Yes, my queen. What do you seek?the nearest one asked.
For a moment, I hovered in their midst, entirely speechless.My queen.How long I’d waited to hear those words. And that statement meant it was true. I’d fulfilled my birthright. I was finally, fully in control of them.
Another heady sense of power filled me. I could twist fate now if I wanted to. Such an act was illegal, and I would never do such a thing, but as their queen, that was my ability.
For a moment, I allowed myself to revel in pure wonderment. I had the power to alter the fabric of time, to change the very course of our universe as though I was Goddess Verasellee, the Goddess of Time, in the flesh.
But to do so was not to be taken lightly. I didn’t know much about past lorafins who had twisted fate, but the practice had been made illegal for a reason.
Returning my attention to the semelees, I said,I need to know who’s responsible for the half-breeds being locked in those caverns in the Wood outside of the Centennial Matches.
A large semelee shot forward, almost as though it wanted to prove itself and show its loyalty to me.It’s King Paevin.
If my soul could have stumbled, it would have.King...Paevin?I somehow managed to get out.
Yes, another replied.He commissioned that Solis fairy to create the anklets that are controlling the half-breeds. It is the Faewood king who’s behind it all.
I let that bit of information digest, and only one reaction billowed through me—shock. When I finally felt I had my wits about me again, I asked,And what about Bastian? How was he captured?
Another replied,A fairy the king commissioned found Bastian and determined he was a powerful half-breed. That fairy captured Bastian and placed the anklet around him before taking him back to the king.
I frowned.So earlier, when you told me Bastian was being controlled by another, that fairy was King Paevin?
Yes,a dozen semelees hissed at once.
But why? Why is the king doing this?
The semelees began to circle me, growing more vibrant and bolder with every swirl.
The king is harnessing the half-breeds’ ability to procreate at a faster rate than siltenites, one responded.Half-breeds have much higher rates of fertility than siltenites, and some of them are very magical, meaning their offspring can be quite powerful. The king would like to have those children under his control. And since they have few rights in your society, nobody cares when half-breeds go missing. It’s allowed the king to capture many of them and use them for his gain.
Another moment of speechlessness hit me, and I recalled something I’d heard in the tunnels the night we rescued Bastian. One of the guards had spoken of breeding. A sick feeling coasted through me. Stars Above.
I snapped my attention back to the semelees.But how is King Paevin breeding them? Half-breeds are given a potion at birth to stifle their ability to reproduce. And more importantly, why is he wanting to breed and control them?
A third semelee drifted forward, one who hadn’t spoken yet.The king has given them a counter-potion that he’s spent full seasons having his spellcasters develop. This potion has returned their fertility. And the king has done this so he may raise an army of magical half-breeds to do as he commands.
An army?My stomach bottomed out.
Yes, they all hissed in unison.
Do the king’s plans have anything to do with why there are so many half-breeds at the Centennial Matches right now?
The semelee nearest me, a large one with ribbed scales, nodded emphatically.Yes, my queen. Initially, when King Paevin devised the plan to develop a secret army, he sent spies throughout the kingdoms to search for powerful half-breeds to capture. This was many full seasons ago, and he’s slowly been capturing them. But that method was proving to be too time-consuming. Over the seasons, because half-breeds are so reclusive and often hide their abilities, the king feared he wasn’t finding the most powerful, so when his kingdom was invited to host the Centennial Matches, he opened up the Matches to half-breeds. That is why so many are there and why they’re being allowed to compete. He wants them to come to him, so that during the Match Finals, he’s able to determine who the most powerful half-breeds are. He’s captured those who are magically superior, and he’s enslaved them using the anklets. He’s keeping them hidden in those caverns beneath the Wood, and he plans to breed them to build his army.
Another wave of sickness filled me, and my soul swayed. I couldn’t believe what they were telling me. It was beyond disgusting.
But I recalled a half-breed I’d seen in the arena at the Match Finals, the one who’d resisted a poisoned dart and who’d been able to weave illusion magic. That half-breed had been immensely strong, and now, according to the semelees, since he revealed how magical he was, he was likely already wearing an anklet and enslaved beneath the Wood. That half-breed had thought he would be competing in the Centennial Matches, but in reality, he’d offered himself to the king like a prized treasure.
Gods and Goddesses, I whispered more to myself than to the semelees.How do we stop King Paevin?
The largest semelee near me curled around me until its cool skin met my fingertips.You could twist fate, lorafin. You are a queen now.
I jolted away from it.No, I will not disrupt the fabric of time. Such an act is illegal. Tell me how to stop King Paevin in the fae lands. A just way. A fair way that will stop any forward progression of his plan and will free the half-breeds he’s captured.
Another semelee slid along my side.If you refuse to twist fate, it will not be easy. You will need to enact the help of the other kingdoms. The kingsfae in Faewood are under King Paevin’s command. They will only listen to him. You will have to bring all of the kingdoms’ Houses into your confidence and share what you’ve discovered. It will result in much bickering and numerous squabbles. Many won’t believe you. Some will. It is those who have an open mind that you must convince. Only the three other thrones, and the four kingdoms’ Houses, working together against King Paevin will stop him. He’s already grown too powerful. The king sees and knows too much.
Hearing that reminded me of something that had happened with the Faewood kingsfae earlier. The night that I overheard them at the Venapearl Fountains, speaking of how the king had issued an order to arrest the Dark Raider in Possyrose Forest. King Paevin had known Jax would be there...and we’d never figured outhowhe’d known.
