Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Morning sunlight streamed into my uncle’s entryway.
Royden waited just behind me. The Imperial Warrior stood tall, but his eyes were vacant, his mind turned off.
My uncle had commanded me to mold him into a catatonic puppet until we returned to Whiteolf.
Only then would my magic release him from my control.
Arnel looked me up and down and circled me twice, then nodded his approval. “You’ve hidden your new nature well.”
Stiffly, I didn’t move, but he was right. Of course he was. He’d commanded me to make sure my deathly complexion was hidden, so my glamour held strong.
My dress had also been cleaned, no droplets of the female’s blood remained on it, and my skin appeared as it always did, but I would have to be careful about touching others.
I couldn’t hide the coolness of my flesh or the fact that my heart no longer beat.
And according to my uncle, my inherent scent had changed.
The subtle vampiric smell of decay now clung to me, something he’d said all vampires had.
I couldn’t detect it. And even though my uncle had given me another one of his potions to hide my new scent, just knowing that I was dead and my body reflected that made revulsion sweep through me.
But with his potion, Arnel said to those around me, I would smell as I always had, but only if I used his potion daily—another command he’d placed on me.
“How was your first night on your own?” my uncle asked pleasantly, as though making small talk after abusing me egregiously was perfectly normal.
“I didn’t sleep, so it was long.”
“You didn’t?” He laughed softly. “You’ll need to relearn how to sleep if you don’t want to remain awake indefinitely, but you may have to practice, as you won’t feel tired.” He arched an eyebrow. “Now, you remember what you’re to tell everyone after you return to Whiteolf?”
I stared at the male who looked so much like my father.
The only difference between them was Arnel’s mustache.
But instead of the kindness I always saw in my father’s eyes, all I saw was cold calculation in Arnel’s.
“Yes, Uncle. I’m to tell them that you showed me a few things in your library, that you’d found a text that spoke of an ancient lineage with a female who had the same magic as me.
We learned that my magic indeed came from the stars, likely at the time of the celestial event at my birth, and it comes from a goddess.
It’s been passed at whim from generation to generation among fae females, not necessarily staying within the same family, and that I was blessed with her magic, and that’s why I am the way I am. ”
“Correct.”
What he’d shown me wasn’t fanciful. He’d actually found a tome in his studies that did say such a thing, however, the actual goddess was never named.
Yet the concept that a fairy with strange, rare magic could have been blessed by the gods wasn’t new information.
I’d learned over the seasons that some had been given magic kissed by the gods, either by a god or goddess breeding with fae many centuries ago or by the god or goddess passing on part of their magic to a fairy they considered worthy.
I’d always wondered if that was perhaps the origins of my magic, but the celestial event on the night of my birth had always lingered in my thoughts too.
Our universe was known for replenishing our realm with new magic during such events, so it was also possible that the event had triggered an explosion of magic inside me.
Magic that had always been there but had only been made stronger.
But I would likely never know the true reason for my unique magic. It was all guesses. All hypotheses. None of us could know for certain if our theories were correct.
I glanced out the window, anything not to have to look at my uncle further. Outside, the sun shone, the birds sang, and pastel-colored clouds drifted by. All appeared normal. Serene.
I let my gaze travel over the distant trees, and when the stone temple appeared between the leaves, my attention stopped on it.
My forehead furrowed. “Was that temple created by you to contact the God of Night so you could create your vamfeer and vampire potions?”
Uncle Arnel sighed. “Never mind what’s out there, Primelle.”
My gaze whipped away from the window, my curiosity vanishing upon his command. “Yes, Uncle.”
He sized me up again, not once giving Royden a passing glance. “Now, you’re to be on your way. Remember everything I’ve taught you and told you. And come tomorrow, remember who you’re to pay a visit to. I’ll be in touch with your next assignment after that.”
Dread spiraled through me at what I was to do on the morrow, at what my uncle had commanded. He would undoubtedly force me to do other acts after that too, to more unsuspecting fae, and I was helpless to fight it.
