Chapter 39 #2
“Not every guard is on my side here; some will rebel, others will defect. When we take over, it has to be swift, Titus. We can’t have the transition of power spill into a civil war.
I’ve been turning soldiers, ensuring this doesn’t happen, but I need to know what you do, so when the time comes, we’re the ones doing the fucking, and not the ones being bent over and fucked. Understand?”
“How did you keep all this from Galen?”
“Easy,” he leans back, giving me room to breathe.
“He’s the one who grew his rose hedges too tall to see beyond.
He’s overconfident. I never used your name, in case I got caught.
But after you ended the war, my men guessed it was you.
They prayed and hoped it was a man of your merit we were fighting for.
I worked with only those I trusted, then we branched out.
“Galen’s nobles think he’s a charmer, but his men know he’s a tyrant, one who remains in his castle, as we’re out there doing the actual fighting. I know you don’t trust me. That’s smart. But I trust you. I’ve got my son; he’s… human.”
A human son, which means, “Your mate is human.”
He nods.
The outcome is 50/50 for a child born to two different people. Either human or vampire, in Adrian’s case. And having a human son makes his situation as a father extremely tragic.
“I’ve been on this land for two hundred and sixty years, but my mate is twenty-seven human years,” he adds. “I have a lot of time ahead of me, thanks to her resetting me. I’m ready to stand by your side till the day I die.”
That’s why mates are so coveted. When they bond, it shifts their time clock, resetting them to the younger one’s age, and the human’s life extends into a supernatural state.
It’s a science just beginning to be studied.
I heard a rumor that one human even gained a small amount of accelerated healing after he was mated to a fae. But so much is still unknown.
One thing is clear, though, that extending life won’t extend to Adrian’s son. He’ll have to watch age transform him.
I know what it’s like to have parents more concerned with the sharpness of their swords than their child’s memories. I don’t blame my parents. That’s the cards they were dealt. If I can make Adrian’s limited time with his son not be filled with war, then I will.
“I’ll tell you what I know, but first, you said Everett saw your future. What did he see?” I ask.
He presses into his chair, leaning on his elbow. “Everett saw my son’s future. Two outcomes. One where Sable succeeded.” His jaw clenches. “He… he…” Uttering the truth is a battle this warrior can’t win.
“You don’t have to say it,” I relent. If Sable wins, his son dies.
“Everett said if I helped make you king and remained loyal, then my son would live.”
I place the book on his desk, stand, and fill my fingers with small dancing flames. “Don’t seal away all the facts. Tell me what made you hesitate just now. What unspoken truth had your eyes looking down?”
He bites his inner cheek. “Everett said Griffen would be a king.” Flames spread to my elbows. Adrian speaks quickly but steadily, “Not of these lands. Not a king that rivals you, Titus, one that is loyal to you.”
“Kings are not loyal to one another,” I remind him.
“You will start as a king, Titus, but perhaps that is just the base before the climb. I think you’ll be more once you get the Vitalis. An emperor unites kings.”
“Don’t inflate my ego; I’m riddled with holes, and your puffs of air won’t remain.”
“Food for thought. Everett said you’d be a king, but he told me to push you. And here is my shove.” He slaps his desk.
He never told me that because I would have run.
“Explain. Fast.” My flames wrap around my neck, warming and soothing my tense muscles.
“Everett said Griffen would… it sounds crazy, but Everett claimed Griffen would become a rider, and he’d get a dragon; he’d be the first, then the others would follow him.”
“Dragons do not exist,” I scoff, even as I doubt my own words.
“As runes do not?”
A rider? That’s… possible since Griffen is human and not a vampire.
Fairytales claim that riders were humans who were rune-marked to bond with their dragons.
That’s why Adrian is fighting for this, risking everything.
“If your son can be turned into a rider, he’ll no longer be as vulnerable.
It’s a layer of protection any parent would die for. ”
“Now you know why I’m doing all this. I do not desire a crown for Griffen’s head, for I know the weight it will bear down on him. But I’d do anything to see him not be as fragile as glass in a hail storm. Our world is harsh, Titus.”
“Riders do not live as long as vampires do. Their lifespan remains human.”
His lip tugs down. “That is a fate I must bear. We can not have everything,” he whispers.
I fail to meet his eyes, but the weight of his hope and dreams presses into me.
“Everett said my son would bend a knee to you, that all the dragons and riders would follow you. Yeah, that look on your face is why I didn’t say anything. Runes bring peace, but peace awakens monsters. Magic always seeks balance. Dragons and other creatures will wake from slumber.”
“You’re betting everything on fables,” I voice. The book catches my eye: its cover is old and torn, with stained pages. We’ve been dying for men with crowns; perhaps dying for words is a more poetic way to go.
“Now who is lying?”
“You can understand why this is hard to chew. Everett placed us at the bottom of a treacherous path, quaking the land under our feet, forcing us to proceed without any tools, or fall into a chasm. I’m trying to climb, but every summit I reach, I barely survive, Adrian.”
“We have clues, and those are tools enough. You and I both know if the climb doesn’t kill us, the descent can. We need to be ready to get down the other side. I need to make sure you succeed, Titus, because my son’s fate is on that other side.”
