Chapter 34
‘You shouldn’t be in here, my dear,’ said the king, standing behind Scarlen, one hand clamping down on her numb shoulder, his pudgy nose close to her cheek.
Scarlen shivered as she turned to see Lulu was with him, along with a younger witch she knew was Iriss.
‘We were going to do this tonight,’ he added as all colour drained from Scarlen’s face. ‘But we may as well get on with it now. You are of age, after all.’
Iriss smirked, her dark eyes shining from beneath a purple mask hiding her beauty. She tugged it up to sit on her spiky black hair as she went to pick up a small cauldron, her limp slowing her. ‘As practiced, Lulu?’
Lulu tutted as she nodded. ‘Would have preferred a full moon, but you can’t have everything.’
Scarlen was still frozen to the spot, her father’s hand firm, the fumes of his whisky breath roiling her gut. Nothing was making sense, and all words had left her.
‘I made you strong for this moment, my dear.’ Renwah’s voice was soft as though he cared for her. ‘Trained you to be the knight you are. Raised you to be my own. You are strong, Adoria, and we will not waste your power.’
His words were entering her brain, but she couldn’t make head nor tail of what he was telling her, because if what he was saying was true, then she wasn’t his daughter at all.
She wasn’t Milon and Lancen’s sister. Her mother wasn’t her mother.
Her parents had been slaughtered. She had been kidnapped, and not by any Rebel, but by the king. Him.
Renwah gently turned her to face him, no sympathy on display, just his usual matter-of-fact expression.
‘I know you have questions. I always knew we would face this moment together, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know, but no matter what, you are my daughter, you do represent our family, and you will stand with me and your brother to take back our kingdom.
’ His smile was one of crazed excitement.
‘Don’t you see, my dear, you are my special girl, the only child I wanted.
It’s you who matters. You I invested in the most.’
For years she had known he was unhinged, and she honestly thought he couldn’t shock her anymore, but as she glanced back at the book to see her name once more, all she could feel was terror.
This was why he had killed Bear’s mother.
Not because he viewed shapeshifters as trouble, but because Ranola knew of his scheme.
He didn’t just kill her, he made an example of her, warning others from her circle not to come to his palace.
He had lied to everyone to keep his secret.
Ranola was his biggest threat. Thanks to Lancen, she knew the truth.
‘You tortured Ranola.’
‘Because she wouldn’t talk.’ Renwah sighed as though not wishing to speak of her. ‘But one of the Rebels told me their quest.’ He shook his head. ‘I wasn’t about to let them take you away.’
‘Because I’m the fifth knight,’ Scarlen managed, the lump in her throat hard and bitter.
The king lifted her hand to gesture at the ring mark around her finger. ‘You, my dear, are everything.’
She gazed at the birthmark, her legs almost giving way beneath her as she realised it wasn’t a birthmark at all. Someone magickal had embedded a Ring into her flesh to stop her from shifting into her halfling. With one look at Lulu, she guessed who that magickal person had been.
‘We’re going to remove this now,’ the king told her casually while stroking the mark on her finger. ‘Then you will have your full power, and we can begin.’
Begin what? Scarlen jerked her head at the witches scurrying around collecting items for the cauldron, adding, mixing, mumbling strange words all the while she was on the verge of screaming, dropping to her knees, pleading for the script in the book not to be true.
Renwah smirked, facing Scarlen. ‘Now you know how easy it was for me to find you each time you ran away. But when the authorities got to you first, I let them deal with you.’ He blew out a small laugh, looking pleased with himself.
‘I knew the prison would help strengthen you, and it was intriguing to know you were among other knights and you still didn’t know who you truly were.
’ He snarled as though something vile had touched his tongue.
‘I don’t care about them. They do not matter to us.
Only you matter, my child. I had one of them protect you inside, and Jesserlie protect you in the War Zone. ’
Scarlen met his wide eyes, so full of insanity. ‘You put me in the War Zone.’
‘For your own good, but you would never have died. Why do you think the blade only sliced your arm? Why the dagger hit Oxley Torro instead of you.’ He bobbed his head. ‘You were protected, but you weren’t allowed to know because I needed you to be strong.’ His smile revealed pride. ‘And you are.’
Scarlen could see Oxley’s blood on her hands once more. ‘I should have died.’
