20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Thea

I was confused when my father demanded my presence this morning. He and Jesper waited for me in the throne room. I glanced over the matching scars across their cheeks, and my darkness seemed to chuckle inside me. My eyes wandered around the room, looking for any sign of my bloodstone. I had been scouring this damn castle every day for it, and I couldn’t find it. I couldn’t ask about it because I was not supposed to know anything. It was making things difficult for me.

I needed it so I could go home to Cassius.

“Thea, we are starting our war against the other kingdoms.” My father waved me over nonchalantly, as if these weren’t living beings we were talking about. Hesitantly, I stepped forward to the map. My gaze drifted over Elloryon and all the places marked on the map .

“We are starting a war with everyone." I glanced up. Why?

“Yes, but it’s more like we will be assassinating the royal bloodlines.” Jesper smiled.

My darkness swarmed inside of me at this news. Why would we do that?

“Tonight, we will be sending someone to Akecia to kill King Sybrien and his wife.”

“What for?” I asked. “I didn’t realize we were not friendly with any kingdoms.”

“Power,” my father said. “I will be the king of all the lands, but that can’t happen unless the royal bloodlines are gone.”

Instinctively, my eyes flickered to Jesper. I would gladly kill his bloodline right now.

“Jesper is not on the list. He will not qualm to my place as king. After all, he will inherit it all when I step down and he and Tally are married.”

That’s what you think, asshole. I will rule the realm, and my mother will help me.

Jesper took a hesitant step away from me.

“Who is going to kill them and when?”

“They’re already on their way.” My father looked at me as if he were expecting some sort of reaction to this news. I didn’t show him how disgusting I found his plan. My face remained neutral. “We will let you know when it is done.”

“Sounds good.” I nodded. “When will you attack Falgon and Crimson? If they hear about the attack on Akecia, they may go on the defense and attack us before you can kill them.”

My father’s eyes filled with pride, but I was just trying to throw him off my scent.

“Likely, tomorrow night.” Jesper smiled at my father, speaking without saying a word.

“Let me know when it’s done.” I smiled. “Should I prepare the men for war just in case?”

“Yes,” they spoke together.

“Very well.” I gave them a curt nod and headed for my room. My darkness was not relenting inside of me. She was pissed. When my bedroom door clicked, I fell to my knees at the pain my darkness was causing. I let it out, and she swarmed around me, angry as fuck.

“What should I do?” I muttered.

My darkness stilled and seemed to be watching me. Its dark tendrils of magic darkened until shadows swarmed around me. I closed my eyes. My own magic was going to fucking kill me. I didn’t understand what I did to piss her off.

The temperature change had my eyes flickering open cautiously. I was kneeling in the snow. What the fuck? I whipped my head around. My mouth fell open at the beautiful white castle behind me. My darkness urged me to get up. Where were we?

My foot crunched into the snow as I started for the castle. A sound of pain stopped me in my tracks. Glancing around, I saw a guard lying in red snow. He was bleeding. Hurrying over to him, I kneeled.

“How many of them are there?” I asked frantically.

“Two,” he muttered.

“Is this Akecia?”

He looked at me like I had lost my fucking mind but nodded. Shit. Magic swarmed from me and toward the man who was dying in my arms, but it stopped. He had already died. I laid him down gently before heading inside. Two more guards were lying dead. My stomach churned. Gods, I hoped I wasn’t too late.

A moment later I heard the unmistakable noise of a dagger cutting through flesh. As quietly as I could, I headed up the grand staircase. When I got to the top, I glanced down the hallways on both sides of me. To the left, I could see two figures opening doors quietly. To the right, I saw nothing but darkness .

I turned to go after the two figures, but my darkness circled around me and forced me towards the right.

"They are this way." The man with brown eyes appeared in front of me. He had disappeared, and I thought I wouldn't ever see him again. His soft golden glow illuminated the darkness in the hallway. I nodded and kept silent as I crept through the dark hallway until I saw a room with two doors decorated in gold and jewels. Shoving the heavy door open, I slipped inside. When I turned, someone punched me in the face.

“Fuck,” I groaned as I stumbled into the door.

"Oh shit." My stalker muttered.

A light flickered on, and standing in front of me was a large male fae. Very large, with white hair and beard. His dark eyes widened when he saw me. A movement in the bed drew my attention to a petite woman with red hair and large brown eyes.

“Thea?” The man whispered harshly.

“I’m assuming you're the king.” I wiped the blood from my nose. He nodded. I sized him up. He was fit, and I wasn’t sure if he even needed my help.

“Whatever your father told you isn’t true. You don’t need to harm me or Petra.” He was practically begging.

It dawned on me then; he thought I was here to kill him .

“I’m here to help. Someone is here to kill you and your wife.”

There was an uncomfortable pause of silence.

“Did you break your curse?” The king looked oddly at me.

“No,” I sighed. “Your guards are already dead. The men will be here any moment.”

The king looked at me without moving.

“What?” I asked self-consciously.

“I just thought maybe you remembered us.” He frowned. I knew them. My gaze flickered to his wife, and she smiled and gave me a small wave. They seemed familiar, but I didn’t know why.

“Were we friends?”

He smiled brightly.

“Yes. Great friends.”

Before I could respond, I heard the soft creak of someone sneaking up to the door. He heard it too.

“Go to your wife and pretend to be sleeping. I will kill them when they both come in,” I whispered.

He opened his mouth like he would argue.

“Cassius will kill me if something happens to you,” he whispered back.

