Valdis rested his arms on his knees, a hand lifting to swipe through his hair in a gesture Ingrid had seen King Lorch make many times before. As he lifted his head to watch her again, she saw a flash of silver in his hand.
A dagger.
“Unfortunate that you had to see that, Miss Polaris. Unfortunate for you, but your misfortune is my gain.”
Her blood ran cold as she began to inch away from him, his hard face watching her with naught a flicker of emotion.
“W-What do you mean?”
Valdis lifted the dagger, scrutinising the blade as it reflected the moonlight. “I was going to wait until I returned to Bonemire before I could test a theory, but thanks to Sister Klotho I am able to have my answers here tonight.”
The sound that escaped her lips was a low, keening moan.
“Nooo… Please. I’ll do anything, anything you wish. P-Please…”
His eyes found her again, and Ingrid knew at that in that moment she was about to die. There was no sympathy, no empathy in their dark depths.
Oh Gods, Sybell. She had not had the chance to say goodbye.
The dagger was swift, the steel swiping across her throat and the girl coughed, her hands flying up to clutch her neck. Blood oozed through her fingers as she emitted a strained gurgle, her eyes wide and staring.
Valdis watched; his expression impassive as he studied the girl. Her mouth opened and closed, eyes beginning to dart as she slumped back against the stone wall.
“The others… they did not survive.” He paused, lifting a chunk of glittering, glowing blue crystal in his palm as the girl gasped and coughed, her skin becoming pale as her lifeblood drizzled through her fingers.
“Merely ingesting the crystal in shavings was not enough to grant the power of the magic contained within the Nexus Crystal, neither was consuming it in larger pieces. Many of the experiments become sick and violent.” He paused again, eyeing her. “In high doses they began to lose themselves, but some began to show signs of retaining the slightest signs of magic in their bodies.”
Ingrid gurgled again, beginning to slide down the wall, her eyes rolling back in her skull.
“Their minds though, their minds were lost to the madness. They were incoherent, fixated on causing death, mindless with rage.” He studied the girl as her struggling began to cease. Blood bloomed in a slow-moving pool around her, staining the floor.
Valdis, his boots just out of reach of the pool of blood, continued to speak, his low voice gracing now deaf ears.
“The Nexus Crystal. It teems with magic, pulsing with energy as if it has its very own heartbeat. That had me thinking… What if the crystal were to replace a heart?”
Valdis spoke as if the room were his audience, as if the girl laying close to death at his feet were part of a casual conversation. “Of course, no one can live without their heart, and many times had we attempted to place the crystal within the heart of a live host. Countless hosts died, none surviving.”
His eyes glittered, transfixed on the crude, glowing quarts-like crystal in his palm and the blue glow washed over his wide eyes.
“But, what if the crystal itself acted as the host’s heart? Replacing the organ completely within a still warm body.”
Swiftly, Valdis’ body shot forward as he speared the dagger into the girl’s chest with a sickening crunch, before jerking the dagger savagely.
“I guess there is only one way to find out…”
~~~
“Your father will kill us if he finds out,” grinned the young man as his fingers twined with those of his lover.
The moon was high, stars an endless sprawl of diamonds in the inky blanket as his head tilted back, against silver-lit blades of grass.
They were naked, the two of them. Skin pebbled with gooseflesh and sweat, golden hair swept into a messy thatch, the man’s fingers danced over his partner’s palm, before sliding his dark green gaze to the void above.
Tonight had been a significant step in their relationship and they knew that their lives would only become far more complicated because of their feelings for one another.
They would not approve.
Or… his father would not approve.
But they did not care. If tonight was their last, then they would welcome it with open arms.
Surveying the sky, he pointed at a constellation of stars bunched together within a hazy band of light.
“It’s strange, where I come from, you can’t see that particular family of stars. What are they called?”
The golden-haired man inched forward and placed his lips to a quivering, pale-skinned bicep.
“Valdis?”
Valdis tilted his head, his young face unmarred, copper hair swept in the same messy manner as his lover and blue eyes luminous in the starlight.
“Dragon’s Breath, they call it Dragon’s Breath,” he replied, face unchanging as he whispered, “Are you cold, Micah?”
Micah shook his head, his gentle smile never leaving his face as he sat up and stretched languidly.
“No, but we should get back before anyone sees we are missing.”
Valdis sighed, following Micah’s lead as they dressed in the clothes they had left strewn across the grass.
Their friendship had been a long one, and despite Valdis’ flaws, Micah had persisted in being his friend anyway. Slowly their friendship blossomed to something more, and for a long while Valdis had tried to dismiss the feelings warming inside him.
Micah had become a soft escape from his father, for when they were together, he could almost forget the feeling of his father’s blows to his body – almost forget the heavy, terrible weight of his father’s words on his mind.
You are not good enough.
You are weak.
You will never amount to anything in this life.
His father was a curse of a man, but his words held a truth that Valdis could not ignore. He felt weak, and he did not feel anywhere good enough.
But when he was with Micah – none of it mattered. Not his duty, not what he was set to inherit – despite his father’s acidic words.
