An emergency council meeting was convened the morning after Matt's burial. Jaden was seated at the end of a long table holding several maps, stacks of parchment, fresh ink pots and quills.
To his left sat Fredrick Nightvale, his wife Nissy and the twins. To his right were Kitera, Kemon, and Lord Vincent, the veteran captain of the Veicira Militia. At the other end of the table, High Priest Morgan Ellyus sat leaning forward, wrinkled hands tightly clasped before him.
Servants came in with trays of teapots and porcelain cups, ensuring everyone was served before leaving them to their meeting.
"Thank you all for being here," Jaden said, wondering whether they could tell how sleep-deprived and anxious he was.
Colin broke the silence, "I would like to know what will happen to Zemisha D'Azuriani." Earlier, Kitera had given Jaden a trick to differentiate the twins; Colin had an extra mole on the cheek.
"She wishes to stay here!" Damian added fervently. Jaden wondered if the twins were aware that they could not both marry the Azurian Emperor's daughter.
"I shall . . . think about it, and get back to you at the next meeting." Jaden had never met Zemisha and had no idea whether she should be staying. The twins seemed to consider this, then they nodded and leaned back in their chairs with uncanny synchronicity.
After sipping his tea, Fredrick reached for the nearest stack of parchment. Dipping a quill in ink, he started to scribble down what had been said. Jaden looked up as the priest cleared his throat.
"I must bring up the incoming seasonal meeting of the religious community. Priests across the realm will meet here in the capital. They will all be eager to learn of your decision concerning ritual sacrifice. Many wish for it to be reinstated, as you all know."
Jaden lowered his gaze. "Forgive my bluntness, but I will do no such thing."
When he glanced up again, Morgan was glaring at him with unconcealed hatred. "Then please forgive this, Highness, but whatever was the point of a coup if your wish is to carry on with what the queen was already working towards with her best efforts?"
"Make no mistake, there are things I very much wish to change. You haven't yet given me a chance to—"
There was a soft knock on the door, and Moira Dawnson tilted her head in.
"Sorry I'm late . . ."
Jaden's chest filled with warmth as he rose from his chair. "You decided to come after all."
She made her way to his side of the table, looking lovely in a dress the color of red wine. Jaden preferred the simplicity of Moira's garment to the profuse and supposedly fashionable affair worn by Lady Nissy.
As Jaden greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, Moira whispered in his ear, "You were right, it's better to have something to do."
Then Moira pulled herself a chair between Jaden and Kitera.
"What's the meaning of this?" Morgan blasted.
"Watch your tone, priest," Kitera said.
Before Morgan could explode again, Jaden explained, "I have offered to Lady Moira the position of personal advisor."
Moira smiled. "And I formally accept."
Jaden noticed the furtive glances Kemon sent towards Moira, and wondered what that was about.
"Isn't she perhaps a bit young?" Nissy objected. The Laethi accent's usual charm was lost in her snappy tone.
"Moira is seventeen," Jaden said. "Making her two years older than your sons, my lady. Shall we move on?"
"My king," Lord Vincent said, straightening. "It is my duty to inform you of a request for an investigation."
"Of what nature, my lord?"
"On the subject of your legitimacy," the militia captain answered.
"I understand. Although I may be able to save you some time. After all, no one was as close to the late queen as I was. Kristine Fairlocks only ever slept with a man twice in her life, and both times with the same one – King Damian Nightvale." Jaden leaned his arms on the table, unbothered by their shocked stares. They wanted the truth? Then they would have it. Because he was sick and tired of carrying it alone.
"The first time was just after the royal wedding. Nine months later Tessa Nightvale was born. Kristine, only fifteen years old at the time, was then stricken with depression and madness, as is common knowledge. The second time happened eight years later. The queen made a rare public appearance and seduced the king into sharing her bed again. Later on, rumor spread that she'd been already pregnant with another man's child, and this sudden seduction was nothing but a scheme so the king would believe the child was his."
