Chapter 49
True Name
KAEL
Gold adorned the entire ballroom. From the archways to the chandeliers, my father ensured the respective royal hue would be easy to spot as the people of Serevalen flocked into the palace.
Laughter quickly intermingled with the ongoing music, fusing to form a liveliness the king would never care for.
If it were up to him, they’d all be slaughtered, and he’d rule barren lands. But this joining, this… wedding, was supposedly our link to the continent beyond. One we’d never heard of, but the Others had assured my father about, and one that lacked any solidifying proof of its existence—Narvendor.
None of it made sense, but even as my logic screamed to look into the facts, there wasn’t a single portion of me left that truly gave a shit.
He’d executed Percy, and I had nothing left under his ruling. I only hoped whoever or whatever it was that ended my lineage wouldn’t hesitate when it came to eradicating me alongside the king.
Caspian cleared his throat beside me, arms tucked behind his back as he dipped his chin in the direction of the arriving guests. “You could at least smile.”
“And you could very well shut the fuck up,” I retorted, the words coming out far harsher than I intended. For where the pirate was convinced I harbored unrelenting hatred for him, my loathing extended only to myself and my father.
While Caspian had been the one to drive the esteemed blade through Percival’s stomach, the king had commanded it, and Caspian was bound to follow his expectation.
If war were on the horizon, there was only one side I would stand with.
It was the one furthest from my piece of shit fucking father.
It was the one that allotted me the ability to carve the king’s heart from his corruption-filled chest.
“You’re doing that thing again,” Caspian stated, keeping his attention fixated ahead. “Where you stare into oblivion and start to look like you’re considering detonating the palace regardless of its occupancy.”
“Maybe I am.” Running a hand down the front of my cream vest, I flicked my tongue against my canine.
“I’m a man molded by a thief of a father and fueled by the desire for retaliation for everything he’s taken from me.
Ultimately, I have nothing else to lose, and existing alongside Elaros sounds far more heavenly than living another second in this damned existence. ”
“But you won’t.”
My jaw feathered before I allowed the sigh to fall. “But I won’t. Fuck you, by the way.”
He chuckled. “That’s the thirty-seventh time you’ve said that today. I’m beginning to wonder if you’re capable of any other fruitful retort.”
This is the man Alastair hates? The one responsible for carving the scar into his side and leaving him to bleed out on Ellira’s frigid waters?
The ghost of a smile tugged on the corners of my mouth, but I repressed it before it had the chance to surface. “How fucking long do we have to stand here?”
“First, if you think I didn’t see that grin, you’re mistaken.” Caspian nodded to another group of townsfolk before continuing, “And second, gods if I know, but I’m hating it about as equally, if not more, than you are.”
I started to offer another colorful rebuttal, but before I could, Olliviera rounded the corner.
Clad in all white, the silken fabric chased her like a phantom wind.
Arm sleeves that blended with the dress’s material made it impossible to tell where she began and where she ended.
Pearls adorned her waistline, the bodice, and the neckline, attached to the over-the-shoulder straps, bathing her in luxury, refined by the expectations of royalty.
Strawberry-blonde hair wound back, her round yet defined face had been coated in a layer of powder.
Her sharp jawline demanded respect, but the softness of her lips gave away a softer side, one incapable of the atrocities my father would demand her to commit.
Kohl lined her honeydew eyes, framing her stare with a righteous power she didn’t desire.
In that moment, it felt like I was staring at someone who found themselves in a similar situation as me, and while I could acknowledge that she looked like a queen—breathtaking in all the right ways—I desired a king.
Approaching, she held my gaze before joining me on the small platformed dais. “Prince Kaelivan Marellan.”
“Olliviera Tremoille.” Her name felt traitorous on my tongue when Percy’s was all I wished to utter. “Apologies for my… lack of enthusiasm; it was a long evening.”
“Likewise,” she mumbled, glancing at our guests. “And please, address me by my true name.”
Struggling to keep my features relaxed and my brows from furrowing, the question slipped from me as a near-breathless whisper. “What?”
