“That’s enough!” Celene bolts out of her chair and races to my side, but stutters to a stop only a step away, rearing back from my inflamed hands. “If you kill him, the Kings Council will have no choice but to declare war on Cascadonia.”
I still. The flames freeze mid-motion as I consider her threat. The lives that would be lost if we had to battle on two fronts. Not only a war with the Gods Cursed, but another one with the entirety of Vanyimar. A war of which I would be the catalyst.
Swiveling only my head, I look up to my mother raised above all. Frigid and cold, she glares down at me, her entire being appearing carved from the very same crystal she sits upon. My purpose in coming here was to convince her to see reason, to demand her to open her eyes to the inevitable war to come. But seeing her wrath, her barely leashed anger, I realize my lapse in control may have set my goals farther out of reach.
Sensing my hesitancy, Celene takes a wary step closer and wraps tan fingers around my forearm, her copper painted nails digging into my skin. “You are the most powerful male in Vanyimar; there is no denying it.” She levels a glare at a panting Luthais. “I pity anyone foolish enough to challenge that.” Her gaze veers back to me. “But you are still only a single person. If war comes, you cannot protect an entire kingdom.” She strokes my arm in a soothing gesture, speaking softly. “Rein in your Gifts.”
Inhaling a fortifying breath, I call forth my flames. The fire vanishes into the palms of my shimmering hands before my power dims.
“That’s better.” Patting my chest, Celene returns her attention to my mother. “Was there anything else we needed to discuss?”
“Nothing comes to my mind,” my mother states coldly, her arctic, pale green eyes fixated on me.
“In that case…” Celene smiles, behaving as if I hadn’t almost murdered a king and incited a war between five kingdoms. “Luthais, I believe I am in need of a handsome escort.”
Luthais stands with a proud tilt of his chin, appearing every bit the arrogant King he is, even with scorched patches blackening him from head to toe. He silently offers Celene an arm and ushers her through the broken door. As he steps across the threshold, he doesn’t so much as look at my mother when he tosses a warning over his shoulder.
“Learn to control your dog, Adelphia.”
Chapter 25Darius
Aloud groan echoes within the room.
“Leave us,” Adelphia orders.
Rolling on to one bended knee, Aerin pushes off the floor with one hand, appearing dazed as he stumbles to his feet. “Your Majesty,” he croaks with a bow, sending me a parting scowl as he maneuvers himself sideways through the hole that was once a door. Frowning, he peers into the room before placing a glittering blue hand on the doorframe. Spiral branches sprout from the misshapen wood, twisting and braiding with each other to create a gnarled, knotted wall.
Trapping me and Adelphia inside.
The silence is suffocating. Oppressive. Stretching endlessly as my mother and I say nothing while glaring at one another. Not even the shimmering blues and purples reflecting off the crystal walls from the setting sun can breach the darkness encompassing us.
Fully aware my mother can stew indefinitely and knowing I’ll have to be the first one to speak if I want to have this conversation within the next century, I say, “Mother–”
“Get me a drink,” she orders, unmoving from her throne.
“Do you really need a fucking drink right now?” I snap, having no patience for her petty displays of power.
“Around you?” She raises a blonde brow. “Always.”
Ignoring the sting, I skirt the table to the trolley loaded with spirits. Adelphia and I rarely see eye to eye, but our preference for whiskey is one of the few qualities we share. Popping the top off the decanter, I pour her a generous glass. Then, I turn to face her and hold her gaze as I toss my head back, guzzling from the decanter itself. A satisfying tick forms near her eye as I swallow deeply, allowing the warmth of the spirits to burn away the cold from her frosty stare. Slamming down the decanter, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and stride towards her, passing her the glass.
“Do you know what you have done?” she asks quietly, sipping from her drink. “You’ve made me look weak. Again.”
“I made you look powerful.”
“You showed them I can't control my own son.” She stands, descending the dais to pace beside the table. “If I can't control my own children, how can they expect me to control a kingdom?”
Always so worried about how she appears. Gods forbid anyone ever believe her to be less than perfect. “It doesn't matter.”
“Of course it matters!” she hisses, stalking towards me. “It will always matter.” Stopping a few steps away, she shuts her eyes and leans a hip against the table. “You may have permanently strained relations with Raetia. Possibly even Arcadia. I doubt Luthais will continue negotiations with me after this.”
“What negotiations?” I ask, a pit forming in my stomach at the thought of forming any agreement between Raetia and Cascadonia, let alone one that she went to such great lengths to keep hidden from me.
“If I wanted you to know that, I would have requested your presence during the meeting.” Swirling the whiskey, she sighs, staring a hole in the bottom of her glass. “It appears there's no harm in telling you now, is there?” she mumbles, lifting her gaze to mine. “We were negotiating a marriage contract.”
She couldn't possibly be negotiating on her behalf. The Kings Council would never permit a union between two ruling monarchs. Neither would it be for Theon, who is already wed. It’s laughable to even offer me as a suitor. Being a half human bastard, I'm not a suitable match for a common immortal, let alone royalty. So the only other person she could be negotiating for is…
“For who?” I ask hoarsely, dread slinking through my veins.
“Aurora.”
This female must have lost her godsdamned mind! That’s the only plausible explanation I can come up with as to why she would offer her only daughter to that fucking sadist.
I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.
“You really are a cruel cunt, aren’t you?” Scrubbing my eyes, I try to calm the panic engulfing me, fogging my mind along with the spirits.
Adelphia shrugs. She fucking shrugs at her confession. “Better that she be married to a king than that disfigured human she thinks I don't know about.” She shakes her head and utters a mirthless laugh. “Stupid child.”
“You hate humans so deeply that you’d rather marry her off to that son of a bitch than allow her to be with someone who truly cares for her?”
“I don't hate humans. I just don't like them.” She gives me a loaded look. “Not all of them, at least.”
I snort at her bullshit answer. Her pretty lies can’t deceive me. Just as Lena said, my mother could’ve changed their lives with a snap of her fingers. Yet, she's done nothing.
Narrowing her eyes at my snort, Adelphia speaks with the authority of the Queen she is. “I will not allow human blood to weaken my line again. She will marry someone befitting her station.”
“And that person is Luthais?” Fisting my hands at my sides, I bare my teeth with a snarl. “You've heard the same stories I have. The revolving women he beds. The same women he beats, mutilates, rapes.” She flinches, and it's the first time in my life I can say that the reaction to her past is satisfying. “He’ll kill her, if Aurora doesn't kill him first.”
