by Willa Hart
“Well, you point out many differences between us that I hadn’t considered. I am well-liked by all, and you’re hated, in fact, loathed by Eliterrati and Dreg alike. So yeah,” I say with a smile, “I suppose you’re right there. You know, Uncle, unlike Taraz who is all about science and Sarkany who is nearly entirely driven by passion, the way that I’m most similar to you is in my pragmatism.” I press my fingertips together and gaze at him. “I understand your use of power and your need for clean blood.”
Uncle tilts his head to one side, intrigued by my words.
I lean forward in my chair. “Do you not remember, that one of my fathers was on your side?”
Uncle’s eyes narrow. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that you’re not without allies. It’s a pity you couldn’t see that. Didn’t know. We could’ve worked together, you and I. Thus making it unnecessary for you to kill all three of us and Princess Katya.”
Blood rushes from Uncle’s face, his skin now the color of snow. He glances from me to Wagu. “I would never even consider killing Princess Katya. And as for you and your brothers, it is only because your brother, and I assume you as well, have determined that your fated-mate is a Dreg and have thus corrupted the blood that you must be destroyed.”
My gaze lasers in on Uncle. “I have no fated-mate and I’ve corrupted nothing.” I send a tendril both to Uncle’s mind and Wagu’s. I’m exploring a theory about Uncle and Wagu’s relationship that’s percolated in my mind for a long while. A dark secret about Wagu’s Mind Capability that my Uncle keeps.
“Your brother has sealed your fate and Taraz’s, once I find the smart little bastard.”
Uncle stands and walks to the front of the desk. His mind darts about as if a wild animal is caught in a cage. His thoughts race, filled with Dreg death and blood and visions of me and Sarkany burning on the stake tomorrow. He paces in front of me and spits out word after word of hate and cruelty and meanness. I watch him as though I’m enrapt by his words, all the while I peel away the layers of Uncle’s mind. So much easier when he’s consumed with his own racing thoughts. A forbidden trick, one I’ve never really tried until now, not this deeply, not this far.
Deep breath. I’m in the base of his mind and I’ve found no light, no spark, no possibility of his mind having the Eliterrati Gift, but perhaps he has become impenetrable; perhaps Uncle is such a brilliant Mindslayer and his mind so strong that he’s discovered or created a new way to hide his abilities from the world.
My tendril creeps around to the very base of his mind, where his brain meets the stem; here is where the tendrils of mind abilities grow from, the very place where they are rooted. It is here where every Eliterrati or otherwise who bears the ability of the mind finds the source of their power, and the very reason if you remove the capability you kill the human, for to damage this part of the brain is to give a fatal blow.
My tendril reaches out and…nothing! Goddess! He is a zerdthir; an Eliterrati without the gift! My suspicions were right. Should anyone know that he has no mind power he would be dead within an instant. It is only the incredible fear of his Mindslayer abilities—which are obviously false—that no one has ever before attempted to enter Uncle’s mind. Because if one would be discovered deep in a Mindslayer’s mind, a horrible, painful death would be quick and certain.
I pull my tendril from Uncle, certain that he can cause me no mental harm. As he continues to spout expletives about Dregs and Wolveskin I turn to Wagu. Is it possible? Oh, if my suspicions are correct… I’m now in Wagu’s mind, a hyper-sensitive mind but not capable of detecting a mind that is a direct descendant of the Queen and her Kings. No…there are a few skills that are inherited from the Roya bloodline.
I press my tendril even deeper into Wagu’s mind. Yes…yes…there is the mind ability now. A capability that should have gotten Wagu killed as a boy, for he has what for a Dreg is The Curse—the illegal ability to use his mind to link to others.
“But Uncle,” I say. “Not to interrupt, but surely you realize how Dregs can be used for our benefit. Wasn’t Wagu a Ninaku Dreg before coming to serve in the Palace?”
Wagu’s eyes widen and focus on me.
Ah yes…I press my mind even deeper into Wagu’s using the Roya mental charm, so that Wagu has no knowledge of my presence in his mind.
Uncle stops pacing. “Wagu?” His gaze rolls over the fat squatty man standing in a blue robe with gold embroidery. “Wagu is a valet and nothing more.”
