Chapter 11 #2
Arielle glanced at Bastian, as if checking for his approval to continue. He nodded, looking as eager as I felt to hear what she had to say.
“Elariya’s father had it.” Her voice was whisper soft. No louder than the cautious tone of a scared child. “He was wearing it. I knew from his essence that he’d been in the palace and near your father. He took it from him.”
Rage and confusion flooded me at once, burning through my soul like fire refining steel. I stood, my fist balled, my lungs tight, my heart galloping.
Elariya’s father. The Ambassador of Realms for King Varis. He had the ring?
He took it from my father.
And he was wearing it?
Fuck. I was right there in his home. But he wasn’t there. I didn’t sense his essence anywhere. Not even the walls of that manor would tell me where he’d been.
This didn’t make sense. Why did the spell track me to Elariya if her father had the ring?
“Tell me everything. Every fucking detail.” I needed more information, so I tried to control my indignation.
Arielle straightened in Bastian’s arms, then she told me everything else.
I hung on to every single word as she explained what had happened to Elariya’s father, the vortex that appeared and swallowed him, and then the shard of red light that struck Elariya, cursing her.
Cursed. Just like me.
On the night of my father’s death, the same thing happened to me. A spark of red light came out of nowhere as I was training in the courtyard of the palace. It wedged itself in my heart, then burrowed deep inside me. That was the ring’s doing. It marked me that night. Just as it marked her.
I was cursed to ensure I would never stop looking until I found it. But Elariya…
Was she cursed because her father had the ring?
I looked away from Arielle and stared at Elariya, my jaw clenched so tightly it could crack.
Her father was wearing the ring.
And that could only mean one thing. He didn’t just steal it.
He ended the man it belonged to.
I looked back at Arielle. “The ring is fused to my father’s essence. That means
Elariya’s father would’ve had to kill him to take it.”
“Yes,” Arielle answered, her voice quiet again and cautious.
“How was he able to kill King Lysander and take the ring?” Bastian asked, his expression fierce. “That’s impossible for a human.”
“He would have needed one fuck of a powerful spell,” I seethed.
The ring was made through a bloodline spell, created to be worn only by the Fae of the Nightblade lineage. It would destroy all others, let alone a human.
Elariya’s father must have undoubtedly had a spell. That was the only explanation.
“Fucking hells.” Bastian hissed.
I ground my teeth.
What reason would a human, an ambassador—sworn to keep peace between the realms—have to kill a Fae king?
And his daughter? She was a wildcard, but the ring would have had a purpose for cursing her. Now that I thought about it, I didn’t think it was a punishment.
“What’s her curse?” I focused on Arielle again.
“A memory loop.” She pulled in a steady breath. “She has thirty days of new memories that fade on the rise of the new moon. She’s cursed to remember the day her father disappeared. The day the ring was last seen in this world. She has twenty-three days left until her next reset.”
A rush of dread washed over me.
Memory loop. I’d heard of curses of that nature in the old days, but I never thought I’d come across a person who bore it.
And her?
So, in twenty-three days, she wouldn’t remember any of this.
Or me.
I should feel nothing, but a twinge of regret pulsed in my gut.
Gods, since when did I give a damn about being forgotten?
I wasn’t supposed to care. Caring was a weakness I couldn’t afford.
“The ring must have cursed her for a reason,” Bastian intoned, arriving at the same conclusion as me.
“I think it was for the same reason as Wolfe. It cursed her so you could use her to find it,” Arielle supplied.
“I sensed the ring’s intension when I saw the vision.
Remember, it’s enchanted to always try and find its rightful owner if it gets lost. That’s you.
I believe the ring was leaving a track. I think it linked Elariya to her father through blood.
That’s why your wraith was able to find her when she performed the blood spell on the Phantom Moon.
Blood bears no boundaries, no distinction, so to the wraith she was the thief. ”
The truth of her words sank deep into my bones. As though my curse was responding with the confirmation that this was the next path I had to follow.
“Where did her father go?” That was the real question. That was what mattered. Everything hinged on the answer to that question.
Arielle’s eyes darkened with trepidation. “That’s the other thing that concerns me. I think you were right about the ring being on another plane of existence. But while her father was sucked into the vortex I’m not sure that he and the ring went to the intended destination.”
