10. Chapter Ten
10
CHAPTER TEN
BASTIAN
M y hands were tight balls of tension clenched at my side as I swept through the door, the urge to light the entire fucking courtyard on fire hammering at my mind. Once out of sight, I ripped the mask from my face, discarding it onto the stones. Kaius’ footsteps followed softly behind, but I didn’t slow. I knew it would take him only moments to ease me from the edge I was teetering on, but right now, I needed that rage to fuel me onwards. Before I turned back around and shook the tiny white-haired creature we had brought into our kingdom until she gave up the secrets I was so desperate for.
When the magik had indicated we finally locked down a location, nothing could have prepared me for what we found in that room, or for the giant mutt that had guarded the place. Irritation at the shredded sleeve of my top added an extra layer to my turbulent emotions. Holes now peppered my skin and blood crusted on my forearm. I should have been able to take on a fucking dog; the fact that it got one over on me only prodded the simmering anger that was flooding me so easily.
Fuck Nova and fuck her prophecies.
Her words were etched into my mind after the amount of time I’d spent going over them, I doubted I could forget them now even if I wanted to.
Why couldn’t they be simple and concise instructions on how I could protect this kingdom? I’d let Kaius convince me going to her was the only way and now look where it’s got me.
The years we wasted pouring magik into that fucking stone, just waiting for the day we could pin down a location on the one thing that was supposed to fix everything.
Maybe not everything, but it was supposed to help.
And when it works, what happens? It leads us to a girl. Not a weapon .
The mere fact that The Darkness turned up the moment we found her proves she’s of no use to me. It was purely instinct that had me pulling her to safety within the shield of the wards, and it was in my best interest not to feed that thing any more than its already taken.
I knew we were exposed outside the wards, but I hadn’t expected it to get so close to the palace. Thank fuck it hadn’t got through them.
But now what am I left with? A pathetic human I have to feed and shelter who somehow has enough magik to perform insignificant tricks and not die when we travel her. I could tell the moment Kaius locked eyes on her that he wanted her for more reasons than the one that sent us to her. While she looked tempting with her full tits half hanging out and her dishevelled white hair, those dark eyes round with surprise before they narrowed as she took us in, I didn’t need the added complication of wanting to fuck the thing that was apparently going to save us all.
With The Darkness on our tail, we’d had no choice but to arrive back the way we did. We might as well have rung a bell and announced ourselves. I saw the glances that were sent her way, and I didn’t like it.
Kaius caught up with me then, his footsteps falling in sync with mine as we cut through the passages within the thick outer wall that circled a good section of this land. There would be time shortly for us to focus on the shit show we had just been through. I couldn’t deny that while Marcellus’ news was yet another untimely issue to deal with, it got the human off my hands.
Let him deal with her for now.
Despite the ridiculous need that had surged through me to keep her from The Darkness, I had no wish to be in her presence. Not until I could figure out what she could do for me, why she was supposed to be so fucking important.
I glanced at Kaius out of the corner of my eye. He was already cosying up to her and I didn’t like that. We needed to use her, not get inside her.
Kaius could charm the birds from the trees; I’d seen him get his way when even I’d thought it impossible with nothing but a sweep of his hair and a sly grin, but this felt different even while I hoped it wasn’t. That all the soft touches and lingering looks were nothing more than a way to soften her to our needs.
The studded wooden door we were heading towards came into view, and we carried on in silence as I flicked my fingers at the lock, making the door swing open and invite us in.
I sent a prayer to Suri before stepping inside, asking the goddess for some semblance of control as the door swung shut, plunging us into darkness before I reached out with my magik again, feeding it into a second, more complicated lock that clicked as entry was granted. This room was alight with flames burning in sconces along the rough stone walls. Two more doors were set into them and a heavy, carved oak table filled most of the space, with seven chairs lined either side, one more at the head. Five were taken, their faces all turning towards us as we moved into the room.
Bows of heads and quiet greetings were murmured as we took our seats, the concentration of so much magik in a small space making the air feel alive. The room was sealed with energy to ensure that any issues that arose between those inside could not spill out through the stones. We could rip each other to shreds in here and not a whisper of magik would escape.
