Page 10 of The Blood Crown

“A vow that enacts ancient magick binding two people to each other." She could hear wry humor in his voice as he said, "You asked me once, if a bargain struck cannot be broken. In our world, that is a blood oath. And the act of claiming someone involves a blood oath that cannot be broken even bydeath. Something akin to taking a wife, a husband, but far more permanent. An old custom that hails back to when the Blood Folk were no more than warring clans.”

“But it’s not the same as being Bound?”

“No—” he answered quickly, too quickly. “Being Bound is . . . undeniable. Irrefutable. Claiming someone is a choice. There is no act of Fate involved. And my mother chose my father, leaving her kingdom for him—for a chance of peace between the two courts.” The words were bitter. “Whether it was out of a sense of duty or some spark of love . . . I’ll never know. But their union, along with a host of others, brokered a reconciliation between the kingdoms for a time.”

He'd told her of the failed experiment. That the offspring of the two courts had been hunted to extinction during the war—all except for him.

“The Nostari grew restless, and it wasn’t long before battles broke out along the border between the courts. People on either side found themselves with the choice to stay loyal to their court . . . or loyal to their claimed.” He loosed a heavy breath. “I was seven when my mother fled back to her people, but many of them felt she'd betrayed them the day she claimed my father. My grandsire was feared, loved. And for that love, they accepted her when she returned, but it was a lonely existence for both of us.

“Months after our return, her older sister—the heir to my grandsire’s throne—went hunting at the edge of the wards. Nostari assassins had been waiting for her. They killed her and her company of guards, leaving them like carrion in the Shades until sentries found them days later. A message." His voice dropped to barely a whisper. "My mother did her best to shield me from the comments, the names . . . but even a child can sense when people are frightened of him. And as I grew into adolescence, went into stasis and my power developed—theyhad reason to be. I wielded the magick of an enemy kingdom,” he murmured, the ache of a lonely child leaking through the words.

“Karro on the other hand, was well-loved. And for some reason, he took me under his wing, forcing everyone else to love me as much as he did—or at least accept me.”

He shifted, the soft rustle of noise telling her that he’d turned to face her in the dark. “There were some in the kingdom who never forgave my mother for claiming my father. And after my grandfather died, she ascended the throne as his heir, but she never placed his crown upon her head.” His voice was tinged with sadness. “I’m not sure if it was out of guilt or grief, but it kept the kingdom stable and it placated the ones who believed the crown should have passed to Karro.”

“But Karro was a child—” she countered.

“We both were,” he murmured. “I so badly wanted my mother’s people to see that Iwasn’tthat. That I wasmorethan my father’s blood. But I knew that I’d never win the Solari’s affection by sitting at my mother’s side. I needed to prove myself to them. Earn their trust. Convince them that my blood was not tainted.”

Her heart was heavy for the boy that Ven had once been. Alone. An outsider.

“So I joined the Wraiths—earned my way through blood and grit just like every other male and female. I was no one amongst their numbers, just another warrior in the ranks, and I thrived. For the first time, no one cared who my mother was—who my father was. Only whoIwas.”

“In the end we won the war . . . but so much was taken that it hardly tasted of victory. Some of the louder voices amongst the remaining nobility expected Karro and I to fight for the throne. But there had already been so much bloodshed, so much loss, that we both refused it.”

“And now?” she asked.

“I am the Wraith Commander, as I have always been. And if Karro decides tomorrow that he wants to wear the crown, he will have no argument from me.”

Despite Ven’s insistence that he didn’t desire the throne, Karro clearly didn’t seem inclined to accept it. The boastful, bawdy show he put on was an act. She’d become certain of that in the time she’d come to know him. Sure, he was cocky, always quick with a witty comment and a smirk, but there was much more depth to him than he cared to admit.

He was loyal to a fault. He’d defended her in the Allokin Kingdom and gotten locked in a prison cell next to her. She’d witnessed him face down death without a thought. And beneath the large, frightening warrior that had twin spiraling dashes down his arms rivaling even Ven’s, was a male who was kind, and patient, and good. One who had taught her how to fight. One who had helped to give her back the pieces of herself that she’d lost.

But she wondered if his light-hearted disposition was to ward off the danger of taking himself seriously, because then others might, too.

The space had fallen quiet again as she asked, “What of Seth and Nira? Are they family as well?”

Ven’s low rumble of laughter filled the cave, and it seemed the heaviness that had settled over them lifted just a fraction.

“They’re not blood relations, though they might as well be.” She heard him shift again, settling in once more as he said, “Before the war, when magick was still wild and plentiful, there were dangerous creatures that prowled the in-between.”

The timbre of his voice made her eyelids feel heavy, the rich sound of it deep and melodic. And she would have asked him anything to keep him talking.

“The wards surrounding the realms kept them at bay,” he continued, “but traveling between kingdoms was hazardous.Seth saved my mother’s life on more than a few occasions. He’s more myth than male at this point, though you’d never guess with how little he speaks of himself.”

She had suspected as much. Something about Seth spoke of tightly controlled power. The shadows that rippled from him darker than the others, older, deadlier.

“And Nira?” she asked.

“Nira—is who my mother sent to deal with the spies and traitors within her kingdom.”

Aurelia quietly shuddered at the thought. Nira was frightening enough, and the female seemed tolikeher. What it would be like to face Nira’s wrath was something she didn’t care to imagine.

“I met Niraofficiallymy first day of training on the Ledge.” Ven glanced toward her, a smirk lifting the corner of his mouth.

Aurelia's laughter echoed along the stone between them. “She trained you?”

“If you call getting your ass kicked repeatedly ‘training,’ sure.” His laughter reverberated through her chest. “I’d just gone through stasis and I thought I was a force to be reckoned with. And what better way to prove my prowess on the first day than challenging one of the most feared Wraiths in history.”

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