Page 129 of Blood Curse

“I know. But the Crown still reached them last night.”

“It used your voice,” I said.

“And nobody could resist.”

Mara glanced towards the door. “The old oaths made that easier.”

Bryony turned her head. “What old oaths?”

“Every vampire who served this court swore to the Blood King’s title or blood. Those promises passed down with the throne. They were meant to keep the court stable when one king died and another took his place.”

Bryony frowned. “Could they refuse?”

“Not and keep a room, protection or access to the blood stores. Adrian called it loyalty. He used the oaths to call vampires back and punish them for refusing him. I kept the same system because I thought a different king made it safe.”

“The Crown can reach along the same path,” Mara said. “It still needs Bryony’s spoken voice for a direct command, but the oaths keep everyone who swore them open to the throne. The Crown doesn’t have to force its way in first.”

Elias sat back. “Release the oaths and it loses the easiest route into most of the court.”

“Most?” Bryony asked.

“Anyone who swore directly to Adrian may still carry his mark until you release the throne’s claim,” Mara said. “His death ended his orders. It didn’t erase what they were forced to swear.”

Adrian was dead. We didn’t need to keep letting the damage he left choose our next move. We needed to close the path already inside Harrowmere.

That kept the problem in front of us small enough to act on. We didn’t have to hunt Adrian, rebuild the court or understand every purpose the Crown had ever served. We had one inherited promise we could end and one day in which to end it.

Bryony looked at me. “Can you release them while the Crown is intact?”

“Yes. They swore to the king. I’m the king.”

“What does it cost you?”

“Authority I don’t want. I won’t be able to call the court back by blood or punish anyone for leaving.”

“Anything physical?”

“No.”

“Does it weaken the ritual?”

Elias answered. “It removes fuel and bodies the Crown expects to use. It won’t stop a direct command from Bryony while she’s inside Harrowmere.”

“Then we deal with that next,” she said. “First, release the court.”

I looked towards the door. The vampires downstairs had returned to rooms they remembered and a king they had once trusted. Some would leave when I gave them the chance. The old court would end whether the Crown survived or not.

Bryony read the answer on my face. “If they stay, it has to be because they choose you.”

“And if they go?”

“They get to choose that too.”

The idea should have felt like another loss. Instead, the pressure I’d carried since the gate opened eased.

If the court stayed after the release, I would know the difference between service and captivity. If they left, the open gate would finally mean what I had claimed it meant. Either answer was better than loyalty forced through blood.

I touched Bryony’s cheek. Her skin was warm. Her pulse moved under the heel of my hand, slow and unreliable.