56. The Vessel
~ VOSKI ~
I stood just inside the hidden door, one palm flat against it, feeling the vibrations of her voice and steps, my head tipped forward, forehead leaned on the cool wood.
I wrestled with the shudders wracking my body in waves as I listened to that putrid fuck speak down to my mate, snapping his fingers at her as if she were an animal.
The temptation to burst through the door and take him before he even realized I was there was breathtaking.
I imagined being face to face with him, watching his eyes widen as I clamped one hand to his throat—only tight enough to make him wheeze. With the other, I’d level a dagger just under the corner of his jaw, where his lifeblood flowed through that thick vein—
‘Voski, don’t.’ Kham’s voice was low with disapproval, but the growl wasn’t for me. My dragon understood the desire to tear apart the one who would hurt his mate.
‘I wasn’t doing anything. Just fantasizing about it.’
‘Turn your mind to more beneficial pursuits. That line of thinking could be dangerous for both of you.’
I shrugged off the sense of pressure as Kham leaned on my heart, and took a deep breath.
Grace’s voice and footsteps faded through the door that lay west of my position. It would take them a full minute or more to be passed through the guards, then reach the junction with the main hallway, then less than a minute after that to be back in the ballroom.
He’d said they had to appear, but wouldn’t stay. Still, that probably gave me at least half an hour to reposition.
I smiled with predatory promise. The smile I would show Breckon when the day arrived.
When she’d told me she was being taken from the ballroom, I’d had to change plans quickly.
I’d intended to secret myself in her room.
Lie in wait until she was alone so that we could truly reunite, and plan our escape.
It was risky with Breckon sleeping right next door, but with only days before the wedding and while Grace still hadn’t bled, I refused to leave her unguarded.
And I needed her.
That frantic coupling, so risky, was only evidence that there was a need to douse this fire—for both of us—so we’d think clearly. As perfect as it had felt to have her again, I couldn’t afford another delay, or distraction.
I had to get her out of here before that wedding.
And while I believed my mother truly would work to intervene, I also knew she’d do so for her own benefit.
If I could find a way to corner Breckon, implicate him—hell, if I could kill him in a way that wouldn’t appear suspicious, I’d do it. Risks, be damned.
‘Voski.’
‘Let me think my dark thoughts! That bastard has his hands on her and—’
‘Your energy is best spent solving problems, not creating new ones.’
I rolled my jaw. I took another deep breath and straightened from leaning on the door. I knew Kham was right, but it burned.
But I did as he bid, and turned my mind to solving problems.
I had already located a passageway that allowed access to her rooms without crossing the hallway—though it required different risk, since I’d be forced to sneak through Breckon’s chambers.
There was a satisfaction in that, though.
When the day came that I did face the man down, I’d make certain he knew that I’d used his rooms to reach her and her soft, warm body that—
‘Voski.’
Rolling my eyes, but grateful for my dragon’s gruff rumble, I turned around in the narrow passage to start back toward the main halls of the castle. But just as I did, a new voice rose in the little room and I froze.
“He won’t give her up, she’s too valuable.” The feminine murmur could only be the queen. No others had joined the men in the king’s study.
“He’ll do whatever he’s told if he believes he gains something more valuable in return.”
“He’s taking her for the offspring. He won’t allow any competition.”
“He will if he believes he begets the heir and gains the world as well.”
The queen’s voice was tight when she spoke. “Or you could just kill him—after the ceremony. The vows will spark her power, whether he uses it or not.”
My heart began to thud, then leaped into my throat when a second, feminine voice—one so familiar it turned my stomach—rose alongside the other two.
“You’re assuming she hasn’t been ignited already.”
I froze at the sound of my mother’s voice.
What the hell was she doing there? How had she entered?
Had Breckon known she was there? There were no peepholes into the king’s study, though I’d discovered this access to the anteroom on our last visit to the castle.
It only offered entrance to the study through the normal door—not ideal when a man was spying and wouldn’t know if there was another exit, so might be trapped if the occupier of the room returned while he was there.
