Page 8 of The Never List
I laugh, slow and frigid. If my mother were truly here, she’d never allow him to harm me. She wouldn’t have allowed him to turn into the bastard he has, either. But she abandoned us long ago, along with my friends’ mothers, the goddesses Tareena, Eirdis, and Neph.
“It’s your year,” Baydel says after a breath. He straightens his gold jacket, the shimmering fabric hanging well past his hips. “Your turn to choose one for the Legends. Try to pick one who will actually make it past a month this time.”
“It’s not our fault they get squeamish once two or more of us take her to bed at the same time,” I argue, ignoring the sting in my gut. Not from any scorned affections I had for the previous potentials, but from the sheer terror that’s overcome them all after barely getting to know us.
“Itisyour fault,” he says. “You could tamp down your powers when all four of you are together with the potential.”
“Why should we change who we are? The potential mate won’t survive the Athanry if she can’t even handle our collective powers, in or out of the bedroom.”
Baydel steps closer, and I shift off the pillar to meet him.
“You need to take this more seriously,” he says. “Now more than ever.”
Curious, I tilt my head. “What are you keeping from me?” Besides everything, the bastard.
“You know the stakes,” he grumbles. “The goddesses in stasis can only remain and act as powerful wards while you and the Legends offer them drops of your powers yearly. Those are the terms they set when they went to sleep decades ago to protect us. They wanted connection to their only sons to assure them that Lumathyst is still worthy of their protection. Among the other important reasons to find a mate, theycreatedthe Choosing for you four to find one and prove the royal traditions will hold.”
Guilt gnaws at my chest like a trapped rat. The last thing any of us want to do is let down our mothers. The Legends, including myself, have been doing our duty to them since we came of age and into our own powers, years ago; before then, our fathers handled the offerings. But Baydel’s sense of urgency raises my hackles. He’s never been fully honest with me. I can taste the calculated lies he weaves daily. But what exactly he’s lying about, I don’t know.
“It’s more important than ever that you find your mate,” he continues. “Especially with the significant threat across the seas. You know how Erithmore hates us. And do you think your people will continue to serve you if they know their rulers can’t appease their goddesses? The people will turn on you the second they aren’t being provided for, and then we’ll have another rebellion on our hands. Erithmore would love the opportunity to ally with rebels. The people can smell weakness—”
“Lumathyst is not weak. Our mothers made sure of it,”I snap.
“If your mothers hadn’t written the rules of the Choosing, I would simply audition girls until I found one who could actually tolerate the lot of you,” he snaps, shaking his head. “Lumathyst may be strong, but youLegendsare making a mockery of our royal line.”
The power in my veins rumbles, demanding to be unleashed. I could make him terrified, make him believe his worst nightmares are tapping on his shoulder, sliding their fingers around his throat—
My father smiles knowingly and flicks his hand. In an instant, I’m immobilized. My body is entirely under his control.
“Youare weak,” he whispers. “Just because you and the other Legends take care of the traitorous filth littering our streets doesn’t make you powerful men.”
He releases me, tipping his chin, waiting. Hewantsa reaction, wants a fight.
So, I don’t give him one.
“Has Erithmore been mobilizing?” I ask as if he didn’t just violate me again. Didn’t just use his power against his own son.
Baydel smirks as if he’s impressed. I know he isn’t.
Lumathyst is the largest kingdom in the Crescent Sea. Vleyica and Cardrayton are our allies to the south, and our biggest threat is Erithmore to the north. We’ve had a tentative peace with Erithmore for decades, but as the second-largest realm, they are always in competition with us.
They hate our monopoly on trade from Vleyica and Cardrayton. If Erithmore’s armies ever outmatched ours,they wouldn’t hesitate to try to conquer us. Luckily, the goddesses’ dormant powers offer protection within our borders, making the idea of conquering us a fool’s dream.
“Nothing concrete yet,” Baydel says. “You know how they envy us. We need to keep it at envy and not ambition. Plus, there is always a concern of demis organizing—”
“You and the other kings either banished the ancestral demis to the Ashlands, stripping them of all wealth and privilege and hope, or work them within an inch of their lives. Most demi lines have been diluted to minimal powers, ifany. There hasn’t been a whisper of them scheming against the royals in centuries. You can’t honestly view them as a threat?”
“We intend to keep their loyalty and submission,” he says, “so another uprising doesn’t happen.” He motions toward the door. “Finish getting dressed. I’ll see you up there. Watch for my cues on who to pick. If you listen this time, perhaps you’ll actually choose someone correctly.”
I give him an acidic smile and stride from the room, taking the golden elevator up to Axl’s floor. We always meet in his rooms when we stay in the palace. I use the ride up to steel my nerves, but it does nothing to quell the restless energy inside me. Thanks to my father’s power move, I want to break something. Or better yet, cut into someone. My fingers itch as I trail them over the hilts of the blades strapped beneath my jacket.
“How is your old man?” Axl asks as I enter his room.
I plop down on one of his leather sofas, kicking my feet up on a glass table. “Prickish. Yours?”
“Same,” Axl says, adjusting his tie in front of the mirror across the room.
“Did you comb your beard?” I tease. His long black hair is secured with a leather tie, his full beard trimmed and immaculate. Normally he looks as wild as the sea he loves so much.
