Chapter 51
I stood, frozen, gaping at Gerard. In my mind, I couldn’t reconcile his presence here. Nothing made sense.
Was he a vision? A hallucination? Was I under some sort of spell?
Answers, Sybelle, the logical side of my brain told me. You need answers. You can panic later.
“What are you doing here?” I asked carefully. My eyes darted to the bloodstone in Gerard’s hands, but I pretended to ignore it. He might not realize how much I know, I reminded myself.
“I came for you, my darling,” Gerard said, striding toward me. My muscles locked, and I had to fight the instinct to cringe away from him.
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. Gerard, I’m married to the king.”
“He won’t be the king much longer. You will be free soon.”
My blood turned to ice. “What—What are you talking about?”
Then, Varius’s frantic voice filled my mind, summoned by the amber stone still gripped in my palm.
“Sybelle, if you can hear this, the Earthen Court army is here. It isn’t safe. Stay in the castle with Enzira. I’ll hold off the army to ensure they won’t get to you.”
My stomach dropped like lead. I fixed a horrified gaze on Gerard. “What did you do?” My voice came out as a terrified whisper.
“She is relentless, and she will not stop until every fae is destroyed.” Gerard reached for me, but I curled my arms behind my back, afraid he would notice the chain of my necklace wrapped around my left hand.
“We can slip away during the battle. No one will notice. We can be free together, my love.”
All I could do was shake my head like a fool. “ She ?”
“Your sister.”
My skin tingled with unease. “Orla? What is she doing here? Where—Where is my father?”
Gerard’s mouth formed a thin line, and my heart filled with dread.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” My voice was hollow. Deep down, part of me suspected this. Why else wouldn’t the shadowstone be able to show him to me when I asked?
Sorrow twisted in my chest. King Maddox had only seen me as a weapon to wield. But he was still my father and a beloved king. He had treated his people well.
My eyes narrowed. “Did you kill him?”
“No. Orla did. She insisted it was the only way.”
“The only way for what ? Speak plainly, Gerard! Why are you here ?”
“To destroy the unseelie! To fulfill my mother’s curse!”
I stilled, every muscle in my body taut with awareness. My mother’s curse.
Holy Stones…
“You—You?—”
“My mother was the sorceress Jessinda,” Gerard said, his chin lifting with pride. “She died at the hands of these unseelie beasts. And I am here to avenge her.”
My entire body was numb with dread. This couldn’t be true. How could Gerard be the son of a sorceress ?
Think, Sybelle! I told myself. What do you know of sorceresses and witches?
They possessed untold power. Even more power than the fae.
They were distantly related to fae and were said to possess fae blood, though not as much as the seelie and unseelie.
Male witches had no magic, but they could still produce female heirs and pass along the power through their bloodline.
Gerard has no magic, I realized.
He was staring at me, waiting for a response. I had to say something to buy myself more time. I needed a plan .
“What are you doing with that?” I blurted, gesturing to the gleaming rose jewel in his hands.
“This is the key to the curse,” he said, cradling it in his hands, as if he knew just how precious it was. “I couldn’t risk you bringing them together.” His eyes fell on the shadowstone clutched in my right hand.
“What happens if they come together?” I asked slowly.
Gerard’s eyes darkened with suspicion.
“I just want to be careful,” I said quickly.
Not technically a lie.
“If they get too close, the stones will weld together on their own. And, once unified, if they are destroyed, a piece of the curse is broken. It was part of the language my mother built into the curse.”
By the stone of shadow and blood, I make this vow. Those had been her words.
She had sworn on the stones themselves.
But, in the vision, the shadowstone had vanished after she’d cast the spell. Where had it gone?
“How do you know all this?” I asked. “You—You speak as if you were there.”
He wasn’t. That much, I knew.
“My mother told it to me.”
My heart seized. “W-What? I—I thought the curse killed her.”
He nodded gravely. “It did. But when she cast it, she used the last of her strength to travel back to me and give me that just before she died.” He gestured to the shadowstone in my hand.
“She entrusted me to hide it where the unseelie could not discover it.” He chuckled.
“I should have known you would find a way to dig it up.”
I stared at the black stone in my shaking hand. The shadowstone. It had been buried in those caves in the Earthen Court all along… because Gerard had put it there.
“Why?” I asked in a hollow voice. “Why did you do all this? Why were you living in the Earthen Court this whole time?”
