42 Chapter 42 - The Mark
"So the monster finally bared its teeth." Erik Frenzel's eyes darkened at the sight of his youngest son unconscious on the bed. Aether's eyebrows were furrowed and his face twisted in pain with the slightest of movement. He was abnormally pale and his eyes were slightly puffy. Not only were the areas around his eyes red, but ghastly red scratch marks adorned his skin.
It looked as if he had been attacked.
"Tell me. How did this happen?" Erik's voice was dripping with killing intent. His cold gaze landed on Leon causing the other to stiffen.
Leon lowered his head. Clenching his fist he said, "Apologize, I was too ignorant and was not paying attention to my surroundings. I should have-"
"Enough." Erik's voice was like a knife cutting through the air.
Leon stilled. A cold sweat began to develop on the back of his neck. His hand itched to move, but he dared not to. "It started when Lucian stopped Aether to give him a…gift."
"A gift?" Erik's gaze darkened even more. A hint of hatred floated on his voice, "Show me."
Leon did not need to be told twice. He quickly reached for his bag and took the book out. Without meeting his fathers gaze he gave the book to him.
Erik grabbed the book. His fingers dug into the cover as he realized what type of book it was. "What a pathetic ploy." He sneered. Carelessly he threw the book onto the ground, watching in slight delight as it burned to a crisp under his flames.
The book was a priceless item. Only a couple copies had ever been made and almost all of them were protected in the Royal Library by a few selected researchers. To have such an opportunity to read such a book, many would lay down their lives, but to him it was nothing but a reminder of what was to come.
Ever since he introduced Aether to the King, he knew deep down that the King would do anything to keep Aether close to his side and what better way than to have him be betrothed to one of his sons.
He expected Lucian or Sean to make the first move, but to his surprise it was Nox who made the first move. Originally he had thought that the King had sent Nox, but the more he met Nox the more he felt like the King had no idea what kind of creature had been growing by his side. It was only inevitable for Nox to get mad when another so openly expressed their intentions.
But to hurt Aether?
His gaze landed on the awful scratch marks once more. " How did he get these marks?"
Leon was silent for a moment, his mouth was wide open, but no sound came out. A rare look of confusion flashed across his face as he finally spoke, "I am not sure what happened, but the moment we entered into Nox's shadows Aether began to act as if he could not breathe." Slowly Leon added, "It was as if he couldn't see or hear what was around him. He began to panic and the result of that was him scratching at his throat." Leon lowered his head again, "I apologize for my carelessness. I should have noticed that something was wrong right away and got Aether out of there before harm could be done."
Erik gazed down at Leon. Coldness flashed through them, but despite the anger growing inside him, he couldn't help but see this as an opportunity.
"Help me take off his clothes." Erik gave no warning to Leon as he leaned over and pulled the blanket off Aether's body, not caring that Aether began to shiver and groan out in discomfort.
When Erik noticed that Leon was not moving he scowled as he ripped off Aether's shirt, "Are you an imbecile?" He seethed, "Do you not remember the task I assigned you and your sister?"
Leon's eyes widened and he quickly rushed over taking the shirt from his fathers hands and throwing it on the floor.
Erik looked fixedly at Aether's upper body. The pale skin was flawless except for a few purple and green bruises that bloomed on his wrist and elbow. An obvious sign that his son had been roughly handled. He made a mental note to remind Leon of Aether's…weaker state.
Erik carefully inspected every inch of skin on Aether's body. Not finding anything abnormal he gestured for Leon to help him turn him over.
Erik let out a chuckle at how easy it was to turn over Aether's body. He knew that his youngest was weaker and more delicate compared to other children, but for him to be this light. He almost couldn't believe it.
Just when Erik thought that he would have to remove Aether pants to find the mark he froze. His eyes latched on to the lower part of Aether's back. On the right side of Aether's lower back, right next to his spine was a slightly darker patch of skin in an obscure shape. If Erik hand't been actively searching for it, he would have just assumed that it was a darker patch of skin or a fading bruise.
The mark was no bigger than a small coin. It resembled vines that twirled around like snakes attacking one another in a circle. They latched out into the middle like a whirlpool and at its center was a small delicate flower.
Erik couldn't help the smile rising on his face. He lightly traced the mark, silently expecting that something would happen, but much to his dismay, the mark was just that, a mark.
He couldn't stay disappointed for long. After all, this was the mark of a god.
