Chapter 20
“ I apologize for that disturbance,” Rasimir said, guiding me away from the courtyard.
All the usual niceties ran through my head.
Don’t be sorry.
It’s not your fault.
But it was his fault, and he should have been sorry. So I schooled my features in what I hoped was a polite mask and inclined my head.
A moment later, the forest loomed and fear was a hot, spiky presence in my chest. In the Everless, Lorcan warned that Rasimir expected me to learn at least one vor .
Was I walking into a test? My throat tightened. He wouldn’t kill me if I failed. But he could make me wish I was dead. Our shared blood wouldn’t stay his hand.
The trees glimmered and then shifted into the maze. I missed a step, and Rasimir offered me a fond smile as he steadied me.
“Still not used to it?”
“It’s impressive,” I said, my gaze falling on the hedges behind the merman’s fountain.
In the aftermath of Vander’s visit to my chamber, I’d forgotten to ask Lorcan about the Drachvi vampires.
They must have journeyed through the maze to attend the ball.
What else could the hedges do? Could anyone travel through them?
I swallowed my questions. It was better to let Rasimir steer the conversation—and to say as little as possible in response.
Rasimir brought us to a halt at the base of the fountain.
Mist rose from the bowl and cooled my skin.
The merman’s stone eyes stared at the sky.
His pursed lips sent water sparkling above his head in a graceful arc.
Tattoos spread over his stone shoulders and chest. I’d seen the pattern before, right after Lorcan hauled the bleeding merman onto the riverbank for me to kill.
Water welled at the corner of one of the merman’s eyes. Slowly it tracked down his cheek and over his square jaw. His eyelid twitched.
I forgot how to breathe. By some miracle of the gods, I didn’t make a sound. I didn’t move, my attention locked on the statue’s face. Another tiny river slid down the merman’s cheek.
Not water from the fountain. A tear.
His eyelid twitched again. Because he was real—or had been.
He was stone, but a thinking, flesh-and-blood being was trapped inside the statue.
The horror that gripped me in the grove outside the Everless returned.
Maybe the merman was like the hobflies, trapped in service they hadn’t chosen and couldn’t escape.
You have the power to change things , Lorcan’s voice said in my memory.
“I didn’t get a chance to speak to you this morning,” Rasimir said. “I was curious how you fared after last evening’s werewolf attack. Taking on new power can be an overwhelming experience.”
I concentrated on keeping my expression neutral. The fountain splashed next to us, which hopefully muffled the sound of my racing heart. “I suffered no ill effects.”
Interest flickered in his eyes. “How long did the wolf’s power stay with you?”
He didn’t know about Vander siphoning me. He couldn’t. The flowers were dead when Vander arrived and then he’d pulled me into a ward Rasimir couldn’t see. Rasimir didn’t know, and he wouldn’t learn of it.
As long as I gave nothing away.
“A few hours,” I said. “Although it’s difficult to say. I was weary after the ball, so I went to bed. When I woke, the power was gone.”
For one chilling second, Rasimir’s face was a mask of twisted, red-hot rage, his fangs bared in a jaw that descended halfway down his chest. Then I blinked, and his features were smooth and normal once more. My heart climbed into my throat, which went dry as a bone.
“Next time,” he said, “you’ll remain awake so you can monitor how dead blood affects you.”
Sweat trickled down my back. “Yes, Father.”
The corners of his mouth quirked up. “So obedient.” He chuckled. “You didn’t inherit that trait from Lilawen. I’m sure Lorcan will appreciate this easy compliance.”
An ache spread through my cheeks and jaw as I maintained my agreeable expression. The longer I held the position, the more unnatural it felt. Lorcan was right. I needed a mirror.
“How do you find him?” Rasimir asked. “And I’ll have the truth, Corinthe, not what you think I want to hear.”
The bead of sweat reached the small of my back. Lorcan and I hadn’t discussed how to handle our “betrothal” in public. Did Rasimir want me to be happy about it? Enamored with my intended? The ballroom flashed in my mind. Rasimir had frowned on his throne in the seconds after Lorcan kissed me.
