, “but
You know what I mean. “We are not physically stronger nor are we gifted.”
“It's true,” Cora says, looking at the two of them. “But… we both joined Alpha wolves
extremely powerful who turn out to be “Baby” brothers, says Roger,
cutting her off and smiling at her, pressing a hand against her heart. "That is what
nicest thing you've ever said to me -“
“It's just a fact, Roger,” he sighs, rolling his eyes, making me laugh.
“You think I'm powerful and tough,” he whispers, sliding down the arm of the couch to get into
behind her, wrapping his arms around her and Jesse, rocking them toward
forward and backward. Jesse squeals and laughs as Cora tries to hold back her laughter. "Are
amazed at me
“Oh God,” he sighs, despite his smile. “I retract –”
“Never, I will treasure this moment all my life…”
I'm shaking with laughter even as Sinclair raises his voice to cut her off.
“As surprising as this development is for you two,” he says, his voice not without humor,
“What's your point, Cora?”
“I don't know,” she sighs, leaning contentedly against Roger, who sweetly gives her a kiss.
in the neck. “Only, perhaps there is something more to these bonds than simply the power
pure that is transmitted between them. I mean, I don't think that's really a possibility.
that Ella and I discovered that we were sisters and ended up being brothers.
“We are… a kind of powerful quartet, when we put our minds to it.”
I nod, considering that maybe Cora is right. Maybe it's less about the links
in themselves and rather what they create in combination.
“And those three,” Cora continues, pointing between the children, “are already united with each other, each
one with a goddess gift. And then Ariel with a dark gift too? She shrinks
shoulders. “I think, in combination, they could be… formidable.”
“The future of our nation, right here,” I say softly, leaning in to kiss him.
new to my little girl and extend my hand to my son, whom I suddenly want to have very
near. “Whatever gifts they have, I hope they can be convinced
that they use them to protect themselves first and then our people.”
Silently, my family nods as we look at each other. Because our family
It comes first, but our nation?
These children are going to have a very important role in it. I hold my breath a little,
praying inwardly that we can raise them to be enough
strong enough to use their gifts for good.
“Actually,” Henry says, making us all turn to him in surprise. "There
There are also some precedents.”
And my eyebrows almost shoot up to my hairline. More news today?
I settle against my partner, ready to listen again.
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