Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Magic cascaded through me, as though eager to be released and used. I felt different but in a good way. Whereas I’d always felt the collar’s restricting hold previously to some extent, even after Guardian Alleron had loosened it, now, I was entirely uncaged.
I called upon my lorafin powers and asked them to take me away. It was so simple. So easy. Without my collar in place, my magic surged forward. The warning vibrations from my collar were gone. The pain that would follow for using my magic unchecked had been obliterated. Pure power throbbed around me.
My soul shot through the universe instantaneously, and the Veil’s mist appeared at my fingertips. I parted it, cutting through the Veil so swiftly that all it took was a whisper of magic, and I was inside.
The second my soul crossed into the Veiled Between, a pulse of my newly released powers vibrated out of me, as though a rock had been dropped into a pool, and a swell of ripples shot through the water around me, alerting every semelee within the Veiled Between that I’d arrived.
That’d never happened before.
She’s come , a semelee whispered, eagerly surging forward.
And she has so much power. Do you feel it? another replied.
Before I could so much as utter why I was there, semelees were swirling around me, twisting through my limbs, caressing my soul, sliding across my back. It was as though they wanted to touch me. Needed to.
Stop , I said, my voice deeper and more commanding than it had ever been before. Magic barreled through me. So much power. So much might lay at my fingertips. The heady feeling coursed through me once more, but I tempered my wonder.
Every single semelee halted their movements the second I requested it until not even a flap of time stirred around me, not even a whisper of the cosmos. It was as if the entire Veil had stilled.
I need answers, and I have many questions.
Yes, my queen. What do you seek? the nearest one asked.
For a moment, I hovered in their midst, entirely speechless. My queen. How long I’d waited to hear those words. And that statement meant it was true. I’d fulfilled my birthright. I was finally, fully in control of them.
Another heady sense of power filled me. I could twist fate now if I wanted to. Such an act was illegal, and I would never do such a thing, but as their queen, that was my ability.
For a moment, I allowed myself to revel in pure wonderment. I had the power to alter the fabric of time, to change the very course of our universe as though I was Goddess Verasellee, the Goddess of Time, in the flesh.
But to do so was not to be taken lightly. I didn’t know much about past lorafins who had twisted fate, but the practice had been made illegal for a reason.
Returning my attention to the semelees, I said, I need to know who’s responsible for the half-breeds being locked in those caverns in the Wood outside of the Centennial Matches .
A large semelee shot forward, almost as though it wanted to prove itself and show its loyalty to me. It’s King Paevin .
If my soul could have stumbled, it would have. King...Paevin? I somehow managed to get out.
Yes , another replied. He commissioned that Solis fairy to create the anklets that are controlling the half-breeds. It is the Faewood king who’s behind it all.
I let that bit of information digest, and only one reaction billowed through me—shock. When I finally felt I had my wits about me again, I asked, And what about Bastian? How was he captured?
Another replied, A fairy the king commissioned found Bastian and determined he was a powerful half-breed. That fairy captured Bastian and placed the anklet around him before taking him back to the king.
I frowned. So earlier, when you told me Bastian was being controlled by another, that fairy was King Paevin?
Yes, a dozen semelees hissed at once.
But why? Why is the king doing this?
The semelees began to circle me, growing more vibrant and bolder with every swirl.
The king is harnessing the half-breeds’ ability to procreate at a faster rate than siltenites , one responded. Half-breeds have much higher rates of fertility than siltenites, and some of them are very magical, meaning their offspring can be quite powerful. The king would like to have those children under his control. And since they have few rights in your society, nobody cares when half-breeds go missing. It’s allowed the king to capture many of them and use them for his gain.
Another moment of speechlessness hit me, and I recalled something I’d heard in the tunnels the night we rescued Bastian. One of the guards had spoken of breeding. A sick feeling coasted through me. Stars Above.
I snapped my attention back to the semelees. But how is King Paevin breeding them? Half-breeds are given a potion at birth to stifle their ability to reproduce. And more importantly, why is he wanting to breed and control them?
A third semelee drifted forward, one who hadn’t spoken yet. The king has given them a counter-potion that he’s spent full seasons having his spellcasters develop. This potion has returned their fertility. And the king has done this so he may raise an army of magical half-breeds to do as he commands.
An army? My stomach bottomed out.
Yes , they all hissed in unison.
Do the king’s plans have anything to do with why there are so many half-breeds at the Centennial Matches right now?
The semelee nearest me, a large one with ribbed scales, nodded emphatically. Yes, my queen. Initially, when King Paevin devised the plan to develop a secret army, he sent spies throughout the kingdoms to search for powerful half-breeds to capture. This was many full seasons ago, and he’s slowly been capturing them. But that method was proving to be too time-consuming. Over the seasons, because half-breeds are so reclusive and often hide their abilities, the king feared he wasn’t finding the most powerful, so when his kingdom was invited to host the Centennial Matches, he opened up the Matches to half-breeds. That is why so many are there and why they’re being allowed to compete. He wants them to come to him, so that during the Match Finals, he’s able to determine who the most powerful half-breeds are. He’s captured those who are magically superior, and he’s enslaved them using the anklets. He’s keeping them hidden in those caverns beneath the Wood, and he plans to breed them to build his army.
