Page 247 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

Vines burst from the ground, wrapping around him and dragging him down. He roars, his dark magic blasting through the plants, but just as quickly as he cuts through them, they grow back. Breaking the magic on my leg, I use my staff to help me up and hurry to his bound form.

Touch him, beloved. I shall enter him to subdue the darkness, the Mother instructs.Then you know what to do.

She’s right, I do know what to do. I just wish I didn’t have to. Taking a deep breath, I meet Rhydian’s rage-filled eyes as he struggles against the vines. Raising my hand, I press it against his forehead, ignoring his screams. The glow from my wrist is almost blinding as the goddess enters him. He stops shrieking, and his eyes clear, returning to blue, and I know it’s time.

“I’m sorry.” Slipping the dagger from my waist, I raise it high, and with both hands, I bring it down with all my strength straight into his heart. His body jerks, his eyes meeting mine as his mouth opens as if to say something, but nothing leaves his lips.

The vines release his body, and he falls to the ground, lifeless. I feel…numb. Rhydian was my enemy, but looking at him like this… I’m just tired of death. Even my thoughts are exhausted, and I know there is more death to come.

The Mother’s presence revives me as her love warms my body.Well done, beloved, although the queen won’t be so easy.I assumed as much. The queen is far older than Rhydian and will be a lot stronger. I caught the prince by surprise, the queen won’t be as easy to catch unaware.

The child forsaken steps forward and beckons before beginning to walk towards the gap in the trees ahead. I know what awaits me in that clearing, and the bright sunshine seems so at odds with the dread I’m feeling. My body tingles as my wrist glows softly, the goddess’ power weakened by the darkness, but she’s still here with me. Slowly, I follow and step from the treeline and into the sunlight. I’m momentarily blinded and raise my hand to shield my eyes.

“Well, well, you finally decided to join us,” the queen calls. Dropping my hand, I see her smug smile as she stares at me. She looks pristine, her glittering crown resting on her hair, which is glistening in the sunlight, her skin perfect. Despite the occasion, she’s still dressed in a gown. Her hands rest casually on her hips. She doesn’t seem at all concerned by the fact I’ve turned up without Rhydian, and she must have felt him use his power. Watching her face, I realise she knows he’s dead and just doesn’t care. Her callousness shouldn’t surprise me, but I’m taken aback.

Looking around the rest of the clearing, I fight back my despair as I see the wall of forsaken children that stand between her and me. Both boys and girls, they vary in age, but none of them seem to be older than ten, all of them bearing freshly branded marks on their wrists. The king stands to her left, his face carefully blank, but I see him looking for his son behind me. Past her are her two ever present ladies-in-waiting. They stand silently, their hoods hiding their faces and the horror beneath. A row of forsaken are behind them, and I realise with surprise they are comprised of both high elves and human guards. The king allowed his own people to be turned into forsaken.

Dumbstruck, I look between the two leaders. “You’re sick, both of you.” Turning to the king, I gesture to the slaves in front of me and allow my anger to surge forward. “Children? How could you allow this? What did they do to deserve this?” Myvoice gets louder as my anger threatens to consume me. “And you let her turn your guards into her forsaken?” I knew the king was corrupt, but I thought he would at least try to protect those who were loyal to him.He killed his wife and beat his son, using him as bait to blackmail you. Of course he wouldn’t,I scold myself.

“The king gets slaves that do as they’re told.” The queen laughs, smirking like she’s talking to a simpleton. So that’s what she offered him. For his support and soldiers, she would give him immortal slaves.

“Slaves that will never die, rebel, or betray me.” The king grins at me and shrugs his shoulders. “What’s not to like?”

I grip my staff tightly, trying to stop myself from leaping forward and slamming it into the king’s chest. “They’re dead! You’ve killed children!”

“Besides,” the queen calls, ignoring me completely. “I had to get your attention somehow.”

