Chapter 59 #3
“That’s absurd,” Zadriel spat.
“When you can’t protect the world, you must protect yourself.”
Power surged in Zadriel’s chest, a ravenous beast rumbling within him. Demanding to be unleashed. He huffed a harsh breath, holding it back. “What a soothing thing to tell yourself while you damn all Halflings.”
A muscle ticked in Silas’s jaw. “You know nothing.”
“I know Enchanters are fortunate to have a power that’s easier to conceal than other Halflings, saving many of them from the horrors of this world, but that doesn’t make them more deserving of freedom.
” He sneered at Silas, fury boiling his blood.
“Does Elodie believe she’s somehow better than the rest of her people?
I’ve witnessed the violence you both create; you have no right to imagine yourselves as anything less than selfish and cruel. ”
Silas chuckled, the sound like gravel, grating on Zadriel’s ears. “Elodie hasn’t raised a finger against anyone; a small slice of her blade and all is done.”
“Enthralling someone to do her bidding doesn’t save her from blame.”
“But it gives her plausible deniability.” A wolfish grin stretched across Silas’s face. “We can’t go sullying her family name before crowning a new ruler now, can we?”
Elodie’s voice echoed in Zadriel’s memory, A screaming damsel running from a blood-thralled Aegist went a long way.
“Is that your plan?” he growled. “Use blood magic to exacerbate the violence throughout Berwick, making Halflings look like the aggressors until everyone agrees the Laws of Confinement are needed?”
Silas traced a new line in the sand, smirking. “You’re smarter than you look.”
Sap seeped between the cracks in Zadriel’s fingers, his fists squeezed tight.
He’d lived in Eden long enough to witness the plight of the Halflings.
To know the Laws made the nobles richer and tore everything away from those blessed with power.
Noble greed didn’t surprise him... but how could Elodie be so monstrous as to sacrifice all Halflings in the name of her own comfort?
How could she cause so much needless pain and be blissfully unaffected by her actions?
There were other choices. Other paths. Yet she walked this one with pride, and he couldn’t fathom why.
Zadriel was aware of his sins—he was hardly a paragon of morality, his own people suffering in the aftermath of his actions, but his hands were forced and the guilt he harbored felt endless.
While he once believed he’d do anything to return to Arcadia and make things right, he now knew that wasn’t true.
No matter how bleak things became, no matter how dark the future appeared, he refused to sacrifice his heart.
To see his own desires as somehow more than the needs of those around him.
To free himself from the shame of his wrongdoings.
Thank the Mother Elodie had no intentions of becoming queen—what would someone like her do with so much power? “If not the two of you, then who do you intend to place on the throne?”
Silas’s finger paused mid-line. “I believe I’ve more than fulfilled our bargain, Fae.” He stood and dusted the dirt from his fingers, staring Zadriel down. “Give my Elodie back what’s hers.”
Darkness flecked with gold gleamed, the shadow of a grin rising on Zadriel’s face. “I would like to tell you a story first.”
“We don’t have time for nonsense.”
“All we have, human, is time.” Zadriel held Silas’s stare while he raised his fist between them, glimmers of liquid gold slithering over his skin. “Do you know what this is?”
Thick brows lowered over dark blue eyes. “Elodie’s power?”
“It’s sap.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
Zadriel laughed softly. “No, I assure you I haven’t.
Every creature of Arcadia has sap in their blood.
A gift from the Mother; something we’re born with that can give us a spark of power.
Though, we can be more if we drink from Her and connect with Her well.
” He couldn’t help the way his voice dipped, bitterness souring the words.
“I was meant to play a role in that. To become the Keeper of Arcadia’s Heart. ”
It was a title he hadn’t spoken aloud in decades, the words making him wince. He almost hoped to forget it someday.
Silas gave another wary look to the encroaching tide. “What does this have to do with Elodie’s power?”
“Every Fae knows not to drink sap from the Mother Tree until it’s prepared specifically for them.
” The thick, gilded liquid writhed on his skin as if it were eager to do Zadriel’s bidding.
As if it understood. “This sap is Elodie’s.
It’s coursed through her body since the moment she took her first breath, attuned to her inner well. ”
The brute crossed his arms, biceps nearly bulging free from his sleeves. “I’m running out of patience.”
Zadriel stood and cupped his hands, gold pooling at their center. “I can’t help but wonder, Silas”—he dared a step closer—“what will happen to you when I force this down your throat?”