Chapter 156: Help from a witch

"What are you saying?" Kieran’s voice was low.

Miranda looked at him from across the study.

"You wanted your memories back and now you have them."

His hands curled into fists.

"Those are not real. You are twisting my mind with dark magic just as you took Henry’s when he tried to expose you."

"Henry’s death was of his own making"

"So you agree you had him killed?"

"No, I did not have him killed. He took an oath and he betrayed that oath. That is what killed him. Your memories are not false, Kieran. You did tell your father what you had overheard and you identified one man whom you had seen. That man was Dagon Veyr, your father’s most trusted and loyal commander."

Kieran stared at her in disbelief.

"And you were so stricken by what you had caused that you begged to forget and so I took away your memories on your father’s orders." Her gaze moved to Soren. "And yours."

Soren’s jaw ticked.

"You expect us to believe Kieran willingly asked you to erase his memories?"

"He didn’t understand what he was asking for." Miranda’s voice remained calm. "He only knew that he could not live with what he had done."

Kieran closed his eyes as something stirred inside him. Someone touching his forehead and a voice whispering.

You will forget.

He opened his eyes sharply.

"We cannot trust a word she says." Soren said to Kieran. "Even if what she has said is the truth, the fact remains that she means to harm Ayla."

"That is not true."

"You said it yourself." Soren countered.

"I will not harm a girl who has done nothing wrong to me. I merely want to teach her. Her powers are too strong for her to handle alone, and it is only a matter of time before she becomes just like Morgana."

"What do you mean?" he said. "Morgana?"

"Morgana was powerful beyond anything the Alphas had ever seen. She was an Omega Dualis... the reason for the first purge. The Omega Queen until she went berserk. She stopped listening to anyone around her. She became convinced that because she possessed power, no one had the right to question her. Her people died in droves from the attacks she refused to see coming, all while she held her moral high ground. I had to kill her."

Kieran’s eyes widened.

"You were in Morgana’s court," he stated.

"One of her most trusted priestesses and so was Amara. We served her with everything in us. We believed in her and then we watched her become a tyrant."

"And you believe Ayla will become the same?"

"I fear she will."

"Why?"

"Because she has the same blood and the same power."

Kieran’s chest tightened.

"That does not mean she will become her."

"No." Miranda’s gaze held his. "But Lucius is making it more likely. He is encouraging her to embrace her power without understanding it. Lucius does not want a controlled Omega Dualis. He wants a weapon and if he succeeds she will become something even Morgana was not."

Ayla was not Morgana. Kieran thought. She was his daughter and she was kind.

She would never...

But what if Miranda was right?What if power changed people?What if Ayla eventually became so powerful that no one could stop her?

Soren looked toward Kieran.

"You cannot possibly be buying anything she is saying. Kieran, she should be thrown into the dungeons for everything she has done. She is a witch who masqueraded herself as a priestess, lied to you and is still lying to you."

"You are no better, Soren" Kieran silenced him. "Do not mistake the fact that you stand beside me now as forgiveness for your treachery. At least with Miranda, I know she has the Alpha’s best at heart much unlike you who switched sides in the blink of an eye."

Soren’s jaw tightened.

He cast Miranda a glare.

She was lying, he could tell.

There was just something about how fluent she was in spinning this tale about the Omega queen that gave off lies.

He could not understand how Kieran could not see this.

Or maybe he could.

The last thing a father wanted was for his child to become what Miranda had described especially a child you have barely had a moment with since you discovered her as yours.

He could understand Kieran but he needed him to see Miranda’s lies for what it was.

There was something else she wasn’t saying, something she needed Ayla for and it wasn’t to teach her to master her powers.

Kieran turned to Miranda.

"Why tell me this now? You cannot expect me to trust you after everything you’ve done?"

"No, I do not expect your trust but I expect you to use your judgement."

Kieran almost laughed. "That is rich coming from you."

"You have every reason to hate me but Ayla is in more danger than we realize and she needs to be saved."

The door suddenly opened and Kieran’s head snapped toward it.

Ares stepped inside with Damon right behind him. Both men were breathing heavily with dust covering their clothes.

Kieran immediately knew without needing to ask that Lucius had evaded them.

"We searched the entire village." Damon’s expression was grim. "We found nothing."

"We believe Lucius had ambushed a trader and escaped on his horse. The trader was found dead in the forest." Ares added. "We have riders giving chase but..." Ares let his voice trail off.

The silence that followed felt suffocating.

Lucius had slipped through their fingers again. His daughter was gone... again.

His hands tightened into fists.

Kieran shut his eyes. He could feel the helplessness tugging at his mind.

"I can help you bring back your daughter, Kieran." Miranda spoke.

His eyes opened and he looked at her.

"Kieran, don’t." Soren cut in.

But Kieran could not look away from Miranda.

"I can help you," Miranda repeated, their eyes locked on one another.

Kieran clasped both his fingers together and asked the most obvious question.

"How?"