We sat in my office, a place I didn't often come to since I typically worked out of the council room or library. But those places felt far too intimate and filled with history to bring him there. My office occupied the entire top two levels of the North Tower. The bottom level contained a single desk littered with papers, and shelves overflowing with books that were piled on the floor along the edges of the walls. The top level was reached via a staircase in this main room that led to a balcony with an enormous window, which was the sole source of light.
‘Tell me, what is within that book?’
‘Do you really think I would just give you that information for free, Princess? How about a question for a question? And start slow; haven’t you ever heard of foreplay?’
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the innuendo, even as my body betrayed me, heating with lust—still feeling the trail of his fingers across my bare and scarred back.
‘Fine. Tell me why you were in that cell—the whole truth.’
‘I no longer recognise the man my father is. There was a time when I believed in him and his mission; I contributed to it myself. But now there is an evil within him that is driving him todo more sinister things. The goals have changed for him, and I finally found out his method to achieve them. When I confronted him, he had me locked in a cell where only those in his inner circle—privy to his heinous plans—could visit me, preventing me from leaking the information. I didn’t want to become him, so there I found myself. He was also a touch mad I didn’t kill you on your way to the Alumni Ball. I had hoped your message would’ve been a valid excuse to shirk my duties, but deep down I knew the consequences. Why do you think I’ve never faced you on the battlefield all this time?’
Not being able to grasp the depth of the things he was telling me, I pushed through. ‘Tell me, what are his plans? What’s in that book?’
‘The story of the old crone, with some added details. It is not merely your favourite children’s bedtime story but old folklore about magic that can wipe out all the realms. My father plans to awaken the old crone. He has found her resting place in the Ancient Forest, and that is why he is so desperate to invade your lands. He will release her and bring the world to its knees once again. He thinks he can control her because she will be indebted to him for releasing her, but the book I hold speaks of only one way to truly control the Mrak. You must become it, just as one of the last dragons did all those years ago, absorbing its darkness. But, as you may know, even that was not enough, as it completely corrupted the dragon, and black magic continued to leach out until an alternative was found. The fabled old crone. I know what that alternative is, and I know how we can make it possible once more, thanks to that book.’
‘How is it possible that a dragon, one of the originals of much of the magic in these realms, was not powerful enough to control the magic and could barely contain it? Surely, no one living now would be strong enough. It’s over. We’re all dead. Everything I have worked to protect. My people. Gone.’ The panic seeped under my skin as I realised the eternal flameconfirmed his words as truth. My breathing became shallow as my fingers lost feeling and a prickly numbness consumed them.
My chest became heavy, and the air I sucked in felt like it barely filled my lungs. I stumbled forward as my vision blurred, trying to run for the stairs to reach the loft—my safe space. I could hear Demir shouting something but it was drowned out by the sound of blood rushing through my ears. I all but crawled up the staircase until I saw it. The curtains that led to a nest of sorts. Warm, cozy blankets and pillows and fabrics draping the ceiling and walls. The scent of sandalwood encompassing me. I went straight to the middle of the bedding, crawled underneath the thickest and softest blanket, and hid. Hid from my panic as I curled in on myself and breathed into the darkness, praying to the gods, dragons and the spirit realm to stop the feeling that was consuming me. I couldn’t even feel that gaping wounds on my back stretching as I huddled in on myself.
Demir tried to pull the blanket back to check on me, but I gripped it tighter. Giving up, I felt his presence disappear briefly before I felt the blanket move behind me. He joined me in the darkness and wrapped himself around my back, cradling me. But being careful of the melted flesh. The moment he touched me, I heard his inner voice louder than I had ever heard him trying to speak to me.
It’s okay, Skylar, you’re okay. I’ve got you. Shhh, little princess, I’ve got you. You’re safe. I promise you’re safe. I will fix the world for you if it’s the last thing I do, princess.
We stayed like that for what felt like hours as he mentally reassured both of us that it would be okay.
I woke up in Demir’s arms; at some point, we had fallen asleep. Demir was still touching me, but I couldn’t hear his dreams as I had thought the bond would allow me to, or perhaps he didn’t dream at all. Carefully, I unbound myself from his arms and snuck out of the blankets. Once I was downstairs in my office, I sat at my desk, unable to think straight. Instead of thinking about the impending danger and what I needed to do,my mind kept circling back to the man who had witnessed two of my breakdowns and sought to help me. The man who told me he loved me long before I became his Ruhi. None of it made sense. I couldn’t reconcile the things he was saying with the man I had known and the reality I had always perceived.
