Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Cade
Istrolled into my father’s private sitting room, the one place in the palace where we could speak without the weight of crowns between us.
King Brandon stood by the full-length window, his back to me as he overlooked the Ashenveil Valley, where our kingdom’s magical leyline shimmered a faint blue in the darkness.
He wore a simple blue robe instead of his formal regalia, his auburn hair neatly combed in the traditional mage style.
Hearing my footsteps, he turned. His eyes, the same turquoise as mine, brimmed with a father’s concern as they fixed on me, the king momentarily set aside.
The room was warm despite its grandeur. Deep blue sofas faced each other before a fireplace adorned with sapphires, the symbolic gem of our kingdom.
My mother rose from her seat. Ever the scholar, Queen Reagan had been reading; a thick grimoire lay open on the side table beside her.
“Cade?” Mother moved toward me, her hazel eyes creased with worry. “Are you all right?”
The analytical part of my mind noted how quickly they had both shifted into crisis mode.
“No,” I said, the word heavy with unspoken urgency.
“Sit down,” my father ordered, his voice calm but firm.
I couldn’t sit. My feet carried me to the windows, then back toward my parents, then to the fireplace. The words I needed to say had been locked inside for so long that finding them felt like trying to cast a spell with broken fingers. I’d start with the most urgent event.
“The bride candidates have been taken,” I began, still pacing, a habit I’d picked up during long study sessions. “An unscheduled trial, initiated without warning. It violated every protocol!”
“It was a last-minute decision among the monarchs,” my father said.
“Three votes against two approved pushing the trial forward without informing the heirs. Headmistress Ethel and the Council presented the idea to us. There’s been concern that the heirs have grown too attached to a certain candidate and would compromise the trial’s integrity. ”
“And you trust Ethel?” I demanded, my nostrils flaring. At my father’s chiding look, I tried to calm down, running a hand through my wine-red hair. “Father, she can’t be trusted! We should have tossed her fae ass out after she consorted with the druid.”
“That wasn’t exactly proven, and she has the support of the majority of the Council,” my father sighed.
“I voted against breaking protocol, but the realm is under severe threat. The Selection must continue. Without the One who will bring back the old magic, we won’t last this century.
The trial was set in motion immediately after the vote. Not even I could stop it.”
“The One—or Ones—are already here!” I insisted. “There’s no need for the bride trials anymore. This second trial was designed to eliminate her, just like the first!”
I recalled how the druid had forced the poisonous Seed of Heaven down Barbie’s throat. If she weren’t a goddess carrying the oldest magic within her, she would have been unmade.
My father’s gaze sharpened, but it was my mother who voiced the question. “Clarify, son. What precisely do you mean?”
“We’ll get to that later,” I said, reining in my frustration. “We have a lot to discuss. First, tell me—where did they take the candidates?”
“The Underworld,” my father said.
“Just as we suspected,” I replied, fighting to keep a level head. “Lilith is leading you all by the nose.”
“Killian broke the trust first,” my father said, his jaw tight.
“In this realm, vows mean everything. Yet he broke his betrothal to Queen Lilith and declared Barbie, a nobody, his mate. Killian has always been the wild card, the most unpredictable of the heirs.” Father’s eyes narrowed.
“Somehow, he even managed to shatter the mating bond with Lilith, his original mate.”
“He never could have broken that bond if Barbie weren’t his true mate!” I countered. “Her bond to him overrode the false one the demon queen forced upon him. Do you have any idea how rare it is to find a fated mate?”
“Stop lecturing us. We know how impossible it is to find one’s true mate. Now sit,” my father ordered again, his tone leaving no room for argument. “This will be a long conversation.”
“It won’t be long,” I said.
I needed to get back to the other heirs as soon as I’d gleaned all the intel on the trial. But for now, I sat in the chair across from my parents. My mother poured a cup of red tea for me, and I drained it in one go.
“Isn’t the girl the new mage in our house at the academy?” my mother asked. “She certainly left an impression during the murder trial, and your father approved your petition to bring her into our house.”
Father nodded. “Ethel claims every heir is under her spell.” He regarded me closely. “You defended her in the chaos court. In fact, every heir defended her as if she were the brightest jewel. Are you in love with her, son? Has she bewitched you?”
I let out a humorless laugh.
“She doesn’t need to bewitch anyone,” I said. “Do you have any idea who is among us? Barbie is the One. Barbie and Sy.”
“Who is Sy?” Mother asked, her brow furrowing.
“Sy and Barbie share the same body,” I revealed, lowering my voice. “What I tell you now stays within these walls. Barbie is the only Earth goddess. She is the daughter of the God of Ruin, and she walks among us.”
My mother shook her head slowly. “It can’t be.”