“I barely know him,” I said. “It’s hard to have an opinion.”
Rasimir waved a careless hand. “That’s hardly unusual in royal marriages.
” A thoughtful look entered his eyes. “It’s the norm in witch pairings as well.
The covens arrange unions based on the parties’ gifts.
Witches wed for power, not love.” He looked at the fountain, the thoughtfulness in his gaze deepening.
“I’m not sure they’re capable of that particular emotion. ”
He spoke of my mother. A different kind of horror crept through me. Cruel Rasimir was bad enough. I wasn’t sure I knew how to handle sentimental Rasimir.
“Then again,” he murmured, “perhaps it’s just women who fail in that regard. You think you have their love and then they leave like a thief in the night.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, every part of me bristling.
He used hobflies as candles. His people hauled shipments of living supplies into the courtyard at his behest, and yet he bemoaned my mother leaving him.
Maybe she hadn’t fled to keep me from falling into his clutches.
Maybe she’d left because she feared he’d eventually turn on her, too. Also, he was annoying.
An awkward silence stretched. More sweat tickled my back.
Rasimir appeared lost in thought, his vacant stare on the fall of the water.
Lorcan had called him unstable. Somehow, that was more terrifying than plain evil.
Evil was calculated. It had purpose, even when its purpose was inflicting pain and destruction.
Madness was different. Rasimir was a terrifying combination of both, his encroaching madness fueled by evil intent and a well of power. Lorcan and Vander had been unable to stop him. The Resistance of witches and werewolves hadn’t done it, either.
Which left me. I couldn’t squeak out the simplest vor . I could barely drain power, and only when I was starving or fighting for my life. Worse, most of the Noctans I’d encountered seemed to want me dead.
Rasimir turned to me. For a moment, his eyes were flat and cold. Then he smiled.
“You and Lorcan will make a fine couple. His magic is unique. The union of our two houses will lead Nocta into a prosperous new era.”
My Yes, Father stuck in my throat. I couldn’t make myself say it. Not this time.
Rasimir stared up at the fountain, diffused sunlight touching the sharp planes of his face as his expression grew contemplative once more.
“Of course,” he said, “Lorcan has disappointed me in the past. Did you know he once allowed a mind-keeper to slip from his grasp?” Rasimir looked at me.
“The man disappeared in the middle of the night. He was one of the last of his kind, his power unparalleled. Lorcan claimed the man spelled him to sleep.” Rasimir’s eyes went solid black.
He blinked and they flipped back to green, but his fangs lengthened as he added, “I found his explanation insufficient.”
Dread formed an icy pool in my gut. I forced myself to hold his stare. I didn’t want to know how Rasimir had expressed his “disappointment” over Lorcan’s failure.
“And yet,” Rasimir said, “the prince has served me well these past three centuries. Captain Vander, too, although the latter has his share of faults.” Rasimir sighed, his shoulders lifting.
“Crowns are lonely things, Daughter. No servant, no matter how loyal or high-born, is ever perfect. It’s my lot to have two servants who prefer to stand in opposition to one another.
Lorcan believes Vander is too brash, too human.
And the captain delights in challenging Prince Lorcan’s authority.
” The hint of a smile played around Rasimir’s mouth.
“Vander is jealous for my company. Lorcan gets in the way of that.”
I swallowed so I wouldn’t ruin everything by telling him the truth. Any satisfaction it brought would be short-lived.
Rasimir’s smile grew even as his tone went chilly. “Still, both men serve. And now, they serve a very important purpose.”
Silence stretched, its length as brittle as my nerves while I waited for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, I knew he meant for me to speak.
“What purpose?” I asked obediently.
“Helping you reach your full potential. Keeping you alive. They know your safety hinges entirely on their competence.”
Foreboding whispered around me. “What do you mean?”
“The Resistance grows more desperate every day. The werewolves fight because they’re too stupid to understand that overthrowing me will only trade one overlord for another.
The witches will never share power with beasts.