So, I hadn’t infiltrated the study itself. Hadn’t yet found a way.
Had my mother hidden there? Or did this mean there was a second entrance to that room after all?
The king grumbled. “She’s spoken no vows, you said yourself you’d sense it if she had.”
“I thought so. Yet the rumors persist. I could be wrong,” she said casually.
“Stop playing your games, Ava. I won’t be fooled. You told us what she could be. You said even if Breckon achieves the union, he will not outlive her. Don’t try to seed fear for me now—I know the ass is full of himself, but we can weather that for a time if it brings her womb alive.”
“You don’t weather him, you puff him up! You offer too much! Breckon is so full of pride, he won’t see beyond the swell of his own cock. If he believes he gains your throne on a leash, he’ll decide he can keep her as well.”
Barely breathing, I leaned my ear against the door, listening intently.
“My dealings with a man of my choosing are none of your concern,” the king muttered gruffly.
“I beg to differ.”
“Why would you care for his pride, so long as you get your wish?” the queen sniffed in a tone of disdain I would bet coin my mother rarely heard.
“The man is a beetle. He steps above even what your friendship should mean to his…”
I cursed as they turned back into the study and closed the door, cutting off my ability to hear them.
As quickly as I could keep my feet silent on the stone, I hurried back along the passage.
There was no entrance to the study from this space, but perhaps with them speaking I could find a point where the walls were thin enough…
Keeping my breath as silent as my feet, leaning toward the wall, but never allowing my body to brush it in case the sound could be heard within the study, I hurried along the long wall of the study, praying for a crack, a peep hole I’d missed, something that would allow me to hear what was being said inside.
But I reached the end of the study and took the turn east with a sinking heart, knowing there was only the short side of the study to go before the stone chimney of the study jutted out, and the passage turned right, away from the king’s room, feeding into the immense maze of passages and spaces in these castle walls.
Please, God. Please… just a whisper of—
I slid to a halt just beyond the stones of the chimney, where they met the corner wall, because I’d caught the faint sound of a woman’s voice, snapping.
Mother.
I turned back, took one step—and sure enough… a whisper. A murmur. But why here? The chimney stones were thick. Impenetrable. And the wall was blank. No light emanated through it. Was there a crack—?
“Enough!”
The word was shouted, yet I barely made it out—except it had been loud enough to perceive that the sound came from somewhere above my head.
It was a work of moments to hurriedly yank off my boots, then climb the stone mortars with fingers and toes, praying I wouldn’t tumble and fall loud enough for them to hear it.
Sure enough, near the top, where the chimney passed through the ceiling, there was a small crack in the mortar, and if I placed my ear to it, I could hear every word spoken at normal volume.
Arms quivering at the effort of holding myself in place, I leaned into that crack and laid my ear to it—
“…hardly the time to change the plan of your own making,” the king harrumphed.
“I might have agreed, but new information has come to light. Your interest in her makes far more sense to me now. You’ve kept things from me, Burk.”
I blinked at my mother’s familiar use of the king’s first name, but my blood chilled at her tone. She was angry. Truly angry.
“We’ve discussed this before,” the king offered dismissively.
“Have we? I believe I might have remembered talk of this kind. But in any case, here we are. It’s time for a change of plan. I will use her first. For my son.”
“Absolutely not!” the king spluttered. “Two of us made the claim first—at your insight. Even you must see the stupidity in shifting the game at this late stage. Her parents arrive in days!”
What the fuck? What was Mother doing?
“Her parents are ants on a carcass. You could dismiss them with one word.” Her tone was amused, but made me shiver. I knew when she masked true rage with pretend humor. “Not to mention that the castle is rife with rumors that the girl hasn’t bled—and why. We can use that.”
“Every new coupling is a point of gossip—”
“I’m telling you that these rumors aren’t based in petty jealousy.”
There was a beat before the queen spoke up. “What have you learned?”
Mother was once again in control, taking her time, pausing to allow everyone else to hang on her word—even when they were rulers.
How the fuck did she do this?
