CHAPTER 33 #2
“Of course not,” Fabian snorted. “I needed to test your commitment before I expended more of my power on you. You wouldn’t have believed me if I told you that your old friend was the prince, so you wouldn’t have married him for that.
And I wasn’t sure that your family would be enough incentive on their own. ”
Father’s eyebrows drew down. “Katrin, what is he talking about?”
“My goal to make you miserable, Steffan,” the sorcerer lightly replied. “First, by cursing your daughter, then by the bargain I made with a foolish miller’s daughter... Although I didn’t account for her soothing you in your daughter’s absence. That was unfortunate.”
“Bargain? What is the meaning of this?” Father demanded.
Axel would have preferred more leverage, but there was no hiding it from Father now.
“I want to amend it,” he blurted out.
Father’s eyes darted to him, but Axel kept his focus on Fabian. “You told Katy that it couldn’t be done, but I know it can.”
“Oh, really?” Fabian’s eyes lit up, looking much too delighted at this request. “Unfortunately, you were not part of the bargain. If the princess wants to amend it, she must request it herself. Then she and I must both agree to the change.”
“And the original terms?” Father cut in.
Katy winced. “It seemed harmless. A poor miller’s daughter could never marry the crown prince.”
“And the terms?” the king demanded. “What did you promise in exchange?”
Axel squeezed her hand, taking his eyes from Fabian for a moment. Katy took a deep, steadying breath before answering. “He wanted my firstborn child.”
For a moment, Father stared at her with sorrow in his eyes. Then he turned to the sorcerer. “Was my daughter not enough? You intend to take my grandchild as well?” His voice rumbled with anger.
“I have just expressed my intention to cause harm to your family, Steffan; why are you surprised?” Fabian flashed his terrible grin. Turning, he continued, “However, your son has expressed a desire to amend the bargain for your grandchild. If the lady is willing, I am open to suggestions.”
Katy moved to step forward, but Axel blocked her with his arm. She didn’t need to be closer. “I told you six years ago that I wanted to change the deal,” she said, a little of her fire coming through in her voice. “If you’re willing now, I still am. Depending on what you want,” she added quickly.
“Clever girl, including that qualifier,” Fabian laughed. “You should never agree to an open-ended deal with the fae. Or half-fae, as the case may be.”
“You’re the only one who enjoys hearing yourself talk,” Katy huffed. She folded her arms across her chest. “What would you be willing to accept instead?”
A growl built in Axel’s throat as he watched Fabian run his eyes over her before flicking his gaze to Axel, Father, and Otto. “A game,” he finally said. “One in which your husband participates, if you are willing to add him to the deal.”
Axel opened his mouth to agree, but Katy cut him off. “What kind of game? We have to know that first.”
“A simple one.” Scanning Axel, Fabian’s lips stretched back into a grin. “If you can persuade the foundling at the theater to tell you my real name, I will relinquish my claim on your child.”
Katy’s forehead dimpled with her worry crease, but she stayed focused on the sorcerer. “Your real name? It’s not Fabian?”
He laughed. “That is the name I go by. But all fae or fae descendants have a magical name. The foundling knows mine.”
“And if Axel can convince this person to tell him this name, that will count as fulfillment of my side of the deal?” Katy pressed. “Neither of us will owe you anything else for helping me marry him?”
“That is correct. If Prince Axel persuades Lotti to tell him my magical name, I will consider our deal complete. Neither your firstborn child nor anything else will be required of you.”
Startled, Axel jumped. Lotti? This person that Fabian wanted him to talk to was...Lotti?
“Then she’s all right?” The words spilled from his mouth before he could think them through. “She survived the fire?”
Fabian’s lips twitched. “Again, my congratulations for verifying the terms of the deal. It would be difficult to win the game if the woman was dead, wouldn’t it? Yes, Lotti is alive and at the theater again. She will be there when you arrive.”
Something in Axel’s chest eased with the confirmation that his old tutor was fine. But the information that she was working with Fabian unsettled him. Unless she was as much a pawn in this situation as he and Katy were?
Nudging Katy with his elbow, Axel murmured, “Do you see any problems with it? I’m willing to agree if you are.”
“What are you up to, Fabian?” Father growled. “There must be plenty of things in my kingdom that you want. Don’t think I don’t know why you want my grandchild.” Father understood something about this? “This doesn’t seem like your style.”
“What do you really know of my style?” the sorcerer flippantly replied. “Perhaps I have grown lenient in my old age, and I seek diversion over dealing with the trouble of a young child.”
Did he really think anyone would believe that?
“How long would we have to get the name?” Katy cut in. “And what would happen if we fail?”
“You would have until the child is born to convince Lotti to tell you my name.” Turning to the window – mocking Axel with his back – Fabian continued, “Should you fail to do so, the payment would be as previously agreed: your firstborn child.”
Otto was shaking his head from his corner, but Katy clearly agreed with Axel that this was their best chance.
“If Axel is willing, I agree to alter the deal as outlined. If he can convince Lotti—” her eyes flicked to Axel with an unreadable expression— “to tell him your magical name by the time my first child is born, our deal will be considered complete. If he fails, you retain your claim to the child.” Her voice faltered on the last part, and her eyes blinked rapidly, but she maintained her firm stance.
“And you, little prince?” Fabian mocked.
“I am willing,” Axel quickly agreed. “I accept the modification as outlined by my wife.”
“We should discuss—”
Fabian cut Father off. “And I agree. The deal is amended.”
A prickle rippled along Axel’s scalp, drawing a shiver from him at the unpleasant sensation.
“A pleasure doing business with you.” Curling his lip, Fabian waved a careless hand at Father.
“No need to get up, Steffan; I’ll see myself out.
Since there are no guards running at me, I don’t even need a flashy exit like I used at your daughter’s christening.
Where is she, anyway? I was looking forward to seeing her at this little reunion. ”
Axel’s sword raised and Father stood in unison. Growling, the king jabbed a finger at the sorcerer. “You will stay away from my daughter.”
“I’m amused that you think you can stop me.
” Lifting a hand, Fabian quickly signed something in the air.
Axel flinched, but the fire stayed gentle, the tiny flames dancing across the sorcerer’s fingers.
“I could stop you with any element I choose. I wouldn’t even need an element; I could lock you in your own minds. ”
He made another sign, and Axel’s sword shook in his hand, trying to jump to the floor. Tightening his grip, Axel held it in place.
“Or I could simply steal your weapons before they can harm me. But fear not, Steffan; I am not here for Helena. Today.”
With that, he dropped his hands and sauntered to the door. Axel’s sword stopped fighting him, but it still shook.
Katy had told him that Fabian was powerful, and he knew the man had cast the curse that for over a decade had convinced the entire continent that Helena was dead.
But until now, Axel hadn’t realized just what that meant.
How in the heavens could he put a pair of magic-canceling cuffs on that sorcerer?
Otto lunged for the door, but Father called him back.
“Don’t bother. If he has enchanted the guards, you are unlikely to rouse them.
Besides, if he escaped twenty-five years ago, he’ll escape again now.
Capturing him will require draining his magical reserves first, and that means having a plan.
Trying without one will put you in the infirmary at best.”
Katy leaned up against Axel and squeezed his arm. “I suppose we have a trip to the theater in our near future.”
“Yes, the theater.” Father’s eyes bored into him. “How do you know this Lotti he spoke of? And why is this the first that I’ve heard about this bargain? It wasn’t news to you.”