Chapter 19 The Shadowblood’s Blade #3
Caramyn absorbed his words in silence, considering the weight of them.
Seers were rare and impartial to magic or race.
And Spellbounds were not defined by either Light or Shadow, because they weren’t born from the god-Shattering.
They were forged, shaped by those who mastered the ancient languages and wove them into incantations and runes that drew from Light.
Anything derived from Shadow was strictly forbidden—and was supposed to have been destroyed with the Shadowbloods.
“So how do you plan to stop her with this Shadowblood’s Blade?” she finally asked bluntly.
“I could kill her.” The prince said without hesitation. “But I don't want to. There's been enough bloodshed in my family already."
Caramyn wiped her mouth with a napkin and cocked her head. “She clearly had no qualms with trying to kill you.”
“Because she is blinded by the corruption of Shadows. But my hope is that if I can free the Blade…I can use its power to return balance to her heart—to reach whatever part of her has hardened.” He paused, drumming his fingers on the table.
“I refuse to believe I have lost the sister I once knew. The sister who promised me when we were younger, that one day she would learn to control her visions and help me find my mother.”
Something brushed against Caramyn’s spirit, the way his voice wavered.
This was all still connected to her. His mother.
The fate of the kingdom might as well have been intertwined with that of the lost Lightborn Queen.
But she couldn’t exactly blame him. If there was even the slightest chance she could’ve saved her mother’s life, she’d do whatever she had to, at whatever cost.
“You don’t hate your sister. Despite what she’s done. You see her even through her darkness.” It wasn’t a question. It was an observation.
“No…I don’t hate her. How could I, when I knew her long before she became this twisted version of herself?
She was once just a curious young girl that snuck through the castle to visit me in my solitude, confused by strange visions, taught to suppress them, and ultimately broken by watching her closest friend put to death and being powerless to stop it. ”
“Let me guess,” Caramyn huffed, shaking her head. “Daemar executed his own daughter’s best friend?”
Asterious clicked his tongue. “She was the court physician’s daughter, caught using magic to heal patients.
Sinevia pleaded with our father to spare her, but he refused to change his mind.
That’s when she turned to forbidden magic in hopes to stop the execution.
When that failed, she pursued it even more desperately in hopes of resurrecting her friend, only to find life raised by magic is not life at all. ”
Caramyn listened, brow drawn tight, half in horror at what he was saying, and half disgust that Daemar could order the death of such an innocent using magic for good.
The prince must’ve read her expression as he went to speak again. “Believe me, I’m the last person you need to convince that Daemar was horrid. Which is why I strive to be nothing like him.” Something in his voice cracked, breaking through the illusion of his hardened exterior.
And then another realization struck. A horrible, terrible, gut-wrenching realization that made her blood turn to ice beneath her skin.
There was a silence so thick it was suffocating, until Caramyn looked away, focusing on the patterns in the wall tapestry as she said, “You had to execute her, didn’t you?
Her friend. That’s why Sinevia hates you. ”
She saw the way he swallowed and clenched his jaw, and she swore she saw a bleary glimmer in those grey and silver eyes that refused to meet hers. “Yes.”
Caramyn’s breath caught in her chest as the prince’s eyes locked on her, and she could sense the way the air shifted in the room. She feared what he might say next, though she had been expecting it for a while now.
“You asked me why I invited you to dinner tonight. Granting your freedom was only part of the reason.”
“What else do you want from me?” Caramyn glowered. “I’ve told you all I can about the ring.”
“This isn’t about the ring.” The prince sat upright, his broad shoulders hunching over as he leaned forward, as if he was trying to whisper to her from across the table. “I want your help crossing the Shadow Woods.”
Uneasiness crept through Caramyn. She had known it was coming—suspected that he was going to ask her this in some form or another.
Still, she looked at him, sickened by the feeling of being backed into a corner.
“Well, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed, because I can’t do that.
” Caramyn uttered softly, placing her elbows on the table before her.
“There is no reason to believe I can enter the Woods safely, much less take someone else through them.”
Asterious, stood up, stalking toward her as he talked.
She didn’t expect him to come so close, and her heart leapt at the sound of her name on his lips.
“Caramyn. You’re either lying or blind to what’s right in front of you.
Think about it. You survived for hours—maybe even an entire day—alone at the edge of the Woods.
Lying there, right in the threshold of where the Shadows lurk.
You should’ve been easy prey for them. You should’ve been dead long before I found you.
” His eyes swept across her face as he lingered at the corner of the table.
“I believe you could be capable of something you don’t realize.
Magic has marked you like no other. Maybe it’s because you’re meant for something good.
Something of Light, meant to combat the darkness.
Something even the Shadows are afraid of. ”
Caramyn felt a shudder race down the back of her neck.
Of all the things she’d expected, she didn’t expect that.
That he would suggest she could be a vessel of Light, when in actuality she was a conduit for the darkness that dwelled in her blood.
That she was a conquering force who could tread over Shadows like the enemies they were.
He’d destroy her if he knew she’d walked among Shadows because she was one of them, not because they feared her.
She wanted to hide, to cover her face, to bury her eyes from even her own reflection that watched her in the great mirror on the wall. But instead, she swallowed and managed to croak out. “You’re mistaken.”
“Am I? Think about it, Caramyn. The Shadows did not harm you. We could return to the Woods, and you could lead me through. You and I…we could find the Shadowblood’s Blade.” Asterious stood beside her now, his hand on the back of her chair.
And then it became clear to her. He did not hate Sinevia because of the darkness that held a grip on her.
He did not want to kill her…because they were not a part of her, so there was a hope that she could be free of them.
But for herself, that was not the case. Darkness was in her blood, and a part of herself she could not remove any more than she could scrub away the inky stains on her skin.
And he would despise her for it if he knew.
He would not be able to see past the cursed power she was bound to.
It was a trap. It had to be. If this weapon really existed, she would be the last person to help him get it.
She would not freely trust a man’s hidden heart, prince or not.
Something within her crumbled, and she shot up to her feet, staring up into his dimly lit face as he towered over her.
“So that’s what all this is really about, isn’t it?
You just want to use me as your shield?” She gestured to the table.
“This—all this—is just a way for you to manipulate me to do your bidding, the same way you send your men to do your dirty work. So that you can gain some god-like power you assume you are worthy enough to wield.” She touched the corner of her eye while blinking back tears from both.
She couldn’t believe she had almost fallen for his charm and false generosity.
The prince’s eyes hardened, and by his body language, her accusations had struck a nerve. "Don't you understand what's at stake? If Sinevia—"
"How can I believe anything you say? For all I know, Sinevia might not even be the real threat.
Maybe she's saving the kingdom from you.
You could be twisting everything and making her out to be the enemy.
How would I possibly know the truth? How do I know you aren't just seeking power for yourself? "
The prince's gaze turned to steel, and his voice followed. “Even the rumors make it clear that I never wanted the crown. That much was true. I just wanted freedom, not to rule. But I don’t have a choice anymore. I can't watch Evylere go to ruin at the hands of my own sister."
"Evylere went to ruin the day your father took the throne. And now you only show me mercy because you want to use me for your own gain. I have no way of knowing your true intentions. I don’t even know that I am truly capable of leading someone through the Woods.
” She stepped away, turning toward the exit.
Asterious’ footsteps echoed through the room as he rushed after her. “You have to try. You could be the answer to all of this!”