Page 56 of The Night Prince 3
Declan got out, “I was a dud. I thought it was because I was jadir, but–”
“Jadir?” Vex’s voice was soft, dangerous.
“Bloodless, right? An orphan? Of no family? Of no value?” Declan grimaced. The word still had sting even though he was supposedly with his father now. But he had no memory of this man. He had no connection…
“That is what she told you?” Vex’s voice remained soft.
“She? No, Vulre–”
“But she allowed his lies to stand?” Vex’s voice was liquid now. Lifting at the edges. It reminded Declan of a black lake where something was about to surface.
“Who are you talking about?” Declan asked.
He didn’t want to mention Lady Ashryn to Vex. That was the only “she” of the Night Elves he could remember. Helping him could get her in trouble with Vex even now. He wondered where she was. Where Vulre was. Well, he’d sealed that idiot’s fate by telling Vex his name. Or maybe Vulre was a common name among the Kindreth like John or Bob.
But his intention of keeping the lady out of it was blasted away in seconds as Vex said, “Ashryn? She allowed you to believe you were jadir?”
Misery filled him and he closed his eyes. He could not lie to this elf. Vex would know. So he had to explain how good she’d been to him. How kind and loving in a world that was bereft of such tenderness for the most part. “She… she took me in. To the Venomthorn. So I would have a roof over my head. Food in my belly. So I could be trained and–”
“Trained to be what?” Oh, Vex’s voice was very dangerous now like a sibilant hiss.
He blinked. He’d walked into something with treacherous words once again. “To serve her. To protect her. As a Blood Knight–”
“What?!” Vex snapped with electricity. A blue white sizzle of light wound around his body for a moment. Lightning chained to him.
“Why are you angry? Why–”
“You would serve? That’s what she was raising you for? To serve? Like a dog at the feet of some master or mistress?” Vex’s eyes were sulfurous now. Like the magma waterfall they’d passed by.
“No! She was helping me! She took care of me! I had no one and nothing and–”
“You had a father!” Vex roared and the lightning snapped and crackled around him like armor. He was trembling with rage. His red eyes seethed with it and then… the whole thing collapsed into embers. The lightstorm stopped. The fire petered out. Vex lifted a shaking hand to his forehead. “But perhaps not. Not then. Not… You keep saying she helped you, took you in, what do you mean by this?”
“The Venomthorn. I was an orphan. She runs it to train Blood Knights–”
“Orphan? That is what she told you?” Vex interrupted. He wasn’t trembling any longer with rage, but it was still there. It could still ignite with the smallest spark.
“I… yes. So you don’t need to be angry with her. She was good to me.”
“Good? Good to you?” Vex advanced upon him step by step by step, crowding Declan near the edge of the crater. He felt Ardreth wanting to leap from his back to his hand. But he would not do that. Vex was a threat, but not… not now. “By letting you think you were an orphan? That you were jadir? By letting Vulre beat you? He beat you, didn’t he? When you were a boy and couldn’t defend yourself–”
“I defeated him,” Declan cut in even as he teetered at the edge. “Once. That I can remember. And I… I heard your voice back then. In my head. Telling me to–to let go.”
He remembered that alien, cold voice in his mind. It was the same. Yet not. Weirdly, that had seemed less personal than Vex’s did now.
Vex blinked. “Did you? Ah, I thought I was dreaming. But it was not a dream. I learned of her treachery soon after, but… but my soul must have known yours was out there and gone to… to comfort you.”
“To give me strength,” Declan admitted. “To give me the will to fight. You told me that Vulre was wrong. That I was not worthless. That I could defeat him. And I did.”
“Once?” Vex asked, studying him intently.
“That’s all I remember. A single training session. A meeting with her afterwards. And then he–Vulre–jumped me,” Declan growled.
He remembered the wrongness of it. The fact that an adult would do that to a child. But, more than that, Vulre was a full Blood Knight. As hard as Declan had fought, he had been no match for Vulre back then. Especially without magic. Vulre had known this, but had attacked him from behind anyways simply to–to what? Get back at an orphan? Get even with someone who had a tattered blanket to sleep under? Who got the least of the food and none of the warmth of the fire? What sort of man was that? What sort of warrior?
“He wasn’t a warrior,” Declan found himself muttering. “He was a bully. A coward. Garbage. I’m just surprised he didn’t kill me when he had a chance then.”
“Why didn’t he?” Vex asked, but Declan had a sense that he knew why.