Fuck. That sounds like more to worry about. “What do you mean, Arielle? I assumed the vortex was created by the ring.”
“No it wasn’t.”
“How can you be certain?” Bastian asked.
“It had no magical signature. Nothing at all. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“How is that even possible? I’ve never heard of that before.”
“Dark ancient magic,” I filled in, my voice distant.
Bastian and I exchanged curious glances.
“I sensed the ring was in trouble.” Arielle pressed her palm against her chest. “That Elariya’s father was in trouble and the vortex was something else. Something else sent after them. They went in… but not where the vortex intended. The ring took them somewhere else. Somewhere to hide.”
“Hide?” My voice cracked out the word.
“Yes. That’s why we’re left with this problem now.”
I bit into my lip so hard I tasted blood. Everything kept getting stranger and stranger with no straight answers.
“There’s no way Elariya’s father was working alone. Maybe that vortex had something to do with whoever was working with him.”
“What about your uncle? That person could be him,” Bastian suggested with suspicious eyes.
“His help would explain how Elariya’s father managed to get into the palace and kill my father.
He would have wanted to keep the ring in Galaythia.
And that vortex sounds as dark and deadly as him.
” Dreynthor was the obvious choice. We all suspected him.
He was the only person who’d benefitted from my father’s death.
“But something doesn’t add up. If Elariya’s father wanted the ring for himself, there’s no way he would’ve made it as far as Stormfell with Dreynthor involved. He wouldn’t have escaped alive.”
Bastian nodded. “No. I can’t imagine that Elariya’s father would have stood a chance of escaping if he double crossed Dreynthor in such a way.”
“Then it’s someone else,” Arielle offered.
“Perhaps and perhaps not. We don’t have enough information because we don’t know what happened.” Everything was still vague.
“What now, Wolfe? What should we do now?”
There was a lot to consider. Too many questions and too few answers, tangled in half truths. I wanted to unravel each mystery one by one. But the question of where my focus should lie hadn’t changed.
“We focus on finding the ring. That is the priority. We have a big lead now.” Everything didn’t need to make sense, only the one thing that mattered—Elariya.
“The road ahead may be hard. But I have a tracker now. The blood of a cursed mage. If I get the ring back, it fixes everything. And I’ll know just how guilty Dreynthor is. ”
The Gods had given me a hand. As long as my uncle remained in the dark, I’d stay one step ahead.
“What will you do about Elariya’s father?” Arielle asked carefully.
I didn’t know why she bothered with the question, but it seemed her heart was getting in the way again with compassion for our new mage friend.
“When I find him, I will deal with him the way we treat all murderers.” I levelled her a hard stare, and not even she could argue. We had proof of his guilt. Elariya’s father was wearing my ring, and we knew there was only one way he could have taken it from my father.
“I’ll take you to your chamber.” Bastian stood with Arielle, who clung to his chest. “You need to rest.”
“What are you going to do with her, Wolfe?” Arielle glanced at Elariya.
“Wake her up and give her the news.”
“She’s scared. Try to remember she’s an innocent in this.”
“It’s time to take your leave now my Lady. Don’t worry about her.” I dipped my head with reverence, even as malice churned in my chest.
Bastian carried Arielle away. She stared at me with worry until they went through the door. She knew me too well. How ruthless I could be. Innocent or not, Elariya wouldn’t be spared.
The moment the door closed, I faced Elariya and began unweaving the cocoon. It was time for action.
Unravelling the cocoon only took a fraction of the time I used to set it up, so I was done within minutes.
I woke her from the deep soul sleep and the red-haired maiden floated down to the ground, her body looking limp as she lay flat on her back.
I knelt beside her, watching as the rise and fall of her chest quickened with the leap of her pulse.
Slowly, so slowly, she stirred, then her eyes opened.
Watching her wake up was a pretty sight I couldn’t deny.
She gazed at me and it took a moment for realization to dawn. When it did, those beautiful eyes filled with rage and terror, enhancing her beauty.
Fear looked good on her.
The twisted exquisiteness caught me off guard. So did the hard slap she landed across my cheek.
I had to give her credit. She hit me so hard the skin stung.
“You fucking bastard,” she hissed, then she hurriedly rolled onto her knees and in an instant, she was on her feet, running away.
That’s okay, Ziyka. Run.
I was a monster. And I would do what all monsters did.
Chase.