Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
ALLIE
W hy?
The single most useful and maddening question I’d ever learned–and one of my personal favorites.
Things always needed to make sense, even in chaos.
And if this whole situation wasn’t chaotic, I didn’t know what was.
I simply had to find the pattern, but I felt like a key was missing, and no matter how hard I racked this brain of mine which so many had said was brilliant, I couldn’t find it.
“Come on, Vegheara,” I muttered to myself as I paced in my room, letting the soft threads of the carpet grazing the soles of my feet soothe the ache I still hadn’t fully gotten rid of since I’d walked barefoot through the fortress. “Think.”
And, gods, that was all I’d been doing since talking to my cousins, a migraine already pressing against my temples, as I turned the issue on every side and inside out.
The massacre seemed to have been planned for a long time, but only a few weeks had passed since Evie had returned to Aquila and the wedding had taken place.
Sanctua Sirena was secret–but if Silas had been plotting, he could have revealed the location.
Despite my earlier fears, the Blood Brotherhood had been caught just as off guard as the rest of us. But someone had wanted them–and their best warriors plus their heir–at that wedding.
I cursed loudly and rolled my head, the strain in my shoulders now turning into painful pricks that spidered down my spine.
Silas wanting to off the rest of the family–though I still held hope he hadn’t wanted to hurt his own daughter–was a tale as old as Malhaven. Weak men always resorted to betrayal and killing when they didn’t have the skills or the intelligence to claim power through peaceful means.
However, why would he have wanted to hurt The Dragon or any of the Blood Brotherhood?
That was a risk nobody in their right mind would take.
I still had my doubts about Silas’ intelligence, but above all else, he was concerned with himself and his comfort.
Always had been, he was the first one to take a seat for himself in the shade, fill up his plate before he even bothered with his daughter, and lounging about, profiting off of the protection and prestige the Vegheara name offered him.
No, Silas wouldn’t have wanted to hit the Blood Brotherhood Clan unless he had a very good reason.
Or someone else had wanted to get rid of us and the Blood Brotherhood leadership in one go.
Evie had told me about those nasty Capital advisors, Banu and Valuta, but they didn’t sound like they wanted to dethrone the ruling family, only suck on its tit until nothing but ashes remained. And, again, they wouldn’t have benefited in the least from The Dragon finding out Evie was alive.
So why? And who?
Who in their right mind would want to destabilize the two biggest, most powerful Clans on the continent, which also hated each other?
The Borderland Bands had the Clan hatred, but not the resources.
The Serpents had lost members that day as well, including their awful heir.
Other Clans, like the Morgana, had their own territory disputes and ruling family drama to deal with.
The Northern Clans had been curiously silent, but their animosity was with the Blood Brotherhood, not the Protectorate.
The Fair Isles needed all the Clans strong, rich, and willing to purchase their laughably expensive trinkets.
Then there was the Clan Council. While there was something definitely wrong within their ranks, I saw no motive for destabilizing us.
Or killing me and my family.
It made no sense.
If a Clan war would have broken out between the Protectorate and Blood Brotherhood, the careful equilibrium within Malhaven would have been shattered. Millions of lives lost, no need for a Clan Council, and few survivors to witness as the world blazed around them.
Someone was playing a dangerous game, that much was clear.
But why?
Why?
Why?
Fucking why?
A snarl ripped from my throat as my hands dug into my hair, as if I could rip out the answer from my own brain. The missing link was there, somewhere, hidden in my murky thoughts, I could feel it.
I didn’t even know why I bothered. It wasn’t like I had any power to change anything. Yet my mind, which had always been restless and scheming, couldn’t stop trying to uncover the grand plot which put us all in danger.
It was how I knew to survive, just like how countless generations of Vegheara had before me.
I needed information. I had to–
A loud knock pierced the mayhem my mind had devolved into.
It was so unexpected, I flinched, body tensing instantly as my eyes flew not to the entrance door, but to the one separating my room from his .
A sudden flush coursed through me, born from an emotion I was too afraid to name. Excitement? Apprehension?
But it quickly drowned in the sea of righteous fury that flooded me.
Nobody in this damn city would dare enter the Commander’s room, especially at this hour.
Which meant he had returned.
Which also meant he’d somehow traveled miles upon miles in a single day.
