Chapter 48 #2
After the first elixir of human blood, the Necro Shadows only grew hungrier and hungrier. They flooded the kingdom with violent rage, and nothing but the elixir containing both the king’s blood and the human’s blood would stop it.
Eventually, the demand for blood was so high that the human brides had died from loss of blood and malnutrition. The shadows had devoured them wholly.
Along with the king .
Generation after generation, the king and his human bride had given their lives to drive the shadows back. Some kings were strong enough to outlive a few brides—my father, for instance. But in the end, they always succumbed.
After such a sacrifice, the Necro Shadows were appeased for a few decades. But, then, the cycle continued when they grew hungry again.
I had to tell Sybelle all of this. She needed to know. But I was determined to find another way. Some way, somehow, we would be together. We would rule as king and queen.
Somehow, she would survive this. I would not let the curse take her.
“Well, there’s no salvaging this,” Sybelle said with a laugh, jolting me from my morose thoughts. With a smirk, she lifted up the shredded pieces of her dress. “Perhaps the castle will be merciful and take me straight to my rooms.”
I offered a halfhearted chuckle. “Don’t count on it. Making you traipse naked through the castle sounds like something it might do.”
Sybelle gathered the ripped pieces of her massive skirt and held them to her chest, concealing those beautifully peaked nipples.
She gazed up at the vaulted ceiling and said loudly, “Castle? I’d really appreciate if you could send me straight to my chambers.
Or rather… our chambers.” She cast a coy grin my way, sending heat flooding over every inch of my skin.
Our chambers.
We would share a room. A bed.
She was mine in earnest. My wife. My equal.
My chest felt so light I thought I might float away.
Sybelle inched over to the door closest to us. She slowly creaked it open, peering cautiously through the crack to the other side.
She exhaled in relief. “Thank you!” she called out, her gaze fixed on the ceiling. Over her shoulder, she shot me another grin.
Just before she stepped through the door, I told her, “I intend to bed you thoroughly tonight, wife.”
Her cheeks flushed. “I would be quite disappointed if you didn’t, husband.”
I couldn’t contain my smile as she stepped into our chambers, letting the door snap shut behind her.
I bathed and dressed before seeking out Tislora in the apothecary. For the first time, I found the room empty, though steam from the cauldron still filtered through the air. She clearly hadn’t been gone for long because the contents within were churning and bubbling.
With a frown, I returned to the hall and placed my hand on the doorknob. I decided to try Sybelle’s strategy of speaking directly to the enchantment surrounding me.
“Er, castle?” I asked, feeling ridiculous. “If you know where Tislora is, could you guide me to her?”
Mother of Shade, this was utterly stupid.
Exhaling in exasperation, I turned the handle and pulled open the door. I faced a dark, narrow hall. Metal clanging and loud voices echoed from within.
I stepped forward, immediately noting the smell of spiced herbs and charred meat.
This was the hall to the kitchens.
“All right, castle,” I muttered under my breath. “Let’s see what you want me to find here.”
I strode forward, following the commotion of the kitchen staff. I paused at an open door to my left when a shuffling sound drew my attention .
The medicine room. The same place I had found Sybelle when she had been searching for birch root.
My brows furrowed as I realized why she’d needed it. She claimed it was a cure for headaches. I hadn’t believed her at the time.
But now I knew: It must have been for her dragon.
“Damn it,” hissed a familiar voice, jarring me from my thoughts.
I entered the medicine room and found Tislora with her wings tucked against her body as she tried to reach for a jar of forest green powder on one of the shelves. She cut a glance at me, her teeth bared.
“Damn this unseelie body,” she growled. Glasses clinked as the talons on her wings nearly knocked several vials to the floor.
“Here.” I stepped in and grabbed the jar she was reaching for. My wings folded more tightly than hers did, likely because mine weren’t as strong.
“Thank you,” she grumbled before taking the jar. “What are you doing here?” She inhaled deeply, then looked at me with narrowed eyes. “You smell different.”
Shit. I’d been afraid of this. After such vigorous intercourse with Sybelle, it would be easy to scent the lingering arousal that likely still clung to my body. Sybelle’s arousal. I had hoped that bathing in the hot springs would mask it.
Tislora uttered a sharp gasp, and I closed my eyes in defeat. Damn it all.
“You bedded her, didn’t you?” she asked.
I heaved a sigh. Stalling for time, I turned and softly closed the door of the medicine room. It was quite cramped, but nothing could be done about it.