It did, however, make for an uncomfortable space to reside in for too long, and despite being one of the most powerful people in the room, it chafed at me; the need to feel air not charged with the emotions of the men around me, a physical urge I had to withstand if I wanted to keep my place here.
Noting the number of empty seats, I allowed an internal sigh of relief that there were no new spaces, though the loss of over a third of the heads of the most powerful lines was still a hard blow. Many were missing, a fact that wouldn’t leave this room. Others were just gone. Some had been lost and the space filled by the eldest son, though not all who took their fathers’ seats were worthy of it.
There were still the old Fae who clung to their power in fists that should have relaxed their grip generations ago, who were so old that they could no longer make it to the chamber, but pride kept them from passing on their place. Heirs waited with bated breaths at the sidelines for the moment their time came to step through the door. Few enough were worthy of the wooden table they sat around, whose actions for the kingdom in service of the throne were done not out of their own selfish gains, but to see this kingdom thrive.
Then there was Kaius, who neither belonged here nor was an heir to a seat at the table, but not a single man sat around it would speak against his presence here. Many were too terrified to dare a word against him, but they still held the respect for him that he deserved.
It’s not like there isn’t any space.
He was currently occupying the chair of Lady Regine Feueral, who claimed she was too old to brave the frigid temperatures. I knew it was nonsense; the old bag's blood ran with fire like most of us, but she’d just rather spend her time shacked up with whatever pretty boy was vying for her favour. Yet as long as she still held her seat, no one else could take it from her.
It was an old magik that required the owner to willingly relinquish their hold, one I doubted could be broken. It was also how we knew the difference between those who were lost to us forever, and those who were just lost.
They didn’t know yet about the girl, and I was under no obligation to tell them. Whatever had prompted this meeting was about something wholly unrelated, of that I was certain.
I knew we were the last to arrive, the rest dead, missing or called away—my own father and uncle included. Silence settled thick around us, stretching on and adding to the tension of us all being in this small space. I delighted in their subtle squirms, the unsure glances which passed around at our obvious state of dishevel. I wouldn’t be addressing the room, since they had called me here and not the other way around.
Despite how my magik was still reacting furiously to the events from the last hour, the fire I could normally keep contained simmering within me eager for release, I reclined in the hard wooden chair, eyes flicking over the men at the table, the picture of ease.
Lord Amos Petras sat there, head of treasury and an advisor to my father for over thirty years. Long before the streaks of grey had appeared in his slicked black hair, I hadn’t liked him even then. Now he was my advisor, and soon enough I’d have to spin him a tale on why I arrived at the gates with The Darkness trying to swallow me up, with an added extra in tow.
The moments dragged on. Kaius pulled out one of his favoured daggers and began twirling it through his fingers with ease. Lord Amos’ eyes pinned on the movement, along with others.
“There’s been another raid.” A gruff voice boomed through the silence and heads swivelled in its direction. “On the border to the east of Rhodanne, a village called Delevore. We don’t know yet the exact details, or who has been taken, but it will likely be much the same as the others. The First Guards have been sent to search the area and make a list of those missing.”
General Fieval was direct and to the point; I enjoyed that about him. It made things easier when these Lords weren’t mincing their words, tongues tripping over themselves in their pursuit to jam them up my ass. Fieval wasn’t like that, though his seat was one handed down father-to-son. Their respect had been earned through their service in the army and an impressive one it was. He had been close with my father; they had both been boys training in the camps together, wrestling in the mud. He was now one of the three Generals that stood at the Commanders side, a title that many of the greedy hands in this room had been envious of.
The Commander had no interest in the games that were played within these walls. Like Kaius, he had no claim on a seat in this Kingdom, though no one would turn him away if by some miracle he did one day decide to walk through those doors, myself included. I knew he would stick by the oath he swore to serve here, but it didn’t make having to tell a Fae like him what to do any easier.
General Kiran’s empty seat was thankfully not from death. The young General was deep in the Ty Rhaia mountains with his team, his assignment classified enough that apart from myself, Kaius and the Commander were the only others who knew where he was.
I willed the fire from my skin as I tapped my fingers on the arm of the chair. I wasn’t going to embarrass myself by scorching my prints into the wood like a child with little control.