“Really? Nothing more?” I ask. “He has no mind abilities?”
“The Curse? If Wagu had The Curse, then I would’ve slayed him.” Uncle walks to Wagu and stands in front of his valet. “It’s the law,” Uncle continues. “Wagu cannot exist, even as a Roya Dreg with The Curse.”
“So the law states,” I say. “And yet…” I turn my gaze to Wagu and rip off my charm. I am now deep in his mind. So deep that he can’t get me out. I grip his mind as though my mind has talons that squeeze the tissue of his brain.
“Master…oh, Master…” Wagu moans. He presses his hands to his temples. Closes his eyes and steps back. Excruciating pain. He feels it, and I am the one that causes his mindslay. A small trickle of blood drips comes from Wagu’s nose.
“What?” Uncle takes three steps toward his valet. “Wagu! What is happening Wagu?”
“Uncle, you’re a capable Mindslayer are you not?” I ask this ever so calmly and quietly as I slowly kill Uncle’s valet. “Surely you know that Wagu has The Curse?” I press harder into Wagu’s mind and feel the needle and the thread, the base and root of the tendrils where they live in the very back of Wagu’s mind. I grasp them and start to pull ever so slowly, ever so painfully. Torture to Wagu as I gently pull the stalks of his ability from his mind.
“No, please, no…” Wagu whispers. He drops to his knees and falls to his side. I stand and walk around the desk to where he lies.
“Stop,” Uncle says. “Stop, I command you to stop.” He stands over Wagu.
“I’m surprised at your empathy, Uncle. Did you not just finish telling me how you have none?”
Uncle presses the back of his hand to his mouth. His eyes widen.
This Dreg, Wagu, has been a Mindkeeper and the source of Uncle’s power for decades. “What would The Counsel say should they know that the most feared Mindslayer in the Kingdom was not a Mindslayer at all but a zerdthir that had broken the laws of the Kingdom by having a parasitic relationship with a Dreg?”
“Please, oh my Goddess, please,” Uncle says. He steps toward me.
“One step and the Dreg dies,” I say. “The tendrils that are deep within Wagu’s brain are mine. I hold them in my grasp. One gentle tug and he is no more.” I stare into Uncle’s eyes. “And I think it’s clear based on your response who the real Mindslayer is.”
I walk to Uncle and stand before him. “What would The Counsel say if they realized that this entire time, while you Cleanse the Blood and spout your hateful rhetoric, you have been using this…Dreg as your Mindslayer? That you, dear Uncle, are a zerdthir.”
Uncle closes his eyes. “What do you want?”
“What I want,” I say, “you’re unable to give. But the first thing that you’ll do is to set my brother free.”
Uncle nods.
“And the next is to prepare for me to be your Mindslayer King.”
“King? The Kingdom shall not accept you as its King with a Ninaku Dreg at your side,” Uncle spits out.
I squeeze the tendrils in Wagu’s mind.
“Oh Goddess,” Wagu wails.
“And yet they accepted you?” My eyebrows crease. “With your Ninaku Dreg?” I twist a little deeper and loosen a bit of Wagu’s brain. I walk behind Uncle to the chair that was Mother’s and sit. I place my boot on the desk and cross my legs. “Uncle, let’s make a little deal, since you’re so keen on negotiating. You will release Sarkany immediately. Once his safety is confirmed, I will release your Dreg.” I glance at Wagu, who now twitches on the floor in a c
atatonic state. “You shall report that Sarkany has escaped with his life and is not to be pursued and that I, Leo Roya, will be enthroned as King.”
“There has not been a solitary King in…” Uncle shakes his head “In eons.”
“And yet, it was your plan all along, was it not? To kill the three of us and then Katya just before her coronation so that you could rule alone?”
I press my mind deeply into his; while Uncle is a zerdthir and cannot use his mind as an Eliterrati should be able to, his mind can still be read. “Ah yes…there is the truth…not even so deep within your mind. How funny—now that I know you’ve been utilizing a Dreg for mind power, I can easily read yours.”
Uncle’s jaw drops open. “You…you have no right!” Uncle says, and backs away from me.
