Page 106 of His Realm

“He has barely slept, we were all drugged, and Ødger sliced Jason’s neck before he turned into his wolf,” Carice reported. “He did not change into the wolf of Maedoc, as that is the sole dominion of the prince, but a wolf of a kind.”

I eased back to look at Varic’s face. “You told me that only those in the line of the king can shift.”

“I did, and I apologize. I made you think it was only in my father’s line, but it is, in fact, the entirety of the Maedoc clan. My father has always presented it like that, and so I do as well. But, as you know, the gene is in our DNA, all of the house of Maedoc related to Ascalon.”

“And triggered by the blood of the mate. That’s the special part that your mother read to me about. It’s her blood that made Cassius strong and makes you so powerful now. It’s what allows the change in Ødger—his mother, Lady Alruna’s blood.”

“That’s right,” he said, pushing my hair back from my face, examining me, my neck, my throat, and finally my eyes. “Your pupils are like saucers.”

“I’m not nearly as stoned as I was.”

He brushed my lips with his before leaning sideways, looking beyond me. “My consort will lower his barrier now, and if any of you move to attack us, I will have the rekkr slaughter you all.”

A chorus of “Yes, my prince” greeted his ears.

I breathed in deep and knew the barrier was down. Varic kissed my temple before staring at me, studying my face. “I would like to give Cirillo some blood to speed his recovery, as the stairwell reeks and I would like to be anywhere but here.”

“Of course.”

“I will not share my blood without your permission.”

“Yes, please, give him some.”

He put his wrist gently over Cirillo’s mouth, and the other man bit down carefully and drank. His former lover swallowed three large gulps before Varic lifted his wrist and licked over the bite, sealing the wound.

“I’m certain Ødger and Balon would give anything for you to bless them with your precious blood,” I told him.

He nodded. “From what I see, they wanted yours, my consort, and resorted to trying to kill you for it. Therefore, I will be honest and tell you that the season of my interest in saving them has passed.”

I smiled at him.

“You cannot think for a moment that I have any plans to do anything but raze this holding to the ground.”

But I knew better. “You won’t do anything of the kind.”

He grunted.

“You’re going to completely transform this place,” I said confidently. “I know you. You’re probably already making plans.”

One beautiful black eyebrow lifted.

“Hah! I knew it.”

“Yes, yes. You’re very smart.”

“But even though you may want it to, the changes you want to make here can’t happen all at once. You can’t bring all these people into the modern world all at once, they’re not gonna thrive,” I apprised him. He hadn’t seen as much as I had and I needed to explain. “You have to recruit teachers, therapists, doctors, nurses. These people need to be brought slowly from the place in time where Decimus marooned them into the here and now.”

“That’s not what you did with Dae-Jung. You threw him in the deep end and had him learn.”

“Yes, but Dae-Jung was aware of the outside world, the changes, he simply was not allowed the freedom to enjoy them.”

“True.”

“I think people need to be moved from here to smaller places, like perhaps your mother’s island, where they can be educated, and perhaps the castle can be changed into a school, a museum, a place of learning. There are so many rooms and spaces not being utilized.”

“There is much to consider,” he said. “But first, let’s get out of this horrible stairwell.”

I glanced at Hadrian. “Thank you for coming.”