Her shoulders rose with a lengthened sigh. “My name is not Olliviera.”
“And your surname?”
“Is not Tremoille.”
A groan of annoyance roared to life from behind us—Caspian. “Oh, for the love of the gods.”
“Lorelie Alreja,” she answered, subtly glancing over her shoulder at the man behind us.
“You’re… Sapphira’s lover,” Caspian murmured, but undeniable anger clung to each of his words. “What the fuck are you attempting to accomplish?”
Scoffing as if offended, the newly named woman met him with just as much fire. “As much as I am that godsdamned woman’s lover, by whatever god wished to spite me, my presence carries far more weight than a title as simplistic as that.”
Okay, she was certainly someone I could get used to.
“That didn’t answer my fucking question.” The sharpness in Caspian’s tone carried something else with it. Unease?
“It seems you’re daft, so let me lay the land for you, Caspian Vayne.
” Clasping her hands in front of her, she passed thanks to a woman who swept by to compliment her dress.
Only once she was gone did she elect to continue.
“The palace of the gravest enemy of this continent doesn’t seem like the most… appropriate place to discuss things.
“I will offer you this: my capture was intentional; in fact, it was premeditated. Sapphira did not know of my plans, just as she still doesn’t entirely know who or what I am.
Every man responsible for her beating was handled, and I slipped my way into the royal walls far too easily.
That doesn’t even cover the surface of my truth, but it gives you an idea. ”
The pirate exhaled, irritation dripping from the air he released. “And we are just supposed to take your word for it? From what I heard, you were begging to marry Kaelivan, who’s to say your intentions do not lie with the king?”
“I say,” she pushed out between clenched teeth. “This world does not survive if he remains in power.”
I cut in before Caspian had the chance to. “So you wish to overthrow him?”
“It is not a wish, it is a must.” Her eyes danced across the various individuals filling the space, as if she were hunting for someone.
“My goal is to dismantle his reign entirely. The Others are leading these lands to a disastrous end, a realm where every human will be tied to their wishes, and the serenity of all those living on Wraelira will cease to exist.”
“While I agree wholeheartedly,” I concurred before gesturing toward the man who stood beside me. “Caspian’s point still contains validity. The manipulation slithering through the veins of Serevalen is commanded by the Others, and it’s easy to claim allegiance when intention lies elsewhere.”
“Well, as much as I wish I could obliterate everyone in the vicinity to prove where my loyalties lie, that is not an option.” Her expression softened slightly before she offered Caspian another glance.
“My heart remains true to Sapphira, and while she betrayed you for what she believed was my well-being, it was led by Sorva. The dark goddess baited her with a false promise—that I would be on that ship—and she stumbled right into it. They’ve locked her in the dungeons.
” Throat bobbing, she shook her head. “As far as any of them are concerned, I am dead and died alongside all the king’s men I killed.
Sorva leveraged weakness and played into that ploy; she, too, is convinced I am the woman I claimed to be in that throne room. ”
“So she formed a deal with Sapphira, claiming she would return her to you while you’re supposedly, knowingly, deceased to these falsified gods?”
She pinned me with a look of exasperation. “Are you shocked she would go to such lengths?”
“No,” I clarified, keeping my voice level so as not to alert anyone else to our conversation.
“I am just trying to wrap my head around how that is even plausible. The Others do not exist within the realm of divinity, but that does not take away from their metaphysical prowess and their all-knowing intelligence.”
Nodding, Lorelie paused to take a small breath before speaking again. “But the degree to which their influence rules is definitive to the realm it binds. If one moves from one to the other, all applicable ties are severed, leaving room for sway. For one to overpower.”
“Wait, so you’re not from—”
A chilling hand settled on my shoulder, devouring the oxygen in my lungs. That familiar dread spread through my stomach, mirroring what I’d felt in Veilmar before our capture. But there was something about this presence that was far more sinister, far more… lethal.
“The newlyweds,” a woman crooned, her timbre nearly angelic but in all the wrong ways. “Lovely to see the two of you standing on this dais, and soon, the one platforming the thrones.”