Another wave of sickness filled me, and my soul swayed. I couldn’t believe what they were telling me. It was beyond disgusting.
But I recalled a half-breed I’d seen in the arena at the Match Finals, the one who’d resisted a poisoned dart and who’d been able to weave illusion magic. That half-breed had been immensely strong, and now, according to the semelees, since he revealed how magical he was, he was likely already wearing an anklet and enslaved beneath the Wood. That half-breed had thought he would be competing in the Centennial Matches, but in reality, he’d offered himself to the king like a prized treasure.
Gods and Goddesses , I whispered more to myself than to the semelees. How do we stop King Paevin?
The largest semelee near me curled around me until its cool skin met my fingertips. You could twist fate, lorafin. You are a queen now.
I jolted away from it. No, I will not disrupt the fabric of time. Such an act is illegal. Tell me how to stop King Paevin in the fae lands. A just way. A fair way that will stop any forward progression of his plan and will free the half-breeds he’s captured.
Another semelee slid along my side. If you refuse to twist fate, it will not be easy. You will need to enact the help of the other kingdoms. The kingsfae in Faewood are under King Paevin’s command. They will only listen to him. You will have to bring all of the kingdoms’ Houses into your confidence and share what you’ve discovered. It will result in much bickering and numerous squabbles. Many won’t believe you. Some will. It is those who have an open mind that you must convince. Only the three other thrones, and the four kingdoms’ Houses, working together against King Paevin will stop him. He’s already grown too powerful. The king sees and knows too much.
Hearing that reminded me of something that had happened with the Faewood kingsfae earlier. The night that I overheard them at the Venapearl Fountains, speaking of how the king had issued an order to arrest the Dark Raider in Possyrose Forest. King Paevin had known Jax would be there...and we’d never figured out how he’d known.
I swirled among the semelees once more. How did King Paevin know the Dark Raider would be in Possyrose Forest the other week? How did the kingsfae know to be there looking for Jax?
The semelee at my left made a sound, as if wanting my attention. The king used one of his newly born half-breed children to find the Dark Raider’s whereabouts. That half-breed child has only recently come into her power. She’s still very young, but she’s incredibly strong and wields Mistvale psychic magic. Her magic is more powerful than the most talented siltenite psychics. That child was able to see where the next raid would be. That was how the king knew where your mate would be in the forest that night.
It felt as though my heart stopped. A child. The king was using a half-breed child who he’d bred in captivity to learn things that no other fairy could know. King Paevin was just as horrid as my guardian and Saroly, if not worse.
And equally troubling, if the king’s enslaved child psychic could do that once, he could force the child to find Jax again, which meant that Jax would never be safe as long as King Paevin ruled Faewood Kingdom with no consequences.
How long has the king been breeding half-breeds? How long has he been doing this unchecked? And how old is that child?
The king started his plan seven summers ago. Initially, he only captured a few half-breeds since he was finding it hard to locate powerful ones. That child is one of the first enslaved children to be born under his plan. She’s only six summers old right now, but her magic grows stronger with every day that passes.
My soul whirled as worry and revulsion pummeled through me. That half-breed child was only six. I hadn’t been much different in age when my guardian had also manipulated me to use my magic for his bidding.
I called to the semelees again, How many half-breed children are currently enslaved to the king and have been born in such a way?
The semelee nearest me curled around my ankles. Only that child and twelve others, all born to the same couple. Seven summers ago, he wasn’t able to acquire enough anklets to have more than one breeding couple as he kept the remaining anklets he’d purchased to use on the children they planned to have. It wasn’t until the Hartivul Mine had an explosive production of rhifilyte gemstones a few months ago that his plan really catapulted. Originally, King Paevin thought it would take over a hundred full seasons to create his army. But with the mine producing so many of the gems that he needed at once, he took advantage of that. He commissioned Saroly Yimmperfae to create as many anklets as the mine’s production allowed, and he took it as a sign from the stars and galaxy that the gods wanted him to continue his plan since the mine had produced so much.
If I could have vomited, I would have. No wonder the king had been so insistent that Jax sell me to him when I arrived at his side. King Paevin wanted to acquire me too. He probably would have put an anklet on me in addition to my collar, all so he could own and control a lorafin. Perhaps he even would have bred me.
Stomach tumbling, I forced my questions to continue. Where is he keeping the child that located Jax?
She’s living in the caverns with the others. Since the king’s acquirements of half-breeds have grown, all of his captives have been moved there. Previously, he kept his breeding couple locked in his palace, hidden away from prying eyes in a secret chamber, but now that he’s enslaved so many half-breeds, he’s had to find larger accommodations.
I nodded. That also aligned with the timeline Esopeel had told me of when strange occurrences had begun in the Wood. And to think, it was the Hartivul Mine’s creations of so many rhifilyte gems at once that had been the catalyst for all of this. If so many gemstones hadn’t been created and harvested, the king wouldn’t have been able to enslave so many half-breeds. He needed that gem’s potent power to control their minds.