I still had no idea what his endgame was, though, but I had a feeling that in time it would become clear.
Magic tightened its rein on me, and I dipped my head in acquiescence, then grasped Royden’s hand as mistphasing magic swirled up inside me. “Yes, Uncle.”
Royden and I reappeared in Whiteolf in a blast of my magic. I’d transported us to my wing’s private chambers within the palace, and a moment of shock hit me.
The wards had allowed me to enter.
My shoulders sagged in relief. A part of me had dreaded this moment.
Because if my vampire magic had changed me so much that the wards no longer recognized me as Primelle Manafold, third daughter to the king and queen of Mistvale, then my clearance would be denied.
And then I would know for certain that I was no longer me but something else entirely.
Yet the wards had given me no resistance. My relief grew. I was still me. I might have been turned into a monster, but the inherent essence of who I was remained.
At my side, Royden shook his head, a frown unfolding upon his face. He brought a hand up and scratched his scalp. “I, uh, I should probably report to the Council. A replacement will be sent now that we’re back.”
I peered up at him, searching for any sign that he understood or recognized that something horrific had happened to both of us.
But he just gazed around, his initially confused expression evaporating as my preprogrammed magic sank in and altered his memories. His mind only showed him being bored for the past day as he guarded me at my uncle’s while Arnel and I spent all of our time in the library.
“It looks like a lovely day in the capital,” Royden commented.
He wasn’t wrong. Bright sunshine streamed through the windows, and my private courtyard was awash in blooming petals and twisting vines.
Outside, Callahan was stationed by the courtyard doors, his back to us.
Given that he’d glanced over his shoulder when we’d reappeared, I knew he’d felt our arrival.
I could only surmise that Xaven was also on duty in the hallway, even though their guarding me was now for naught. My uncle had won. I’d been changed into a vampire. And the things, or rather the vamfeers, that had been coming for me would now cease since my uncle had gotten what he wanted.
I knew the Imperial Warriors would be guarding me until my parents realized on their own that the threat was over. Or perhaps their focus would change since I was now the threat. After all, this was exactly what Lady Ryderdim had been warning them of.
Dread rising, I scanned my room entirely, searching for Kole.
But he was nowhere to be found.
Reflexively, I swallowed. I hadn’t contacted him mentally again, not since my uncle’s command forbade it while I was at his estate. But now that I’d returned home, that command fizzled away.
Still . . .
I couldn’t. Shame filled me so potently at the thought of lying to Kole, of gushing about my wonderful trip to my uncle’s . . .
But since I hadn’t contacted Kole, he was probably wondering what was going on.
My mind burned with the desire to locate him right now, to spiral my magic to him across the realm, to confess everything that had happened to me.
But as soon as that thought hit me, my uncle’s commanding magic caged my power. I could have no more told Kole what happened to me than I could have grown wings and taken flight.
Spirits plummeting, I asked Royden, “Do you know who will be sent back to guard me?”
He shrugged. “That would be up to your parents.”
I wrung my hands, and even though a part of me dreaded seeing Kole, I also needed to. “Please tell the Council to send Kole back if it’s allowed.”
A sickening feeling swept over me. My skin was cool now, my heart silent.
It would take Kole all of two seconds to realize that I’d changed the moment he got close to me.
But he was my mate. My love. My life. I couldn’t not see him.
Never seeing him again would kill me. Never mind that I’m already dead, I thought bitterly.
I would simply have to do everything in my power to keep my new nature hidden.
And remembering that I needed to hide made me realize that Royden, who likely had enhanced Ironcrest hearing and sensory abilities, was bound to detect my lack of heartbeat the longer he stayed in my company.
Stars Above.
I took a huge step away from the warrior and hurried to the door. I made myself take deep breaths, even though the urge to breathe was now absent, but if Royden detected that something was amiss, I would be forced to use my magic on him again.
“Thank you for traveling with me to my uncle’s, Royden!” I called with fake cheer. “I know it was probably dreadfully boring for you, but I do appreciate it.”