Jaden paused to let Fredrick jot it down.
"But in hindsight it doesn't make any sense. After I was born, the queen was publically heard yelling hysterically at the king that the child was not even his, and she requested to raise me on her own as she saw fit. I could show you the flogging scars on my back, if you're curious. Her methods were brutal. But I was a kid who wasn't allowed to have friends, and she also controlled the books I read, so I didn't know any better."
Moira took his hand and squeezed gently. Jaden's heart leapt with how grateful he was for her presence. They'd never really had the opportunity to get to know one another. But Matt had always been prone to gush about the people he loved. His sister and his lover had topped that list, so Jaden felt like they knew each other intimately through Matt. In any case, right now Moira gave him the strength to keep going.
"So in the end, even though my mother's real scheme was not flawless, it still worked surprisingly well. She had everyone convinced I was the bastard of some mysterious lover, so that no one cared if I spent my entire childhood cloistered in her chambers. Thank the gods, I finally turned fourteen and the king granted my wish to go train at the barracks, because it was the only way I could escape her and regain some semblance of sanity."
For a long time, there was only the scrape of Fredrick's quill across parchment. Jaden took deep breaths and focused on Moira's warm hand in his. He felt shaken to his core. He'd never said that much to anyone before.
"Well," Nissy said at length, "the investigation should clear things up further."
Moira scoffed, "You of all people should be grateful that Tessa is no longer queen."
Nissy flicked back her thick dark mane as she slid her glare to Moira. "Excuse me?"
"Tessa was poisoning you," Moira said. "In the dungeons, my brother and I had a dark mage friend, and he heard many things, many secrets, with his powers. Tessa and her lady Bellissa poisoned you for years so you wouldn't get pregnant again. I bet you wondered why it never happened. Well, Tessa and Bellissa talked about it like it was nothing, just teatime conversation. Actually I remember now, they mentioned it because they were planning to do the same thing to Zemisha if she married one of your sons. If I learned one thing about Tessa, it's that she hated having rivals in line for the throne."
Fredrick stopped writing and glanced uneasily at his wife. The twins looked shocked, and Nissy had gone livid, though she remained quiet. Jaden squeezed Moira's hand and gave her a subtle nod. The corner of her lips twitched into a tiny smile in response.
The priest broke the awkward silence, "Any word from Captain Tomas Clay?"
Kemon visibly tensed, but didn't answer.
"The courier isn't back from the barracks yet," Kitera said.
"What about Tessa?" Colin asked. "Do we know where she is?"
"Not yet," Kitera answered. "We're working on it."
Damian leaned forward, shoulder to shoulder with his brother. "Cousin Jaden, what do you want us to call you? My king, Your Highness, Your Majesty? Do you have a preference?"
"Um, Jaden's fine."
Damian nodded thoughtfully. "Neat." Nissy shot him a glare.
"I have some good news," Kitera said. "I shall be interviewing new recruits today and tomorrow. There are many promising candidates."
"Ah, but I fear the budget does not allow for new recruits," Morgan said.
"That reminds me!" said Jaden. "It has come to my attention that you are both High Priest and treasurer, which sounds quite difficult to handle. Uncle Fredrick, I heard you've always had a fondness for numbers. Therefore, I'd like to offer you the position of treasurer of the realm."
"I would be honored, my king!" Fredrick said earnestly. At the other end of the table, Morgan's face was steadily reddening with rage.
Jaden smiled. "Perfect."
"Should we appoint someone else as scribe then?" asked Fredrick.
"I'll think of someone, don't you worry. I expect the transfer to go smoothly." He eyed Morgan then his uncle again. "Come to me should you encounter any trouble. If I'm unavailable, you may go to Kitera."
Kitera gave Fredrick a reassuring smile. The priest was obviously fuming, yet he held his peace for now.
"I'd like to say something." Moira leaned forward, joining her freckled hands on the table. "It's about the prisoners in the dungeons. I reckon all of their cases should be reviewed. Let's just say Tessa had a penchant for unfairly imprisoning people."
