The Soul Engine Ch. 31 (Original Fantasy) (Patreon)

A/N: Avina POV! I wanted to try something a little different with this story in that its mostly told from the MC's POV instead of having multiple different POVs like my previous Free Writes.

That said, this is one of only three alternate POV chapters throughout the entire novel. This is Avina's, and both Thayla and Bula will also each get one!

As always, enjoy!

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Let it be said, Avina has not been a Princess for a long, long time. In fact, for the vast majority of her life, she has not been a Princess. She was very, very young when the assassins came for her family that night, and she’d been on the run ever since. Hardly the life of a Princess of Ocreatha, to be sure.

And yet… that didn’t really change anything for anyone, did it? She still had the blood of the Reyalis Royal Family flowing through her veins. She might have discarded that name when she went into hiding, but the fact was, she was still Princess Reyalis to anyone who cared about such things. Such as the former Royal Advisor, now Regent-Lord, Foss Sangrey.

As she sits across from her old tutor, a hastily prepared pot of tea between the two of them, Avina can feel the eyes of her new allies on her even now. There hadn’t been nearly enough time for her to explain things to even her own satisfaction. An hour? No, she would have needed several to even really get started. But… they’d deserved an explanation after all her subterfuge. Mikael most of all.

He was so much more than just her masterpiece, though Avina tried not to let on to that too much. He was… he was a representation that she wasn’t a failure. He was her salvation. Without him, she didn’t know where she would be right now, but it certainly wouldn’t be here. And how had she repaid him? With lies. She’d kept the truth from him, even after finding out that Zadicus or his superior had clearly had some idea of who she was.

Well, not anymore. Avina had told them who she was before Regent-Lord Sangrey’s arrival. She had explained to them what had happened that night, twenty long years ago. She’d been just a child, and even to this day she couldn’t really say why she was the only member of her family who got to survive. Oh sure, she knew logically why, but it still felt… wrong that she out of everyone had gotten to live. Almost like a waste.

Her survival that night had been a fluke. A silly little game between children had seen her live through the night while her father, mother, and siblings were all brutally murdered in their beds. Indeed, the only reason that Avina had made it to the next morning was because she’d befriended a daughter of one of the servants. They’d been of similar age and build. Not really close in features, but that didn’t end up mattering Avina supposed.

She didn’t even remember the other girl’s name. All she remembered was being curious. Curious how the other half lived. She’d spent her entire life up to that point in the lap of luxury. She’d had the best sheets, the best beds, the best nightclothes. For one night, Avina had proposed a swap with her friend. A little trick that would be so successful no one would ever realize.

They met up and switched clothing, before making their way to each other’s beds for the evening. Avina had almost immediately regretted her choice, of course. The other girl’s living conditions were deplorable, at least to the sensibilities of a young, spoilt Princess. The bed was lumpy and filled with straw. The blankets were scratchy and threadbare. Even the room itself was small and drafty, being located right next to the kitchens.

But Avina couldn’t go back on her word for two reasons. Number One, even at that young age, her father the King had instilled in her a sense of responsibility. Once you resolved to do something, you needed to see it through. That was what he’d always told her. And Avina had resolved to see what living in her less fortunate friend’s shoes was like for a night.

Of course, the other reason was a bit more… obvious. The other girl’s mother had been asleep in the room when Avina and her friend made the swap. If she tried to leave, she would risk waking her and the ruse being discovered. And that could not be allowed, even if Avina had to suffer a little bit of discomfort.

… Eventually, she’d fallen asleep. And then she’d woken up to pandemonium. The morning after the Royal Family’s brutal murders, Avina had found out what happened… and made a run for it. She’d run and she’d never looked back. After all, while her friend had been disfigured beyond identification, if her friend’s mother saw Avina’s face for even a moment, the servant woman would know precisely what had happened.

Avina couldn’t face that. She didn’t want to face it. Better the woman think her daughter had run away to seek her fortune elsewhere, than to know that she was brutally killed in a case of mistaken identity.

