Page 28 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
The queen nodded, her gaze drifting.
‘I dream of her,’ Queen Senka murmured, her voice trembling. ‘Of Haven. I see her every time I sleep. Do you dream of her too?’
For the first time, the queen looked at Mal.
‘I don’t dream much anymore, mother.’
Senka inclined her head, her eyes clouding as she turned back to the window. ‘I think I should like to sleep for a while.’
Mal nodded and rose, leaving her mother to rest while she returned downstairs to Ash, and to the uncle she barely knew. She cast one final glance back before closing the door, leaving Queen Senka rocking gently by the window, dark eyes shut, reaching for her lost daughter through dreams.
…
Mal found her uncle and Ash in what appeared to be the keep’s main hall. The sight was a dismal one: dust and sand carpeted the floor, blown in through the open arches, while vines crept lazily around the columns that overlooked the beach below. With care, it might once have been beautiful, but Morthos had allowed it to rot, like a wound left untended until it festered beyond saving.
Mal took the seat at the head of the long wooden table, Ash settling at the far end, her uncle between them. She couldn’t help the faint smile that touched her lips at the symmetry of it. The creature lingering behind her seemed equally entertained.
‘We’ve never met,’ Mal said at last, by way of introduction. ‘I imagine there’s a reason for that, uncle.’
Morthos inclined his head, long strands of black hair slipping loose to veil his pale face. Beneath the weariness, she could still glimpse what he must once have been; a formidable warrior, now dulled by time and neglect.
‘Why are you here?’ he asked, his voice low and guarded.
‘Ask my husband.’ Mal tilted her head towards the golden man seated opposite her.
Morthos cast Ash a sideways glance from beneath his hair,then appeared to weigh something internally before muttering a string of indistinct words under his breath. Mal drummed her fingers against the table, unimpressed.
‘Why did my father banish you?’ she pressed.
Morthos went still, his eyes widening for a brief, unguarded moment.
‘Answer her,’ Ash commanded, his voice low and edged with danger.
Mal blinked at the severity of it. The authority in his tone was unfamiliar, unsettling. This was not the gentle, attentive husband she thought she knew. Slowly, she was beginning to realise there was more to Ash than she had ever seen.
Perhaps there was more to herself as well.
Morthos let out a long breath and lifted his head. He closed his eyes briefly, as though steadying himself, then opened them again and met Mal’s gaze with naked apprehension. He swallowed hard and tapped his index finger twice against the table. The small, meaningless gesture caught her attention just long enough to distract her.
When her eyes returned to his, his expression had turned to stone.
‘Your father banished me,’ Morthos said evenly, ‘because when you were born… I tried to kill you.’
Many years ago, the Kingdom of Magic was ruled by a royal bloodline. But as time wore on, a Council emerged. And then, a century before the Great War ever scarred the world, the balance of power shattered.
The Council turned.
They plotted against their queen, weaving betrayal into the very fabric of the kingdom. When the moment came, they struck, slaughtering the entire royal family in a single, ruthless purge, as though erasing them from history itself.
All but one.
A princess survived.
Tabitha Wysteria
Hagan watched the sun sink far below the horizon from the terrace outside his chambers. His hands were still slick with blood. Blood drawn from the prisoners kept deep within the keep’s dungeons. Drakonians, captured and delivered to him so he might explore the limits of blood magic. So he might learn what it could do to flesh. What he could do to a body.
It was all for research, of course.