Stepping into view, she was clad in a leather bodice, royal purple spilling from beneath it to meet the dark marble floors. Her thin frame made it easy for one to assume she was harmless, but her aura hinted at something monstrous lurking beneath.
White locks, slightly curled, and stopping just above her shoulders, they practically matched the shade of her complexion. Her ember-like stare lifted, and it was then that I recognized the true danger that had approached us—Sorva.
With her hand gripping my shoulder, she tossed a glance toward Lorelie. “Ms. Olliviera, how does it feel to know that by the end of the evening you will be a Marellan?”
“Flattering,” Lorelie replied, that mask slipping back on with ease. Lids fluttering, she looked up at the despicable Other. “It is of the utmost honor to be able to bear a child for the Marellan line. I truly cannot wait to supply Kaelivan with a more than suitable heir.”
I held my breath as Sorva spoke, praying to whatever true god would listen that she had somehow missed or hadn’t heard the depths of our discussion. Nails clamping tighter, her talons threatened to carve into my flesh as she moved closer.
She smiled at Lorelie without an ounce of genuineness. “Go socialize, dear. You have many people you must introduce yourself to now that you will be taking the throne.”
“Are you sure? I would hate to—”
“I’m absolutely positive, and I’m certain Kael believes it is appropriate.”
Nail piercing my chest, I clenched my jaw and gave my reply through gritted teeth. “Go, Olliviera.”
With a curt nod, Lorelie slipped away, but I didn’t miss the blaring concern in her honey-dew irises.
Once she was far enough away, Sorva huffed with satisfaction.
Lips brushed against the shell of my ear, and a harsh, threat-filled whisper followed.
“If you inform that woman of anything, I will strip you of everything you have ever loved. While you parade around, whining about the loss of Percival, I know that heart of yours harbors care for that pathetic crew you joined, and even the man behind you who kneels at my very command. And just as much as he belongs to me, so do you, Kael.”
I swallowed the nausea her statement evoked, craning my chin just enough to find Caspian on one knee.
Hand pressed to his chest, he struggled to draw in a rasped breath.
His brows pinched together in irrefutable anguish, and I caught the slight tremor in his bottom lip, blood trickling from it to the ground.
“What did you do—”
“If you wish to keep Caspian Vayne and the rest of his entourage alive, then you will accept the blood bind I offer you after the ceremony.” Fingers shifting to the back of my neck, she squeezed and forced my attention back to those attending our wedding.
Venomous utterance still hushed, she lapped against my jaw with her forked tongue before continuing.
“Consider it a courtesy. I execute your father, give you the power, and then continue running these lands with your aid, just as I did with him. And, in exchange, your friends keep their lives.”
“K-Kael…” Caspian groaned, running the back of his hand across his mouth. “Don’t… listen to her. She’s a fucking lying—”
“Caspian,” Sorva hummed, his words silencing as soon as his name left her lips. “Would you be so kind as to go fetch Kaelivan a glass of wine? I’m sure he’d love one before the ceremony commences.”
To my horror, Caspian stood without a rebuttal of discontent and nodded. Brushing his hands down his uniform, he catered to his appearance before stepping off the dais and into the crowd as he’d been commanded.
It wasn’t out of willingness or a desire to follow her orders. No, she controlled him completely.
“What the fuck have you done?” I breathed, my chest hitching with panic.
“Reminded you where you stand and how much is truly at risk here, Kael. Now, be smart about what follows your joining with Olliviera because everything is at risk, and your decision is what will determine the fate of these lands and the people inhabiting them.” With a harsh pat, she slipped from my side and snaked her way between countless bodies before fading into nothing more than silhouette and shadow.
My gaze swept across the crowd, and I never felt more alone. The weight of the future rested on my shoulders, alongside the fate of the man who was the acting hand in Percy’s death. It was a burdensome realization that also highlighted the truth of Sorva’s claim.
I did care about them. I had grown to care about them regardless of all that had unfurled. And now, all I could do was hope that Alastair and the rest of the crew had a plan.