Chapter 32 #2
That explained my cousin’s state of health. I hadn’t thought our uncle could have harmed him enough that he’d still show wounds this long afterward, but they’d outnumbered him, so it must have been much worse earlier.
Aella cocked her head. “You didn’t choose to use the God of Wrath?”
“What do you know about that?” Bogdan asked, narrowing his eyes.
We didn’t have time to go into details, but I could give him a broad overview. “I had to funnel his power recently, and when I paid the price, he dragged Aella into it.”
My cousin let out a slew of curses. “That’s why I try never to use him because the cost isn’t worth it, though at least I don’t have a mate for him to bother.”
“Many of us would have died if I hadn’t called upon the god.” I crossed my arms. “Radan was already using him, so I had little choice.”
Bogdan gave me a sympathetic look. “That must be why he brought help to handle me because I can’t imagine his price when he calls on the god’s powers.”
If only I could have seen how that went for our uncle. How did he pay?
Loden cleared his throat. “How about we discuss the actual reason we came here?”
“Yes,” I agreed, glad he moved us back on topic. “We found out yesterday that your sister married Aella’s cousin, Ulmar. Did you know about that?”
Bogdan took a step back in shock. “No. When?”
Based on a conversation I overheard while spying with a sebeska between Ulmar and Lord Morgunn before he died, I had a pretty good idea. “A few weeks ago.”
“No one told me anything, but I haven’t left here since we returned from our trip to Alavaar.” That was around the time Aella and I first slept together. “There was one thing our uncle mentioned during his visit here that you might find concerning.”
“What?” I asked, tensing.
“He said it was a good thing you killed Morgunn because it broke a curse on someone confined in Damwith Royal Prison. That enabled the dark elves to free him, but he wouldn’t say who or any other details. It was strange,” Bogdan said.
I didn’t know anything about a cursed prisoner there, but I did know of one I didn’t want freed.
It was one of King Worden’s biggest secrets.
He didn’t tell me about it until ten years ago.
His Majesty had been drinking when he made the shocking confession, as if he’d needed several vats of wine to admit what he’d done.
From that point forward, I’d been in charge of checking on the prisoner and giving updates to the king.
“You said they already freed the person?” I asked.
“Yes. He implied it was only a couple of days ago when they finally took control of the land around the prison. The royal guards stationed there put up quite a fight, along with the wards being the most difficult in the realm to break.” Bogdan furrowed his brows.
“I think even my sister would have had a hard time with those.”
Pieces of a puzzle fell into place in my mind. “We need to go, now.”
“What? Why?” Aella asked.
“King Worden’s older brother was in that prison.”
Everyone gaped at me, but Loden was the first to recover. “He’s been missing for about thirty years, but you’re saying the king imprisoned him?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Kaius tried to usurp Worden about a year and a half after he ascended the throne. The older brother was furious that their father hadn’t chosen him as the heir, but he had to form some alliances before he could act.
Aella’s uncle was one of them. I can only think that the king forced Morgunn to put some kind of curse on Kaius so he couldn’t leave the prison. ”
That was the only thing that made sense.
Loden appeared in deep thought for a minute. “If there were a curse preventing the older brother from leaving, the king wouldn’t want anyone knowing about it. They’d kill Aella’s uncle to lift it. They may have added a secrecy spell so no one involved could discuss it.”
More pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
“That’s why the king hesitated every time I brought up killing Morgunn.
I couldn’t understand why he kept adding stipulations and making it difficult for me.
Even that night I went to save her, he’d cautioned against murdering him, but I hadn’t cared anymore once I saw what he’d done. ”
“The dark elves couldn’t have predicted you’d do that, though,” my wife pointed out.
I shrugged. “They were going to invade one way or another, but I’m guessing they’ll use Kaius to provide legitimacy for their rule.”
“Why didn’t Worden just kill his older brother?” Jax asked.
“He never said, but I suspect he still bore some love for him and couldn’t do it.
You saw how he ran the kingdom. He only used a strong arm when absolutely necessary.
He felt the fae and Paxia natives had endured enough tyranny and violence, and he wanted to be different,” I said, telling them the conclusion I’d come to after finding out the truth of the missing brother.
Bogdan gave me a grave look. “There were other prisoners there, including dark elves.”
I clenched my fists. “We have no way of knowing who they freed, assuming our uncle isn’t lying, and they really did take the whole prison.”
Loden’s gaze turned grim. “We need to find out for sure.”
“Let’s go back and discuss it with the others,” I said, not wanting to mention the royals staying in my home. I trusted my cousin, but he didn’t need to know where they were now.
Bogdan gave me a nod. “I’ll send a sebeska if I hear anything else.”
“Thank you.”
As we began walking away, Jax looked at me. “Are we still gathering the wormruts?”
“Yes.” I glanced at my wife with her hopeful expression. “It won’t take long if each of us takes one along the way, and it will be worth the trouble to keep her and her plants happy.”
She gave me a genuine smile. “That almost makes me forgive you for what you did on my birthday.”
“Something tells me it will take years before you stop holding a grudge against me for that,” I said, sighing.
Aella scowled. “Well, most men don’t force their new brides to help them attack and kill their own people—on their birthday.”
“Everyone should take two,” I announced. The fate of the realm could wait a few extra minutes if it would help ingratiate me with my wife.
Jax and Loden snickered. Aella rolled her eyes.