Chapter 20 #2
Jasper released me, laughing. ‘Cain was right about you, fiery. Apologies. I am just so happy to meet you, the person who provided my people with safety from my slightly backwards sister and her ways. Thank you, Queen Skylar,’ he said, sinking to his knees before me.
This was the first time someone of pure Forest Fae blood had kneeled to an outsider.
River seethed, furiously pulling him up by his shoulder and pushing him back onto the couch.
He laughed brightly at his sister’s anger.
‘What do you want, Skylar?’ River spat, dropping all formalities.
‘I want to give you a way out of this little mess you are struggling to clean up, River. What are you going to do with your brother? Lock him up forever? Kill him as is required by your laws? He betrayed you, his leader. You know what this calls for, but you cannot do it. He is your weakness, so I am offering you an alternative. I only require two things: your brother and the truth.’ This was the other reason I had decided the shortcut through the Forest Fae was worth any political repercussions.
Jasper’s face was a mixture of pain and hope.
River looked as though she bordered on losing all composure, like a wild animal backed into a corner, facing the realities of what I had just divulged to her people and the clock that was now counting down until they began to question her.
‘Let me take him. Bring him with me. I will not hurt him. He will work with Cain and the other outcasts you deemed unworthy. He will live and he will thrive. In return, you will take over your brother’s role on these lands and every Fae that would have been killed or thrown out will now be delivered right to my door and given the same second chance I am affording your brother. ’
River looked at Jasper, pain etched on her face. She knew she could never harm him, but she also knew keeping him here forever was not possible. ‘My people would never accept him walking out of here alive,’ she said, looking away and walking to the balcony.
‘Please, sister, please let me leave. You know I was never made for this life. Neither of us will be happy with my being trapped here. Your people will turn on you; there are already whispers about why they haven’t seen me.
Please, sister. Let me go. I want to go,’ he said, with hurt seeping from his voice that matched that in his sister’s eyes.
Sienna stepped forward. ‘No one would have to know you let him go. I can mask him with a simple spell as we cross through your lands. They will think he ran. You can tell your people that you had set a date for his execution for his crimes, but he escaped,’ she said coaxingly.
‘How can I trust you? Your reputation speaks for itself,’ River said disbelievingly, turning her attention to me.
‘Now, now, River, that is a little unkind, don’t you think?
I’m not the one who treats those who are different or those with gifts they fear as if they don’t deserve to live.
Every cruelty I have ever inflicted has been on my enemies, not my allies, and to be honest, you don’t have to trust me.
You have no other choice. What options do you honestly have right now?
You either take my offer or you don’t. But know this: I am not doing this for you or our alliance.
I am offering this out of respect for Cain and due to the character your brother has shown.
The only person in this room likely to ever face my wrath is you and your backwards ways.
If I thought it would make any difference, I would slit your throat where you stood and make your brother lead, but I know this sickness and way of thinking runs deep through your people and I would have to slaughter them all.
And I am not in the mood for more bloodshed today or wiping out nearly an entire race—there will be plenty of time for that should you step out of line in the future. ’
River nodded slowly, taking in my words, and then sat beside her brother. Clasping his hands, she looked beseechingly into his eyes. ‘I am truly sorry, Jasper,’ she said as he hugged her close to his chest.
‘My dear sister, there is nothing you could ever do to me that I could not forgive. I love you,’ he said, drawing back and looking into her eyes as tears began to fall. A final goodbye.
‘Take him,’ River whispered.
‘One thing first—I told you I needed two things. I need the truth. So, River, tell me, what is it that you know of the Ancient Forest and what lurks within it?’
River’s eyes widened before she tried to compose herself, hoping I hadn’t noticed.
‘We don’t know; just that the magic there is different.
All plant life carries frequencies that our magic can tune into, but the moment ours tries to touch anything near the forest, it’s like a screeching that claws at our minds until we become delirious.
Apparently, we had many records on it even before my grandparents’ time, but they were lost to time.
All that remains are the stories that have been passed down through the generations.
