I took a step back. Dozens of thoughts flew through my mind, cresting and falling and overlapping so quickly I couldn’t think straight. The emperor of the Veridian Empire was my uncle. The same man who had allegedly cast the Somnivae curse, who had doomed a whole host of people to its clutches and took the power of the empire for himself. The same man I had made a vow to tear down from his throne, piece by piece.
Shock, denial, and bitter betrayal warred within me. Morgana and Ragnar had never told me. I’d grown up believing everyone on my father’s side was dead, fallen ill to a pandemic that swept Feywood decades ago.
What else had they lied about?
I hadfamilyoutside of them. Someone else who shared my blood, hundreds of miles from my home. Someone who knew my father, who remembered him as he was—not the lifeless, gray-skinned, bleeding hunk of flesh I saw every time I closed my eyes. Gayl had memories of him I’d never imagined until this moment, but now, I desperately wanted to learn. What was he like as achild? When did he learn his magic? Who was his first love? His favorite food? Was he likeme, with a hard exterior simply begging to be cracked, our deepest desires and fears simmering beneath a surface of quick-witted remarks and a proud mask?
I wanted to know all of the things I never got to ask my parents, the pieces of myself I’d forged from nothing when I should have had hands guiding my way. Morgana had given me so much of my mother, had told me stories from their childhood and made sure I could see the joy that filled my mother’s short life. She gave me what she could of my father, but she hadn’t known him the same way.
This man before me…he did.
I thought what I’d had of my father had been enough to bridge that gap. But now…now it seemed like a gaping hole, pleading to be filled.
Gayl beckoned me closer. “Come, step away from the ledge. Explaining the demise of a Decemvirate challenger will be quite the headache.”
“Why tell me any of this?” I asked, refusing to move. My voice sounded distant and muffled, like I was wading through water.
He sighed. “Believe me, I was as surprised as you when you walked through the doors of the great hall that first afternoon. I did not intend for any of this to happen. But I haven’t seen my kin in so long, and when I saw you, I…” He trailed off, looking to the side at the cracked mirror leaning against the tower wall. His eyes carried a heaviness I didn’t want to try and decipher. “Forgive me. I am a sentimental man.”
His words had the opposite effect of what I imagined he expected. My resentment soared, shoving aside any twinge of sympathy I may have begun to feel for this man.How darehe try to appeal to my emotions, to think because I shared his blood that I would overlook the casualties he’d caused, his unjust reign over the last two decades. When he moved to reach out to me, I recoiled.
“I know your mother has died,” Gayl said, taking a slow step tome. “Your father, too. I tried to prevent that. I tried to protect him from Aris’ wrath?—”
I jolted forward. “Wait, youknewAris was going to murder him?”
He nodded grimly. “I had my suspicions. Aris and his family had gone into hiding, of course, but I kept eyes on his whereabouts. When I heard he was lashing out at those nearest to me in an attempt to seek revenge, I worried for Hamilton’s safety. I sent men to warn him, but it was too late.”
Branock Aris sends his love. My blood heated. The former emperor had been searching for those connected to Gayl and killing them one by one, just to send a message. My father was caught in the middle of a battle between these two rulers, an innocent bystander in a war far beyond his control.
“This was all your fault to begin with,” I said, so softly the words barely reached my ears. But he heard them. Regret lined his eyes, dejection showing in the downturn of his lips. “Branock Aris may have killed him, butyou’rethe reason he’s dead, aren’t you?” I asked, stronger this time, with a cold edge I used to cut through him like a sword. “If you hadn’t cast the curse, if you hadn’t stolen Aris’ throne, none of this would have happened.Your brotherwould still be alive.”
He met my stare. “Perhaps you are right, but you don’t know the full story.”
My hands shook. “Then tell me the truth.”
“Thetruth,” he mused, the word rolling from his tongue like honey as he paced across the wooden floor. “A fickle thing. For the truth to myself is not the same as it is to Branock Aris, or even, I daresay, to you. You have your own perception of what happened all those years ago, your own ideas buried beneath fear and whispers. Sometimes a lie is far prettier than the truth, Miss Wolff. The truth can sting worse than any poisonous fang.” He stopped moving and cocked his head at me. “Are you sure you can handle it, niece?”
I blanched at the title and the way he said it, as if he held somenew power over me. “Why start caring now,uncle? You haven’t for the past twenty-five years.”
He flinched, but didn’t deny it. “Twenty-seven years ago, Evadine Aris went into labor with her firstborn. A daughter by the name of Clarissa. She was born swiftly in the middle of the night, a great answer to the many prayers uttered to the Fates. But what they did not know was that Evadine had been blessed with twins. A rare occurrence, especially for two people of different magic lines.
“Their son, Zareleon, was unexpected and caused complications within Evadine. The baby was in distress, and his mother was losing too much blood. The midwife made the decision to cut into her to remove the baby by force. She told Branock the chances of both his wife and his son surviving the procedure were slim. And so, he summoned me.” Gayl paused, looking down at his gloved hands.
“I had gained the favor of Emperor Aris in the short time I’d been here in Veridia City. I’d arrived only three years prior with nothing but the clothes on my back and the charms in my pocket. I spent what little money I had on seeds to grow my own herbs, then sold various potions and remedies in the markets. Not six months into my time on the streets, the emperor paraded through the sectors, as he often did to check on his people and see how they fared.
“There was an accident. His horse was spooked and threw Branock from its back, leaving him with several broken bones and a critical injury to the head. I happened to be nearby and was able to heal him with charms on hand. He said he had never seen a healing spell work so well and so quickly, even being from a family of Alchemists himself. He insisted I accompany him back to the palace and serve in his court.
“We became as close as brothers.” Gayl cleared his throat and turned away from me at the word. “Together, we honed our magic. We grew strong. We solved the problems of the empire—eradicating illnesses, ending food shortages, creating more resources.He trusted me above any other. Which was why he turned to me when his world was falling apart. He called me that night from my slumber to save his wife and son. To do the impossible. What Branock did not know was that the babe’s life left him upon birth. The Fates had been ready to take him.
“But I stopped it. I saved him.I brought him back.” His words pulsed around me, the very air between us thickening and sweetening with the taste of power. “And magic that strong has a price. It demands payment. The Somnivae curse is more than acurse, Miss Wolff. It’s areckoning. A consequence for what I took from the Fates—for what Branock made me take.”
Was he saying that he’dbrought someone back to life?
That was impossible. Leo should be dead, according to Gayl. If the Fates were truly out there, there was no way they’d allow something like this to go unchecked. Someone with the power to overthrow their precious plan for destiny, who could bend laws of nature and rewrite the stars at will. I couldn’t fathom the boundaries he’d crossed, the amount of magic he’d used, all to save the baby’s life.
“H-he was dead?” I stammered. “You brought him back from the dead?”
“I did what I had to do.”
