Chapter 55
Chapter
Fifty-Five
“Here. Take this message to Warden Onyx or Luther. And be quick.” Konrad handed the note to the servant.
The servant rushed from the strategy room, clutching the parchment in his hand.
“I’ve sent notes to our siblings and all the other rulers, except the necromancers, of course, telling them to meet us in the western corridor meeting room.” Konrad came out from behind the desk and approached one of the guards. He took his scabbard and sword from the man and put it on.
Konrad did not know what they would face today, but he would not face it unarmed. “How is the wound?”
“Fine.” Gerard gritted his teeth as Healer Doran tended to his arm. His sleeve hung in tatters, torn by the hellhound’s fangs. Blood stained his skin and clothes.
But the healer’s magic seemed to be doing its work. Gerard’s wound had already closed.
“You’ll be completely healed in no time,” said Healer Doran. “There won’t even be any scarring whatsoever.” The healer froze, gaze darting to Gerard’s scarred face. He looked away.
“That’s something at least.” Konrad hoped the guards wounded by Umbra would also have similar outcomes.
Elias stood by Gerard. He pursed his lips. “I just can’t believe that Wraith betrayed us. It doesn’t make sense to me.” He hesitated. “And he seemed genuinely distressed and shocked by the allegations.”
“He’s a good actor,” Konrad snapped. “Like you.”
“I don’t think so.” Elias shook his head. “Also, I don’t see how this fits with what we already know. I mean, Warden Flint was plotting against Draconia and the peace treaty, and he was working with someone. But surely it wasn’t the necromancers.”
“Maybe he wasn’t working with the necromancers.” Honestly, Konrad couldn’t make sense of any of it. Especially when he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that every moment with Wraith had been a lie.
“But if the necromancers weren’t working with Warden Flint, what is this? Another new group plotting and attacking people but not working together?” Elias paced back and forth.
“At first there was Princess Lantana’s attack, then Warden Flint’s, then there were our stepmothers, who like Warden Flint, were also working with someone else. Do we really think our stepmothers were working with the necromancers? Are they the robed figures?” Elias stopped pacing.
“There is something else going on. I can feel it. It’s too chaotic. But at the same time not,” Elias said.
What did that even mean?
“I’m missing something. Something important.” Elias stared up at the ceiling.
“Our stepmothers must have been working with the necromancers,” Konrad said. “They must have been those robed figures.”
Elias’s features pinched together. “That doesn’t feel right to me.”
“I don’t know how it all fits together, Elias!” Konrad barked. “I just know that the necromancers are behind it and that Wraith has betrayed us. He wanted me dead and then planned to bring me back as some fucking bone dragon.” His voice shook.
Elias hesitated. “I’m not convinced Wraith is involved in all this.”
“What more proof do you need?” Konrad yelled. “Wraith and his hellhound attacked us. They attacked and injured your husband.” He pointed at Gerard and his now bandaged arm.
“That was self-defence,” Elias said calmly.
But Konrad wasn’t calm. He’d known from the start that the necromancers were evil.
He’d gotten distracted and become enamoured with a sad, odd, and pretty shadow prince and forgotten what he’d seen during the war.
Forgotten what he knew to be true, that the necromancers were corrupt monsters. They could not be trusted.
That included Wraith.
“Wraith told us his hellhound was harmless and had never hurt anyone. He said Umbra could not hurt anyone. He lied!” The words scraped at the insides of his throat. “He made his hellhound attack us. Do you need to be shown the blood spilled on the floor to remember the attack?”
“I’ve seen the blood, Konrad,” Elias said dryly.
“Wraith lied!” Konrad shouted. “Everything he did and said was a lie.”
And that included Wraith’s feelings for Konrad. That had all been an act to get close to him. And Konrad had fallen for it. Completely.
Konrad clenched his hands into fists.
Fire and flames. How could I have been so gullible? How could I have not seen that he never felt anything for me? That I was the only one with any true feelings? Did he laugh at me in secret? When he met with other necromancers, did he mock me, and say how easy it was to manipulate me?
Elias lifted his hands. “Konrad, you need to calm down. I understand that this is upsetting and that you’re hurting, but we need to think clearly now. Especially since—”
A servant entered the room and bowed. “Your Highness. Monk Clara has returned.”
Clara rushed into the room, two warrior doves with her. “The grand monk wishes to see you. Immediately.”
“Then let’s go,” Konrad said. “But we’ll need to hurry, as I’ve arranged to meet the other rulers in the western corridor meeting chamber.”
Clara nodded. “I’m sure the grand monk will wish to join.”
Konrad, Elias, Gerard, and fifteen of their guards followed the monks.
“It’s this way,” Clara said.
They took many twists and turns, going through doors and passages and up and down stairs.
“I’ve not been to this part of the monastery before.” Gerard glanced around.
“The grand monk thought it best to meet somewhere safe and secure,” Clara said.
“I suppose that makes sense.” But Elias’s gaze kept flicking around.
They turned a corner. A wide staircase led downwards. Clara pointed to the door at the bottom. “The grand monk is through there. The warrior monks will take you the rest of the way. Now I need to report to the grand shield.” Then she ran off before Konrad or the others could respond.
“Please follow us, Your Majesty, Your Highnesses,” the tall warrior dove said.
Konrad, Gerard, and Elias followed them down the stairs. The Draconian guards flanked them.
Then Elias stopped. He looked back the way Clara had gone.
“What’s wrong?” Gerard asked Elias.
“I am going to check something out.” Then Elias lifted his skirts and ran up the stairs.
“Your Highness, you must come this way,” the stocky warrior dove called out.
Elias glanced back at them. “No. I don’t think so.” Then he dashed up the stairs and disappeared from sight.
“Elias?” Gerard called out, but his husband had gone.
Gerard and Konrad shared a glance. So too did the warrior doves.
“I’m going after him,” Gerard said. “Stay with your king,” he commanded the Draconian guards. “Protect him with your lives.”
Konrad turned back to the warrior monks. They stared up the stairs, where Elias and Gerard had disappeared. Their brows furrowed.
“Well, lead on. The grand monk is waiting, and there is no time to waste,” Konrad said.
The warrior doves led them the rest of the way down the stairs. The stocky warrior dove opened the door. It led onto a long dark corridor lit with torches.