When I faced Tislora, she stared at me with a wrinkle between her brows, her eyes sparking with a mixture of anger and amusement .
“Yes,” I said tightly. “We consummated.”
She let out a harsh chuckle, shaking her head as if I were a child. “Oh, Varius. How could you be so foolish?”
I glared at her. “What the hell are you talking about? She is my wife.”
“She’s a traitor!”
Shadows pooled around us as I bared my fangs at her. “She is not . She swore it in blood.”
Tislora didn’t need to know that Sybelle had fae blood. Even humans could make blood vows with the fae, and it would bind them the same way.
“Did you tell her?”
I froze.
“Did you tell her that her life would be sacrificed to the curse, like all the other human brides?” Tislora asked in a hard voice.
I held my breath, my chest knotting so tightly I couldn’t breathe.
“No,” I said, my voice strained. “But I will tell her soon. And I will find another way.”
I would save Sybelle from this fate. I would not lose her to the same dark magic that had already taken so many other lives.
“Damn it, Varius, the Necro Shadows are getting closer. You know the only thing that can hold them off is blood from your line and from hers. You need to feed them. Our time is running out.”
I shook my head as raging thoughts clouded my mind. Thoughts of death and destruction. The image of the Pern District that had been devoured by the shadow storm appeared in my head.
“But perhaps consummation is the best thing right now,” Tislora mused.
“It will strengthen your bond with her and make the elixir more potent.” She glanced at the jar in her hand, frowning at its contents.
“Perhaps that will solve the problem. Something is off with my supply of powdered hellebore leaves. I think it might be?—”
“There will be no more elixirs,” I growled. “I will not subject Sybelle to the same fate as the others.”
Tislora blinked, then lowered the vial. “But you would doom your people to destruction at the hands of the Necro Shadows?” she shot back.
I ran a hand through my hair as my shadows thickened on the floor at our feet. This argument wasn’t helping things.
“This isn’t why I sought you out,” I said.
“Then, why did you?”
I paused. The last thing I needed was for Tislora to find out Sybelle and I had consummated our marriage, only for me to turn around and accuse her of treachery… at Sybelle’s suggestion.
I would need to word this carefully.
I cleared my throat. “I need to ask you something of a sensitive nature.”
She placed the vial in her satchel and crossed her arms, her nostrils flaring. Already, I could sense her ire brewing. “What is it?”
“I need to know where you came from before you began working at Agnarr Castle.” Even when I was a boy, Tislora had been here, working alongside my father. She had resided here even longer than I had.
I knew nothing of her background or her history. And now I realized just how alarming that was.
Tislora’s eyes became tiny slits. “Why?”
“Something about the original sorceress’s spell mentioned her bloodline living on,” I said, trying to avoid mentioning Sybelle’s involvement. “I just want to know if you knew any of the witches who lived here before—” I broke off with a wince.
“Before King Ragnus slaughtered them all?” she asked sharply .
“Yes.” I met her gaze to show her that I knew just how abominable my ancestor had been. I did not condone his actions at all.
But I also did not condone the witch for cursing my people forever.
“I thought you couldn’t access the language of the spell,” she said, her tone full of accusation.
“I found a record of it,” I said. Technically, not a lie, if Sybelle’s wrinkled piece of parchment could be viewed as a record .
Tislora fixed a hard stare on me for a long, tense moment. I did not break eye contact. I would not betray Sybelle’s trust.
Especially if it would make her a target of Tislora’s wrath.
When I continued to hold her gaze, Tislora shifted her weight and crossed her arms over her chest. For a second, she looked strangely vulnerable. I had never seen her like this before. Tislora had always been strong and fiery.
“I grew up as an abandoned orphan,” she said, avoiding my gaze. “There were other witch children with me, but I don’t know what became of them.”
I stilled, something within me tingling with this new information. “You grew up in an orphanage.”
It was her turn to flinch. “Not exactly.”
“Tislora, speak plainly. Please. This is important.”
She rubbed her forehead with a long sigh. “Varius, you have to understand that among witches, vows of secrecy are taken very seriously.”
“Don’t lecture me about the gravity of sacred vows,” I growled.
Her silvery eyes flared with anger. We stared each other down, neither of us relenting. Finally, she spoke. “I came from the same clan of witches that Ragnus killed.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my blood boiling in my veins. Shit, Sybelle had been right. She’d been right .
I took a step back, and Tislora raised her hands.
