Page 30 of The Blood Crown

“The nobility will never recognize a bastard as heir.” Ven shook his head ruefully. “Few things are sacred in this place, but claiming a mate is one of them. And my father claimed my mother before his entire kingdom.” His gaze went distant for a moment before he continued. “My father’s crown will never pass to her—his power will never pass to her. With me at his side, he stands a chance to reunite the two kingdoms and rule over them both.”

Of course. If Ven sat beside his father and the only other heir to his mother’s throne was imprisoned, it would be much easier to conquer the other half of the Blood Folk.

Dread clenched icy fingers around her chest.

The thought of everyone she had come to know and love either subjected to this existence or death . . .

“They held me in a cell somewhere far below,” she breathed, conscious of the pairs of immortal ears listening behind them. “Ithink that’s where they’re keeping Karro . . . but there are other things—”

“Demons,” Ven whispered. “They trap them for their venom and as an extra precaution to guard their dungeons,” his head dropped a fraction, a heavy breath loosening from his chest before he looked up, a mask of resolve over his face once more.

“We will find a way out of this place.” she uttered, the sound of their escorts’ footsteps growing closer. “I am not without teeth.”

A wild look came over Ven’s expression as he gripped her wrist, “If my father realizes the kind of magick you possess, he will either use you as a weapon or he will offer you up to the King of the Void,” he breathed, casting a glance behind them. “If you use your magick—use it to getyourselfaway from this place, do you understand me?” Ven’s voice was full of quiet fury as the door to her chambers loomed ahead. “Find a way out, and do not look back.”

Before she could respond, the heavy door was opened and she was pushed inside. And only once she was alone, she finally let her head drop and her shoulders cave in, bitter tears falling from her eyes. Tears for the young girl who had died tonight. Tears for the young woman still trapped here.

Because either one of them could have been her in another life.

Chapter 16

Aurelia grew restless in the windowless chambers.

Her magick was raging to find an outlet now that she’d fed on Ven, but with the shackles that still bound her, there was nowhere for it to go. She felt useless—worthless.

Karro was somewhere rotting in a cell or possibly dead, and the ring was in the Nostari’s possession now.

How they would manage to getbothand leave this place . . .

Guards stood watch outside her door at all hours. The faces changed, but they were ever-present, and Ven's father rarely seemed to let him out of his sight.

The door creaked open behind her and a new set of human servants entered, one carrying a glossy bundle of fabric in her hands, the other, a tray with stale bread and thin broth.

Taking the tray, Aurelia tore into the bread. She’d pushed away the food the first few times it had been offered to her, until she considered it might be the only thing the human captives were given.

She glanced up at the placid faces of the young women. They would die here. All of them. And maybe it was a small mercy that they didn’t seem to feel fear or pain.

The chambers were silent except for the small, practiced movements of the women as they worked. A shimmering white gown was pulled over her hips. Sheer sleeves draped down her arms and kissed the wrought cuffs of silver circling her wrists, and as the clasp was hooked into place along her shoulders, the door opened again.

Ven’s half-sister stood at the threshold, her sheet of hair pulled back into intricate braids that sharpened the severe angles of her beautiful face—as if she had been carved from this harsh place herself.

Her bright red eyes swept over Aurelia, assessing and cold before she turned on a heel and led her through the fortress.

Torchlight flickered along the roughly carved walls as Valea took her into the throne room. Aurelia's eyes instantly found Ven’s raven hair amongst the crowd of platinum and white, standing at the right hand of his father’s throne. Valea took her place at the king’s left, her face swallowed up by the hulking shadow of the throne.

The monstrous chair would have overwhelmed a mortal man, but the Blood King lounged comfortably, his large forearm braced against the black stone that had been carved in relief. Fangs, and claws, and wicked things that were meant to inspire fear. And at this moment, she hated that it did exactly that.

Ven’s eyes flashed with dread as they landed on her, but in an instant his face was impassive, devoid of any emotion once more.

Leering stares from around the room scorched her exposed skin, a chorus of whispers traveling along the circular walls of the cavern.

Half-breed. Solari scum. Parfodai.

The last was some word spoken in their ancient tongue. Even though she didn’t understand it, the meaning was clear enough with the way they spat it at her like a curse.

The king lifted a milk-white hand and the court instantly fell silent, only the echoes of their jeers left to ricochet off the cavern walls like spent arrows.

He stood to his considerable height, striding down the wide stone steps of his throne as his pale red eyes scanned the court. “She is not the true threat in this room.”

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