I swirled among the semelees once more.How did King Paevin know the Dark Raider would be in Possyrose Forest the other week? How did the kingsfae know to be there looking for Jax?
The semelee at my left made a sound, as if wanting my attention.The king used one of his newly born half-breed children to find the Dark Raider’s whereabouts. That half-breed child has only recently come into her power. She’s still very young, but she’s incredibly strong and wields Mistvale psychic magic. Her magic is more powerful than the most talented siltenite psychics. That child was able to see where the next raid would be. That was how the king knew where your mate would be in the forest that night.
It felt as though my heart stopped. A child. The king was using a half-breedchildwho he’d bred in captivity to learn things that no other fairy could know. King Paevin was just as horrid as my guardian and Saroly, if not worse.
And equally troubling, if the king’s enslaved child psychic could do that once, he could force the child to find Jax again, which meant that Jax would never be safe as long as King Paevin ruled Faewood Kingdom with no consequences.
How long has the king been breeding half-breeds? How long has he been doing this unchecked? And how old is that child?
The king started his plan seven summers ago. Initially, he only captured a few half-breeds since he was finding it hard to locate powerful ones. That child is one of the first enslaved children to be born under his plan. She’s only six summers old right now, but her magic grows stronger with every day that passes.
My soul whirled as worry and revulsion pummeled through me. That half-breed child was only six.I hadn’t been much different in age when my guardian had also manipulated me to use my magic for his bidding.
I called to the semelees again,How many half-breed children are currently enslaved to the king and have been born in such a way?
The semelee nearest me curled around my ankles.Only that child and twelve others, all born to the same couple. Seven summers ago, he wasn’t able to acquire enough anklets to have more than one breeding couple as he kept the remaining anklets he’d purchased to use on the children they planned to have. It wasn’t until the Hartivul Mine had an explosive production of rhifilyte gemstones a few months ago that his plan really catapulted. Originally, King Paevin thought it would take over a hundred full seasons to create his army. But with the mine producing so many of the gems that he needed at once, he took advantage of that. He commissioned Saroly Yimmperfae to create as many anklets as the mine’s production allowed, and he took it as a sign from the stars and galaxy that the gods wanted him to continue his plan since the mine had produced so much.
If I could have vomited, I would have. No wonder the king had been so insistent that Jax sell me to him when I arrived at his side. King Paevin wanted to acquire me too. He probably would have put an anklet on me in addition to my collar, all so he could own and control a lorafin. Perhaps he even would have bred me.
Stomach tumbling, I forced my questions to continue.Where is he keeping the child that located Jax?
She’s living in the caverns with the others. Since the king’s acquirements of half-breeds have grown, all of his captives have been moved there. Previously, he kept his breeding couple locked in his palace, hidden away from prying eyes in a secret chamber, but now that he’s enslaved so many half-breeds, he’s had to find larger accommodations.
I nodded. That also aligned with the timeline Esopeel had told me of when strange occurrences had begun in the Wood. And to think, it was the Hartivul Mine’s creations of so many rhifilyte gems at once that had been the catalyst for all of this. If so many gemstones hadn’t been created and harvested, the king wouldn’t have been able to enslave so many half-breeds. He needed that gem’s potent power to control their minds.
I turned to another semelee, one that hadn’t answered me yet.How many adult half-breeds does the king currently have in his caverns?
The semelee immediately bowed submissively.Sixty-two.
And you said he currently has thirteen offspring from his breeding couple, but there are no other children currently born?
Correct.
And how many spare anklets does he still have?I asked another.
Nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven. He keeps his collection of anklets in a locked chest in the caverns, and he seeks to acquire many more half-breeds. Each child born is to wear an anklet as soon as their magical abilities begin to manifest. The anklets he’s purchased will remain stored in the chest until needed.
I blanched. The king could potentially have an army of close to ten thousand, just as Saroly had reported, and given the strength of the child who foresaw Jax’s raid in Possyrose Forest, and the strength of that single half-breed I’d seen in the Match Finals, the semelees were right. The other kingdoms didn’t stand a chance against an army with that kind of power. The child psychic alone could tell the king exactly how to win each battle.
Rage seared through me, and my power crackled.Well, none of that is going to happen if I have any say in it.I seethed inwardly. The king was still on the hunt for more half-breeds to create his offspring, but we now knew the majority of his anklets were reserved for the children to come.
And to think, just one of the children he had enslaved had nearly brought down the Dark Raider. It would be unfathomable what thousands of children with that kind of power could accomplish...or destroy.
And the king’s plan was moving rapidly forward. His one breeding couple had already produced thirteen children in only a few summers. And given how powerful the psychic child was that he already had at his disposal, I cringed to think of what the other children were capable of.
Stomach turning, I began to back up.Thank you, but I must go. I have much to do.
The semelees followed me to the Veil, and since I hadn’t drifted far into the Veiled Between, I didn’t need Jax’s magic to assist me back. And I wasn’t sure I would have needed it. Without my collar, a tingle of magic pulsed through me, sharpening my focus and intrinsically directing me toward the Veil. That had also never happened before.
The second I was free of the Veil’s embrace, magic swelled inside me and catapulted me back through the galaxy to the fae lands.
I came to, on the bed, sucking in a huge rush of air. Eyes flying open, I was greeted with tousled black hair right in my line of sight.
Jax, who’d been kneeling at my bedside, shot to standing.
“You’re back.” His gaze swept over me, his irises like burning sapphires.
In the hall, banging and sweeping sounds could be heard as the others cleaned up the mess from this morning, and given the heady scent of magic permeating the air, I had a feeling Phillen and Lars had returned with the construction charms.
