CHAPTER X #4
I watch as Lord Alexander looks at Desmond with the same glance I do. He’s watching the dark Discerni in genuine surprise and confusion, his gaze suspecting, though not completely knowing, what lays beyond the door.
“Alexis…” Keane’s voice calls in command.
Ancients.
For what possible reason could they need me?
I huff in anger and push my shoulder hard against Desmond’s before walking into the room.
Both Lord Kaven and his man Carsen sit slumped in the same chairs they occupied at dinner, their feet bound to the legs with their hands tied tightly behind their backs. Both of them still have their full set of fingers, thank fuck, though their faces are bloodied and bruised and weighing heavy.
“You think this human trash will get us to talk?” Lord Kaven nearly laughs, lifting his head up to the King who stands a few seats down the table.
Both Holis and Mana have taken a stance opposite Keane, eyeing the blonde Discerni quietly as I walk up next to them.
“I know she will,” Keane nods, picking up a large green agate dagger that rests on the table.
I turn to him in confusion, not understanding how I of all people can influence these men.
“You see,” the King continues as he takes a deliberate step towards the Lord just as Desmond does the same behind Carsen. “This human trash is to be the next Queen of Disce. It will fall on her tonight to decide whether you live or die.”
What?
I stare at Keane appalled.
Absolutely not.
I know my glare can be felt from across the room but the King keeps his own eyes on the men while Holis and Mana move next to me, also giving Keane a silent look.
Carsen spits on the ground at his feet, drawing my gaze to the hatred behind his eyes as his face hardens into a twisted sneer.
“No one from Woodlands will recognize or accept her tainted blood,” he scoffs. “No one will follow the ill-mannered half breeds that spawn from your union.”
“Hold your tongue,” Lord Kaven replies sharply, eyeing the muscled man with his own glare. Carsen narrows his eyes on the Lord, looking at him in disgust before he again turns his glance on me.
“Who spoke to you about me?” I feel the fire coursing behind my words as I take a step towards the bound man. “Warned you about me? We heard you on our second night. You were speaking to someone in the woods. You aimed to take me.”
Kaven shifts in his seat as Carsen gives a low chuckle, raising his head in defiance.
“Are all humans delusional? Or just the pretty girls who think they’ll be made Queen?”
Desmond’s blade is on the man’s hand before I can even blink, slicing it clean across his wrist as the full of it drops to the ground. Carsen screams in pain, his eyes going wide and his chest heaving in agonized breaths as his chin dips low to his chest.
I watch him without sympathy, watch as the mahogany of the chair twists forward and covers his mouth, silencing his yell.
“The Lady asked you a question,” Keane’s eyes are cold as he takes another slow step forward, his hand open as he holds the summoning around the man’s mouth. Carsen narrows his eyes on the King in hatred, his temples beginning to sweat from the pain.
Desmond turns to the twins at my side, wiping the bloodied blade against the black fabric on his thigh. “You saw nor heard any man in the forest with him that night?”
“There was no one with him,” Holis shakes his head.
The Master Informer leans over Carsen’s shoulder, his voice calm as he presses the blade against the man’s other wrist. “Seems the Discerni can be just as delusional as well.”
“Lord Kaven?” Keane looks down at the man, “any insight?”
The Lord shakes his head vigorously, his voice dripping with a hint of desperation.
“The man makes moves of his own that I am not privy too. I know nothing.”
Carsen lunges against his bindings for the Lord, turning his hateful gaze to the Discerni next to him as he mumbles against the wood. Keane flicks his hand casually, releasing the summoning as Carsen’s words come spilling out.
“You good for nothing waste of space! Cowering before the man who took your home. You would not be Lord had it not been for-”
Lord Kaven tosses his head violently forward, hitting his forehead hard against Carsen’s temple with a crack as both men begin to attack eachother from the bindings in their seats.
“Spare me,” Kaven’s eyes land on mine, acknowledging my presence for the first time since my arrival, “spare me and I’ll tell you everything you need to know!”
“But you just told us that your man makes moves of his own,” I tsk as both Keane and Desmond grin, “moves that you’re not privy to. If anything, it is him who needs to be spared, as I’m beginning to think he holds all the answers. Not you.”
I understood now, why the brothers brought me into the room. They wanted to goad the Woodlands Discerni, to play off their genuine hatred for humans, and, it would seem, their genuine hatred for eachother.