“Griffen’s fate might be over a few more peaks and valleys,” I mumble.
“Then I’ll conquer them. I will keep fighting till the world my son lives in is honorable. If he has to die, let it be for life and not lands or jewels.”
Breathe in, out, in. I lean over the desk, and Adrian holds his ground as I extend my hand; flames cover my fingers. He looks at the fire, swallows, and swings his hand in mine.
See, he needed to trust I wouldn’t let my fire burn him.
Our fingers intertwine. “Till the death.” I voice what soldiers do before we run into battle.
His grip tightens as he smiles. “Till the new dawn, brother.”
I tell him everything about how we need Sable to get the Vitalis free of the death cage. Hector is a new problem, one we add to the mental list.
“I see two burning items about to singe us.” He holds up a finger. “One, Galen. Two, we need to talk to that vampire in the library.”
“I’m killing Galen as soon as he returns. Problem solved.”
“I need a fortnight to get the army from Lunestra.”
“I can not wait a fortnight, Adrian. She is my mate, and he is a threat to her.”
He curses, hurries to his desk, and pens a note. “I’m sending them the alert. If they rest only every other day, they can shave off four days of travel, but that depletes energy.”
“Will Galen know the army near Lunestra moved?”
“No, all the scouts are in my pocket.” He pours the mage powder over the paper, sealing it, and then he holds it out of the window.
Magic flares as it takes flight, as a bird would.
He turns, brows pinched in thought. “We have numbers here, but there will be a fight after you slay Galen. Not every guard will stand with us. Some will fake it until they see an opportunity to strike you down.”
“That is a risk I will take.”
He pauses, then says, “I suggest we take out the nobles first.”
“Only those loyal. I don’t want innocents killed.”
“I agree,” he replies with a nod. “Are you planning to ambush Galen as he returns? We could shut the gates. Meet him at the wall, but those loyal to him inside would start to fight.”
If Selene were not on the other side of those gates, I would agree. I know her; she will run into this battle. I need to do it away from her. I can’t risk a hair on her head.
“Do you know where Galen rode, what lands he’s patrolling?” I ask.
“Of course. He went southeast.”
“Of course he did.” I shake my head. When Sable marches her army towards this kingdom, they’ll be coming from the opposite direction. Galen’s ride is a fake show.
“We will ride and ambush him. Now.”
His eyes widen in surprise. “This moment?”
I nod.
“We should sleep one more night. Rest.”
“I’ve lain awake far too many nights as my mate was caged down the hall. The next time I close my eyes, she will be in my arms.”
Adrian’s gaze drops, and he looks to the window, jaw tight.
Then he nods and mumbles to himself as he plots.
He strides fast to his desk, pulls out a red candle, lights it, and sets it in the window.
An odd reddish black flame grows taller than it should.
“It’s the signal to prepare to secure the castle. ”
“Instead of killing Galen’s noble soldiers, offer them safe passage out of Blackthorn.”
Adrian’s expression falls. “Pests that are released instead of killed tend to come back, Titus.”
“I want to be different. I want to give people a chance to change. We all pick sides; some of those decisions are made in fear, to protect our family members.”
A slow grin spreads over his face, the kind a father wears when his child has made him proud.
“The men with Galen are my spies. They will aid when we ambush him.”
“You’re staying here.”
He reels back in disgust. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s an order. I need you here. Inside the walls where your mate is and mine.”
“You list my mate first. You put my happiness over yours,” he mutters. “That’s why Everett picked you.” Steal rasps as he pulls his sword out. His knees hit the floor as he makes a warrior’s bow. “I pledge my life to you, Titus.”
This isn’t right. “Do not bow. We breathe and bleed the same. We’re equal. Stand on your feet. Stand as I do.”
He does. I grab his hand, shake it again, and my flames cover the grasp.
“You need to know something before you seek Galen out.” He says as a crease digs into his forehead.
“I remember Galen before he wore that specific crown on his head. He was a decent fighter, even though his father never let him step into a real battle. He made thorny vines that would hurt if you stepped barefoot on them. But once he got that new crown, the vines changed. They grew into walls so thick that multiple swords were needed to chop them down.” Adrian taps his head.
“It’s his crown; it’s different. A vampire smith didn’t make it, but rather a mage.
I think he did something to it. You know mages can store their magic in items. I think his crown works a similar way. ”
“Vampires can’t store magic as mages do.”
“I know, but I think his crown helps amplify his magic. It’s a conduit. He can make his vines stretch for miles. No earth magic user can do that naturally.”
I think about Selene’s training field, surrounded by a cage of vines. Did he do that in one day?
“I suggest you knock that crown off his head first, then you tire him out. It’s not going to be easy. When the guards see you, they will know it’s time. Trust me. It’s you and three dozen men against Galen, but it’s still going to be a battle.”
“Time is on my side.”
Adrian begins to smile as he walks to his door.
“I thought you could use another weapon.” He pulls the door open.
“I intended to tell you when he got here. He was due in two days. He got here early, reporting a smooth journey that sped up his trip. I wonder if Everett employed more spies to guard his route. It seems Everett knew you’d be needing him tonight. ”
I stagger back when I see who is on the other side. “What the fuck?!” I gasp.