A rounded section of the room where the light didn’t touch held a hearth and a new dining table of polished wood stretched across the kitchen. There, Lady Zinnia sat. She rubbed her face, looking like she’d aged ten years overnight. Across from her, was Calla. The demoness watched her with glowing red eyes, legs crossed on the table, relaxed. Yet she was still dressed in armor, knife spinning in her clawed hand.
“My lady was tortured,” Calla said coldly. “And her magic was stripped. How did that male manage to get his hands on her? Who taught him that siphoning spell?”
Zinnia sighed “The Calverons were proficient in magic, Harbinger. It didn’t take long for Eldrik to learn how to use the Elder Tree portals. The spell is woven into the bark itself. He used a few Tanzanite stones to focus the magic. I had no part in Alora’s capture, as you can see.”
She motioned to her wrists covered in burns and blisters.
The same burns Alora had before Rune healed her.
“He was armed withHellstone,” Zinnia said tightly. “Do you truly believe I would willingly give that power-hungry fool the means to bind me?”
Alora absentmindedly rubbed her wrists, recalling the black stones veined in red.
It is ore from the Abyss, Rune answered before her question could fully surface.The same once forged for the prison holdingthe Primordials. Only a shard is enough to bind us lesser beings.
“As for the siphoning spell,” the Thornbearer continued, tapping on the scroll set on the table. “This array is far more advanced than anything I have seen in all my years. It is magic of the gods.”
Calla bared her fangs. “And you are a demigoddess. How do I know you speak the truth?”
“Because she is also fae,” Alora said quietly. “And the fae cannot lie.”
All looked up at her as she descended the stairs with Rune at her side. With a swipe of his hand, the shadows drew the curtains over the windows. Thick enough to block the sunlight without leaving them in complete darkness.
Calla stood and dropped to one knee, bowing her head.
“Is it safe?” Rune immediately asked.
Alora frowned.Safe?
“Yes, sire. I have warded the cottage,” Calla replied. “With the Thornbearer’s wards on the Midlands, full protections are in place. Everything’s been prepared.”
Before Alora could ask what that meant, Delphi looked up.
“No amount of preparing will stop what is to come,” Delphi said, her cold blue eyes meeting hers. “If you had simply not resisted?—”
Rune snarled, shadows lashing across the floor. The wood split with a violent crack. Delphi flinched back, clutching her son.
Zinnia shook her head. “Remain silent, sister. You have done enough.”
Delphi glared at her. “And what have you done? We both made a promise to Salvia but only I attempted to right her wrongs.” Her gaze snapped to Alora again. “Everything I have done has been for the sake of the kingdom.”
Alora held Delphi’s gaze, holding onto every bit of calm she could muster as a slow burning rage boiled in her blood. “I will ask you clearly and I expect a sincere answer. Did you aid Calveron in their conquest for Argyle.”
“No,” Delphi replied tightly.
“Did you provide Eldrik with the siphoning array?”
“No.”
“Then why did you help him?”
“As if I had a choice!” Delphi snapped, clutching Rihan with shaking hands. She bore the same burns on her wrists as well. “I did not scheme, or plan, or set them upon you. Calveron came for the magic in our divine bloodline. I hid my son for I would not offer him up as chattel. When Eldrik set his eyes on you, I saw an opportunity for the benefit of us all.”
Alora’s chest tightened, her body trembling with memory of pain and terror, the utter helplessness as Eldrik peeled the divinity from her veins.
“Benefit?”she repeated.
The room darkened. Shadows spread through the room, swallowing the light and warmth.
