Nyryn answered Darius with shadow.
Ink had spilled across his skin, tendrils blooming along his back, black and living, marking the moment he became something forged for war. With the power of a god behind him, Darius tore through the next battle. Steel rang. Bone broke. Velli banners fell into the mud as he carved a path through their forces, shadow answering every strike. When the field lay quiet, he vanished from command for a time, retreating to wrestle with the magnitude of what Nyryn had etched into his soul.
Yet he returned.
He always did.
He stood at my side as a war general, a constant presence at my shoulder, helping me drive Vellos back again and again. Victory bore his mark as much as mine.
And now he was dead.
“Tallon holds Reem through fear,” Claus said. “He rules with an iron fist. Egath was welcomed into the city as an ally. Velli followed under the mask of friendship.”
Bile climbed my throat. My people faced their oldest enemy because I left them unguarded. Because I misjudged the creature I once called son.
“There were few at first,” Claus continued. “Less than fifty Velli the last time I stood within the Golden Palace. Enough to paralyze dissent and make obedience feel safer than resistance.” He drew a slow breath. “After you left, Tallon announced a ball. Darius confined him to his rooms, but the prince planned without ever stepping outside them. He waited. He watched. Invitations went out to every district heir.”
Cold spread through my veins. It was as I feared. Hostages. Children bound in silk and music, a way to leash their parents, to be used as leverage to hold the city.
“And they came,” Claus said. “Each district sent their heirs. Some too young to travel without escort. Parents joined them.”
I saw the Neers in my mind. Their son, Icarus, barely past his second year. Too small to be summoned to any courtly affair. His father had fought beside me, lost an arm in Radaan’s defense.
“On the night of the celebration, Tallon struck.” The Thresher swallowed, fists clenched until his knuckles blanched. “Egath used blood magic to break Darius. Six of Nyryn’s men fell before they reached the ballroom.”
Silence pressed in.
Claus studied me, a careful crease forming between his brows. “A single Velli could not have overcome so many Threshers.”
He knew.
Either he had witnessed the prince wield Velli magic, or the truth had sharpened itself in his mind. Worse still was what that implied. Tallon had not only learned blood magic, he had mastered it enough to wield it openly.
How long had Egath shaped him while I stood blind?
“It was a tragic night for Radaan,” Claus said. “Stone can be scrubbed clean, but the weight of that blood will haunt the next generation.”
My eyes drifted shut as pain tore through my chest, sharp and suffocating. Regret settled heavy as lead. I should have been here. I should have shielded them. These were not only my people, they were the future rulers of my kingdom. The violence I fought to keep from them had found them all the same.
Only the quiet breath of the flame filled the room as I reined myself in. My mourning could wait. My grief for innocence lost would have its due later.
Right now, Radaan required her king. She needed me to be wise and careful—to take the usurper and remove him like a weed in a flowerbed. Toss him aside to be gathered and burned.
My only hope was that the lives cut short would feed the flowers of our youth, making our future peace all the sweeter.
“Then?” My voice scraped raw, but when my eyes opened, I let Claus see the fury banked beneath my skin.
“He forged a mantle of steel and silver,” he continued. “A mockery. He claimed divine calling after your departure and took the throne for himself. Those who resisted were slain. A week, and Radaan was his.”
“And Claydon’sol?” I forced breath into my lungs. I had to know he was still alive, that I had an ally within Reem’s walls, that I would endure his endless lectures about goats once again.
“Alive, last I heard,” Claus said. “He plays his part, though Tallon does not trust him.”
“He’s wise not to.” The compliment tasted foul in my mouth. The wretched creature did not deserve it. “Claydon would pull the city from under him without him ever noticing if the opportunity presented itself.”
Claus shook his head, sadness tugging at his expression. “I’ve not heard from my brothers in some time. Beyond this, I know little.”
I needed to speak with Fallione. Together we could shape a plan that shielded the people and drew Tallon into the open.