He sat back up rubbing his hands together as the warmth began to spread. The smile on his face was contagious, "It seems that the gods are in our favor. Gifting us such a precious thing."
Leon nodded beside him. He leaned over to inspect the small mark as well. His eyes squinted and got even closer to the mark, "Father, is that…" his fingers hovered over the center of the mark where the flower was.
Erik narrowed his eyes and peered closer to the flower. There was no color to give away what type of flower it was and the vines reaching for it seemed to be wanting to crush it causing it to be more smothered, obscuring its appearance a tiny bit.
But the longer he looked the more he seemed to recognize the flower.
"Is this?" Erik's eyes widened and he swiftly left the room.
Leon waited patiently in the room for his fathers return. His eyes never leaving the strange mark.
He didn't believe what his father and sister had said. That his brother's soul had been swapped with another. The idea alone was preposterous and yet here it was. A mark that was so intricate in design that it would be impossible to mistake it as anything but a mark from god.
The door swung open and his father came rushing in with a small brooch in his hand, not far behind him was his mother and sister.
"What is so important that you had to interrupt my meeting?" Their mother closed the door behind them, locking it as she did so. Her eyes landed on the sleeping figure on the bed and she rolled her eyes, "Tell me why our youngest is once again passed out and injured?"
"That is not important right now." Erik brushed her off while gesturing for them to gather around the bed.
"You remember how I told you about the possibility of our son's soul being exchanged with another."
"Yes. A ridiculous story that you seem to believe full-heartedly." Their mother rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she stared down at Aether. Her eyes narrowed, "What are these marks on his neck?"
Erik ignored her questions. Instead he held out his hand, showing the brooch to the three. "You all know what this is."
"Yes, it is the symbol of the Soline Empire, what of it?"
Erik smiled as he gently placed the brooch next to Aether's mark, "Look familiar?"
The three leaned closer, their eyes widening. Aria and Leon gazed at one another, a complicated look flashing in their eyes.
"This is…" Their mother was wide eyed as she stared at the brooch and similar looking mark on her youngest back. Taking a deep breath, she stood back up and calmly said, "So," She glimpsed over at Erik, her eyes narrowing, "Does this mean that this thing in front of me is not really my son?"
Erik grinned as he nodded, "Yes." He grabbed the brooch and stuffed it back into his pocket, "Not only does this mark prove that he is a different soul brought to us by a God, but…" He paused, his grin getting wider at his thoughts, "…it seems our new son has an important role to play within the Soline Empire."
"How so?" Their mother was rather accepting of the news. She did not care for her useless son before, but sensing his sudden change in intelligence, he has shown his ability to be useful for the family even if he is without abilities. Yet, when her husband came in spouting nonsense that their son was replaced by a different soul by a God, she brushed his crazy words off, but now? Now she was beginning to see it.
A mark that replicates the Soline Emblem perfectly is impossible to have. After all, Replicating the emblem without the King's permission results in death. It made no sense for her son to have such an intricate mark on his body. So she could only accept the deranged theory that her husband so proudly spouted.
Erik tucked the brooch away in his pocket, "For the soul that is brought over by a God a mark will appear on their body. That is the basics of what was explained in the book, but there is more to it." Erik gestured for Leon to help him flip Aether back over onto his back.
Tucking Aether's body in with the blanket Erik continued, "The mark not only represents God's interference, but it also gives us an insight on what they were brought here for and it seems our son has something to do with our Kingdom."
He backed away, his eyes lingering on the still pale face of Aether, "What he will do though, is unknown. Aria."
Aria's gaze snapped up from Aether's to her father. She nodded her head in acknowledgment.
"How are his strings looking?"
Aria frowned. Closing her eyes she reached out. Erik watched with slight impatience as Aria's hands moved in strange motions until they stilled as if they had grabbed onto something and were pulling. A frown painted her lips.
"What is it?"
Aria's eyes opened, "His string is still the same in regards to color, though it seems to be getting lighter with every passing day, but…" her eyebrows scrunched, "There is something else trying to attach onto his strings."
All three gazed at Aria with narrowed eyes.
"What do you mean?" Eriks voice was cold as he spoke.
Aria ignored her fathers cold tone and tried her best to explain what she had seen. "His gray string was getting lighter in color, but there was a black substance that seemed to be circling around his string. It did not touch his string, but it would lash out when other strings or I got closer."
Erik went silent and turned back to glance at Aether. His eyes darkening as a single person flashed through his mind, "It seems a beast is sinking its teeth into what doesn't belong to it."