“Wait, please,” she said quickly. “It’s not like that. We were abandoned by them. Disowned. Raised by unseelie fae.”
I gritted my teeth, my pulse roaring in my ears. Shadows flooded the cramped space, plunging us in darkness. “This whole time,” I hissed. “This whole time , Lor?”
“I took a vow!” she argued.
“What about your vow to me ?” I roared. “Your allegiance to your king? Instead, you chose to remain loyal to the witches who abandoned you?”
“Not them,” Tislora spat. “My brothers and sisters. We vowed to one another that we would never share the true nature of our heritage.”
“How many?” I bit out.
She swallowed. “There were four of us. Two were killed by witch hunters. After that, my brother and I parted ways, knowing that by remaining together, we put a target on our backs.”
“Why did the witches abandon you?” I asked, my tone hard.
“We did not produce magic within our first year of life. Most witch offspring are able to manifest even small traces of magic by then. Males, in general, are unable to produce magic and are often abandoned, as was the case with my brothers. My magic, as it turned out, manifested much later in life, thanks to my unseelie blood.” She offered me a cold smile. “Their loss.”
“Is this a joke to you?” I bellowed. “Because of you and your lies, the curse lives on! If you and your so-called siblings had been destroyed, the curse would be broken!”
Tislora’s face paled. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Are you her daughter?” I asked. “The sorceress who cast the curse.”
Her nostrils flared. “You mean Jessinda? No. My mother was a witch named Evangeline. She died before the spell was cast. My father was an unseelie fae soldier she met in passing. ”
My fingers curled into fists. “Tislora. I need you to swear to me in fae blood that you are not directly tethered to this curse.”
Her wings twitched behind her, and she bared her fangs at me. “You dare ask me that? After everything I’ve done to prove my loyalty?”
“You mean after all the secrets you kept from me?” I barked. “Your demonstrations of loyalty mean nothing now, Lor. Swear with your fae blood, or I swear to the gods, you will be sentenced to death for treason. Hopefully your death will bring about the end of the curse.”
Her head reared back, rage and hurt flashing across her face. Her eyes darkened, and she let out a low, menacing hiss.
I didn’t even blink. I only continued to glare at her, unfazed by her anger.
She had no right to resent me for asking this of her. No right.
“Fine,” she gritted out, drawing a small dagger from her belt.
“You asshole.” She dragged the blade along her palm, and black blood bloomed from the wound.
“I, Tislora of the Shadow Court, swear by my fae blood that I am not tethered to the curse cast by Jessinda the witch, nor will my death bring about the freedom King Varius seeks for his people.”
Energy hummed in the air, tingling across my skin.
Tislora shot me a hateful look. “Is that proof enough for you?”
“Did Jessinda have a child?”
Her eyes shuttered. “What?”
I repeated the words slowly. “Did Jessinda have a child?”
Her lips grew thin, her face turning a shade paler.
I stepped toward her, my hands gripping her shoulders tightly. I resisted the urge to shake her until she answered me plainly. “ Tell me , Lor.”
“Yes,” she breathed, her voice shaky. “Yes, she had a son. But—But he has no magic. He poses no threat to the Shadow Court. ”
“He does if his mother included his bloodline in the language of her spell—as insurance that it would carry on after her death.”
Tislora’s face slackened in shock. “But I—how do you know that?”
“If Jessinda included this language in her curse, is it possible?”
She was muttering frantically now. “I didn’t think…
He had no powers, and… and I didn’t know the terms of the original curse.
There was no record of it—” She broke off, her lip trembling.
“Shit . ” She covered her mouth with her hand, letting her dagger clatter to the floor.
“ Shit , how did I not see it? If the terms of Jessinda’s curse allowed it, even a powerless heir could carry the magic of a curse like that. ”
“Yes,” I said. “Especially if he produced a female heir who could continue the witch line.”
She shook her head vigorously. “No. He did not marry or sire children. He returned to the home of our ancestors. The Earthen Court. For decades now, he has lived the life of a mortal.”
I went still as death, something clicking into place in my mind. “What did you say?”
“The witches of our kingdom originally came from the Earthen Court. There are still witches there even now, living in hiding. My brother returned there and…” She faltered at the look of shock and horror on my face. “Did you not know this?”
Slowly, I shook my head, my breathing now sharp and ragged.
The witches came from the Earthen Court. Sybelle’s court.
Sybelle.
I had to find her. Now.