Chapter 20
“You need my blood,” I repeated slowly. “Why?”
I should have been afraid. But honestly, I was more intrigued than anything. A week ago, I would have feared the horrible Wraith King wanted to drink my blood. But I knew better than that.
“For the shadows,” Varius said, his words stilted.
I scrutinized him. His dark eyes were full of caution and concern. His expression was taut, as if he were restraining himself.
Restraining from doing what?
“Can you be more specific?” I asked. “How does my blood affect the shadows?”
“You recall how I told you that the presence of humans keeps the poisonous shadows at bay?”
“Yes.”
“The deadly shadows are called Necro Shadows. They are lethal even to my kind. Over the years, we have tried many things to prevent them from spreading. The Umbra Mist is channeled from the earth, but it is only effective at night.”
“Except for in my court,” I blurted without thinking.
Varius blinked at me. “What?”
“There was Umbra Mist surrounding the carriage when Clermont arrived,” I said, vividly remembering the way it had surrounded the carriage like smoke. “It was daytime.”
“Ah, yes. We have discovered that certain toxins in the Necro Shadows are drawn out by sunlight. These specific toxins chase away the Umbra Mist. But since the Necro Shadows are only confined to the Shadow Court, the Umbra Mist is free to roam during the daytime in the Earthen Court.”
I fell silent, frowning as I processed this. The Necro Shadows hadn’t reached my court… yet. But once they did, the Umbra Mist wouldn’t be able to help anyone. Not during the day.
Varius went on, “As I was saying, we have tried many things. The Umbra Mist helps, and the Lumen from my own shadow magic is also a deterrent. But the only thing that seems to truly push the shadows back is human blood.”
I blinked, finally registering that he had conveniently kept this tidbit to himself when he’d explained why my presence was necessary. Not once did he mention it required blood .
Then again, we had only just met. I couldn’t blame him for it.
Even now, we were still essentially strangers… despite how much more comfortable I felt in his presence.
“How much blood?” I asked.
Varius rubbed his wrists and lowered his gaze. “Tonight, I only need a vial. Tislora will use it to make an elixir. With her magic, it will push back the shadows.”
“Tonight,” I repeated. “But you will need more later?”
He grimaced. “I am not sure. It’s likely I will need more later, but I will always ask first. I will never take your blood without your permission. I swear it.”
This did not assure me in the slightest. I swallowed hard, my fear rising up in place of my curiosity. Would he drain me of all my blood? Was this how the previous human brides died?
“Why will you need more, if my blood will help push the shadows back?” I asked, fingering one of the gold-trimmed curtains to distract myself from the growing terror inside me.
“It is only temporary. Eventually, the shadows creep forward again. But this will buy us enough time to evacuate the people in the lower towns.”
My gaze snapped to his. “The shadows have reached the villages?”
He nodded, his mouth set in a thin line.
“And… the shadows are toxic to your people as well?”
Again, he nodded. “Depending on how concentrated the shadows are, they can… leave a certain mark.” He slid down the collar of his shirt, exposing his left shoulder.
My breath caught in my throat. A black scorch mark marred his crimson skin, with jagged lines protruding from it like a spiderweb.
“Most of the shadows are poisonous when inhaled,” Varius continued, rolling his tunic back into place. “But when they gather enough strength, sometimes they can burn. I barely escaped with my life.”
Stones. My pulse quickened, and I found myself staring at that spot on his shoulder, even though it was now covered.
I had assumed that, as shadow fae, they were immune—particularly the king.
But the unseelie fae were just as helpless as my own people.
I remembered the horror of seeing the shadows creep toward the border of the Earthen Court.
The soldiers at the border had been killed by getting too close.
I couldn’t imagine how awful it would be to have the shadows overtake my own city, destroying my people.
A lump formed in my throat. How could I refuse his request, when I knew innocent people were dying?
I wrung my hands together, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. I was here to kill the king—to eradicate his shadow magic completely.
But speaking with him now, knowing he was trying to protect his people—that he had even stood in the path of the poisonous shadows—made it extremely difficult. Inwardly, I felt my resolve cracking.
Could I really go through with this?
I cleared my throat. “You said it was temporary. What would be a permanent solution?”
“I—there is—” His mouth clamped shut, and a muscle feathered in his jaw. His nostrils flared as he gave me a frustrated look. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Will you stop repeating what I say?” he snapped.
“I will when you start making sense!”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and expelled a harsh breath. “There are things I cannot tell you, Sybelle. There is magic binding me, preventing me from doing so. I want you to know more. But I cannot say.”
A cold chill skittered over me, making my bones tremble. I suppressed a shudder and wrapped my arms around my chest. “Is my life in danger?” The words came out in a whisper.
Varius looked at me for a long moment, his expression inscrutable. Finally, he said, “Right now? No.”
My eyes closed. “Stones, that is not comforting.”
“Would you prefer I lie?”
“You can’t lie,” I said with a snort.
“I am trying to be as forthcoming as I can with you.” He spread his hands as if to placate me. “I was hoping to avoid deceiving you by giving you all the information I could. My council… suggested I ignore your wishes and take what I needed, but I refused.”
“Am I supposed to show gratitude for that?” I choked on an incredulous laugh. “Oh thank you, kind and magnanimous King Varius, for not tying me to a chair and extracting my blood by force. Thank you for telling me up front that I might die to save your people. ”
“I said nothing of the sort,” he growled. “Do not put words in my mouth.”
“Do not patronize me by withholding truths!”
“I am telling you all that I can!”
“That’s bullshit!” I shouted, hands curled into fists at my side. “Tell me plainly, is it at all possible that giving you my blood to stop these shadows will cost me my life?”
A tense silence fell between us as we stared each other down. His spine was rigid, and dark shadows pooled on the floor by his feet, inching toward me. Fury rippled off him in waves, but I continued to glare at him, waiting.
At long last, he spoke.
“Yes.”
I huffed a harsh laugh, turning away from him with one hand on my hip and the other on my forehead. My skull was throbbing from the monumental revelations he had just divulged.
He could not control the shadows.
They were deadly to the unseelie.
Only human blood could stop them.
It was very possible I could die by giving up my blood to save his kingdom.
I had a very strong suspicion that this was why the Shadow Court continuously asked for human brides. And when each human’s blood ran out, Varius was forced to send for another.
The cycle would continue forever. For hundreds of years, the Earthen Court would be sacrificing princesses all for the sake of appeasing these toxic shadows.
All to save their court. For reasons Varius couldn’t even tell me.
My hands began to shake as I turned to face him, hatred boiling my blood.
“You bastard,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“All this time, and this is why you demand brides? My people have no idea what they are giving up, or why! You have led us to believe that marrying a princess from my lands is meant to keep peace between our people, but really it is to save your ass !”
Shadows darkened the room, clouding the white lights from the sconces. Varius loomed over me, expression lethal. “You know nothing , human.”
“You’re right,” I said, unfazed by his show of power. “I know nothing, thanks to you and your deception.”
I strode for the door, pushing past him with no regard for the way his dark mist swirled around me.
“Sybelle,” he said angrily.
At the door, I turned to look at him once more. “I will have to take some time to consider your request, Highness . But if your people die tonight from those shadows, it is on you , not me.”
I stormed out of his chambers. Fury pounded in my veins as I made my way back to my own rooms, ignoring the black shadows that crept along the floor in my wake, a sign of the king’s venomous rage.