She may want to ignore the issues, but I’ve rattled the king. A slight frown has settled between his brow as he stares at the undead children. I remember our conversation back in Arhaven. He didn’t want to accept the queen’s offer, in fact, he was disgusted by the forsaken. Was this what he was trying to avoid? I knew that by rejecting his ‘offer,’ he would side with the queen, but I had never thought she would stoop so low as to turn children into forsaken. Judging by the look on the king’s face, he might not have had much say in the matter.

I face the queen, since she’s the real threat here. “You want my attention? You’ve got it, I’m here.”

She smiles and hums to herself, tilting her head to one side. “You see, Clarissa, I just wanted to kill you when you first showed up, but you made things more difficult for me.” She runs her hand up and down her arm, trailing her fingers along her skin as she speaks, and I see small trails of darkness followingin their wake. It’s like she’s painting her body in darkness. It stays on her skin for a few seconds before disappearing, being reabsorbed into her body. The casual way she speaks of my death shocks me, but when she has caused the death of so many, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

“I’ve been planning this for centuries, and then you come along and ruin everything.” Her mood changes instantly, shifting from gleeful to furious in a second. Snarling, she strides towards me, her hands balled into fists. “You, an ex-slave, a half-elf nothing.”

I feel a change in the air as she gathers a ball of dark power in her hand. Staring at the magic, I know if she throws that pure power at me, I will die.

My mates will try and get to me, battling their way through the forsaken, but I can’t sit here and wait to be saved. The odds are stacked against us, and I can’t rely on them getting to me in time. Besides, everyone keeps telling me I’m stronger than I think, so maybe it’s time to show them.

Needing to distract her, I try to get her talking. I clear my throat, look away from the power in her hands, and meet her eyes. “What were you planning?”

It works, my question seems to take her by surprise. Needing to gloat, she uses the opportunity. “The goddess was dying, we needed new leadership, so I decided to take it,” she explains, but my attention is on the magic, which is slowly being reabsorbed. Relief makes my knees weak, but I can’t show her that, instead, I frown as I process what she just said.

“The old gods abandoned us, even our sacredMenishea, so I was going to become our new goddess.” She says it so simply, like becoming a goddess is something any sane person would consider. “He came to me in a dream.” Her eyes glisten, her smile wistful now. “He whispered tales of the old gods and their powers. He told me how to become one, that he would giveme some of his power to help me ascend.” A hint of mania has entered her voice, and I realise the queen’s mind has been twisted. I remember the darkness that had infected my thoughts, tainting them. I hadn’t even noticed and probably wouldn’t have if the Mother hadn’t warned me. It’s easy to imagine how the queen’s mind has been changed over the years by the darkness. If ‘he’ really has been coming to her dreams for years, then it’s difficult to know which of her actions were truly hers, and which were warped by the darkness.

“Who?” I whisper, fear constricting my chest, making it hard to breathe.

“Jos.” The queen’s smile turns into a proud grin as I stumble back a step.

The Mother’s presence fills me, and her devastation at the news takes my breath away.My brother. Her words fill my mind, confirming my alarm.The god of death.

Why would the God of Death have returned to Morrowmer, and why would he lend his powers to the elf queen? My mind spins, unable to piece the puzzle together, my fear of Jos making my limbs quake. Had he been in my mind?

Be calm, beloved, this is only a fragment of him,she soothes.Had Jos truly been in your mind, you wouldn’t be alive,the Mother continues, but I suddenly don’t feel so comforted.I had my suspicions that one of my siblings was involved, but I never thought…She trails off, and I use the silence to steady my breathing.

The silent conversation has only taken seconds, and the queen is still staring at me with her manic grin. Now that I know her mind has been distorted by a dark god, part of me feels sorry for her. She’s still done atrocious things, but all she wants is to be loved, and on some level, I can understand that.

He’s using her, there is no way for her to become a goddess, the Mother whispers with a hint of sadness.She projects a planinto my mind, and I know what I need to do. Taking a deep, calming breath, I step forward, right up to the wall of slaves.

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