“No, Lady,” Kaven’s eyes go wide on mine, turning desperate. “You have it all wrong. There was someone in the woods with him, or rather-”
“-Shut your mouth, you lazy fool!” Carsen yells, leaning forward to deliver his own blow. Both Keane and Desmond have to pull the men apart, yanking on the chairs roughly as they put space between them.
A steady knock comes from behind the door, prompting a pause in our questioning as all heads turn in that direction.
Desmond takes a few large steps to the front of the room as I also do the same, though my walk takes me to the glass counter and shelves that host this court’s sparkling drink, needing it desperately.
I reach for the decanter with a shaking hand, feeling the fury from within as I start to pour. These two men are hiding something, of that I’m certain, and I will not leave tonight until I find out what it is.
Soft footsteps enter the room as a small and feminine gasp breaks the new silence. I down the liquid in full, feeling the bubbles bite at the back of my throat before I pour another glass and do the same again.
Lady Esme has her blue eyes fixated on the severed hand and blood pooling at the ground under Carsen.
Her face is white, paler than the normal tone of the Woodlands Discerni and looking like she’s about to faint.
I eye the woman, feeling a small pity for her in the moment, but quickly remind myself that she also stood by the Lord’s side and let everything in Etter continue.
“This is indecent, Your Grace,” Esme’s voice is soft and trembling as she finally looks up to Keane. “Kaven is a Lord of Woodlands. You cannot treat him as such.”
Any pity I previously held for the woman has now disappeared.
“Kaven forfeited any claim to the title the moment he allowed for the summoning to grip the village, Lady Esme,” Keane replies coolly.
I turn my eyes to the Discerni Lord, noticing that his own gaze is furrowed and looking at the ground in silence at her arrival. Carsen’s too.
Esme frowns as her features fill with small sorrow, still looking at the King.
“Then by default that would make my claim void as well. As well as every Discerni in these woods. We all knew of the summoning. Everyone within Etter.”
My heart lurches from my chest as I eye the woman, hating her words. Of course they all knew.
The King gives Esme a silent nod in agreement, his glance thoughtful. “Which is one of the reasons we have asked you to join us tonight, Lady. Both men claim to have no knowledge of who controls the summoning, though we know this is a lie…”
Esme’s eyes dart across the room, looking from Keane to Desmond before they land on the bound men in the chairs. I can tell that she’s assessing the situation, considering her words carefully and the ramifications that will come from them.
The woman remains silent, trembling in her stance as I take a soft step forward.
“You’ve told us of the second school you’ve built for the humans,” I say quietly, hoping to console her into an answer as her blue eyes land on mine, “and I’ve seen the way you treat the humans here in the residence.
Tell us who controls the summoning, Lady Esme.
Your answer will be held favorably when judgement is passed… ”
Esme eyes me in consideration just as Kaven’s head shoots up from his chair, his glance narrowing on his wife with a glare. “Esme.”
The blonde Discerni flinches before she glares back at Kaven with a fire of her own, no hesitancy in her voice as she replies, “it is the Lord and another man from above.”
“You whore!” Kaven’s face twists in anger. “You deceitful bitch!”
He turns his frantic gaze to Keane. “She lies! She only wishes to cover herself!”
“She tells the truth…” Carsen’s hard voice fills the room and cuts through the Lord’s. “Lady Esme tells the truth.”
“Lies!” Kaven yells, thrashing against the bindings of his chair. “Both of them lie! He is her mistress. He would say anything to protect her!”
“Indeed I would,” Carsen spits at the man’s feet, “but not that.”
The muscled man turns his gaze to Keane with a sneer. “The man you search for is named Matthias. He was in the woods with me that night, high above and using hand signals. He heard of the human’s departure at dinner from Kaven. The two have been working together for years.”
“Ughhh!” Kaven screams savagely, fighting at his bindings again as his face twists in anger. “I know of no man named Matthias! The whole story is made up. They are the perpetrators. They use the-”
“-It’s over, husband,” Esme cuts him off with a hard look in her eyes as her body shakes. “Let this go with dignity.”
“Shut your foul mouth you conniving little-”
Just as the chair covered Carsen’s insults, it now moves to grip Lord Kaven’s mouth, pressing over his lips to silence the raw and animalistic desperation that comes from him.
Keane eyes his brother and gives him a sharp nod. “Find the man.”
Desmond runs a hand across his jaw, taking a step towards the Discerni woman who looks like she’s ready to faint as he urges her out of the room with him.