Unfortunately, while Avina had never looked back, she was beginning to think that she hadn’t run far enough. Perhaps staying in Alether had been a mistake, but she’d been afraid to leave the Kingdom of her birth. And now it was costing her. Here she was, her past having caught up to her. Foss Sangrey of all people, a man she’d once called Uncle sat across from her with a kindly smile on his bearded face.

Finished preparing his tea, the Regent-Lord brings it to his lips and take a deep sip before letting out a happy little sigh. Then, he gives Avina a broad smile, his cheeks rosy as he beams.

“You have no idea how much joy it brings me to see you alive and well, Princess.”

Smiling rather weakly, wishing more than anything that she’d had more time to talk with Mikael and the others before this conversation, Avina dips her head.

“Thank you, Regent-Lord. It gladdens my heart to see you again as well. I… I have missed you.”

Still beaming, the Regent-Lord bobs his head.

“Then please! Call me Uncle Foss, like you used to!”

Blushing a little bit at that, Avina squirms in her seat.

“I… would not be amiss to that, so long as you call me Avina then.”

When the old Royal Advisor raises a bushy grey eyebrow at that, Avina is quick to explain.

“It’s been… a long time. Avina has been my name longer than any other. It’s what I go by now… Uncle.”

He seems to soak this in for a moment, before his eyes crinkle in another smile as he nods again.

“Of course, Avina.”

Then, his face almost immediately drops into a sorrowful expression.

“That night… all those years ago. It was the hardest night of my life. The loss of the King and Queen, of your brothers and sisters… it was a tragedy. Unspeakable in its horror and that was from the outside looking in. I can only imagine how it must have been for you. However did you survive?”

She wants to tell him. To explain everything that had happened with her and her friend as she’d hastily done for Mikael and the others. But it’s too hard. Mikael, Thayla, and Bula are all far enough removed from the situation that she could explain it to them in rather clinical tones. However, Foss… he hadn’t lived with them necessarily, but he might as well have. The Royal Advisor was over at the Palace practically every day. It was entirely possible he would even know the mother of Avina’s friend. He had always been that kind of man.

In the end, she just shakes her head, staring down into her tea.

“… Luck. I was just… lucky.”

Fortunately, the Regent-Lord seems to accept that. Humming thoughtfully, he nods after a moment and takes another sip of his tea. Then, he lets out a second sigh, looking almost hurt as he gazes at Avina over the rim of his spectacles.

“Why did you run, my dear? No… rather, why did you not come to me? You were right to flee. Who knew whether those assassins were still close by, or what they would do if they found out about your survival. But… if you had come to me, I could have kept you safe. I swear it.”

Avina flinches, suitably chastised. Foss was right, of course. She should have gone to him. But she hadn’t. She’d ran and ran. She didn’t really have a reason at the time. Only that she was terrified. Not just of being killed, but of being discovered alive. Of having it found out that her friend had died for her. A silly, childish fear to be sure, but a fear, nonetheless.

Of course, in the decades since, Avina had had time to think about her reasons for why she never even tried to get into contact with her old tutor. After all, he was Regent-Lord, was he not? He’d been Regent-Lord for twenty long years, and he’d done his best in the role. But that was just it. He’d done his best. However…

“I… I suppose it’s because I knew who killed my parents all along, Uncle.”

Foss blinks at that, going still. Avina, meanwhile, gives a half shrug as she purses her lips together quite thinly, still studying her tea.

“It was the Council of Lords, obviously. Someone among them wanted my family dead. They wanted the power that my family wielded for themselves.”

Looking up, right into Foss Sangrey’s eyes, Avina sees the surprise there. Clearly, he didn’t think she would be politically minded enough to figure it out. Which… fair. She’d been little more than a child the last time she’d been royalty, and in the time since she’d had to scrounge and scrape for everything she’d earned. Still.

“I know you’ve done your best to hold them off all these years, Uncle Foss… but tell me true… could you really have protected me from them AND kept them from taking the crown for themselves?”

The ensuing silence from her old tutor lets her know the answer. Foss is quiet for a moment, before slowly nodding.

“You were right to be concerned, Avina. The Council of Lords… they’ve been corrupt for even longer than your father had been King. But they were never so bold until that night. They’ve been a problem ever since, forcing me to allow bad apples like Zadicus Quinn to exist among their number.”

