Chapter 58
Chapter
Fifty-Eight
Wraith lay on the cold stone floor, body throbbing. The room spun. The metallic taste of blood lingered in his mouth.
He’d been shackled. He didn’t know why. The special shackles stopped dragons from shifting and meant magic users couldn’t cast. But it didn’t work on necromancers. However, he supposed it provided a defence against him, just in case he had powers no one knew of.
After all, Elias had not been shackled, as everyone thought him too weak to be a threat. Then he had killed a lot of people.
For a split second, Wraith considered calling Umbra. But unlike normal soldiers, necromancers might be able to unravel and destroy her. He couldn’t bear the thought.
With a groan of pain, he turned to face the altar.
“We will use you to control your father, King Konrad,” his mother said.
High Priestess Shade walked away from the altar and towards Konrad. She drew a ceremonial blade from its sheath that hung at her waist. She carried a small black ceramic bowl in her other hand.
Glaring, Konrad leaned away from her.
“Leave him alone!” Wraith croaked. He pushed himself upright. His vision blurred.
The high priestess lifted the knife to his face.
“Don’t kill him!” Wraith screamed.
She sliced his cheek. Konrad twitched. Blood trickled down to his jaw and dripped. She caught the blood in the bowl.
“Very good,” she murmured.
Konrad’s chest heaved as he scowled.
“By the gods of the beyond, you’re so pathetic, Wraith.” Vex sneered at him.
“Don’t kill him,” Harrow mocked.
They laughed.
The dread knights dragged Konrad back towards Wraith and shoved him to his knees.
Wraith shuffled forward, getting closer to Konrad. Thankfully, no one seemed to care what he did. The two dread knights watched him but did not stop him. Probably they knew Wraith was no threat.
Did his aunt have enough now to control King Alaric? They had the dead dragon king’s bones and blood from his first-born child, a man who was king. There was a lot of power in all that.
Still, Wraith doubted it would be enough. A dead dragon king would not be easily controlled.
High Priestess Shade returned to the altar. She dipped her fingers into Konrad’s blood. Then she pressed it to the skull’s forehead. She shivered and closed her eyes. Her lips moved as she recited an incantation.
“How dare you!” a voice bellowed.
Wraith startled. No one else did.
“I can feel King Alaric’s presence. He is here!” the high priestess proclaimed.
King Alaric stood beside the altar, glowering at the high priestess. But only Wraith could see him.
The necromancers’ chanting grew louder.
“I am king of Draconia. A great and powerful dragon. And you seek to control me? How fucking dare you!” The dead king’s eyes blazed with fury.
Konrad turned to Wraith. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I should have believed you. I’m sorry, Wraith.”
Wraith opened his mouth.
But then King Alaric cried, “I am the dragon king! I will not submit to you! I submit to no one!”
“Your father has returned,” Wraith whispered. “He can feel them trying to bind him. He is resisting.” He shook his head. “But I do not think they have enough power to control him, even with your blood.”
“I hope you’re right,” Konrad said.
“Wraith.” The shadow king walked towards him whilst the chanting over King Alaric’s bones continued.
Wraith tensed.
“I give you one more chance. Do our bidding and you can take your place amongst us. Use your marriage to Konrad to control him in death. Then all your past transgressions will be forgiven.” The shadow king paused. “I will even accept you and treat you as if you were my own blood, a true son.”
Wraith’s lungs constricted. For so many years, he’d wanted nothing more. He’d believed it to be impossible. But now the shadow king was saying that he’d look past the truth of his birth.
“Isn’t this what you always wanted, Wraith?” his mother asked, coming up beside her husband.
Wraith licked his lips. “It is.”
His mother smiled thinly.
Wraith stared at the shadow king and queen before him. His entire life, he’d wanted to be loved by them. Instead, they had ignored, neglected, and mistreated him. And even now, they still did not love him for who he was. They just wanted to use him to control Konrad.
“It is what I wanted. For years.” Wraith shook his head. “But not anymore.”
He didn’t want Necros to rule all the kingdoms. He didn’t want an undead army to spread, causing untold suffering to all.
He looked at Konrad, beaten and bleeding beside him. And he didn’t want Konrad to become a bone dragon. He wanted nothing to do with any of that. Or with the people who were behind it, even if they were his family.
“I am disappointed, Wraith,” the shadow king said. “But not surprised.”
His mother sneered. “I’d hoped creating conflict between the two of you would make you more amenable to turning against King Konrad.”
Wraith blinked.
What? Has she been involved in getting Konrad to think I betrayed him? Did she somehow plant the lies?
“I thought you might finally be of some use to me.” His mother sighed. “But I would have been better off casting you from my window at birth. It would have saved me so much trouble.”
Wraith lowered his head.
“But it is no matter. There are other ways,” she said. “I always knew you might fail me.”
“I will never answer to you!” King Alaric screamed at the high priestess.
Unable to see the dead king, she dipped her fingers into Konrad’s blood and then drew more symbols on the skull.
“It’s not working,” Wraith said. “You can’t control him. He is too strong.”
A rattling sounded towards the back of the crypt. Wraith turned. The gate blocking the corridor rolled away. The undead army shuffled and parted. Konrad sucked in a breath.
Grand Monk Ferdinand walked towards them. Grand Shield Dahlia came up on his left. Monks, at least thirty, followed them. Most were warrior monks, but some were not.
“Clara!” Konrad called out.
But Konrad’s cousin didn’t even look at him. She kept her head high and strode forward with the Monks of the Way of the Dove. The grand monk and grand shield didn’t even blink at the sight of the undead army.
Or at Wraith and Konrad bound. They just walked towards the front of the crypt.
The grand monk came to a stop. So too did the rest of the monks. Finally, the grand monk looked at Wraith, then at Konrad, then at the dead king’s bones.
He steepled his thin fingers. “Excellent. I see that everything is progressing as planned.”