It was dark out, and the castle was sleeping. After putting an ointment on the gaping flesh of my shoulder and finding a shirt loose enough not to rub against the painful wounds, I spent the next few hours going through any information I could find on the tales of the old crone, the dragons and dark magic. I could not find any new threads to pull on. I needed to know how I was supposed to control this darkness that would ruin our world, but not a single book or scroll provided any insight. The sun began to rise as Demir stirred from his sleep.
‘How are you feeling, Princess?’ he asked as he leaned against the side of my desk and peered at the documents I was reading.
‘I’m fine. You may go,’ I replied without looking up, wanting distance from the emotions that swirled within me at his proximity.
‘No, “thank you”? I just saved you from the panic. Besides, where would I go in your halls, Princess? I know nothing of this place, and if I’m not mistaken, you still need something from me.’
‘Thank you? For what? You being here did not change the outcome of my panic. I still felt every moment of it, so don’t pat yourself on the back so soon. And I don’t care where you go; I just want you away from me. Besides, you have already made it clear that you will hold the contents of that book over me; I doubt that asking nicely will get what I need from you.’
‘Princess, do I sense a touch of embarrassment? There’s no need to hide from me. I have already seen you at your worst. And you haven’t tried asking really nicely.’ He smirked.
‘Trust me, princeling, you have not even begun to scratch the surface of who I am at my worst. If you want to be of use, then tell me the secret contained in your book about how I can bindthe Mrak without a damn dragon this time, seeing as they’re all dead.’
‘You must become the bind. It was not just one of the first dragons that bound it, but also your bloodline. You must become the vessel; nothing and no one else will suffice.’
The floor felt as if it had dropped from under me. ‘I don’t understand. Why?’
‘Because the legends about dark magic and how it came to be are false, and the truth behind your bloodline has also been hidden. The Maureians were not divinely chosen by the gods to bond with dragons; it was a leash meant to keep your people close and controlled. Your bloodline brought the Mrak to these lands so many millennia ago. It is true that one of the first dragon gods bonded with one of your ancestors, and when they floated on the edge of death, that dragon used its powers to pull your ancestor back from the spirit realm. However, they came back with something they had intentionally stolen from that realm. They confused the Mrak with unlimited power. The dragons pulled it from your ancestors’ blood, but an echo of it remains. Instead, they fused it to an obsidian stone—one that was gifted to us Morgadians for protection. To ensure it would not fall into the wrong hands and corrupt. They had never anticipated that the necklace would corrupt those who wore it.
‘So they buried it deep in the depths of our lands until one of my ancestors found it all those years ago. They used it as a key in the Ancient Forest to unleash more into the world, infecting it. Not long after, the last dragon and your not so distant ancestor—along with the Wiccans and the Forest Fae—worked together to bind it, realising that the obsidian only worked one way to let the Mrak in, not to send it back. The dragons buried it elsewhere on our lands and wiped the memories of all who knew of its existence, but then I was born. A child who had vivid dream that would repeat over and over again. Ones his father took a great interest in. Ones that led his father to find that necklace once more. That child was me.’
My knees nearly gave out as I stumbled, clutching the wall, while Demir moved in closer to wrap his arms around my waist, steadying me. His eyes bore into mine, uncertain and fearful, scared of my reaction to all he had shared. I knew how I should react, but instead, I felt pity for a boy who was used by his father. I felt sick about the fact that I had believed the Maureians were true and just, but we were the catalyst for all of this, and the Morgadians were the protectors. How had I gotten everything so incredibly wrong? Breathing through the inner turmoil, my hand drifted up to his cheek to comfort him as his thoughts whispered to me.
I am sorry.
Shaking off reality and needing time to process all this information, I quickly stepped away from him. His eyes looked pained at the distance, but I needed clarity, and his close proximity always muddied my mind.
‘I can’t deal with this right now. Follow me; there’s something else I need to check,’ I said, turning around abruptly and walking down the hallway, needing to put as much physical distance between myself and that conversation.
We headed to Sienna’s office, where I knew I would find her tinkering away with Everett, trying to uncover his powers.