I turned to another semelee, one that hadn’t answered me yet. How many adult half-breeds does the king currently have in his caverns?
The semelee immediately bowed submissively. Sixty-two.
And you said he currently has thirteen offspring from his breeding couple, but there are no other children currently born?
Correct.
And how many spare anklets does he still have? I asked another.
Nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven. He keeps his collection of anklets in a locked chest in the caverns, and he seeks to acquire many more half-breeds. Each child born is to wear an anklet as soon as their magical abilities begin to manifest. The anklets he’s purchased will remain stored in the chest until needed.
I blanched. The king could potentially have an army of close to ten thousand, just as Saroly had reported, and given the strength of the child who foresaw Jax’s raid in Possyrose Forest, and the strength of that single half-breed I’d seen in the Match Finals, the semelees were right. The other kingdoms didn’t stand a chance against an army with that kind of power. The child psychic alone could tell the king exactly how to win each battle.
Rage seared through me, and my power crackled. Well, none of that is going to happen if I have any say in it. I seethed inwardly. The king was still on the hunt for more half-breeds to create his offspring, but we now knew the majority of his anklets were reserved for the children to come.
And to think, just one of the children he had enslaved had nearly brought down the Dark Raider. It would be unfathomable what thousands of children with that kind of power could accomplish...or destroy.
And the king’s plan was moving rapidly forward. His one breeding couple had already produced thirteen children in only a few summers. And given how powerful the psychic child was that he already had at his disposal, I cringed to think of what the other children were capable of.
Stomach turning, I began to back up. Thank you, but I must go. I have much to do.
The semelees followed me to the Veil, and since I hadn’t drifted far into the Veiled Between, I didn’t need Jax’s magic to assist me back. And I wasn’t sure I would have needed it. Without my collar, a tingle of magic pulsed through me, sharpening my focus and intrinsically directing me toward the Veil. That had also never happened before.
The second I was free of the Veil’s embrace, magic swelled inside me and catapulted me back through the galaxy to the fae lands.
I came to, on the bed, sucking in a huge rush of air. Eyes flying open, I was greeted with tousled black hair right in my line of sight.
Jax, who’d been kneeling at my bedside, shot to standing.
“You’re back.” His gaze swept over me, his irises like burning sapphires.
In the hall, banging and sweeping sounds could be heard as the others cleaned up the mess from this morning, and given the heady scent of magic permeating the air, I had a feeling Phillen and Lars had returned with the construction charms.
“Yes, I’m back. Oh, Jax.” I sat upright and slipped my legs over the bed. Movements swift, I got to my feet, then grabbed his hands, holding onto him tightly. It only struck me as I stood tall that I wasn’t tired. For the first time ever, I wasn’t fatigued after a calling. “You’re not going to believe this. King Paevin is behind everything. The king is doing horrible, horrible things and has been for many summers.”
“What?” Broad shoulders tensed under Jax’s woven shirt, and his hands pumped around mine, warming me in the process. “How? Tell me what the semelees told you.”
I explained everything in rapid-fire. When I finished, Jax’s mouth dropped open.
He let me go and began to pace, then raked his hands through his hair, and his lip curled. “King Paevin took my brother from me.”
“He couldn’t have known Bastian’s your brother. Nobody could have known that. They took him because Bastian has strong fireling magic, and they somehow learned that about him.”
Jax swung toward me. “But if the king has an enslaved child psychic and that child was able to know my whereabouts in the Possyrose Forest, then it’s possible that child could be forced to find Bastian. The king could already know he’s here.”
I placed a hand on his arm, stopping his frantic steps. “That’s unlikely. If the king already knew where Bastian was, he wouldn’t have tried to call Bastian back to him by using the anklet this morning. And remember, it’s the Match Finals right now. Thousands of fae from the other kingdoms have flocked here to watch it, and if the king is hand-picking the half-breeds from the arena who he wants to be enslaved to him, well...” I shrugged. “King Paevin likely has many things he’s focused on right now. With any luck, he won’t force that child to track down Bastian anytime soon.”
“But for how long will he be distracted? If the king tried to bring Bastian back to heel this morning, he’ll try again. And even though we left no survivors in the caverns, it’s possible the king thinks Bastian was rescued versus broke out. He could be looking for us too.”
My brow furrowed. He was right. “The only real way to prevent all of that is to stop King Paevin.”
Jax nodded curtly. “We’ll return to Stonewild. I’ll alert my father and mother. I’ll force them to understand how serious this is so they’ll act immediately. And then we’ll tell the other thrones and all of the Houses. We’ll expose what King Paevin is doing.”
“Do you think they’ll believe us? The semelees said the hardest part would be convincing them of what we know. They’ll only believe it if they don’t think I’m lying. After all, I’m just a lorafin. We’re asking them to believe me simply because of what I am.”
His eyes hooded, and he stepped closer to me. Pine and spice wafted around me, and my galloping heart slowed when I inhaled his inherent scent. “We’re not asking them to believe you just because you’re a lorafin, Elowen. We’re also asking them to believe me, their crown prince, and you, their future queen.”