Solar Reign

X X I I

"SO? WHAT did the Rattislon say?"

Andorra was happy to see Clini and Vulara in one piece, finally back in the Royal Court. She didn't want to admit how much their absence had made her anxious for their wellbeing. She had told herself that if something happened, she would know.

"This is a conversation that needs to be held in private." Vulara nodded towards his basement. They moved to the familiar space, and Andorra silently vowed to spend extra time that week training with Vulara to make up for his absence. By the time they were down in the furthest corner of the basement, Vulara pulled the recipe out of his pocket and passed it back to Andorra.

"The Rattislon did not know what it was at first. It... took some time trying to uncover what this sort of medication was."

Not great news. Andorra shifted, arms crossed, chest tight. Callum, who was watching her, noticed the discomfort. Not that the Queen would tell anyone. To Vulara, he barked, "So, out with it. What is the medication?"

Clini cleared his throat. "It's not a medication. Not really. It's a pain reliever of sorts. It has the same properties as a blood promise."

Andorra's nose scrunched. "Blood promise?"

"When you make a binding deal with blood, you're entered into a blood promise. Old, old magic." Vulara rubbed the back of his neck. "Someone in the kingdom was taking this recipe to help ease the pain of a blood promise."

Andorra tried to think of what that meant. What sort of blood promise would Roseria make? And why make one if it resulted in pain? "Do all blood promises hurt? Why is it not a more well-known recipe?"

Clini shook his head. "I've heard my mom talk about them. Blood promises are made forcefully, and it only hurts when you don't fulfill your promise. At first, it only hurts a little bit, like a reminder. But the longer you ignore the promise, the worse it gets. Until... well, until you die."

Andorra's mouth popped open. "Death?" She spun towards Callum. "That means Roseria is going to die if she doesn't make good on her promise."

"And it definitely means she'll come crawling back for this recipe. She's going to be desperate."

Andorra turned back to Clini and Vulara. "There were a lot of people with this recipe connected to their name. They were patients of Roseria's father. So... how many fae make these promises? How common is it?"

Vulara looked away from Andorra, a distant look in his eyes. "It's not common. Very few know how to make a bond formed by blood. But yes, it will kill those who do not complete the promise in a timely manner."

The first thing Andorra wanted to do was ask Roseria what her blood promise was, but she wasn't a fool. Roseria was hiding it for good reason, as were the others who needed their own version of the medicine.

"You used the word forcefully. So do you think there's a chance Roseria didn't want to make this promise?" Andorra was asking it outloud, but really asking herself. Because if Roseria hadn't fulfilled the promise yet, it had to be something hard. Had to be something she didn't want to do, or something she couldn't do.

"I'd say a lot of people who make these promises don't want to make them. For whatever reason. But, whatever Roseria needs to do, there's plenty of motivation to do it."

Andorra rubbed at her forehead. She really needed to have this conversation at the castle with the rest of her council. Her mind whirled with the possibilities. She had always had an ulterior motive when it came to Andorra. Not outright murderous, but something else. She'd been a lying, manipulative person, and Callum had known that all along.