Chapter 24
KAELERON
The pile of letters on my desk told me Oberon had successfully carried out his task. I set one from the Dusk Court on the stack to my left, where it joined ones from the Twilight Court and the Winter Court.
Rhyn had formalised our alliance shortly after I had left, dispatching a messenger to my court with a letter that stated he would ally with me against any and all foes, and that my sword was his should I need it.
He had also dispatched a caravan of carts from Rhyn’s Gate in the south, and they would reach my court soon, bringing valuable seed and livestock, as well as farmers and craftsmen capable of teaching some among my court their skills.
I was not surprised that the Twilight and Dusk Courts had joined with me. I had strong ties with Beleron the Bloody, the Twilight King, since I had allied with him in the past during his dispute with the Forsaken King, Varan the Swift, and because my father had once ridden into battle at his side.
Since Dakyn the Unforgiving, king of the Dusk Court, knew all too well the superior metal came from the northern reaches of the extensive mountain range that separated our courts, I had expected he would ally with me.
That and he despised the Night Court and their ongoing conflict required the steel I could give him.
The war that had caused the Wrathborn Scar that acted as a divide between the two courts had never really ended.
The high king acted as if it was done, but the near-constant skirmishes along that scar would say otherwise.
The two southernmost courts—the Infernal and Dark Courts—were yet to respond. The Night Court and the Forsaken Court had of course chosen to stop all trade with the Shadow Court in return.
Varan, because he knew I had strong ties to the Twilight Court and openly despised me for it, and Valenyr the Cunning, the Night King, because he had apparently heard a report from his spymaster that the Dusk Court would side with me, and therefore he wanted nothing to do with me and was content with the metal he could mine from the southern mountains of his court.
The Nightmare Court had not responded yet either. Not that I needed a letter to tell me which side Kalyn would pick if there was war in the shadows of Lucia.
A knock at the door had me lifting my head from a report Oberon had filed, one that relayed every single word and look the kings had given him when he had spoken with them.
“Enter.”
The door opened to reveal one of the guards. “My king, there is a visitor.”
The towering male who pushed the guard aside, barging into my office, was not one I had expected to see darkening my doorstep.
Kalyn preened his short onyx hair back, his usual mocking smile in place as he closed the door in the face of my guard and leaned his back against it.
He folded his arms over his chest, no doubt to draw my attention to the fact he wore his black leather armour, and his silver irises ringed with night brightened as he casually stared at me.
“What game are you playing, Shadow King?” he purred as he angled his head one way and then the other, as if he were a predator eyeing his prey, when I was the predator in the room.
Or perhaps we both were.
I gestured dismissively towards the door. “I do not know what you speak of, Nightmare King.”
He chuckled low. “Oh, you are playing a game. I am not sure what game it is, but it is an amusing one. Allying with a mere wolf… standing with her before all the courts and the high king as if she is worthy of a place in this world… but I will admit her mind is strong… her will exceptional.”
“I am sure she would be flattered to hear it.” I waved at the door again. “If you have merely come to bother me about the ball, do be on your way. I have many matters that require my attention today, and you are not one of them.”
Nothing aggravated Kalyn like being ignored.
Except for one thing.
“She is curiously strong for a shifter,” he murmured thoughtfully.
And there was my opening to truly aggravate him.
“Because she is not pure shifter, but a half-breed.” My tone was blunt, bored, as if Kalyn was the last to know and I was over telling everyone about her true lineage.
I made a big show of leaning back in my chair and casually forming a steeple with my hands, adding just the right dose of mocking to my tone as I said, “I had expected a male as powerful and skilled as you are to have been able to tell that from your invasion into her mind at the ball. Perhaps you are not as powerful or skilled as you make yourself out to be.”
I smiled a pleasant sort of smile at him.
There were few pleasures in life as wonderful as baiting Kalyn. The Nightmare King thrived on uncovering secrets, but would not dare try to probe my mind to weed them out. He had tried it once, long ago, and had learned that my mind was a fortress, and my claws were sharp.
Perhaps there was another pleasure that rivalled it.
Forcing the mighty Kalyn to ask for once.