Despite it all, Valdis had the overwhelming need to impress his father, to make him proud. He knew Micah hated that he felt this way, but Micah did not know what it was like to have a powerful, influential parent.
A wealthy merchant with a steady following, Urther Kruel was a hard and unforgiving man. He was ancient in his beliefs and would never approve of his son’s love for another man.
Everyday a violent tug of war raged within Valdis’ heart. It left a bitter feeling of sadness and shame.
But then he saw Micah’s face, and storm clouds parted to reveal blue sky.
Cool fingers tugged at his hand as Micah brought Valdis’ thoughts back, and the young men began heading back towards the substantial building atop the hill behind them. With a small smile, Valdis and Micah shared a quick kiss under the torchlight before breaking apart.
Valdis let their hands drop as they alighted the back steps to his father’s estate. Micah pressed against the heavy mahogany doors, straightening his scholar’s uniform as they entered quietly.
Then they heard the sound of a woman’s scream.
Sharing a quick, startled glance, Valdis and Micah flew down the hall, following the now audible thumping sounds of struggle – coming from his father’s study.
Slamming into the room, Valdis froze in the doorway.
Blood.
So… much… blood.
It coated the walls, puddled on the floor, beaded against the glass of the window looking out over the estate grounds – vermillion rubies in the moonlight.
On the floor was his mother.
And above her glassy eyed corpse was his father, mad eyed and shaking.
“Father!” call
ed Valdis, taking a step into the room. “What in the Gods’ name have you done?”
Urther’s head snapped up, his eyes widening as his thick bearded jowls quivered, gold buttons shimmering in the candlelight upon his expensive tunic.
“She deserved it. She was one of them. One of them.” The man breathed, hands shaking around a ruby hilted knife.
One of them.
When his father spoke this way, Valdis knew he was referring to the beings they hated above all else.
The Fae.
Valdis tasted sweetness on his tongue, mixed with the copper tang of blood.
Magic.
But… his mother was human, not Fae.
Valdis held up his hands pleadingly as the smell of alcohol asserted itself in the thick air. His father was prone to fits of rage, induced by alcohol and drugs and often Valdis and his mother were on the receiving end of his dissolution – until the effects wore off.
“Father, you are letting the madness win. Put the weapon down,” he pleaded, moving towards him slowly.
“You don’t understand, they’re coming for me, for all of us! Magic is whispering madness in their minds. Magic is madness! Magic is death!”
“Father, please.”
Suddenly in the darkness just beyond his father the shadows rippled.
And then, a figure emerged from the black.
Draped in black leather, the figure was slim yet tall, hooded in shadow.
Female.
Valdis suddenly knew what had come for his father.
His fate had been decided.
His string pulled taught.
Ready to be cut.
Micah pushed into the room behind them, and Valdis’ head turned just as the man’s mouth opened to scream.
Magic flared through the air, a hot crackling whip of electricity that slammed Valdis to the floor and sent Micah flying against the wall.
With a mere flick of the assassin’s wrist, his lover was pinned there – eyes wide and terrified, hands scrabbling at his throat as if invisible fingers choked his windpipe.
Valdis’ boots seemed to be melted to the floorboards, palms stuck to the wood like glue. Straining, rage flickered to life as the woman – the Fae woman – gripped Urther’s throat.
Urther spun to face the assassin, the knife slicing through the air. She slapped the weapon from his hand, and Valdis swore he heard bone snap as his father grunted in pain before being thrown to the floor. Pooled blood sprayed as his father’s back hit the wood, and the assassin poised above him, elongated canines glaring in a snarl from beneath her cover.
Valdis’ eyes slid from Micah, to his mother, then to his father as the man struggled.
“No!” Valdis yelled, struggling against invisible bonds. “You are unnatural! Evil!” Deep down, Valdis believed this to be true. Magic brought nothing but fear to his heart, his father’s words thundering in his mind as he delivered blow after blow.
Swallowing against bile and sugar, Valdis watched as the assassin tilted her head, strands of golden hair slithering from the confines of her hood, blue eyes glowing against skin of alabaster, elongated canines revealed in a half moon smirk.
“Once your thread of life is spun and measured, young lord, there is no escaping your final fate,” the woman whispered, her face wiping of all expression as her hand hovered over his father’s chest, nails sharp as talons.
“Too bad your son and his lover had to see this, Urther Kruel. But no longer shall the Gods watch your reign of death upon our land. Your actions unbalance Fythnar and plunge us all into chaos.”
Valdis tried to rise, his muscles straining against invisible bonds. He did not wish for his father to die, despite his abuse, despite everything he had done to him over his eighteen years.
In a strange, twisted way – Valdis admired his father’s strength and steely determination to stand up for his beliefs, even if they were said to be dipped in darkness. As he watched now, he knew what his father preached was true - magic brought nothing but pain as the woman’s hand speared into his father’s chest.
Her fist emerged, dripping with blood, fingers curled around Urther’s heart.
Valdis had not realised he was yelling, wailing at a pitch so high he hardly recognised his own voice.