“My people came from there,” Gerard said.
“That horrible unseelie king thought he had obliterated the witch clans when he killed my mother.” A slow smile spread across his face.
“But he was wrong. Many of them fled to the Earthen Court and started new lives there. I couldn’t join them, as I did not possess any magic.
But I wanted to be closer to them and start my life anew.
I made it my mission to ensure the division between the Earthen and Shadow Courts remained firm; otherwise, Mother’s curse would have been for nothing.
That’s why I placed spies in the Shadow Court. ”
Spies? My gut wrenched as I realized what he meant.
Warwick. He had been one of Gerard’s spies.
My mouth twisted in disgust. “You allied yourself with shitholes like Warwick ?”
Gerard blinked at me, stunned. “How do you know Warwick?”
“He attacked me!” I shouted. “He was utterly vile!”
Gerard gritted his teeth. “He was one of my spies, until he defected and tried to leverage his information for gold. His fae ability makes him impervious to nonfatal wounds. He thinks he’s invincible, and he got reckless and cocky. I never should have recruited him.”
My head roared, the chaos of my emotions and thoughts becoming a whirlwind I couldn’t control. “You said spies … As in more than one?”
“Yes. I’ve been alive for a long time, Sybelle.
Throughout the years, I’ve made allies who want to take down the Shadow Court as much as we do.
They were willing to work alongside me. Some are fae; some are human.
Some reside here, feeding me information.
And others pose as nobles in the Earthen Court to sow seeds of discord between the two courts. ”
My heart jolted painfully as I processed his words. Anyone could have been working for Gerard. Members of the castle staff, soldiers in Varius’s personal guard…
Even people I had grown up with in the Earthen Court.
“Who was in my rooms?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“That was one of mine. A skilled thief who works for me. I sent her to come fetch you when Orla’s plans were in place.
I didn’t want you here when the army arrived.
But my thief couldn’t find you, so she took it upon herself to search for the shadowstone on her own.
” Gerard shook his head, his expression almost endearing, as if he were discussing a wayward toddler who was acting out.
“Foolish fae. But, I shouldn’t be surprised.
It’s in their blood to behave in such a way. ”
“Why are you working with them then?” I asked. “Don’t you despise the fae?”
His eyes widened. “Of course not! I’m here for you , aren’t I? Despite your blood, despite the magic in you, I am here, Sybelle.”
I shook my head, resisting the urge to snarl at him. He preached as if he were some great magnanimous saint, deigning to grace me with his presence. Even though I was fae. Even though I was tainted .
Swallowing my revulsion, I said, “I just… don’t understand wh y you did all this. I’m here , Gerard. Our entire plan was—was to take down the court from the inside! Did you not trust me? I wrote to you asking for more time!”
“I know.” He sighed. “Most of my plans were mere precautions, just to ensure I had eyes and ears nearby. But Orla wanted to do more. I tried to hold her off for as long as I could. But… she doesn’t trust you like I do. She didn’t think you could do it.”
Anger and indignation rose up inside me. Gerard lifted his hands, palms out, as if that gesture might calm me down.
Only then did I notice the gold ring gleaming on his finger.
I stiffened, then glanced up at him, reassessing. His hair was slicked back, and although he wore his usual armor, the sword at his hip wasn’t his standard issue sword. This one had a ceremonial hilt and gleaming jewels decorating it.
It was Father’s sword. The sword of the king.
“You married her?” I breathed. “You married my sister?”
He nodded, grimacing. “Yes. I’m sorry. It was the only way to get her to trust me. The only way I could get here, to you .” He reached for me again, but I stepped back, revulsion churning in my gut.
This man seduced my sister and tricked her into marrying him all so he could rescue me as if I were some damsel in need of saving.
He wanted to destroy the Shadow Court. He wanted to murder thousands of innocent fae, all for a centuries-old vendetta.
Gerard was looking at me expectantly, and my mind worked quickly to formulate a plan. He was the enemy. He wanted to kill my husband.
But I also needed him to trust me.
Shaking my head, I said in a faint voice, “I—I just need a moment to process all this. Please.”
Not a lie. It was a lot to absorb.
And I still didn’t have a plan for getting rid of the army, escaping from Gerard, and somehow saving Varius.
“I know it’s overwhelming. But we don’t have time to hesitate. We need to leave before the army breaches the castle. I can’t guarantee your safety once they enter these walls.”