Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Monarchs of Vakeeli, going back 10,000 years.
Maps.
Resource guides and explanations.
I stop when I see the section I need.
Selah the Regal.
I place the candle on a shelf, put out my bloom, and scan the row of books. I’d heard about Selah through my mum, very rarely. It’s been deemed that Selah still exists but is impossible to reach. Many say she lives on an island she created herself, deep in the Vakeeli waters. I suppose no one would know because there is only so far a person can venture into the waters before the waves become large enough to drown your boat and kill everyone on it.
I spot a book with the title Selah’s Creation of the Tethered and take it out, carrying it to a table and flipping it open. There’s passage after passage of what the Tether is, exactly as Beatrix described it. There’s the simple Tether, which is common in Vakeeli. Soulmates who link eyes, connect, and marry off like normal people do. And then there’s the Cold Tether and the story of how it was created.
There are arguments that out of the three Regals of Vakeeli, Selah was most powerful. Hassha, Regal of the sun, moon, and stars, and Korah, Regal of water, air, land, and vegetation, were the creators of all Vakeeli territory. Selah was the Regal of animals and men. The Regals possessed the power to create all living things, building each territory in a unique way.
After all the land was formed, Selah created the first of Vakeeli mankind, the Tethered. There were seven Tethered total. Three females: Jesha, Rotan, and Oriah, and four males: Valkee, Busk, Decius, and Lehvine. It is said that this number is all Selah could produce. Her powers would not let her create more than seven at once.
After Hassha and Korah had created and split the lands, each Tethered was given a territory where they created their own laws. Selah created each Tether to be completely unique. They were not family. They did not know each other. She’d separated them as children, raised them individually, and allowed them to develop their own characteristics. The Tethered kept to themselves, growing roots in their lands, and making each territory the best that they could, but she soon realized her Tethered were lonely, just as she was when Hassha and Korah stepped down to become Mythics among the land of Vakeeli.
Selah allowed the Tethered to seek each other when they became old enough to mate. When it was time to mate, they’d know because their hearts would beat harder, their bodies would develop, and their feet would move without guidance until they were where they needed to be. According to the text, when they found their mate, the bond was undeniable. They would become protective and could smell their mate from miles away. With their mates, they would create children, who would also carry the power of the Tether.
Jesha mated with Valkee.
Rotan mated with Busk.
Oriah mated with Lehvine.
However, by creating seven Tethered, Selah had conjured a downfall. One of the women would accidentally mate twice, and that was Oriah, who not only mated with Lehvine, but Decius as well.
This did not sit well with either male, because as mates, a solid bond is created so that procreation can begin. The Tethered males become very territorial, digging into their primitive ways for their mates, and this was hard for Oriah because her heart had mated to two.
Lehvine was strong, with arms as thick as tree trunks and hair as dark as a raven. He was ruler of Blackwater. Decius was the mighty ruler of The Trench, which was once known as Titan before he abandoned it.
It's rumored that Oriah begged Selah to let her have both men, to let her bond and procreate with both of them, but Selah told her she could not because it would disrupt the sacredness of the Tether. But of course, Selah loved Oriah, and she did not want her to suffer, so to spare Oriah’s heart, Selah agreed to take whichever man she didn’t choose and put him to rest, so that Oriah would live with one mate peacefully and without guilt.
With a heavy heart, Oriah chose Lehvine. And when Decius found out that he was going to be put to rest because of Oriah’s choice, he was not pleased. Selah gave Decius three full moons to live, and he lived angrily, bitterly. Then, he found out Oriah was pregnant, and that her procreation with Lehvine was beginning.
With this news, Decius’ anger only intensified, but he hid it from Selah. On the day Oriah gave birth, Decius paid her and Lehvine a visit and confronted Oriah, begging for her to take him back. Oriah told him she couldn’t—that she’d already bonded with Lehvine. They were going to live the rest of their lives procreating for Selah in peace.