‘Many men and women have touched me, princeling. Now go sleep out there; I’m exhausted.’
‘One more question. What were you like with him?’
Now that piqued my curiosity. ‘I was only a portion of myself; he only got to see pieces of me, not all of me. As for physically, it was fine. I tended to be in control a lot of the time.’ Instead of seeing more jealousy enter his eyes, hunger flashed through them. How interesting.
With that, Demir left without another word, but his shoulders seemed a little tighter.
Thirty-Six
The morning was spent getting updates from my council members as the border ban was lifted and news began travelling fast of everything that had taken place behind our walls. At noon Everett and Demir met me by the Forest Fae barracks. It took every bit of self-control not to let my eyes wander over his muscular form. Jasper was training our archers and running them through drills. The moment we approached they all stopped what they were doing, uneasy around the Morgadians.
‘Queen Skylar, it is an honour to have you join us for our training, but do you think it wise to have the enemy see what we are working on?’
‘Are you questioning me, Jasper? You have been here for five minutes. Know your place or your assistance will stop once Cain returns. Now, show me what you’ve been working on.’
Nodding sheepishly, he turned back to his unit and ran through some drills. None of the archers possessed the same magic as Jasper did, but their bodies were finely-tuned weapons all the same.
‘Get in the pit. Let’s show them how it’s really done,’ I ordered.
The Forest Fae that surrounded us began to chatter with excitement. Demir and Everett followed behind us, muttering something to each other out of earshot, but Demir’s eyes bored into me excitedly.
Before anyone could mark the start of the match, and before I had even fully turned to meet him in the centre, Jasper used his power to create a chasm beneath my feet. The earth cracked and pulled apart; it took everything I had to grip the edge as I fell through. He crumbled each place I laid my hand as I tried to pull myself up. The cavern beneath me grew deeper and darker, and instead of scrambling to escape it any longer, I let go and fell into its depths. I could hear the crowd gasp and Demir call my name.
As the darkness completely consumed me, I morphed into a falcon and shot through the sky. The black smoke from the change pooled around my body, casting the crowd into a sea of darkness. As it cleared, everyone below was looking at me. Jasper also had the ability to control creatures. A swarm of birds of every shape, size, and colour surrounded me, so I dove toward Jasper. As I flew over the crowd on the ground, they scattered. Morphing mid-air, I landed behind Jasper and pressed my blade against his throat. The birds instantly stopped and dispersed.
‘Forfeit,’ I commanded. Jasper’s jaw clenched as he didn’t want to seem weak in front of those surrounding us. I pressed the blade a little deeper until a drop of blood appeared and kicked the back of his knee until he fell to the floor. He was a fighter, though, and that made him want to rise again. But I slammed my foot down between his shoulder blades until his cheek was covered in dirt.
‘Apologise,’ I ordered now, pushing him further due to his insolence in questioning me in front of everyone. Still, he remained quiet.
‘Jasper, your bloodline means nothing here. I rule these lands, and I rule the Forest Fae within these walls. You may lead them for now, but they answer to me just as you do. If you cannotshow me the respect I am entitled to, you may leave. I do not need you to fight for this cause. There is nothing you can give me that someone else won’t. Now kneel and beg for my fucking forgiveness before I start breaking bones and not just your ego.’ As I stepped off, Jasper knelt before me, casting a quick wink my way before lowering his head; it was a show. A way to draw the line for the Forest Fae, but I had nothing to fear. I had shown my loyalty to the Forest Fae, and in return they were loyal to me. They would never bow down to his bloodline again.
Before Jasper could utter his plea, the temple’s bell rang. A sound that had not been heard since Visarous’s death. A new Spirit Caster was here to replace him. Without another thought, I left Jasper, Demir and Everett in the pit.
The temple was alive for the first time in weeks. At the foot of the altar, I found a young man with the same ice white hair as Visarous, but this stranger had hair so short that you could see white swirling ink markings on his scalp. He rose and turned to me with the same pale eyes I had known, perhaps even loved, and then killed. But he was different. He was fierce. Hungry. Young and trying to prove himself. I saw it all.
‘My Queen, I am Mattias, the new Spirit Caster. I am here to help guide your council and prepare for the Ascension of the Souls. Due to the untimely death of my predecessor, I do not have much time to pull the event together as nothing has been prepared in his absence. I would love to sit with you and have a discussion regarding the event, as it is only two weeks away.’
‘You Spirit Casters work quickly. I assume you only received word of his death today, yet he’s already been replaced. Do you know how he died?’
‘Yes.’ He met my stare unflinchingly.
‘Good, then you know what will happen if you cross me. You are not a council member. You have not earned that right. As a Spirit Caster, feel free to do as you wish with the ascent of the souls. Speak to Cain about whom to invite. Until then, I do not want to see or hear from you.’
Turning on my heel, I left the temple, seething at the thought of someone occupying the space that used to belong to Visarous, even if he had betrayed me. I needed to purge that man from my mind.
The next fewdays were a blur. I avoided Everett and Demir, leaving them to Sienna to deal with, but I was unable to escape the all-consuming thoughts of him that took hold every time my eyes lingered on his muscular form from a distance or his messy brown hair in the sunlight and those piercing eyes the held an equal mix of heat and amusement. I spent most of my time with theOracleor in the library, trying to see if an alliance with the other realms was even truly possible. Geraldine had informed me that Cain would return any day now and slowly I felt like I could breathe again.
‘Geraldine, I need you to do a favour for me.’ The look on my face told her exactly what I would be asking.
‘No, you promised me you would never ask me to use my abilities.’ She started to shake as though she was laced with fear. ‘You know what it does to me.’ I did know. It was one of the reasons I had let Cain take her in all those years ago. She was exploited for her ability to warp memories and trained into submission through brute force. Now, even the slightest mention of her gift sent her body into convulsions. If she dared use it, her body would shut down, her mind blocking her from her own abilities to protect itself.
‘I need you to shift the memories of my time in Morgad. I need to forget those moments. I am worried they will impact my judgement in what is to come.’
‘No. Do not ask this of me again because if you do, I will abandon my post and choose death than to relive my past.’
I couldn’t do this to her. Nodding, I dismissed her.
It wasthe end of the day, and I was in the throne room, hearing the last of my people’s concerns. As the last one left, Cain strode in. An invisible weight I had been carrying lifted at the sight of him. Without thinking, I walked to him, meeting him in the centre of the hall. Jasper, my council members, Everett and Demir, were standing on the edge of the hall watching us, but I didn’t care about pretences in this moment. I needed the comfort that Cain had always afforded me, even though I had drawn a line between us the last time we met. It was familiar and safe, not world ending like Demir was to me.