I was so sick and tired of not knowing anything .
With my jaw clenched so hard I was sure my pointy chin now resembled a spear, any hesitation forgotten, I marched right to the door and yanked it open.
Despite the anger, I was not ready to see him again.
Standing there in all his glory, the light from behind coating him in a golden aura as he towered over me with ease.
I sucked in a breath as I kept on staring, all the sharp words I’d wanted to throw his way lodged in my chest.
Neither of us moved, the doorframe separating his realm from mine.
“Is someone tormenting you in there?” he asked instead of a greeting, breaking the stillness.
Yes. Myself. “You went to the Capital today?”
He worked his jaw for a few moments before nodding gravely.
“Glad to see you’re back,” I said, tone clipped, back straight, chin pointed up.
Like my old self. Like the girl who could command the room with nothing but her chin and the storm in her eyes.
A slow smile crept on his face. “Right back at you.”
I crossed my hands in front of my chest, as if that could make me unblush at how low his voice was.
But I had no time for embarrassment right now.
Answers. I needed answers.
“ How ?” I speared him with my gaze and didn’t let go. “How can you move so fast? How can you hear so well? Why did they call you into the Capital? Where–”
He held up his open palm.
I saw red.
“You do not get to shush me–”
“I am simply asking you to slow down the flood of questions so I can answer all of them.”
I pursed my lips. “I’m listening.”
“Very well.” His hand retreated to his side as the Commander squared his shoulders, like he was getting ready to face some great opponent, not a tired barefoot woman. “What I tell you cannot leave these rooms. Deal?”
I took the peace offering for what it was and nodded. Trust went both ways.
“I went through a very painful, very secret ritual to gain the ability to move faster than sound,” he said.
“I’ve never heard of such a ritual.”
“Because you weren’t born here.”
How many more secrets did this crater have hidden under its icy surface?
The next words tumbled slower from his lips. “As for why I was called today…we fear the Serpents are truly readying for a war against the Blood Brotherhood.”
I leaned onto the door to keep from falling. It might’ve been my imagination, but I could swear his hand had twitched as I’d swayed, as if ready to catch me. No, eager to. “A Clan war?”
He nodded, the angles of his face turning harsher.
“How can you be sure?” My voice had turned softer, almost pleading. Not with him–gods help me, I hadn’t fallen that low or hard–but with the entire world itself.
“The Serpents already attacked us at the border a week ago,” he said.
“You made me believe it was only a negotiation talk.”
“We didn’t know what we’d face. They’re gathering more troops. They’ve also raised their monstrous Serpents back from the dead.”
I closed my eyes. I’d only read stories of those beasts, from the few witnesses who had survived them. A single one could coil around an entire village and crush it in a twitch.
“Impossible.” I shook my head, eyes popping open. “The Clan Council–”
“Is looking the other way. Nobody raises magicked creatures if they don’t have vile plans.”
Not even I could deny that. If the Serpents had called upon their ancient, forbidden magic and taken the risk to summon the reptiles, they were readying for a historic battle.
“That’s why you were wounded that night,” I muttered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I’d thought it strange then to see him with gashes on his skin, but it all made a grim sense now.
“I’d only had my body maimed. You’d had your heart, after an awful betrayal,” he said. “It was better to focus on you.”
It warmed my heart, it did–but it also made me fear.
“What else didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
He hesitated.
My fear grew.
“I can’t delve into Blood Brotherhood secrets with a former enemy,” he said at last. “Throne or not, you’re still the First Daughter for us. And The Huntress.”
Was I? I wanted to roar.
“If it’s related to my family, then I need to know,” I said, voice not leaving room for argument. “We’re in danger–”
His eyes sparked. “I know–”
“No, a bigger danger than I realized–”
“–but you’re in the biggest danger of all–”
“–and Orion slashing his throat wasn’t some random act of despair–”
“–after all, they shot the first arrow toward you at the wedding.”
“–it might be linked to a weird Clan–” The words halted as if I’d just stopped mid-run and it took me a few moments to recalibrate. “What–what did you say?”
He looked at me as if I should have already known what he was talking about, brows raised, eyes sparking, as I staggered back from the door and him and the awful memories that still ripped me apart from the inside out.