“Oh really? After all you’ve done to me and my brothers? Please, dear Uncle, you’re lucky I don’t slay you now.” I poke at the center of his mind; Uncle’s eyes roll back in his head and he presses his hands to his temple.
“Please, no, no, no…”
“How strange that you trusted Wagu to be in your mind and yet…” And then I see it…deep in Uncle’s mind just exactly why Uncle trusted Wagu not to hurt him. How Uncle abused Wagu and used him for his own sick pleasure. Then deep in Wagu’s mind I hear Wagu’s simple heartrending prayer: Please, Prince Leo, release me from Vlissimal, free me from his twisted use of me.
My heart hammers in my chest. I think, You know what you ask? There is no safe way remove you from Vlissimal…it has been too long.
Please, Wagu pleads through our link. Please free me from the torture. Please release me to the Goddess.
I swallow. My gaze locks with Wagu. A flicker in his eyes; pain, need, want, freedom.
“You sicken me, Uncle,” I say.
Rage pelts through my chest. I want to send Uncle to his grave, but I cannot do so, not yet; there is too much to accomplish and I need him, I need Uncle for cover.
“Wagu shall no longer be your Mindkeeper,” I say. I press deep into Wagu’s mind and remove his connection to Uncle. In its place I implant myself deep into Uncle’s mind. Now in Wagu’s place, I have much more control over Uncle than Wagu ever did, because Uncle has no leverage over me. I now control Uncle and what he can and will do.
“Go, Uncle. You must release Sarkany, and I intend for you to do so before the sun sets on the Empire.”
“But you will…you will release Wagu?” Uncle says, and bends over his lover and dearest ally and friend.
I laugh. I throw back my head and laugh. “No, Uncle, absolutely not.” And with that, I rip the tendrils from Wagu’s mind, crushing his brain stem. Blood pours from Wagu’s nose and ears.
“Oh no!” Uncle yells. “My Wagu!”
With that, Wagu is free. I steel myself and turn to Uncle.
“Oh stop your tears, Uncle. As you’ve said before, there is little value in a Dreg.”
Chapter Thirteen
Taraz
“She lives,” Rex says from the entrance of Meela’s room.
I lift my chin from my fist. I sit beside Meela’s bed and stare at her sleeping face. I’ve spent the last two days willing her to open her eyes and reaching out to her mind. While her color is better, and the infection has retreated, she’s yet to return to consciousness.
“She needs to wake up,” I say.
Rex walks to the other side of the bed and he looks down at Meela. She looks so small next to him.
“I wonder,” Rex says, his gaze on Meela’s face, “does she know who she is?” His gaze turns from her to me. “Do you?”
A protective feeling slices through the center of my body, a desire that Rex take a step back from Meela’s bed.
Rex throws back his head and laughs. “Oh, Professor,” he says. “You are much too transparent. No wonder it is Prince Leo who is the diplomat in your family.”
“Was the diplomat,” I correct with a bitter tone in my voice.
“Is,” Rex continues in his deep voice. “I have news. At least one of your brothers survives. Prince Leo. He has killed the Dreg Wagu.”
“Why?” I ask.
Rex walks toward the fireplace. “Do you know what a zerdthir para-succubus is?” Rex asks.
“It’s an Eliterrati without any mind powers who merges with a Dreg who has The Curse. A parasitic relationship is formed. It’s illegal, dangerous, and highly unstable for both the Eliterrati and the Dreg,” I say. “Why are you asking me this?”
“It seems that your brother, Prince Leo, discovered your Uncle’s secret—that he is a zerdthir and that Wagu was his host. Prince Leo killed Wagu, but has allowed your Uncle to live,” Rex says.
“Uncle is a zerdthir?” I shake my head, my gaze darts around the room. “But…that’s…impossible,” I say.
“Is it?”
I lean back in my chair and think of the last eight years in which Uncle was Lord Regent and how I never saw him without Wagu. “Perhaps not,” I say. “Is it possible that he’s been hiding in plain sight this whole time?” I ask.
“Anything is possible,” Rex says. “As a scientist you know that some things are less likely to happen than others, but all things are possible with the correct circumstances.”
“He hid his zerdthir, for his entire life,” I say. “Such a secret. He would’ve been cast out of the realm if his inadequacy was discovered, and if his relationship with Wagu had been found out, he would’ve been executed.”