Avina feels a swell of pride at his acknowledgment. She knew it. She knew she was right to hide.

“Not anymore though.”

That brings her up short for a moment however and she tilts her head to the side in confusion before her eyes widen in realization. Seeing this, the Regent-Lord beams again, giving her a nod.

“That’s right, Avina. The Council of Lords has officially been defanged. This mess with Zadicus finally gave me the casus belli to move as I’ve wanted to for so long. Now… now the Kingdom of Ocreatha can move past the corruption of its Lords and into a brighter future.”

Of course. The army outside… if it belonged to Uncle Foss, then the Council of Lords didn’t stand a chance. An army that large and magnificent would be able to take on any of the forces that the Lords of Ocreatha could hope to bring to bear. Even if they all banded together, they would be hard pressed to win. And they wouldn’t band together, because they hated each other’s guts as much as they hated everyone else.

A sense of relief fills Avina as she looks into Foss Sangrey’s kindly, grandfatherly eyes. With him taking the reins, Ocreatha would be just fine.

“Together, we’ll be able to right all the wrongs committed by the Council of Lords, Avina. I’m so glad to have you at my side once more, my dear girl.”

That… causes Avina to pause. Funnily enough, she hadn’t even thought about that. The idea of becoming an official Princess again… it hadn’t even crossed her mind. Her place… her place was with Mikael. She was his Soul Mechanic after all, and the Soul Engine in his chest still required constant attention even if it had somehow evolved all on its own. ESPECIALLY because it had somehow evolved all on its own.

But how to tell Uncle Foss that? As Avina struggles to find the words, the moment of silence is broken when Mikael suddenly steps forward and speaks up.

“Where exactly did you get the army to be able to do all of this, Regent-Lord?”

Avina turns her head to look at Mikael aghast. His tone is clipped and his words are bordering on disrespectful. Before she can reprimand him, however, Uncle Foss responds with a jovial laugh.

“Oho! And who is this then? Is this… a successful project, Avina? My oh my…”

Avina blinks, even as the stately old man leans forward, studying Mikael like one might a particularly interesting insect. Mikael, meanwhile, is standing there tense and high-strung, his jaw clenched as he glances from the Regent-Lord… to the two guards standing motionless behind the seated man.

The room was occupied by seven individuals at the moment. On one side was Avina sat on one couch with Mikael, Thayla, and Bula all arrayed behind her. On the other side was Foss sat on the other couch with two of his soldiers standing at attention behind them. She hadn’t begrudged her old tutor the protection, of course. Alether HAD just been in a state of anarchy after all, anarchy that THEY had caused.

But… the way Mikael is looking at Uncle Foss’ guards draws Avina’s attention to them as well. Until that is, the Regent-Lord’s next words cause her focus to snap back to him.

“What you’ve accomplished with your Soul Engine is simply marvelous, Avina.”

He’s not looking at her. He’s looking at Mikael. Who only tenses up further when Uncle Foss somehow names her device… despite the fact that he should have had no way of knowing what she’d titled her creation. The only people who knew she’d called it a Soul Engine were either in this room or dead… or they were Zadicus Quinn’s mysterious benefactor on the other end of the skull who had seemed to know much too much about her already.

A sinking feeling begins to fill Avina’s gut and she places a hand on her abdomen. She hasn’t even had any of the tea, and yet she feels like she might be sick. Surely… surely not, right? There was just no way.

“Avina…”

Mikael’s voice is tense as can be and his eyes are now firmly fixed on the two guards that Foss has brought with him. His hand is on the pommel of his sword, even as he speaks through clenched teeth.

“Avina… those two soldiers. They don’t have souls.”

Avina stares now too. At the two guards who don’t even react to Mikael’s accusation. The soldiers who haven’t moved a single muscle since taking up position behind their superior. Discipline was one thing… but this? This was something else.

Oh. Oh no.

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A/N: Poor Avina. It might have seemed obvious to all of us, but Avina was a little blind to the truth.

Tomorrow we're back to Mikael's POV and the grand reveal~

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