Taurus’ eyes remained on me for a moment but, eventually, he relented.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “The assassination attempt wasn’t an assassination attempt at all. Or maybe it was. I’m not even certain anymore. But the main attempt, I think, wasn’t to kill father but to curse him.”
“Curse him?” Cass asked, sitting forward in interest.
“It’s powerful magic, Lark. Ancient. Whoever did this has to be… old.”
Taurus was staring into his brother’s eyes as if trying to get him to understand something from the simple look that passed between them. It seemed to have worked. Lark cocked his head to the side.
“You don’t mean—” Lark began but Taurus was already nodding.
“Who else? I’ve never seen anything like it, Lark. Even Ursa couldn’t undo it and you know about her… specialties.”
“What’s the curse?” Cass asked, her jaw tense for an entirely different reason now.
“It’s his power, his magic. It’s been… funneled out him somehow, like locked away. He can’t use it, Lark.”
I felt the silence in the room in my very bones. A powerful Fae, a King of a Major Court, unable to use his powers, cursed so that he could not access his magic? What force could have such a capability to lay such a curse at the King of the Bone Court’s feet? And, if they could do that, what else were they capable of?
Cass was openly gaping at her brother. Lark was quiet, contemplative, as if thinking about every consequence of such a thing. Rook didn’t say a word but his jaw clenched and I caught the worry in his expression, the fear. I felt it like a bitter taste on my tongue, permeating the room, the fear.
“Rifts between the planes,” Lark finally said, his voice sounding older, more tired, “ancient curses wreaking havoc on Fae Kings, beasts awakening from their slumber. Taurus, when is the last time you checked on Hellscape?”
Taurus frowned at that.
“It’s been… a while,” he admitted and Cass muttered a curse.
“You were appointed its warden five hundred years ago,” Cass reminded him. “How many times, in all those centuries, have you actually done your duty?”
Taurus reached up with one hand to rub the back of his neck, uncomfortable.
“I’ve been busy,” he said but Cass was already shaking her head, blowing out a breath, incredulous. “Besides, why would I need to pop down there time and time again just to check on a prison that’s stood for millennia?”
“Because, you bastard, one of the minotaurs escaped into the mortal realm and killed at least a dozen soldiers and would have killed more if Ren hadn’t stopped it when she did,” Cass snapped.
“Ren?” Taurus asked, and must have noticed the sidelong glance Rook passed my way because his eyes were drawn up to mine once more. “Her? The mortal? She slew a minotaur?”
No one answered.
“Lark, come on,” Taurus said then, his tone almost pleading, much less impressive than the booming bravado he had displayed before. “You know the title of Warden means nothing. Not really. Not when those beasts have been down there for generations.”
“Except they’re getting out,” Lark drawled slowly, his gaze narrowing as well. “And it’s your responsibility to lock them back up again. You need to go down there, Taurus. Now.”
Taurus was rubbing the back of his neck again.
“Yeah, see, that’s not possible,” he said, his face turning as crimson as this court.
“What do you mean it’s not possible?” Lark asked, his tone taking on a measured fury which grew larger with every word he spoke.
“I sort of… lost the key at one of the gambling dens around here.”
Cass gaped.
“You lost the key?” she asked, stunned. “You unbelievable bastard.”
“Who?” Lark asked simply, his voice now simmering with rage.
“He didn’t look like much. I knew he couldn’t get in anyway, not without the magic of a Fae, so I figured—”
