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He had a decent point.
“Uhh, she’s human,” Archer commented.
Amory gave her head a shake. “I can’t say for sure, but I doubt she truly wants the baggage of ruling.” She nodded to Archer. “And this is what I have never understood about Reyald and Nyra trying to hand the crown to Jagen. He is correct, Charlotte is not Enchanted. Though they will become heart bound, their children will still only have a 50/50 shot at being Enchanted. But I suppose half of the heirs being Enchanted is better than no heirs at all. Reyald wants the royal line extended.”
“Will she be able to shift after they are heart bonded?” Emric asked.
She shrugged. “Not now, obviously. There used to be cases of bonded couples, Enchanted and non-Enchanted pairings, in which yes, the non-Enchanted partner became a shifter, usually a smaller version of the Enchanted’s shifted form. That was how our numbers of Enchanted grew over the years. But even if they were both able to shift after the bonding, chances are that some of their children would still not be Enchanted.” She paused. “And that hasn’t happened in longer than nine years, I am afraid. It is as rare now as soul bound couples are. But again, Reyald wants more heirs to the throne. That being the main reason he gave Esta the throne so early. So she could rule and have plenty of time to pop out heirs. Half of Jagen and Charlotte’s children will be shifters, possibly even more than half because the dragon gene seems dominant.”
“This royalty stuff is messed up,” Miles offered from where he laid on the floor. “I’m beginning to think Brakken got it right with their democracy.”
I had read and written numerous letters to Brakken over the years. “You have a point, but even they have corrupt leaders on occasion. Any position of power will be a draw for the depraved.”
“Isn’t Morana the queen’s cousin?” John said thoughtfully. “We are forgetting a family member.”
Amory’s eyebrows went up. “I don’t think she’s sneaky enough.”
“Morana came on strong to both Keir and Emric,” John suggested. “Not saying that they aren’t both charming, but she was the first woman to express interest.”
“That’s the thing with Morana though, she rather predictably goes after what she wants. Like when she wanted the position of general. Or wanted to solidify her position within the advisors by starting a relationship with Zaire after he broke off the engagement to Esta.”
“Heended it?” I snapped from my position leaning against the balcony door, unable to help myself.
She nodded and rolled her eyes as if she also didn’t believe it. “Though if we want to consider the cousins of the queen, we need more parchments,” Amory added. “And should likely add Esta’s Uncle Lennix and his son Oziel, younger brother to Morana.”
“What if it is none of the above?” Emric offered up. “All of the people we suspect the most are Enchanted. What if it is a regular human instead? One which has always feared the shifters?”
Amory let out a groan as Emric fished out our parchments for the advisors who were not Enchanted. “Well, there are only two advisors who aren’t Enchanted. I highly doubt it is Otis. Or Mikael. Though they do both have shifters on their team. Maybe they like being in charge of the shifters? Above them in a sense?” She shook her head. “I can’t see it from Otis though. Not in a million years. He’d give the shirt off his back to helpanyone. Enchanted or not.”
“The problem,” Emric stated thoughtfully, “is that all of you have the proper motivation for it, the question is who has the guts to disrupt the crown like this?”
Esta landed on my balcony, likely to fetch Amory, and I felt a visceral fear for her. And not just her, but all the shifters.
Though we had discussed this for the better part of the day, I feared we wouldn’t know, this traitor wouldn’t have a proper face attached, until it was too late. Blood had already been spilled in Dra Skor, so it wasn’t a question of when, but ratherhow much.
CHAPTER32
Come along, my moon.
I trudged next to the queen over to a pond that when full and clear, likely looked lovely. There were some large trees in the area providing pockets of shade and unlike the other sanctuaries, this one did not have a color theme. The grass was green, the bark of the trees gray in hue. It also wasn’t restricted and surrounded by a forested barrier, it was a more open and rolling view. Malachi had taken me to fly over the area the day before, but it was still so starkly different from the other sanctuaries. There was something about this pond area I just couldn’t put my finger on.
“Why did the pond turn anyway?” I asked. There was supposed to be a sanctuary for each of the different kinds of shifters.
She let out a long sigh, one single smoke ring leaving her nostrils.I have always assumed it was for the non-Enchanted of Dra Skor. A sanctuary for everyone else?She paused.It’s really quite sad looking right now. But with the rolling hills on either side, it’s always been a breathtaking view. The pond used to be so full that calling it a pond felt inadequate. Now calling it a pond feels right.
I stopped where I was standing and gave it a look. I had asked myself this question multiple times over the past few days. Esta had disappeared to her lair for a while after the funeral, only Malachi and Whit going with her for protection. While she was gone, Amory and I had gone over not only the advisors and our list of potential suspects in Serkan’s death, but also tried to get to the bottom of the pond situation.
If the pond was not linked to a single type of shifter’s power, how were we supposed to bridge that connection? This was why we brought one of each of the kinds of shifters with us along with Otis for a human presence. The pond was a bit of an anomaly, and we didn’t know what the hell to do with it.
Was I mildly hoping with all of them using their magic that I could shock the lake and all of Dra Skor could suddenly turn back, their magic finally unlocked? Yes. Definitely. But I also knew better. In my trials I had done with Esta on changing her back to her human form, I had learned that whatever my father had done to the shifters’ magic, there seemed to be a block or the poison withinthem.
Still, hope remained. The rational side of my mind knew that we would not be changing all of Dra Skor back today, but I could still work for it and long for it all the same.
“You know what?” Emric provided as his boots sloshed in the black pond.
At least today would hopefully be the last day of black water. It was eerie and creepy, and I was ready to be done with the black of it. It reminded me too much of my father’s magic and how quickly he would wield it.
“Keir,” Emric snapped.