“Do you doubt your own son’s credibility?” I demanded. “Who else could enter every house without being initiated? Who else could command Underhill’s allegiance?” I pressed on, my voice rising. “You saw a mere fraction of her power in the chaos court.”
“If she is indeed the daughter of the God of Ruin,” my father said, his expression grim, “then she poses the second greatest threat to this realm. We may have no choice but to eliminate her.”
“No one touches Barbie or Sy,” I said, shooting to my feet and meeting my father’s gaze head-on.
My father rose as well, his presence imposing. “You are under her spell, son.”
“No. Look at me, Dad,” I said. “Really look. Do you see any difference?”
Both of my parents stared at me, studying me intently. My mother even waved her wand, its tip glowing as she checked for any trace of enchantment.
“You seem…lighter,” my mother said slowly, her eyes widening slightly. “As if a burden, a dark thing, a—”
“A curse,” I finished, the word she couldn’t bring herself to say.
I pressed a hand to my tightened chest and sank back into the chair, the truth spilling out in a rush.
“I’ve been cursed for over six years. Since Bayrose died.
Any woman I touched froze to death. That was how Elle, the servant girl with the red hair, died.
You covered for me, said she’d run away, but you never knew it was the curse inside me that killed her. ”
My mother stared, shocked into silence before tears of grief welled in her eyes.
“I sensed something was wrong with you, but…” Her voice broke.
“We didn’t know, son,” my father said, slumping onto the sofa and running a hand through his hair. “If we had known…”
“No one could see the curse except Barbie, the goddess,” I told them. “And no one could lift a curse forged from black blood magic except Barbie and Sy. I owe them my life.”
“Who did this to you?” my father demanded, his hands trembling as rage rolled off him.
“Bayrose and the druid,” I said, a familiar coldness tightening my throat at the memory.
“They worked together. Bayrose sacrificed herself to become a Fury, bound to me, feeding on my energy and freezing any woman I kissed to death.” I thought of Barbie’s test kiss on my lips, the terror I’d felt that she might die like the others.
“The druid used blood magic, a virgin sacrifice, and a dark ritual to turn her into that cursed Fury.”
I heard my father’s sharp intake of breath.
“Oh, Cade.” My mother sobbed. “You suffered all these years, and we didn’t know.”
I raised my head and looked at my parents; we needed to face this together as a family. “She was my first kiss. We were hiding in a closet. The moment my lips touched hers, she turned to ice.” My hands shook. “I killed her.”
“You were only fifteen.” My mother came to me, pulling me into her arms. Her gentle hand combed through my hair, the same soothing motion she used when I was a boy.
My father crossed to us in three strides, laying a hand on my shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, son. You are not responsible for a curse placed on you by a vindictive spirit. And the druid?” His eyes blazed with fury. “He dies.”
I nodded. “He’s been marked ever since he laid a hand on Barbie.”
“You should have come to us earlier. We would have rid you of the curse then,” my father said.
“No one could have lifted the curse except Sy and Barbie,” I said.
“The Fury would have done more harm. I wasn’t even certain about the curse myself until Barbie saw it.
All these years, I carried the guilt, believing I was a walking death sentence and I didn’t deserve to have a mate.
I thought I’d never know love again, never give you grandchildren or secure alliances through marriage. ”
“Is that what you think we care about?” my mother gasped. “Alliances? Grandchildren? Cade, you’re our son!”
I stood rigid in their embrace for a moment before crumbling. Six years of isolation, of careful distance, of hiding behind jokes and dimpled smiles, it all came crashing down.
“Barbie kissed me,” I began.
My mother’s eyes brightened. “She kissed you? And you believe she’s the One?”
Everyone preferred to hear only the selective truth, even my dear mother.
“To challenge the Fury,” I continued. “She and Sy burned the curse out of me. I can touch anyone now. I can…” My voice faltered for a beat. “I have my life back because of her.”
“She’s a brave girl,” my mother said, grateful tears shining in her eyes. My father, too, was visibly moved.
“Not just brave,” I said as the three of us broke the embrace. Silver moonlight streamed through the windows, blending with the witch lights that glowed from the walls. Dawn was approaching, and I knew the day ahead would only grow darker.
“The future of the realm lies in the hands of Barbie and Sy,” I declared. “We must protect them at all costs!”
My parents exchanged a look that spoke of years spent navigating political minefields together.
“The other kingdoms will be in an uproar,” my mother cautioned.
“Let them,” my father replied without hesitation. He moved to his desk and pulled out a rune-etched sapphire that pulsed with immense power. “The Kingdom of Mages stands with you. And with the goddess who returned my heir to me.” His gaze was steady, resolute. “What do you need, son?”