‘No. You are here to learn and grow. Become a leader. Once I have summoned the wyrmocs, the knights won’t stand a chance. Not with how many will come. Not with you on our side. My dragon shifter.’
Lulu grabbed Scarlen, her grip quite strong for such gnarled fingers. ‘Ready?’ But before Scarlen could reply, the crone plunged the birthmarked finger into the slush of green and gold inside the cauldron, the burn of ice releasing a hiss from Scarlen’s mouth and steam from her dipped hand.
‘Did it work?’ asked Renwah, eyes wide with delight.
Lulu looked almost offended. ‘All these years, Majesty, and you doubt my power?’
‘No. No,’ he assured her. ‘Just eager to see for myself.’
Scarlen was eager for her fingers to come back to life, the icy cold seizing each joint, but it wasn’t just the witch holding her in place, magick took control, and she couldn’t break free until the Ring was pulled from her finger.
The liquid stuck to the metal, slurping and tugging, then the Ring broke free and floated to the top, and Lulu pushed Scarlen away.
‘Read the Reverse Order of Allegiance, Iriss,’ said Lulu, ignoring the cauldron and Ring, showing they no longer mattered.
Scarlen stumbled back towards a large hearth, her hand was tingling, the rest of her trembling, disorientation still very much in charge. She stared at her finger, the birthmark gone, and a deep burning filled her lungs as her temper woke and her world came crashing down.
‘Not from the fire I rose,’ began Iriss, reading from a page in the book but changing some words.
‘Nor do I battle to save, but to rise with the beasts as my kin, let them live, let them breathe, let them be mine.’ She placed her palm on the paper, her other hand reached to link with Lulu’s, then Lulu pointed at Scarlen, who shuddered as negative energy drank from her veins.
‘Now?’ asked the king.
Lulu nodded. ‘Yes, now.’
Iriss repeated the reading, over and over, her tone deepening with every line, Lulu joining in, a cackle to her voice, their aim at Scarlen as though drawing from her, taking something she didn’t know she had to give.
Scarlen started to shake, a desire to curl up and die all-consuming, and she tried to force them off her, pushing back on their magick using only her stubborn mind.
Renwah locked eyes with his daughter, a small satisfaction in his gaze as he prowled towards her as though she were his prey. ‘Breathe, my dear. All you have to do is breathe. You are strong enough now. Take charge. Bring them to me.’
It wasn’t exactly clear what he meant, but judging by the insanity on show, the intense energy pouring from the chanting witches, and whatever the fuck that was burning her throat, she was supposed to do something magickal, if not a little odd.
The witches switched their attention to the floor, their chant louder, filled with rage and venom.
Not wanting to stick around to find out what was about to happen, Scarlen fled for the doorway that led to the sandy clifftop, the ground now shaking and cracking, unbalancing each step.
Fissures appeared, swallowing the grains of golden sand, and bolts of lightning forked through the light evening sky.
Scarlen ran, jumping the crevasses until a wall of sand rose and brought her to a skidding halt, the fine particles of the barrier trickling down like sparkling rain. A loud roaring sound came from below, startling her and the king and his associates as they joined her outside.
‘They’re here,’ yelled Renwah, rejoicing, but no one else displayed such thrill.
Scanning the ground, Scarlen had no idea where to run.
No way seemed safe, as serious danger was all around.
She would fight, she knew how, but with what?
There were no weapons around, and she had yet to meet the enemy rumbling the clifftop to assess their weak spots.
Refusing to be owned by whatever was coming, she braced herself, adopted a fighting stance, and clenched her fists.
Her father was almost dancing, foolish and gullible, she thought. How had the power eaten him so? ‘Stop them,’ she yelled, trying to reach into the rational side of his mind, but to no avail, as his jig was merry, his eyes as alive as the lightning, his sense just as deadly.
She was on her own, the only sane one knowing of the threat, certain her father would have no control over such destruction.
The knot in her stomach pulled tight as she told herself, I am a knight.
Mostly, she didn’t believe it to be true, but if it helped her in any way take on what was coming, then she would use what she had.
It would be a lot easier if she knew what that was.
Oh, why me? She had to shut down the pity party immediately, as it would be of no help.
She would cry later about her shitty life.
Right now, someone had to save the kingdom, and according to the House of Knight book, that job was for the knights.
‘Embrace them, my dear,’ called the king, looking ready to do exactly that. ‘You are as one.’