Lord Vincent said, "We simply don't have the time, nor the resources . . ."
"Oh, I don't mind taking care of it myself," Moira said. "It's what my brother would've wanted."
"Then it's settled," Jaden decided. "Lord Vincent, you shall give Moira access to the appropriate archives."
The old militia captain briefly hesitated, then nodded. "Very well."
***
Later that day, Jaden visited the weapons room, where he meant to select a new bow. Some of the instruments on display had a nameplate underneath. There was a long bow that had apparently belonged to his father, and another that had been his grandfather's. Jaden instead picked up a simple, well-crafted straight bow, with tiny leaves carved on the stave and limbs. He tested the grip, examined the little chips and dents, before looking back at the plate. The name was blurred and impossible to read – the nameless warrior's bow, then. Had a nice ring to it.
Back in his chambers, Jaden was replacing the bow's string with a fresh one when it happened. It started with a sudden terrible headache. Dropping the bow on the desk, he stumbled his way to lean against the wall, and gripped his head in his hand. The edges of his sight blackening, Jaden cried out as the throbbing intensified. Clinging to the curtains, he rested his forehead against the window. Its coolness did bring some relief, but then everything shifted. The room tilted and was gone, replaced by the torture chamber from his nightmares.
Panic seized him as he realized he'd become that other man again, the one who had been tortured. Scorching pain seared his chest and arms, each mutilated fingertip throbbed as it dripped blood, and his jaw pulsed with the agony of all his teeth being savagely ripped out. He experienced everything as though it were truly him sitting in those shackles.
She was here, too. Small and delicate, pale face hidden behind thick, dirty hair, tied up to a chair facing him so he would witness the terrible things they did to her. She sobbed and begged as the torturer grabbed her by the hair, brought his knife to her lower lip and began to slice it off. Despair overcame him for he wanted to break free and save her, but couldn't find any strength and was reduced to weeping and pleading. Not that the humans ever cared.
Then everything changed again, as if the nature of reality was malleable. Darkness and pain became summer and nature. A vast sea shimmered in the distance, glimpsed between trees lush with pale green leaves. As they sat together amidst the ferns, he brought a tentative hand to her round belly. When he felt the baby kick, his delighted gasp made her tilt her head back and her melodious laughter pealed across the forest. She looked . . . familiar. Jaden was suddenly sure he'd seen this girl before.
The scene abruptly vanished. Still leaning against the cold glass of the window, Jaden faltered and struggled to maintain his balance on shaky legs. Nightmares were one thing, but this . . .
His heart lurched as he caught a reflection in the window. Someone was standing behind him. Jaden spun and saw him in the middle of the room. Nails sharpened into claws, black flames clothing his chest and arms, a smile made of fangs. Observing Jaden with eyes deeper than the void between stars.
Jaden fought past the paralysis of fear. "What do you want? Why are you showing me all this?"
No answer. Jaden scrambled for his bow, before realizing that his quiver rested in the far corner of the room. But then he looked up and a different person stood before him.
Am I going completely mad?
"What are you doing here?" Jaden asked faintly. Kitera's brother had taken the place of whoever – or whatever – had been there before. His handsome features were offset by an icy glare that made Jaden shudder.
"Bryani?" Jaden tried. No reaction.
Something moved on the floor. A snake at least two yards long, with green scales and yellow eyes, slithering through the fluffy rug. The creature suddenly leapt and swiftly coiled round Jaden's legs, hips and waist, whilst Jaden desperately reached down for the knife strapped to his ankle. The snake reared back its head, snarling, fangs leaking venom. In a flash, Jaden recalled his father's death – blood streaming from ears, eyes and lips, hands and feet swollen and blackened – caused by the bite of a snake demon.
Jaden stabbed hard into the snake's yellow eye. The creature made a high-pitched hiss that stung Jaden's ears, then it rapidly uncoiled and slithered away with the knife still embedded in its head. It hauled itself towards Bryani's leg and . . . disappeared. Jaden blinked, confused. His knife lay on the floor next to Bryani's foot, steel tip stained with burnt-orange blood.
