Page 49 of The Divine Shallows
In Neramyr, sacrificing oneself for another wasseen as the highest form of nobility. As queen, Elowyn was expected to accept this honor with gratitude, to view it as a privilege—but not yet. Inside, she felt anything but honored. She felt trapped, her freedom and autonomy slipping away before her very eyes.
Moreover, the spell required only the Goddess’ blessing and a willing fey to offer their life to be tethered. Finnor had already pledged his soul, and Elowyn couldn’t prevent it even if she tried—her desires held no sway in this decision. Caena’s blessing had sealed their fate, her judgment reigning supreme above all else.
Elowyn’s chest tightened, her breaths coming in short gasps as if the air itself had turned to lead. Why her? Why would the Goddess take her agency, her right to her own existence away? Her father hadn’t even considered relinquishing the throne yet! She had always believed her destiny would be determined in the stars, not dictated by a divine warlock sworn to obey her father’s will.
“Get out,” Elowyn commanded, her voice laced with hostility, and Finnor recoiled. “Now.”
“Your father didn’t want you to know, but I needed to tell you. The guilt on my conscience would be harrowing.” Finnor’s body stiffened, but he pressed on, “I cannot disobey my king. I am sworn to his court.”
“You forget that I am to be your queen one day!” Elowyn’s voice rose to a furious pitch as she slammed her hands against the table. “My soul is mine and mine alone! How dare you allow yourself to be tethered to me against my will with such an abhorrent spell before necessity calls for it!” She shook her head in disbelief. “This can’t be… At nineteen, I am to be bound by force to another soul before I have yet to live? You may as well lock me behind iron and cede the key to the depths of the Swyn Sea!”
Finnor’s face blanched, but his voice was hardened as he responded to her. “The moment I swore the blood oath to accept my position as Commander of the Feyguard to Eriden, I vowed my undying fealty to this kingdom. I am bound by blood to protect Eriden and its folk untilmy last breath and beyond. By my obligation to the Moon Goddess and to Neramyr, my soul is fated by the stars to protect you always,” Finnor declared, his voice unwavering with credence as he held her gaze. “With or without the Eternal Tethering spell.”
“Leave!” Elowyn spat, her words filled with venom. “Get out of my sight.”
Finnor’s expression remained unreadable as he silently rose from his seat and exited her bedchamber without a word.
Hours passed, and Elowyn remained seated in the cushioned chair, motionless as if carved from a slab of stone. Though her outward appearance was stoic, inwardly, her soul mourned the loss of her freedom. Her aura simmered with grief and her mind was plagued by turmoil.
Tomorrow, through the Goddess’ divine blessing, her father would tether her soul to a stranger for as long as she walked the feylands of Neramyr.
As daylight filtered through her warded windows, Elowyn finally stirred from her immobile state, weeping silent tears of misery.
17
Eternal Tethering
Elowyn’s facewas gaunt as she stood within the calming waters of the Divine Shallows. She was dressed in a robe of all white, the linen billowing around her legs in the celestial shallows. At her waist, an alabaster cord was cinched around it in a knot and her hair was unbound, falling in soft waves around her hollow face. Her eyes held a vacant, empty gaze, devoid of emotion.
This morning, Ora entered woefully in her bedchamber to dress her for this ritual. The heaviness in her room was unbearable; it coated her throat and her lungs making it hard to breathe. Ora’s face was unexpressive, but Elowyn knew her soul mourned with hers. A sorrowful understanding passed between them, knowing that Elowyn would lose something precious today.
Led into the Heart of the Temple by two male acolytes, Elowyn now stood at the center of the Divine Shallows, poised to fulfill the purpose her father had determined for her. She couldn’t deny the bitter understanding that she was merely a pawn in his twisted game, destined toplay out the roles he had assigned her: divine candidate, crown-princess, and now eternally-bound captive.
Clad in the same pale, unpigmented robes, her father was standing beside Elowyn to her left and the High Priestess was positioned to her right. However, Elowyn refused to look forward, for she knew Finnor would be there.
Her father had always been a reaper of ruin—now she considered Finnor one, too.
The four of them stood within the sacred Temple, arranged in four points, like a diamond. The mighty stone walls around them were so quiet that Elowyn felt the Temple of Caena was more haunted than hallowed. She thoroughly believed that the next time she found herself here would be to witness the Seventh Day, cheering Elyria on as she traversed the Bridge Between Worlds. Never did she expect she would enter these celestial waters so soon, shackled to a soul devoid of her will.
The High Priestess spoke first. “Now we shall commence the invocation for divine spellcasting.”
Turning her ethereal, weathered face towards the two figures before her, the High Priestess extended her palms upward and the eight phases of the moon began to glow. Moonlight trickled and spread from her palms and snaked down from her hands into the celestial waters, causing the shallows to illuminate around them.
With authority in her voice, the High Priestess addressed the king. “King Eamon, sovereign of Eriden, declare your plea of divine spellcasting to the Moon Goddess, Caena.”
Elowyn’s father proclaimed to the heavens. “Blessed Caena, Goddess of the Moon, Savior of the Fey, Liberator of Neramyr, Mother of Worlds, I plead you to grant your blessing upon this divine spell of Eternal Tethering.”
The High Priestess nodded and recited similarly, “Blessed Caena, Goddess of the Moon, Savior of the Fey, Liberator of Neramyr, Mother of Worlds, I plead you to grant your blessing to sanction this divine spellof Eternal Tethering at the hands of your child of the moon, Eamon Fangwright.”
The sacred waters surrounding them began to swirl and churn as the reverberations of their words filled the Temple. Luminescence infused the water, pulsating with energy as the gateway to the Goddess’ realm was opened by the High Priestess.
Elowyn flinched, feeling the intense power coursing through the waters around her.
Once more, the High Priestess spoke. “Finnor Wynward, son of Neramyr, declare your plea of divine spellcasting to the Moon Goddess, Caena.”
Finnor announced his plea into the ether, “Blessed Caena, Goddess of the Moon, Savior of the Fey, Liberator of Neramyr, Mother of Worlds, I plead you to grant your blessing upon this divine spell of Eternal Tethering. I offer you my soul to tether in this realm, into the realm of death, and to all the realms beyond.”
Elowyn’s heart pounded in her chest, her breaths ragged like the turbulent waters below. Dread consumed her as she grappled with the nightmare unfolding before her. Her mind splintered and shattered with each passing second.
