AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But it was his eyes that set him apart more than anything. They were a vibrant orange-gold, as if his magick was eternally ignited by Solzkin’s fire. He was surely touched by the sun god, an anointed of the royal line of shadow fae.
“And what do I get for aiding you in desecrating our sacred altar of Solzkin by removing the words and giving them to your mizrah?”
He did not ask why. Nor did he protest that we wanted something that by all rights belonged to the shadow fae. They were a grave people. But this was beyond the usual sober or disinterested mannerism. There was resignation and below that, a layer of sadness, reeking from this young prince.
“What is it you want?” I asked, holding his fiery gaze.
At that moment, I wondered at the fact that none of his kind held the gift of zephilim. Vix had not bestowed the ability to use feyfire upon their kind. Their magick came from the bloodline of their ancestral mother, Mizrah, the daughter of Näkt, the gifts of night. And I would give this prince whatever he wanted, within reason, to use his manipulation of shadow to give my Una the last of the god-touched texts.
The prince walked forward to stand alone within our circle, made almost entirely of my Culled. Vallon remained in place at the perimeter.
Torvyn lifted his chin, his deep voice in earnest when he said, “I want to know how you managed to break your father’s wards in the dungeons of Näkt Mir so that you could kill him.”
My pulse quickened in surprise at his demand. “You want to know how I broke my father’s wards?”
Did his father, the one that was rumored to be mad, keep him in some sort of prison with wards? He was obviously free to go where he wanted. This was a strange request, especially for what we would get in exchange.
“Tell me how you broke his magickal chains. He held the power of Vix as the wraith king. Yet you managed to defy that power, the gods’ will, and take his throne.”
I thought back, trying to remember exactly what it was. Vayla and I had been imprisoned on the same day. I saw her in the cell, beaten and bruised, as my father’s bone guards had dragged me in shackles to my own cell near the wight pit.
“There was an oracle—a very special one.” Keffa stiffened and straightened at the mention of her. “She had prophesied I would usurp him, so I always knew it would happen. I simply didn’t know when.”
I shifted closer to Una, glancing down at her. She stared across the shadow fae.
“But days before I broke free, I felt a strengthening in my magick. I didn’t know then, but it was because my gods-ordained mizrah was near. In that very same dungeon.”
Una looked up over her right shoulder at me, a small smile teasing her lips.
“I wouldn’t know for a long time where that strength had come from.” I looked back at the prince whose hard expression hadn’t wavered at all. “All I knew was that when the guards had tied her to a hook to be fed to my father’s wights, I would die before I allowed that to happen. My magick was suddenly more powerful than my father’s. I broke free and helped my future mizrah to safety. Later, when Una’s life was endangered yet again by my father, I went to his throne room and took off his head. And nothing has felt more right.”
Except for killing Ferryn.
Prince Torvyn remained very still, his jaw setting sharply. “So the gods decided. They changed their favor.”
“I suppose you’re right. The gods changed their mind about his worthiness to be our king. And so I was free and able to take his throne.”
His expression shifted to something other than stone. He appeared disheartened as he muttered, “Hopeless.”
“Is that all you want?” I asked.
His golden eyes narrowed. “And a boon. From you and your mizrah.”
“What and when?”
“You’ll know when I tell you. And whenever I ask for it.”
I clenched my jaws but nodded in agreement.
That was when the dryad decided to wake again from her slumber. She detached her spidery limbs from Solzkin’s Heart, blinked her leafy eyes, her ivy hair floating around her head. She stepped to the side of the stone and pointed to Torvyn. “You think of the right things but at the wrong time.”
If Torvyn was surprised by the sudden appearance of the dryad, he made no show of it.
“When will that time be then?” he asked her aggressively.
“Your priest will tell you.”
Torvyn rounded on Vallon, whose eyes widened with surprise. “I know nothing, Sire.”
