Page 51 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
Yet there was an unease in him, eyes too sharp, like a sinner stepping onto blessed territory.
‘You’ve been to ruins before?’ I frowned, following his gaze to see what had put him on edge.
‘Not those belonging to the fey.’ There was a caution to his words and in the deep grey of his eyes. ‘The lords liked to hold their meetings in the most … unseemly of places.’
Of course. In the times of the Mage King, those lords had been just as submerged in the worship of the dark as their king had been. Including Emrys’s father, even if it had been a pretence.
‘Were you ever introduced to him?’ The question I shouldn’t ask. The name I wouldn’t say. The heart of all this cruelty, another man who’d torn this world apart for nothing but greed and darkness. Torn apart my life so easily despite being nothing but a story to me.
Emrys was silent for a long moment, the winter wind ruffling his hair as he considered me … as if trying to work something out.
‘No,’ he finally said, expression pensive. ‘I was seventeen when the lords rebelled. When they finally sprang their trap. Blood vows were made to him at eighteen.’
When his life had been plunged into the war. I would havebeen seven. Still safe in that cottage with my parents, tucked away from all of it.
Seventeen years, he’d lived under that king’s rule, or his family had. Seventeen years, they’d played that game, had to stomach it before finally they could act.
‘Too late,’ he added, reading every thought in my head. They’d acted too late. ‘They’d already sold their souls.’
Hurt gnawed at my chest but I forced myself to feel the cold breeze and smell the rot of the forest, to consider the chipped stone before me.
Something urged me closer to the stone, as Emrys moved with me, crouching before the long grass. He moved it aside, revealing another Nox offering. I reached out for his arm, stopping him from touching it. He watched me with mild concern, somehow sensing my fear. Not at the doll but at the words carved into that stone around it. Over and over again. Each gouging deeper than the one before.
Ancient prayers. Only they all said the same thing.
Temez. A word I knew. Deep in my heart I knew but I couldn’t remember it. Not here surrounded by so much fear.
‘They’re afraid.’ Afraid didn’t seem a strong enough word for what had settled over this place, what lingered in the dark beyond the wood, chilling my blood.
‘They have a right to be.’ His dark gaze dropped to consider the ashy ground. ‘This is worse than I first predicted.’
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small stack of torn and mud-speckled papers. He turned them over, showing them to be partially charred.
‘Some children found these while playing in the woods,’ he stood, taking my arm to guide us back the way we’d come. As if sensing the unease that had draped itself over me and wanting me away from those ruins.
I wasn’t paying attention to anything other than the burned papers he’d given me. The incantations written there were dark, scrawled and filled with hate. Wishes meant for the dark’s ear. Forbidden worship I hadn’t seen in years.
‘They’re bargains.’ Someone was asking for things from the earth. And fey were going missing.
‘I’ve visited two locations like this previously. The town of Marvia and a Beven settlement.’
‘What happened?’
‘They’re not there anymore,’ he replied. ‘They were consumed, and any survivors fled to other settlements or died en route. The Council dismissed it as a case of hysteria.’
Of course they did. My hands grasped at my skirts to contain my magic’s flare of rage.
‘Those creatures are too dark to be here by mistake.’ I hated the helplessness that began to overwhelm me in response to his words. Such creatures neededpermissionto exist and only the darkest of spells could give it to them.
He pulled in a deep breath, looking at the wood once more. ‘We’re lucky we got here before rebel scouts. They recruit best in places where people are desperate enough to join the cause.’
‘The Council should act more quickly then.’ However, the Council and the rebellion had more in common than they thought. Both wanting beings at their weakest points to mould them into the perfect followers, gathering up broken men and lost children and trapping them in whatever roles they deemed fit.
‘The minute you say a rebellion vow, you’re as guilty as the Council already deem you to be.’ Emrys’s words were filled with a dark truth that unsettled me as he continued to lead us back through the wood. The Council was allowingthe rebellion to grow because they knew they could cull it easily.
‘Those are dangerous words,’ I found myself whispering. Dangerous words that might not gethimkilled, but they had greater implications for me.
‘I’ve been told that before.’ He smiled without amusement as we emerged from the wood, back into the clearing of the village. ‘Come on, we—’