The Nightmare King was not amused, but could not bear to not know a secret that he believed others knew, and so he folded easily. “What is the other half of her blood then?”
I met his gaze, silver clashing with silver, and calmly announced, “It is seelie.”
I was baiting him again, testing to see whether he would go running to Ereborne—to his beloved master—to tell Elduin what I had revealed.
Kalyn threw his head back and laughed.
When I did not join him, his laughter slowly died, and all amusement faded from his expression.
He frowned down at me. “You jest.”
“Her mind is strong, is it not?” I countered.
Kalyn grinned coldly. “This is amusing. A wrathful king with a deep-seated hatred of seelie falling for one of their breed? Delicious.”
I waved towards the door he lounged against. “Either say whatever it is you came here to say or get out of my court.”
“If this little game of yours is to collect allies, then I will not ally with you. I will not side against the high king…” he pushed away from the wall, his smile feline, “unless you are open to a negotiation that includes your sister. I remember how sweet she used to be when we were children, playing with me in that garden at the palace in Belkarthen while our parents discussed business. She was always so glad to see me.”
I laughed. “Now you jest. I believe I have made myself very clear about this subject, but apparently, I must reiterate my decision one more time. Kalyn the Clawed, I will never grant you the right to court Jenavyr.”
His smile held, fiendish and cold now. “I thought perhaps you might change your mind given the circumstances, but if you wish to face an army capable of sowing discord, then that is your choice to make.”
“Elduin can sow discord, and can do so better than you, yet I am not afraid of facing him.” Let him tell his master that.
Kalyn scoffed. “The high king’s powers are no match for mine.”
“So confident.” I slowly shook my head, my grin as fiendish as his own. “Be careful who hears you say that, Kalyn.”
His eyes darkened as he took another step towards me, the room behind him dimming as his power pressed against mine. “You will find out for yourself if you continue this madness, denying me the steel I need to defend my borders. Perhaps I shall come and take it for myself?”
In the face of his blatant threat, I calmly said, “You and the high king are not the only ones who are highly skilled at sowing discord. There is another, one who wields the power expertly, and one who is allied with my court.”
Kalyn sneered. “Oberon is no match for me.”
“We could test that theory, or perhaps we do not need to.” I scanned my desk.
“I believe there was a note here somewhere from Oberon, stating that when he reached the Nightmare Court to relay my message to you, you were absent from your castle, which apparently came as a great surprise to many in your court who said you had been seen just that morning… and yet you were now nowhere to be found.”
Onyx claws scraped down the wall around my mind.
I readied my own claws in return, letting him get a good look at them and my shadows as I pushed to my feet. A veil of darkness clung to my shoulders, restless with a need to lash out at him as he threatened me.
“I do not fear Oberon,” he snarled.
I let it go, waving him away as I sighed, because teasing him was only going to make him worse.
Something he proved by uttering, “When you are on your knees and begging to retain your throne, you will give me what I want, and it will be your sister on her knees, begging me to be gen—”
Shadows exploded in a riot of night, lashing at the room and snaring Kalyn, slicing into his leather armour as if it was butter before he could defend himself against me.
“Watch your mouth,” I snarled and flexed my black-tipped fingers, raking my claws through the air, “before I send my shadows down it to rip apart your insides. Let me be very clear. Jenavyr will never—never—belong to you.”
The bastard just smiled at me. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
He pivoted in my shadows and I allowed him to break their hold as I clawed back control, as I battled the urge to rip him apart while his back was turned. As much as I wanted to kill him, I could not. Not yet. Not until we were at war.
Then my shadows would feast.
The door slammed behind him and I sank into my chair, furious with myself for pushing him too far.
He had always wanted my sister, had never concealed his desire to have her as his plaything.
What had been innocent infatuation when they had been children had grown into something far darker and far more sinister when they had grown older, and I had done my best to shield Vyr from it.
Pushing him had been a grave mistake, one I feared would have severe repercussions.
If I lost this coming war with Ereborne, no one would be able to shield her from Kalyn, not even me.
Elduin would gladly hand her over to him as his prize for allying with Ereborne.