39. Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Zalen
W hile Thane coordinated the infiltration of Shara, I busied myself with my own plans. The biggest mistake past Kings made was not anticipating far enough ahead. With Maera here, I wouldn’t allow us to be anything less than fully prepared for every possibility.
Whether it was all-out war, or traitors, or spies, or rebellion, I had a plan. But there was one thing that still needed planning, and I couldn’t do it alone.
Not bothering to knock, I entered Maera’s alchemy room. She had been in here all day, and from the looks of it, she had been busy. Very busy, judging by the tray of untouched food I’d had delivered.
Books were laid out over tabletops, and notes were pinned to the walls. Two small cauldrons, hanging over flames, were brewing something that smelled absolutely wretched. But it was bearable so long as I got to be in her presence.
Maera was so engrossed in what she was doing she hadn’t noticed me entering. She was bent over a table littered with paper and potion bottles, swaying her luscious hips back and forth as she hummed. I came up behind her quietly and reached my hand around to grab her neck. She jumped slightly and let out a little yelp, but when I tilted her head back by her neck, she looked up at me with a relieved smile.
“Zalen,” she said with a breathless grin. “You scared me.”
I chuckled, stroking my thumb along her throat. Each pump of her racing pulse against my fingers went straight to my cock.
“Settling in well?” I asked as I bent my head down to kiss her jaw.
I was uncomfortably hard now, but she was so blissfully consumed in her work, I didn’t want to stop her. I made myself a promise I would fuck her in this room someday—just not today.
“Oh, yes!” she said and pulled away to show me what she was working on. “I spent the morning rearranging and reviewing the texts here. Some of them are outdated, and I’ve replaced them with corrected versions, so I piled them over there to get rid of.” She pointed to a pile of neatly stacked books by the door. “And look!” She practically bounced to another table covered in an array of tools, notebooks, and small burlap bags of herbs secured with twine.
My lips spread into a grin, pleased with how happy she was, opening up in a place of her own.
“I received my belongings from Aedum as well.” She gestured to the items strewn across the table.
My grin fell. “Did they come in here?” I had given strict orders that no one was to enter this room under any circumstances.
“No. I watched a couple of men bring them over, and they put it all just outside the door then left. It’s really nice being able to see out when they can’t see in. I don’t have to be disturbed, but I’m still aware when someone approaches.”
Glancing at the translucent wall, I saw the hallway, and if someone were to walk down it, you’d be able to see their figure.
“Are you ready to call it a night? We can get some food since you didn’t eat. Or would you prefer to stay a little longer?” I had a special dinner planned for us—with her as my dessert—but she was enjoying herself, so I would rather wait until she was ready.
Maera fiddled with one of the herb bags. “Do you mind if I stay a little longer? I’d like to get all of this sorted, and I have just a few more minutes until I need to add another ingredient to that brew.” She pointed to one of the boiling cauldrons.
“Of course not. Would you like for me to help?” I gestured to the clutter.
Her face brightened. “I’d love that. Just arrange them into sections and organize the notebooks by date. Don’t get my herb notes mixed in with saplings.” Taking orders from her was definitely a turn on.
Maera returned to her brews, and I busied myself with decluttering the items on the table.
It was nearly dusk by the time we finished and left. With my hand at her back, I led her down to the lower level of the castle. Just as we were about to exit through the doors leading to the garden, someone called out, the voice echoing in the expansive space.
“King Zalen.”
With a scowl, I spun on my heel. Not recognizing who it was, I stepped to the side to put Maera behind me.
“Don’t move,” I told her quietly.
A olive-skinned man with long braids was walking toward me—a human, and thus practically harmless. I noted the pin clasped at his chest, displaying the symbol of my new reign, which meant he was loyal to me. The tension in my shoulders eased, but I kept my guard up regardless with Maera around.
He was an averagely built man, just a few inches shorter than me and dressed in fur-lined clothes suited to traveling through cold weather. His species and attire indicated he was a messenger.
He stopped in front of me and stood at attention with his hands behind his back. He bowed at the waist then raised his hand in a royal greeting—touching his chest then his forehead with the tips of his fingers before gracefully lowering his hand to his side.
I nodded curtly, accepting his greeting. “What do you want?” I demanded in a much sharper tone than I had used with Maera.
“My name is Cazel, and I have a message for you from Ander.” The newly appointed head of the Vord after his predecessor had become my guest in a cell. I remembered I probably should have told someone his body was still down there.
I held out my hand to Cazel. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded paper. I snatched it from his grasp and unfolded it, reading the message from the Vord headquarters. From the corner of my eye, I saw Maera lean to the side, trying to look around my arm to see the contents of the note. I quickly folded it back up and tucked it into my pocket.
This is a perfect opportunity for her to learn just who she’s about to marry.
“You’re dismissed,” I said to Cazel.
Once he walked away and around the corner, I turned to face Maera who had a perplexed look on her face.
“Change of plans, love. We’ll be eating in our room tonight. But I promise to make it up to you.” I leaned down to kiss her and took her by the hand.
“I don’t mind. What’s going on?” she asked with a tone of curiosity.
We started making our way back upstairs.
“Some new information has come to my attention, and I’ll need to leave immediately after dinner to take care of something—” I interrupted our conversation to address a female servant passing by. “You.” The human woman froze in place with wide eyes. “Have our dinner brought up to our room,” I ordered, and she scurried off in the other direction.
“Can I come?” Maera asked as we made it back to the room.