I flashed my eyes red at him, and he didn’t look scared. The king gave me a sassy look, like he couldn’t believe I would try that on him. After a short stare-down, he sighed in defeat before turning to the bed and crawling in, holding his wife closely. Something about his wife glowed. It was odd, but I forced myself to focus. I grabbed my daggers and hid behind the door.

It only took a few seconds for the doors to slam open.

These are the worst assassins. The king and his wife sat up and stared at the men.

“King Sybrien. Queen Petra.”

One of the men chuckled and did a half-bow.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Sybrien barked at them.

“I think you know what we are doing,” the other man said. I couldn’t see anything about them with their backs to me. They were dressed in all black with hoods on.

“You won’t get away with this,” Petra snapped.

“We will. By the time Crimson or Falgon realizes what happened, our men will be sneaking into their homes and killing them too.”

My darkness was fuming inside of me.

"Hello, fellas,” I said as they approached the bed. They stilled and twisted to me immediately.

“Thea,” one of them muttered.

They slipped off their hoods and stared at me. Their faces were familiar.

“Did your father send you to do the honors?” The one with black hair asked, confused. But the one with blonde hair glared at me.

“You came to protect them?” he questioned.

I smiled.

“Fucking Crimson whore.” He charged at me. The insult made my darkness explode from me with anger. I humored him by using my daggers against his. He swung and swung, too angry to fight well. Shoving him off of me, I readied my dagger for the killing blow, but before I could, my darkness seeped from me. It shot through the man like an arrow, leaving a gaping hole in his chest as he fell over dead.

The next man stared at me, terrified. Taking a small step backward, he tried to show that he was no longer a threat, but I could never let him go willingly.

“I’ll leave,” he begged.

“Too late for that,” I answered. “You’ll tell my father what I did.”

“I won’t,” he cried out. “Show me mercy.”

This made me angry.

“Show you mercy,” I snarled. “Like you were going to show them? You came here to kill an innocent couple because of greed. I will show no one mercy. ”

I wrapped him up in my darkness, squeezing him until he cried out. Then I summoned my fire magic, focusing on the man’s heart. His cries stopped instantly, and it made me smile as he burned from the inside out. His charred body fell to the floor. My skin felt hot, my eyes blurring with rage.

“Thea.” I heard Sybrien speak, but it was as if he was far away, not right next to me. “Thea.” He tried again.

It wasn’t until Petra stood in my line of vision that I blinked out of the rage that was taking over me. Her red hair fell in pretty curls over her nightgown. She was glowing, and for some reason, it concerned me.

“Are you ill?” I finally asked her. Her big brown eyes widened when she realized I was asking her. My magic didn’t hum like she needed healing, but something was odd with her.

“No.” She hesitated. “Do you see illness in me like you did with Sy?”

I glanced at him but didn’t see anything coursing through him. It was her that I was drawn to.

“You’re…glowing.” I looked at her and didn’t understand what was happening. Petra’s eyes looked over herself oddly. She didn’t know either. A moment later, I saw Della appear behind them. She was smiling, but Sy and Petra didn’t seem to see her .

“She’s with a child," Della answered. “You can see a new soul forming; that is what the glow is.”

“What do you mean?” I asked and realized that Sy and Petra were going to think I lost my mind because they couldn’t see her.

“After Cassius killed you, you needed part of my soul to make sure you could come back each time you died, so you can see souls—life. Just like I can.”

I just stared at her. There was a lot to unpack about that, but now was not the time.

“You need to get back to Cerithia; they are going to be checking on you to make sure you aren’t interfering.”

I nodded and turned my attention to Sy and Petra again. I smiled softly when I saw the faint golden glow around her. My smile dropped when I realized the man who followed me also glowed.

“I need to go.” I panicked.

“Wait!” Petra stopped me. “Who were you talking to?”

I swallowed hard as I turned back around.

“Ardella, the Goddess of Life. She’s a friend of mine.” Gods, I sounded like I had gone mad.

“What did she say?” Petra frowned. I realized that she was worried about the glowing.

“She was telling me why I see you glowing,” I answered.

“Is it bad?” Sy panicked .

“No.”

“Tell us,” Petra begged. “I will go crazy thinking I am dying, and you aren’t telling me for some reason.”

I nibbled my lip nervously. I didn’t want to ruin this moment for them.

“I don’t know if I should. It might ruin the surprise,” I said honestly.

“You won’t,” Sy promised.

“You’re pregnant,” I confessed. “I can see the glow of your child’s soul.”

They both gaped at me. Obviously, this was a surprise to both of them. A second later, Petra reached forward and squeezed me tightly in a hug.

“It’s so special that you told us,” she cried softly. “We miss you.”

I pulled back and looked over both of them as they held each other tightly. They were familiar, but no memories surfaced. I turned to leave the room, but Sybrien pulled me back so he could stare me in the eyes. His dark eyes glanced into mine like he was looking for something.

“You don’t remember?”

I shook my head.

“Then why did you do it? Why would you care if we died?”

“I don’t have an answer for you. It just felt wrong. I have to go before anyone knows I’m missing. Please tell Falgon and Crimson that my father and Jesper plan to send assassins to kill the royal bloodlines in the next few days.”

“I’ll tell them.” He frowned as he let me go.

I headed for the door again but paused for a brief moment.

“I hope I can remember being friends with you both someday and meet your child.” I glanced at them as they held onto one another. “Triple your security.” But paused. “Is Jesper's mother alive?"

“No, the Queen of Kizar died soon after he was born.” Sybrien looked at me oddly. I nodded, then turned without a word and walked around the corner, willing my magic to take me back home.