“It’s possible she carries a babe already,” she said finally.
The king snorted. “Her and half the Court before their weddings. If she hadn’t vowed, the child will be sickly, and die. Or we can kill it. Regardless, we’ll undertake the rituals. If Breckon doesn’t breed her within the season, I will. She has the blood for it.”
I froze.
No. No, no no—
“If you seek true power, you cannot risk a blemished vessel,” my mother spat. My heart almost leaped out of my chest.
Ritual.
Vessel.
The blood for it.
It was coming home to me—how Mother had known. Why she’d waited to come here. And why the king listened to her. What these men planned to do.
My mother had trafficked in dark power since before my birth, and brushed shoulders with some of the most powerful people in the kingdoms as a result of it.
I’d always known how many of them dabbled in the craft.
They’d been frequent visitors of our home, and patrons of my parents games.
I knew she whispered in the ears of rulers, and manipulated events among the wealthy and powerful.
When I’d read those codes, and seen one of her sick mantras used by spies, I’d known she was involved.
But I’d assumed it was a political venture.
Just her little nod to her own, disgusting practices.
I’d always seen her as a spider—weaving webs, tying up the resources of other, ignorant people, to position herself for prey.
I’d assumed she avoided Court because those people had power in the land that exceeded hers in magik, and she didn’t want to face the challenge.
Even she could not beat death if a ruler had her executed.
But, I’d been wrong. So wrong.
The King of Fyrehold didn’t speak as a man who admired a strong woman with political savvy who’d successfully navigated challenges to curry favor. These words, this plan, were spoken as if they were co-conspirators in her perverted practices.
I’d known coming to her would put me in their path once more. I’d known that even if she crawled under a rock, she’d never stop weaving. Not for long.
But this? They all believed Grace was a vessel for their sick power?
No. No!
The king wasn’t just Mother’s political ally. He was an adherent. A Cruor.
“Your archaic stipulations are little more than superstition. She carries the blood and is innocent of the Guiding Law—the only requirements. I will not let you make me question what we both know to be true. The moment she vows to a man, her womb is—”
I recoiled instinctively and lost my footing. Swallowing curses as I was forced to catch myself, shimmy down, before I fell with a thud. And by the time I climbed once more, pressing my ear to that crack, their voices had stopped.
Had they heard me slide against the stones? Were they already on their way to find me? Or were they merely done arguing and returning to the ballroom?
Shit. Shit!
‘Voski? What alarms you?’
I was so angry. And so frightened. But, as I climbed back down, hurriedly tugged on my boots, and sprinted through the passages to take position before Breckon and Grace returned to their chambers, I made myself tell him.
‘This wedding… it’s not about a marriage contract, Kham.
The king isn’t upholding his friend’s betrothal—they think…
’ I wanted to be sick just thinking about it.
‘My mother… her power… they all believe there are certain bloodlines, families whose children harbor the Old Blood and will carry Cruor power. These fuckers think if they get children on Grace, she’ll provide them with powerful young.
Magikly powerful. They want to use her, Kham.
Breckon isn’t a prideful Lord, unwilling to give up his betrothed.
He’s an ambitious sorcerer, attempting to build a legacy. And he wants to use Grace to do it.’
The feeling from Kham was one of nausea and righteous indignation. ‘We will not allow it,’ he said simply, but the words rolled into a growl at the end. ‘We will not let her be harmed. We’ll get her out. You, me, and Koa.’
‘No, we won’t,’ I sent, my breath hissing through my teeth because my jaw was clenched to keep me from screaming. ‘I will,’ I corrected.
‘Voski, you cannot do this alone. You don’t need to. We’ve been provided to you—’
‘And if they see dragons come to her aid, they’ll never stop hunting her.
Your power exceeds theirs, Kham. We can’t take the risk.
She’ll be hounded for the rest of her days.
I’m done waiting. I’m done leaving this kind of evil in the world.
I walked away once because you told me to trust them into the Creator’s hands.
I’m not doing it again. And definitely not with her. ’