“Perhaps another reason for him to find a Dreg with The Curse and form this zerdthir para-succubus relationship,” Rex says. “With your segregationist policies, you really leave so few choices for those that are different in any way.”
I stiffen beneath Rex’s judgement of my people and my Kingdom. “The Queen was trying to change these laws. Our mother fought to bring Dregs and Eliterrati together to form a new society.”
“Ah yes,” Rex says, “The Queen. I remember her well.”
“What do you mean you remember her well? You never met my mother.”
Rex smiles. “We’ve not been a secret to all of the Eliterrati for a millennia nor does the entire Wolveskin population know of our interactions with humans. Keeping the two groups apart has been a goal of both your Kingdom and my pack leaders for a very long time, however there have been envoys between the two groups.”
“I know nothing of this.”
“You wouldn’t. Your mother would’ve kept this from you. She was already putting her life and your Royal house in jeopardy by attempting to integrate Dreg and Eliterrati.”
“So she sent members of the Royal house to you? Here? In this place?”
“And we sent Wolveskin to your Kingdom,” Rex says. “My father knew your mother. He had great respect for her. And was sad to see her pass.”
Surprise rushes through me and yet, knowing my mother, not surprised at all. Her greatest hope was that all sentient creatures could find common ground and live together in peace.
“Thank you,” I say. “She was a great woman and a true leader.”
Rex turns to Meela and walks to her bedside. “Our two houses are more closely linked than you might know,” he says.
My eyebrows knit tight. I have questions, but I sense that Rex has no intention of answering them yet. He leans over Meela, and plants a hand on either side of her shoulders. The movement is so intimate and possessive that the urge to leap up and jump on Rex’s back pulses through me. How dare he get so close to my fated-mate…my Queen. I don’t move because while I seethe on the inside, King Rex has made no aggressive movements and we’re guests in his Kingdom. He peers down at Meela’s face. Meela smiles in her state of unconsciousness and Rex smiles as well.
Are they…are they communicating? My mind contains no communication from Meela.
Nothing.
And yet, Rex leans over Meela smiling, and Meela in her sate of unconsciousness smiles as well.
“She loves the forest and the creatures within it,” Rex says. “Especially a skunk that s
he knew as a child. Seems this same skunk was the creature that reminded her that she had the ability to mind connect with animals.” Rex stands up to his full height and turns to me. “She’s happy within her mind as she heals. There is joy for her while she sleeps.”
His words set my teeth on edge. I’m the one who saved Meela’s life; why does she let this Wolveskin into her mind and send me nothing?
Wait…am I jealous?! This is new. It’s a horrible twisted feeling that climbs through my gut and makes my heart hurt. I must discover a way to tame this beast that lives within me.
Rex smiles. “Good luck with that, Professor,” he says as though he can read my mind. He walks to the door and turns back. His coy smile is on his face, the one that transmits so much information without any words. “Send for me when she wakes,” Rex says. “Her survival is important to me as well.”
Chapter Fourteen
Meela
I open my eyes. Firelight flickers across the walls. Where am I? I blink. Stars above me shine through a glass ceiling. I turn my head to the right, and asleep in a chair beside my bed is Taraz. I press myself up onto my elbows. Heat shoots through my left leg—not pain but heat. Memories of a battle at the hunting lodge swim to the surface of my mind. Then a great black wolf upon which I rode and then I was here…at the home of the wolf—Wolveskin! Wolveskin are real! Memories flood my mind and everything that happened before I fell unconscious floods in.
“You’re awake,” Taraz says. A tired smile crosses his face.
“I am,” I whisper. Fatigue weighs heavy upon me, but with my words, a burden lifts from Taraz’s eyes. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Too long.” A wain smile crosses his face.
“Sarkany!” I gasp. My mind zips to my link with Sarkany and there is no response. Sarkany, I think, my mind desperate to link with his. Fear pummels through my body as more memories from that night rise from the mists in my mind. Sarkany? I reach out my mind trying to find a mind-link to my fated-mate. Sarkany! I call through my mind. I squeeze my eyes closed and concentrate even harder, and yet all that returns to me from the mindscape is silence.