They say the forest has been touched by evil incarnate, and only those of pure of blood can enter without being tainted by it.
Those who carry true evil within them—a darkness not unlike yours—are able to cross into its lands, but they are never to be seen again, consumed by the forest. That is why, for generations, we have aimed to remain as pure blooded as possible.
’ The flame within me told me she spoke the truth and was not holding anything back.
Ignoring her backhanded comment insinuating I was ‘evil incarnate’, I scoffed, ‘Seems quite stupid to create entire bloodlines around old wives’ tales.’
Her eyes sharpened; she wanted to refute my callous comment, but she knew that, right now, I held all the cards.
‘Jasper, Cain may trust you, and I respect what you have done, but if you are to live amongst my people, I need you to prove yourself before I commit to the risk.’ Both River and Jasper looked at me curiously, not quite understanding what I was saying.
‘Many do not know just how far my gifts go as heir to the flame throne. One such gift is the ability to distinguish truth from lies. Jasper, I need you to think about your life with my people, with Cain and the other outcast Forest Fae. A life where you follow my orders, my laws, a life where you forget this one and never turn back. Where your loyalty to your sister no longer matters. In this new life, your loyalty will be to me and me alone. No one and nothing else. Can you do this, Jasper? Can you leave her behind and follow me into the darkness?’ I asked.
Letting go of River, Jasper stood in front of me.
Looking back down at River, he mouthed an apology before sliding a wooden ring off his finger.
There lay the marking of an oath. ‘I trusted Cain when he told me who you were, what you wanted to do for my people. I trusted in the person he said lay beneath the dark and twisted stories I had heard whispered in the wind. I swore an oath not to Cain but to you as my true queen. To free my people, I would bind myself to you and follow you. That is the oath I made,’ he said.
River let out a sob that racked through her body at the betrayal, but Jasper did not move from my gaze, showing me he meant every word. The flames remained calm within; I knew he spoke only truth.
‘Kneel,’ I said. Jasper acted without hesitation as River let out another sob, gripping her chest in a mixture of grief and heartbreak, but love still shone in her eyes as she looked at her younger brother.
‘Give me your palm,’ I said as I drew my blade. Slicing it across his palm, blood pooled in the middle. Drawing the blade across my own hand, I clasped his. Our blood combined in the heat of our hands as it dripped onto the floor.
I spoke the words. ‘You are mine, I am yours.’
‘You are mine, I am yours,’ he repeated.
The words that marked he would serve me as I would serve him. The same words I had exchanged with everyone in my circle.
‘Sienna, mask him. We are leaving.’
Turning to River, I said, ‘I will take it that we have clear passage through your lands?’
River stepped forward. ‘Yes.’ She did not thank me or reach for her brother, although I could see her fingers itching to hold him one last time.
‘Will they talk?’ I asked, gesturing to the guards that stood outside her room, who had likely heard everything.
‘Not for long,’ she said as she raised her hands, and vines slithered from the walls, wrapping around their necks.
Pulling them tighter against the wooden wall as they struggled and gasped for air.
Jasper looked away, knowing they had to die for his freedom.
He had dedicated himself to extending the lives of those around him, not ruining them as his sister had.
‘Go, mask yourselves and leave. Do not ever come back, because if you do, I will be forced to do what I was too scared to do. I love you, Jasper. I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry.
’ She inhaled deeply. ‘I will tell my people to let you through; only once you have crossed out of our lands will I tell them that Jasper escaped. Now go,’ River pleaded, letting the reality of what she had just done—and agreed to—sink in.
Jasper gave his sister one last hug before Sienna pulled him aside and whispered an incantation until he faded from sight right before our eyes.
We walked back down the stairs; I could feel Jasper silently following behind us.
Once we stepped outside, our horses were standing there waiting for us, with the Forest Fae watching from a distance.
Sienna took a few extra minutes to mount her horse, giving Jasper time to mount Vixen after me. I flicked my reins, giving my girl the only hint she needed to get going. Vixen started galloping, with Sienna following shortly after. We did not ease up or slow down until the sun began to set.