"My leg!" Bryani cried out and collapsed.
There was nothing cold about his expression now, only pain. Still, Jaden approached carefully before crouching by his side. Bryani crunched up his trousers, revealing a snake tattoo that curled up around his ankle and calf. Kitera's brother was panting, doubled over with pain, eyes squeezed shut.
"I don't know what to do," Jaden blurted out.
Then Bryani calmed down. Pain drained from his face, replaced by sheer exhaustion, and he passed out across the floor.
Before panicking, Jaden made himself remember what he'd learned from his time with the Dragon's cult. You couldn't kill a demon. If you killed a mage, then their demon would die too. But if you hurt the demon, it would simply go back to its master without any permanent harm to neither.
Still, when Bryani opened his eyes, Jaden sighed with pure relief.
"How are you feeling?"
"Not great." Kitera's brother rubbed his eye with the back of his hand, then blinked a few times. "Wait. Are you the new king?"
"Just call me Jaden," he said tiredly.
"Oh, um, all right. By the gods, how did I get here? I'm Bryani T'Sherazee by the way."
"I know. Your sister told me about you."
Bryani got up on unsteady legs. Jaden stayed close in case he lost his balance again. Then Bryani scratched his back frantically, turned around, and held up his shirt.
"Do I have something there?"
Jaden brought him closer to a lamp, which illumined his lean muscles and slim waist, but also a sinuous black mark marring the otherwise smooth golden-brown skin. The same kind of mark Jaden had seen on Noah's skin.
"You didn't have a mark on your lower back before?"
"Shit!" Bryani let his shirt drop and turned to face Jaden. "Excuse my language."
"I don't mind."
Bryani sighed and leaned against a nearby desk. "I just don't get it! I didn't even use magic, I swear! I left that shit behind a while back and promised myself I'd never use again. It makes no sense." He looked around. "Where are we?"
"My chambers."
"How did I even get here? Did I black out? But I haven't been drinking." He hugged himself, clearly freaked out. Well, that makes two of us.
"Do you need to lie down?" Jaden asked.
He nodded. So Jaden guided him to the next room, which had a massive four-poster bed blanketed in dove grey, and a fire ablaze in the stone hearth. Bryani curled up on the bed and Jaden sat next to him.
"I don't know what's wrong with me." Bryani was shivering. "I think I might have a fever. By the gods, as far as first impressions go, this is the absolute worst. Am I getting kicked out of the castle's troupe?"
"Of course not," Jaden said, because he didn't believe Bryani was lying. "However, I'd very much like to know what happened."
"Well so would I! Last thing I remember, I was drinking wine with the other actors."
"You said you hadn't been drinking," Jaden pointed out.
"I mean, we always treat ourselves to a bit of wine after rehearsal. The artist's reward, you know? Not nearly enough to black out, I assure you!"
"What else do you remember?"
Bryani frowned. "I was . . . the last one to leave. I closed the theater for the night. I remember locking up . . . Then all of a sudden I'm here with you and my leg's hurting like hell."
"The truth is, you did use magic." Jaden gazed into the fire as he searched for the right words. "But I think someone else was controlling you."
"Controlling me? How? Why?"
"I haven't puzzled it out yet." A shiver trickled down his spine as the image of a fanged smile crossed his mind. "So this never happened before?"
"Never," Bryani said weakly.
"Would you like me to go get Kitera?"
He shook his head. "She worries too much. She's stressed enough as it is about our little sisters. Please don't tell her about this."
"All right," Jaden said.
Bryani was struggling to keep his eyes open. "Could I stay here? I don't think I can make it back to my room."
"Of course. Get some sleep."
"You said I used magic?" Bryani's voice faded to a whisper as his eyes closed. "What did I do?"
"Don't worry about it. Let's hope it never happens again."