” Rasimir huffed. “The spellcasters have fed them an appealing tale, and the werewolves have swallowed it whole.” His eyes gleamed as he leaned forward.
“The witches are far more clever than the wolves they use to fight their battles. They’re also more practical.
They know that once I unlock your potential, their days are numbered.
Their magic will become obsolete, old power supplanted by new. ”
The fountain splashed beside us. Mist clung to my lashes, but I barely noticed, my heart pumping hard as I held my father’s stare. “What kind of potential?”
“The ability to steal power from any creature and retain it.” He stepped closer, hunger glittering in his eyes as his voice dipped lower.
“Imagine an army that can shift like the werewolves and speak the vor scapa like the witches. Think of a vampire in possession of wings and claws. Fangs and a siren’s song.
A banshee’s wail. A centaur’s strength. All that power, yours, forever, with no need to drink and no danger of becoming overburdened by others’ memories.
” He cupped my cheek, his fingers cool against my skin.
“You could be such a beautiful monster.”
My lungs burned, the discomfort an echo of the pain I’d endured when he strangled me in the dining room with Duncan’s body roasting in the fireplace. But I didn’t dare breathe. I held still and focused on the monster in front of me.
“The witches fight their impending irrelevance,” he murmured. “That is the greatest defeat in life and war, Corinthe. Not death, but insignificance. What point is there in living when we’re no longer needed?”
He was wrong. And he was as shortsighted as the werewolves he disdained.
He thought of relevance only in terms of power.
But life held more meaning than his warped worldview.
Mama didn’t pass on any power to me when she braided my hair or taught me where to find herbs in the forest. But I still needed those things.
I needed them because they brought us closer together. Because I loved her.
Rasimir brushed a gentle thumb over my cheekbone. “Your transformation will be fascinating to watch. I do hope you’ll learn quickly, my dear. I’d hate to get creative with your education. There are so many ways to hurt someone without killing them, and I’ve had centuries to perfect my methods.”
The pixie’s deflated corpse appeared in my mind. Above me, the petrified merman spewed water into the air.
“Yes, Father,” I rasped.
“I’m so pleased we had a chance to speak,” he said.
“However, my duties beckon.” Dropping his hand, he turned and strode toward the Drakhold.
Just as relief swam through me, he turned back.
“You’ll continue to train with Lorcan and Captain Vander.
I expect more progress, Corinthe. Don’t disappoint me. ”
I waited as he moved up the path, the afternoon sunlight glinting in his hair.
Overhead, sugar-coated clouds smeared across Nocta’s pink sky.
Movement at my shoulder made me turn. The fountain faded, the merman’s muscular body and the maze behind him giving way to the forest. It shimmered and then grew solid, its heady pine-and-soil scent teasing my nose.
The witch who created the enchantment was probably dead, crushed under Rasimir’s boot like countless others.
A scuffling sound made me spin. Two knights stood in the path, the crimson snakes on their chests standing out against their black armor. Awareness prickled through me.
Kindred but not kin. But Rasimir wasn’t my kin, either. He was my jailer. It didn’t matter if Nocta wanted me or not. If I failed to kill Rasimir, I wouldn’t be the only one to suffer. Nocta’s people would continue to suffer. Any children I had would suffer, too.
“You’ll be more comfortable in your chamber, Your Highness,” one of the knights said.
A breeze picked up, stirring the leaves of the trees at my back.
Always assume someone is watching. And reporting.
Appearances were everything. If I acted like a prisoner, the knights would treat me like one. Rasimir wanted me to embrace power? Fine. But I wasn’t going to wait for someone to show it to me. I was going to seize it. And I had to start right now.
The knights waited. One moved his hand to the hilt of his sword.
“Thank you for the escort,” I said, striding forward.
The men parted at my approach, letting me pass between them.
Then they closed ranks behind me. I didn’t look back as I entered the Drakhold.
And when I passed a group of courtiers, I didn’t slow.
I kept my eyes straight ahead, my sense of purpose growing with every step.
I would never be Rasimir’s pretty monster.
But I was more than willing to be his undoing.