Such an inquisitive little witch.
“You need your rest. You have a busy day tomorrow after all,” I said and her brows raised with piqued interest.
“Is that so? I already have a schedule after being here for such a short time?” she questioned.
I shrugged and sat down at the table, pulling her into my lap with a smirk. “Of course. We do have a wedding to plan.”
Maera had pressed to come with me all through dinner before I left, but I refused each time. I had hoped that she’d drop the polite requests and be more assertive toward me, as befitted the future Queen. It was important she made her decision even after my constant rejection. She needed to understand what she was about to see was her choice.
I placed a kiss on her forehead and then made my way to the Vord headquarters not far from the castle. Trekking through the darkness, I went to the compound. It was completely abandoned—with the exception of twelve men tied to wooden posts.
Standing on the frost covered ground, their clothes had been removed, and they were thrashing against the wrist bindings that secured them to the posts when I approached and lowered my hood. Their mouths were opening and closing, but no sounds came out. They had been silenced, just as I’d instructed.
The men had been taken from the Innon castle when my forces invaded, taking advantage of their weakened state. As part of the royal guard to King Belan, they would have had the most information about his death, and therefore were more valuable to me alive. For now. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake I had with Aedum—killing those that still held information I could extract.
I approached the first man, and he trembled in my presence. He was pale-skinned and muscular, enough so I bet he would have been a fun opponent in a fight. I pulled out a small blade from its sheath at my waist. Grabbing his tongue, I sliced off the tip with the blade. Blood gushed from his mouth as I stepped back and moved on to the next man.
I needed them to be able to answer my questions but, seeing as they were sorcerers, I had to ensure their speech would be muddled enough they couldn’t properly cast spells.
Once I had maimed each one, I moved back to the first man and dispelled his silence. He immediately started wailing, screeching into the night like a dying bird.
“Knock that shit off or I take more,” I threatened.
He pressed his lips together, blood dribbling from the corners and down his chin but still whimpered.
“We’ll never talk, so you might as well just kill us now,” he mumbled around the wound in his mouth.
I kept my features cold and calculated. “I’ll let you die, but you’ll talk before I do.”
I pulled out a glass bottle, filled with a potion I’d had brewed for me.
It didn’t take more than a few minutes of the flesh-eating potion I had dripped on his hand before he began spilling all he knew about the murder of his King and Queen. He didn’t know much, only that their bodies were nothing but ribbons of flesh piled on the floor of the Innon throne room.
Just like Makkor.
Convinced I had gained as much knowledge as he had to offer, I kept him alive for his screams to unnerve the others and I moved on to the next man.
Allowing only a few to live in order to keep the others in line, I gutted the rest once they had given me what I wanted, leaving their entrails hanging from their bodies, to prolong their suffering. At least, until I tired of hearing their wails and prayers—then I finally slit their throats one after another.
Whether it was the result of my sadistic father’s brutal parenting, or simply that I had been born with this darkness, I quickly learned at a young age that the horrors of this world didn’t disturb me at all. Screams of agony were siren songs, and blood was the paint for my masterpieces. And when I wasn’t bathed in those terrors, an intolerable noise roared in my head, growing louder and louder like a beast demanding to be fed.
Only one other thing could quiet the hunger inside me.
Just as I lifted my hand to drip the flesh-eating potion on the next trembling man, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.
It pleased me that I knew Maera so well. She was hard-headed and stubborn, though she hardly showed it. Mix that with her undying curiosity, and her presence was expected. She had stuffed down that side of herself, but she didn’t have to any longer.
I didn’t stop. She needed to see me for who I was, what I was capable of—everything.
I waved my hand and muttered an incantation, eliciting wails from the man. Maera’s gasp had me turning my head to find her peeking around the corner.
“Maera,” I greeted.
I needed her to come to me. She had to choose this fate. She had to choose me .
She tentatively stepped out from behind the outer wall of the compound and stood there. Her eyes darted between me and the bleeding men. It must have been quite a sight for someone who wasn’t accustomed to seeing something so grotesque.
Don’t run now, curious little witch. Stay.
She stopped and stood there for a moment. Her chest rose and fell deeply, then she squared her shoulders and approached, holding my stare as she closed the distance between us. Her long fur-lined cloak brushed against the soft layer of snow covering the ground, her boots lightly crunching on the crisp frost beneath.
That’s it, love.
While I had anticipated the wide array of possible reactions, a twinge of fear pinched in my gut she would resent me. Which would have been unfortunate, because she was going to be my queen no matter what.
I couldn’t discern her emotions from her neutral features. But it was the glint in her eyes that calmed my soul—one of unfaltering trust. There was uncertainty and apprehension, but no anger or disappointment as I had feared.
She stopped only a breath away from me, gazing into my eyes without a single word for a few heartbeats. Then she pulled out a cylindrical bottle—a coercion potion, I noted, from the milky-white color—and handed it to me.
“It’s more effective,” she said quietly. “And merciful.”
I stopped myself from sighing with relief at the acceptance in her eyes, knowing it was a hard truth for her to swallow. It was one thing to know I was a monster but it was another to see it so brutally. But I was still her monster.
“Why should I be merciful?” I asked with intrigue .
Her face remained neutral. “They lost their King and Queen, their home, and they’re about to lose their lives. Why should they lose any more?”
I grazed my knuckles along her cheek, smearing blood over her delicate skin. “Because they need to be reminded that monsters are real. And one now sits on a throne.”