I do, gasping, “This is incredible. How?”
“The creditor said the offer was conditional.”
“Conditional?” I frown. “What do you mean?”
“The creditor said the condition is that you need to do something and then my Reign debt would be forgiven. I’ll be protected by Reign under some special ruleandI’ll be unmarked!”
My brows furrow. “I have to do something?”
“I found this on my pillow earlier.” Benji pulls paper from his back pocket. “It’s addressed to you.”
I take the paper from him and unfold it. Scrawled in elegant, familiar handwriting, is one word.
Soumeter.
My stomach plummets. “I…”
“We’re not really sure what it means,” the other boy says.
I stare down at the word.
Soumeter.
The babe is mine. So, in a way, mother and child are both mine,the king had said.
Benji’s stable.
Benji’s pillow.
The message is clear; he will not wait any longer.
I have run out of time.
“Let me see your arm,” I say.
“What is it?” Benji asks, revealing the four remaining rings. “They’re almost gone!”
So, this is all that remains—four debt tattoos on his right arm that all belong to House Reign. Submit, and the king will forgiveBenji’s remaining debt and protect that freedom. The boy would be legally protected by all three of the crediting Houses. A privilege so few have, not even most High Fae.
Refuse, and tattoos could strangle all of his limbs once more. One stroke of the quill, and the wealthiest House will decimate a boy, as it has decimated countless children before. Would Healing and Illusion fight for Benji? Would they want to, potentially risking war? Not over a faerie, surely.
Soumeter.
“Avery?” Benji tugs on my sleeve. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” I bend down to hug the child, my brother, the faerie who has already lost so much, too much. “Everything’s okay. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He hugs me back, planting a wet kiss on my cheek.
Reign begins with the body, and Maxian will not own Benji’s anymore—not his labor, not his life. Even if I must pay for it with mine. I don’t know what the king has in mind, but months ago I said I would do anything to free my family. And I will.
Pride, after all, is such a small sacrifice in the face of hope.
Chapter Fifty-two
If I go now, Icould be back in time for dinner, and Kassandra will not suspect a thing. This is what I tell myself as I slip the golden moth onto my finger. Perhaps I can swing by the Mouth first, speak with Carter and Fern. But the sooner I go to the source, the sooner it’ll be resolved. Whatever is coming my way, I have leverage: the scars on the king’s back, the screaming voices, the blood bargains and blood oaths sworn to keep family secrets buried. And whatever remains, in the center of it all.
We may not be on equal footing, but that doesn’t mean I hold no ground.