Then something dashed past and Valdis felt his heart lurch as Micah ran at the assassin. His friend was swift, slamming against the woman during her momentary distraction. They fell to the floor, a flurry of limbs and blood.
Valdis was fixed to the spot as the assassin’s hand flew up, slamming against Micah’s chest. Bright light burst forth, their bodies engulfed in blue flame as magic snapped in the air.
Then, Micah fell.
His back hit the floor, smooth features frozen in a look of gentle shock.
His eyes slowly glazing.
Chest still as stone.
Valdis stared into lifeless green eyes, eyes that had held a sparkle of mischief and love.
Just beyond his vision, the woman’s face contorted in a strange expression, and if Valdis had not been slowly consumed by heart-tearing grief, he would have seen the brief look of sorrow she gave.
Swiftly, she placed a simple line of thread upon Urther’s hollowed chest, before slipping out the open window and into the night.
Valdis choked against the remnants of magic, his arms quaking as he crawled to Micah’s still form.
His fingernails caking in congealing blood, he scooped Micah into his arms, rocking back and forth as he gazed upon the face of his love.
No, no, no, no.
He could not be gone.
Just like that, with just a small shock of magic, the light of his life’s heart ceased to beat.
Magic was madness.
Valdis pressed his forehead to Micah’s, pain stabbing at his insides.
Magic only brought death.
He had believed it before, but now – now he believed it with absolute clarity.
His father had been right.
Micah was dead because of magic.
Darkness coalesced within his heart, thick black tendrils of ice sprawling like fingers across his soul.
From that night, Valdis made a vow as he bellowed to the Gods, his heart shattering like fallen crystal.
He swore to end magic… no matter the cost.
~~~
Lifting the clear crystal to the moonlight, Krepth studied the thing with narrowed green eyes. His jaw slid forward as he brought the empty Nexus Crystal to his nose and sniffed.
“I wonder if I were to lick it, would it taste sweet like that which magic leaves on one’s tongue? Or like a rock…”
Arii snorted a laugh as she said, “Go ahead, try it.”
“Trust you to sniff the thing like a mongrel, Krepth,” Nem commented as they loitered in the shadows of the castle on the dragon landing. The constant rumble of the waterfall was the best cover for their conversation. Nem leaned casually against the cool golden wall, her oceanic eyes luminous in the moonlight as she studied the Shifter.
Krepth’s eyes slid to the silver haired Fury, smirking. “You have no idea what I smell on you, Silver Moon, forest leaves and… is that jasmine? Delicious. What would you taste, like I wonder?”
Nem rolled her eyes. “Do not even think about licking me.”
“Surely I can think about, but you never truly know until you try.”
“Try it, and you’ll lose your tongue, dog.”
Krepth huffed a laugh as Arii gestured at the crystal. “The Reaper was drawn to someone here in the castle, someone with powerful magic. So far, I have not seen anyone with such power but that does not mean it is not here.”
Krepth’s head tilted to Arii, his dark hair flicking into his eyes as he rubbed a hand across his smooth jaw.
“And you haven’t sensed anything?”
“No… nothing significant… but there have been hints of magic in the castle. Nothing to draw a Reaper’s presence.”
“The Princess?”
“Pure human. In the wrong place at the wrong time.”
A canine tugged at her bottom lip as Arii retrieved the crystal from Krepth’s palm, staring into the now dormant thing as if it held the answers.
“I can’t help but notice the King is still breathing.”
Arii’s head snapped up to two sets of eyes watching her. Immediately, her hackles began to rise. Krepth lifted his hands before his long-term friend could tear his head off. “I’m presuming there is a good reason, Arii? It’s not like you to flounder on an assignment.”
Her violet eyes were fixed on her friends as she thought through her answer carefully. They were just that, her friends, and had been for a long time, but they still answered to the Three Fates, and what she told them could either land them all in bloody water or cause them to turn her in to the Sisters for punishment.
How was she supposed to admit to her friends that she was beginning to doubt fate? The very thing she had believed basically all her life, especially since her initiation into the school. Everyone had their fate and it was inescapable. The Furies just... sped up the process for those chosen by the Gods.
“I have hit a few, shall we say, hurdles.”
Krepth’s brows shot up.
“Hurdles in the shape and form of a tall, dark and handsome bodyguard to the King?” drawled Nemesis.
“Not only that, I feel something else is at work here, as if something is being… prepared,” said Arii.
“Arii, what are you talking about?” snapped Krepth.
“The Kryverns, the missing creatures from the lake, the heartless corpse on the castle grounds and now the Reaper? All of these things are pointing towards a disturbance, something that I don’t think this Kingdom is ready for. The land is divided, the Courts have never been so disjointed,” she explained, beginning to pace.
Krepth tapped his lips with a forefinger, studying the dark-haired Fury with keen, assessing eyes. “I think our little Violet Assassin is right. Nothing this exciting has happened since… well, since before the last powerful Fae magicians were hunted to the point of extinction. With powerful magic came all sorts of strange and wonderful beings, but back then the Courts were united and balanced with magic.”
Love, Blood & Fury Page 29
