“How?” I blurted, then shook my head furiously. “No, no, I don’t want to know. That’s dark magic, Your Majesty. Unnatural.”So why was I so intrigued?“How come you haven’t gotten rid of the curse?”
He scoffed. “You think I haven’t tried? After we understood what the curse was doing, I spent months attempting to reverse the spell I had cast to bring Zareleon back. Branock and I enlisted the help of every trained Alchemist we trusted, but nobody could figure out what had gone wrong. Over time, however, the truth became clear to me.
“There was one component to the spell we had not touched. One variable I had not been as forthcoming about with His Majesty. Not an ingredient, not a spell.”
I froze, my sudden inhale sharp and icy in my lungs. “The baby. Zareleon,” I whispered.
Gayl nodded. “I had never told Branock how his son’s life had been forfeit, nor the depths of power I’d had to draw from in order to bring him back. It was too dangerous. All Branock thought was that I’d healed his wife. But it was the missing piece. In order to reverse the curse that had been cast as payment for saving Zareleon?—”
“He would have to die,” I finished for him, horror snaking through my veins. Gayl merely stared at me, unmoving, confirmation shining back at me through his white and blue eyes.
It explained everything. Why the curse was connected to the birth of the twins, why nobody had been able to banish it after so many years. I couldn’t believe Leo was still alive, if he was the key to ending the suffering and loss of so many people.
“Have—have you ever tried to kill him in order to break it?” I asked warily.
He grimaced. “I have considered it many times. Watching this nightmare unfold and knowing I had the power to stop it…I warred within myself for a long time. Once, Branock caught me in the nursery standing over his son’s crib with a pillow in my grip.” When Gayl saw the horrified expression on my face, he shook his head somberly. “I wouldn’t have done it, of course. But thethought…” His jaw tightened. “You look at me with revulsion, but you cannot begin to understand the way this burden weighed on me. The way it still weighs on me. Branock had me imprisoned and forced me to explain what was happening. I think, in the end, thetruthwas what began his downward spiral. He turned utterly paranoid, thinking I had told others and we were plotting against his family, preparing to kill his child at any moment. He was rash and suspicious, a terrifying combination for the man ruling an entire empire. The people blamed him for the curse and in a way, they were right. I had warned him the night the twins were born how the price would be too much for him, and he didn’t care. The guilt ate at him, but he wasunwilling to give up the life of his son to save thousands. Eventually, it became too much for him. He abdicated his throne and fled the palace with his family.”
“And how convenient it was that you were more than willing to wear his crown,” I said, but my words lacked bite. I felt both hollow and overflowing with information at the same time, his story and my own doubts weaving a spider web in my mind.
“Make no mistake, Miss Wolff—I am not a saint. But perhaps”—he took a step toward me, and I didn’t back away—“I am not the monster you have been so eager to believe.”
I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Apparently I’d said the words aloud, for Gayl smiled, a resigned upturn of his thin lips. “I don’t expect you to readily trust me. But there is so much more I wish to tell you, Rose, if you will allow me. So much your father would want you to know.”
I met his stare at those last words, sensing the growing urge within me to feel connected to my father, the yearning for the life with both him and my mother that had been ripped from me.
What if Gayl was telling the truth? What if Rissa and the Sentinels had it wrong? Branock had obviously never told his children how the curse had really come about, since they still believed they could find the secret for banishing it in the pages of Gayl’s Grimoire.
It was pointless. His Grimoire would solve nothing. Their entire focus of the last five years was for naught.
I closed my eyes.The mission. I was still expected to find the book and help them counteract the curse, removing Gayl from power in the process.
I still wanted that, didn’t I? Only…to break it, Leo would have to?—
This wasn’t something I was ready to deal with tonight.
We know how this ends, daughter of the moon—only you will decide who meets their doom.The parting words of the Oracle splintered through my mind. Had they known? Was this what they had been referring to? This knowledge Gayl and now I possessed that coulddecide the fate of so many people…it was like a bucket of ice water had been thrown over me.
Too much. This was alltoo much.
“I—I need time, Your Majesty,” I choked out, opening my eyes to his pale features, the moonlight making his eyes glow.
Gayl bowed his head. “Of course,” he murmured. “I understand. All I ask is that you do not speak to anyone about what we’ve discussed tonight. I’ve kept this knowledge hidden from the world for over two decades in order to protect Branock Aris and his family, even in his death.” His gaze bore into me. “I’m afraid your new friend will wind up dead within hours if others were to learn the truth. It’s one of the reasons I made sure Zareleon and his sister stayed far away from this place. Living as a recluse in this city is the best way to ensure he is not hunted and sacrificed.”
I pursed my lips and nodded. He was right—people would line up at Leo’s cottage demanding his head on a spear if they knew the real story. But that meant Gayl had beenprotectingthem this whole time. Some sort of savior in the shadows. Did I really believe that? That his actions were completely selfless, that the idea of Clarissa rising up to claim her rightful title as the Aris heir had never influenced him to keep her far from the throne?
Nobody was that altruistic. He’d said so himself—he wasn’t a saint.
But perhaps he wasn’t the villain, either.
I had never been the naive girl who believed every word fed to me. I wasn’t like Morgana and Beau, desperate to see the goodness and sincerity in the darkest of lives. There was always both. A balance. We all lived in shades of gray—some lighter than others, some so bleak you had to search for the smallest glimmer, the faintest spark. And as difficult as it was to questioneverythingI’d accepted about our emperor over my life…he’d planted a seed of doubt tonight. Maybe there was truth to his words, some goodness to his actions over the years.
Gayl stepped to the side and swept an arm to let me pass, his cloak swishing at the wooden floor as he moved. I tooka step toward the stairs, but before I could go far, his hand fell to my shoulder.
“While I have pardoned you, my own blood, for wandering these halls in search of my secrets, that forgiveness only extends so far. I protect the Aris heirs from the mistakes of their father and from certain violence that would come if anyone discovered the truth, but if I find them and their little group of rebels continuing to lurk where they don’t belong, I cannot promise the same forgiveness.” He released his grip. “I hope to see you again soon, niece.”
I held his stare and nodded once.Therewas the threat I’d been waiting for.Therewas the all-powerful Emperor Gayl, the one who incited both fear and awe in his subjects.