“How long ago, and what of Rhodanne itself?” It wasn’t surprising there had been another raid, though one so soon after the last was news I was hoping not to hear.
“Late last night, and untouched as far as the latest report say.” He slid a thin file over the table. I let it sit.
“What’s in Delevore?”
“Nothing of interest as far as I can tell,” Hortense answered, pushing his round glasses up the bridge of his nose. His was a relatively new seat at the table, one taken from his elderly father whose failing health had him ensconced in his manor house far out in the wilds of Incaendium. The youngest of seven, it had ruffled some feathers when Hortense was tapped for the seat, but the man was good at what he did, seemingly capable of pulling information out of thin air.
When I didn’t look away or reach for the file I was sure contained everything I needed answers to, he continued.
“As the General said, it’s close to the border. No specific trade, it’s not rich in any particular commodities, though a four-pound benitoite was found there during the reign of Azar the Unburnt. Nothing since. Most of those who live there work in Rhodanne. The only thing to set it apart is its proximity to the border. The closest town in Aerius is Tandridge.”
My fingers tapped out their frustrations below the table. I didn’t want to have to deal with Aerius. Zephyr —its king—was a moody cunt at the best of times. Sometimes the lines of the borders got a little murky, especially with the towns and villages that sat closest to them. The ones with a history of crossing the kingdoms, it was harder to keep that line when they were your closest neighbours.
“How long will it take for them to complete the search?”
“Shouldn’t be long, the village itself isn’t very big. I’d say two days, three depending on the state it’s been left in,” General Fieval answered, trained eyes flicking to the ripped sleeve of my top.
Was it there this time?
There was no rhyme or reason to its presence, no way to predict where it would hit next or how it would mete out its destruction.
There had been places that had been burned to the ground, all the people huddled together on the outskirts in an attempt to outrun it, using whatever magik they had to ward themselves. It would only be once the flames had been extinguished they would realise someone was missing, though no bodies were found within the ashes of their homes.
Other places had been untouched, yet as Xol’s rays broke over the hills, people woke to empty beds. Children, parents, lovers. It didn’t seem to matter. They were gone. I couldn’t be sure it was all related because the thought of sleeping through a visit from The Darkness was unlikely, especially after I had just evaded its putrid essence once again moments before I stepped in here.
I had no idea how fast The Darkness moved—could it cross a kingdom in that time? It wasn’t like there were books I could pluck from the library to brush up on my knowledge.
Where did it come from? What happened to the people it consumed within its inky blackness? Were they still alive somewhere?
All questions I couldn’t fucking answer.
My magik prickled under my skin, itching for a way out. Suri must have ignored my call. As expected.
“What are the witnesses saying?”
“We’re still waiting on the reports, my Lord,” he replied, inclining his head slightly.
I needed that fucking report.
“I want them tomorrow,” I demanded in that way that would get me what I wanted, and he nodded in confirmation like the good soldier he was.
Just as the raids had no pattern, neither did those taken. As far as I could tell, The Darkness itself was only seen if someone particularly powerful had disappeared, though the crippling fear and power drain were universal across the incidents.
I knew the other kingdoms were experiencing the same thing as we were. Nova had hinted as much in her ridiculous prophecy, and Hortense had somehow got his hands on reports from Aerius and Fera of similar things happening. But it was notoriously difficult to gather the Royal Lines for anything, no matter how important. Which meant I had no idea how they were dealing with it on their end.
If they had found a way to stop it worming its way beneath the wards, they weren’t forthcoming with that information.
“Ensure their wards are reinstated and that they are adequately fuelling them.” I turned my attention to Vasper, the gaunt scrag of a man sitting a few seats down from General Fieval. “I want black salt distributed to every house, every village. I don’t care how you get it, if you need to seize it from Agron then do so.” I ignored the way Amos shifted uncomfortably in his seat at my words.
“Across the whole Kingdom?” Vasper rasped, blinking at me, dull eyes wide at my decision.
“Yes, across the Kingdom,” I said, leaving no room for argument. I had no need to explain myself.
If I wanted it done it would be, and black salt could give those without the protection of a strong ward a little extra boost. There was a slight throb on my cheekbone from where our new guest had punched me, and I forced myself not to run my fingers over the skin.
How long had it been since someone had dared to raise a hand to me?
