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Except for a child of pure blood, who would force the magic itself to make a choice.
Abandon the Fae King and choose a new heir.
The magic, she told Julian, had grown tired of the king’s corruption, and yearned to return to the ways of old, whatever the fuck that meant. Julian had returned from Tempeste with stars in his eyes, and a message from the Oracle to the Shadow King, for his eyes and ears alone.
None of us knew what the message contained, but Raziel had been spared and the four of us called in front of the king and given a new quest. Locate a female of pure blood to become the Fae King’s consort, and the Oracle would take care of the rest.
The Shadow King found Adele and his brother managed to father a child.
A year later, we delivered that daughter to Duke Ravenshade for safekeeping.
Anaria was supposed to bring an end to the bloodshed and ceaseless fighting that had cost countless lives. The end to monsters such as Solok and Crux and Lyrae, uniting our empire under a single banner.
But the Oracle had lied about so many things…and I’d never stopped to consider why she would help us in the first place.
“Zor, was she a fucking slave or not?”
“Yes, she was. Julian and I delivered Anaria to Castle Ravenshade as instructed. Neither of us knew what happened to the babe until Solok returned with her and even then, I thought…” I stared off toward the Keep.
I’d thought plenty about Anaria over the years, always imagining her in ball dresses and carriages, pampered and safe. Never in my wildest imagination had I dreamed she’d be relegated to such a terrible fate.
No wonder she had nerves of fucking steel.
No wonder Raz snapped.
Raziel, who had once been the Shadow King’s most skilled warrior. After our failed coup, he’d continued to serve the king, but with a collar around his neck to null his terrible power. A slave-assassin, sent out to do the king’s dirty work in the dead of night, and I’d played my part in making him what he was.
The Shadow King forced me to weld that collar on Raz’s neck myself, then take his place as the lieutenant of his elite guard.
Because while Raz had been outed as a traitor, I had been on the front lines, fighting the Shadow King’s war and managed to remain above suspicion. Then Julian had managed to sway the king to his plan, smuggle Adele into the Fae King’s court, and steal his power, right out from under his nose.
I still couldn’t believe it had worked.
“And here I was convinced she was a lying, murdering piece of filth.” Tavion said quietly, with little of his usual malice. “But even though she’s telling the truth about being a slave, she still killed Julian. There’s a cost for that.”
“There is no way she meant to kill him.” I watched Anaria and the Reaper disappear into the crowd and led the mare toward the stable. “Don’t you think she’s paid enough?”
“I was going to take everything away from her.” My breath caught as a surge of protectiveness swept through me, then Tavion shook his head, his shoulders slumping. “But perhaps you’re right.”
“The Reaper…this friend of hers Ember…what do you know about her?”
All I knew was a terrified, red-haired girl was in trouble, another innocent victim in this terrible game we were playing to rid the world of a monster.
That’s what Anaria would see, too. She would try to save Ember, save her from a fate that could not be changed. Anaria would put herself in danger, which was exactly what Solok was counting on.
Tavion shook his head. “Trouble, just like Anaria. She caused a distraction, the day Anaria escaped my watch and ended up in the prison with Solok. But harmless, for the most part.”
“She’s not harmless now, if she’s a Reaper.”
“She smells like one, I can tell you that.” Tavion would know, given his kind’s enhanced sense of smell.
“I have to get to Raz before he tears the guards to pieces. Find Tristan and go back to the gambling den, or wherever the fuck you came from.” I was already debating how long I could safely leave Raziel in the hands of the guards. It was his nature to fight them, just as it was in their nature to force him to his knees.
None of them could stand against him and I had no stomach for explaining to the king his slave had killed a full complement of trained soldiers in his own dungeons.
I couldn’t leave Raz in their custody for long, but neither could I stomach the idea of Anaria being alone with a Reaper. And I couldn’t both free Raz and keep watch over Anaria.
“Tristan’s busy playing lord of the fucking castle.” Tavion muttered, his eyes, like mine, locked on the Keep. “The bastard got what he wanted and now he’s out.”
