Page 119 of To Bleed A Kingdom

Adjusting himself in his high-backed chair, Luthais flicks his fingers absently in my direction. “I do not have to explain myself to you. I am a king.”

“And I am the most powerful male in all of Vanyimar.” Flames flare from my palms, spreading outwards, gyrating along the top of the stone table to emphasize the fullness of my claim. “You will answer me.”

Celene arches away from the fire, but Luthais remains unmoving, scrutinizing me. “You still haven't learned the most basic of principles in your thirty-three years of life, have you? In our world, true power comes not from your Gifts, but by your station in life.”

“I have royal blood,” I remind him.

“Yet you are not a legitimate royal, are you?” He grins, one full of mocking pity. “You are not a king, a prince, an heir, or even a noble. This belief that you have some sort of power over me is nothing more than a delusion.” Leaning over the table, the flames set off an orange cast to his blonde hair, his eyes darkening with a cruel gleam. “You, Darius, are nothing more than the bastard seed of a rapist. A human one, at that.”

Baring my teeth, I lean farther over the table, the flames enfolding me in their dark embrace. “I could kill you right now and no one could stop me.”

“And in killing a king, you would have all of Vanyimar hunting you down,” he retorts. “Including your mother.”

Clenching my hands into fists, my knuckles scrape across stone as the fire blazes upward with an earsplitting roar, blasting all those who are present with its sweltering heat.

“There's that infamous fury of the Gods Wrath.” Luthais laughs with a slow clap. “Quite frightening, actually. Yet we both know you won't act on it.” He smirks, his entire demeanor brimming with arrogance. “And now you've learned a valuable lesson. I hold all the power, while you have none.”

Rage claws at me, shredding my insides as if a wild animal begging to be released. With a snarl, I give in to its seductive call. Summoning my flames, I gather them to the center of the table and condense the fire into a ring of frolicking tendrils.

Luthais leers, but that leer turns to a frown, then abject fear when the flames begin crawling towards him, slithering up his armrests to engulf the top of his chair. “Darius,” he warns, a tremble to his tone.

He cries out, tucking into himself as the flames reach for him, curious licks lapping at his skin. They crawl toward his neck, his face, then his tunic, branding him before retreating once again.

“Darius, stop!”

Inhaling a euphoric breath, I relish in his screams and cries. The sight of his panicked movements. The scent of terror from the one who thought he could challenge me.

“You’ll be executed for this!” he screams, slapping at the flames singeing the ends of his blonde hair.

Bestowing the same arrogant smirk he offered me only moments ago, I say, “Anyone who tries will suffer the same fate as you.”

“That’s enough!”Celene bolts out of her chair and races to my side, but stutters to a stop only a step away, rearing back from my inflamed hands. “If you kill him, the Kings Council will have no choice but to declare war on Cascadonia.”

I still. The flames freeze mid-motion as I consider her threat. The lives that would be lost if we had to battle on two fronts. Not only a war with the Gods Cursed, but another one with the entirety of Vanyimar. A war of which I would be the catalyst.

Swiveling only my head, I look up to my mother raised above all. Frigid and cold, she glares down at me, her entire being appearing carved from the very same crystal she sits upon. My purpose in coming here was to convince her to see reason, to demand her to open her eyes to the inevitable war to come. But seeing her wrath, her barely leashed anger, I realize my lapse in control may have set my goals farther out of reach.

Sensing my hesitancy, Celene takes a wary step closer and wraps tan fingers around my forearm, her copper painted nails digging into my skin. “You are the most powerful male in Vanyimar; there is no denying it.” She levels a glare at a panting Luthais. “I pity anyone foolish enough to challenge that.” Her gaze veers back to me. “But you are still only a single person. If war comes, you cannot protect an entire kingdom.” She strokes my arm in a soothing gesture, speaking softly. “Rein in your Gifts.”

Inhaling a fortifying breath, I call forth my flames. The fire vanishes into the palms of my shimmering hands before my power dims.

“That’s better.” Patting my chest, Celene returns her attention to my mother. “Was there anything else we needed to discuss?”

“Nothing comes to my mind,” my mother states coldly, her arctic, pale green eyes fixated on me.

“In that case…” Celene smiles, behaving as if I hadn’t almost murdered a king and incited a war between five kingdoms. “Luthais, I believe I am in need of a handsome escort.”

Luthais stands with a proud tilt of his chin, appearing every bit the arrogant King he is, even with scorched patches blackening him from head to toe. He silently offers Celene an arm and ushers her through the broken door. As he steps across the threshold, he doesn’t so much as look at my mother when he tosses a warning over his shoulder.

“Learn to control your dog, Adelphia.”

Chapter 25

Darius

Aloud groan echoes within the room.

“Leave us,” Adelphia orders.

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