“Agron won’t be happy with that, my Lord,” he warned, slimy mouth disgusting me with every move it made, his hands fiddling with a button on his cuff.
I didn’t like Vasper and he knew it. Sure that the snivelling act displayed opposite was a front; I was waiting for the day he slipped up. I was also sure he had managed to kill his grandfather to claim his seat which was a shame, because I had liked old man Edevane. There was no proof, but watching his thin, stick-like fingers pluck at the blue threads at his wrist, I was certain it hadn’t been with his own two hands.
“Do you think I care what one miserable goblin thinks? People are being taken from their homes, Amourem’s broken, children orphaned...”
Kaius’ silver daggers flashed as he spun them. There was another side to the disappearances, one he had taken a personal interest in.
People disappearing with no explanation meant traffickers had realised that if they moved fast enough to the raided towns, they could abduct those who hadn’t been taken, and they would be classed as one of the lost. Even better for them were the children with nowhere to go. It was sickening how they were able to profit from such a thing, but hardly surprising given the nature of who they were. As a result, the skin trade was booming.
At one point they had attempted to imitate the raid themselves but even when they gave it their all they couldn’t quite replicate the destruction The Darkness was capable of, and too many times their operations had been caught.
Now they waited on the side-lines like vultures ready to pluck the vulnerable away in their carcass stained talons.
Kaius had been the one to figure out what was happening after one of his nights in the seedier parts of Firenze. His unit now spent a huge amount of time tracking down those responsible. Spending hours of quality time in the dungeons with anyone who even had a sliver of information.
I’d never known a single soul who didn’t purge their entire life secrets once he was done with them, and he always returned with the same wild smile on his face no matter the blood that splattered him, or the dark words I knew would spill from their lips.
There was a reason he wasn’t sent from this table and no matter how many times he joked about it, it wasn’t because of his good looks.
“Perhaps the King—” Vasper started, his pathetic eyes darting to where Kaius was spinning a dagger balanced on his finger.
“The King is not here—I am.” I spoke with deadly calm, watching as he shrank into himself. Like fuck was this worm going to question me.
“Are the profits of a stock shop more important to you than protecting the Fae in this kingdom?” I continued as Vasper’s head bowed, his oily black hair shining red from the flames that lined the wall, his eyes fixed onto a point of the table.
I let my gaze roam over the rest of the men in the room, the ones who were keeping their thoughts to themselves. I knew with absolute certainty that some of them did indeed believe profits were worth the cost of Fae lives if it lined their pockets at the end.
They lingered on the occupant of the last taken seat, to the young man with the handsome face and light brown hair, the easy smile and relaxed manner. Lord Oswin was a distant son of a son of a son, through the Fier branch of Incaendium’s Royal Line. His home far into the craggy Eastern Reaches, the colour of his hair proof that somewhere they had married outside of the pre-approved list of high-powered families. Yet here he was, somehow having inherited his seat. He kept his mouth shut, but I knew he sat there quietly soaking everything in.
“No, my Lord,” Vasper murmured, eyes still down.
The dried blood that crusted my wrist cracked slightly as I flexed my hand, sending a pulse of irritation straight to my soul at the memory of that black beast’s jaws closing over my arm. The rasp of Kaius’ dagger being placed into his belt pulled my focus back to the table. Pushing the lingering annoyance that was threatening to worm its way past my carefully shored defences, I didn’t want to dwell on how easily it had done so.
“Has the Arasauk been sent out?” Kaius’ voice commanded the space, his eyes fixed on the General, who to his credit held the contact.
“They were travelled over by the Commander as soon as we received the news. They will follow protocol until you can get there,” he replied as Kaius nodded once in acceptance.
Until you can get there.
Because we had been gone, on a pointless exercise to find a way out of this mess.
“Good,” he said, a wicked smile filling his face and his eyes slid over the other men in the room, many of whom shrank slightly under his gaze.
Kaius was convinced there was someone in this room feeding the traffickers intel, yet it seemed impossible to find out who. He was having fun conducting his research though, the whispers from the guards who manned the dungeons confirmed as much.
He would be stepping back through the ward the moment this meeting was called to an end, despite what we had just faced out there. Arasauk was his team and if they were needed, then so was he.