Chapter 30 The lord that was not...
Byron
I hadn't been to the Dragon Keep for a while and It would have remained that way if my current mission wasn't so important.
I strode to my private chambers and tried my best to keep to the shadows. No one knew I was coming here today. Not the other Heirs, and definitely not my father. They'd all assumed I would stay back in Feylen with the other students.
It had been the perfect cover, though it took a while to construct. Geneva hadn't been willing to let me supervise the detention. But she had caved when I told her where I planned to take them. Judging by her excitement when she learned about Feylen, they must have pissed her off a lot by running out of her class.
But that wasn't my business. I had only cared about finding a reason for my disappearance. And also, find a way to punish Raihn and Thomasina for abandoning their duties.
It hadn't been a very strict punishment. Feylen was the safest war base in the whole of Varethin – if the word ‘safe’ could be used to describe a war front – I wouldn't take them to where they could be in real danger. Or close to the borders where Christopher could learn about the werewolf girl.
If she had another outburst like she did today, it wouldn't take long before other werewolves figured out that we have an anomaly amongst us. Dragons didn't cause sand storms. And definitely not one strong enough to potentially suck in the whole academy.
If I hadn't gotten to the assembly grounds when I did and countered the storm with my shadows, we would be tending to a disaster now. I've known she was powerful ever since the other Heirs and I assumed her connection to Christopher, but I hadn't known how powerful.
She healed the burn, raised herself from thousands of collapsed stones, and now the sandstorm. I had almost drained myself trying to hold the sandstorm in place. The worst part, she didn't seem to realize the extent of the damage she did.
She needed to train her magic and fast. Hearth forbid she loses control during a large gathering one day.
I shook the morbid thoughts away and pushed the doors to my bedroom open. I scribbled a message on a paper and watched as it faded away. I began pacing my room, impatience gnawing at me as I waited for the receiver.
So many things could go wrong with my impromptu plan. The other person could be caught and executed. A part of me wished I had trusted someone with my plan. But I couldn't tell anyone until I was sure.
The piece of paper that had contained Aubrey Vega's cryptic discovery burned a hole in my side pocket. I had gone thorough all of her papers but haven't been able to find a single reference to ‘the world walkers’.
It was also strange that out of all the papers, it had been the only one destroyed, burned off to leave the cryptic words. I could inform the other Heirs about it, but something held me back. Aubrey's death wasn't like any we were used to seeing. It wasn't a Hollowborn and it wasn't The Burn.
If it had been a new monster that killed her, then I had a lot more to worry about beyond the note. They had managed to breach the wards surrounding the school and the library without tripping the alarms. It wasn't something to be taken lightly.
A knock on the door interrupted my trail of thoughts. “Come in.”
The doors opened and Lilith stepped in. The old healer bowed her head slightly. “You sent for me, My Lord.”
“Yes, I need an update. What have you discovered?”
Lilith was the oldest healer at the Keep. She'd been hatched here when her mother had served the former High Lords. She'd practically raised me by herself.
Lilith wasn't just the oldest, she was the strongest as well. She had a special ability for discovering the cause of death of something which made her very valuable. She'd been the one to discover the existence of Hollowborns after examining the corpse of the first victim.
She was the only person aside from the Heirs and Eloise who had seen the bizarre state of Aubrey's death. I trusted Lilith to keep it a secret.
She sighed, “I don't know what to tell you, Lord Byron. I've never seen anything like it. Her death seemed normal, but also…not. It was like her soul was sucked out of her body.”
My brows furrowed. “Like a Hollowborn?”
She shook her head. “A Hollowborn drains magic. This creature, whatever it is, didn't just drain her magic. It drained her. It took her dragon inside her and broke the shell.”
There was a belief that when a supernatural passed, it's just the body that died, the animal inside them goes into the Hearth and crosses over to the other side to find peace. The animal inside us is our soul, and it's how we find our mates.
“So this creature, it's stealing souls?”
Lilith nodded, a bit hesitant. It was clear she was just as confused as I was. I drew a long sigh and subtly added the search of the creature to the list of growing problems that needed immediate solution.
“Thank you, Lilith. You can go now. And make sure no one finds out about this.” I said. She bowed and exited the room.
I waited a few heartbeats before stepping out too. Once I exited my chambers, I found the hallway leading to the throne room empty. It wasn't surprising as there wasn't meant to be any gathering today. My father would probably be in his chambers.
I made to cloak myself in darkness when I felt a strong presence behind me. I didn't need to turn, I immediately knew who it was.
“Lord of Shadowborns, I didn't think you would visit the Keep without seeing your father. What a shame.” the voice came behind.
I gave myself a few seconds to breath. At least, he hadn't invaded my mind with his powers. Maybe he was in a better mood today.
I cleared all expressions from my face and turned to him, my head slightly lowered. Valeor Wesley strode towards me in all of his High Lord glory. Despite that it was just the two of us in the hallway, the extent of his powers seem to hum in the space between us.
“Apologies, Your Grace. I didn't mean to offend you. I had some pressing issues that I wanted to return to.” I responded politely.
“By Hearth name, what ‘pressing issues’ could have made you forgotten what today is? Or have you been enjoying the life that wasn't yours so much that you don't deem it fit to pay your respects?”
And there it was, the familiar tinge of disappointment and restrained anger in his tone. The consistent thing in my life for the past decade.
I straightened and pushed all thoughts away from my mind. He hadn't invaded my mind yet doesn't mean he wouldn't, especially when it's about this topic.
“Of course not, Your Grace. It was merely a distraction. Again, I apologize for not remembering soon.” The words tasted stale in my mouth but I forced myself to utter them, if only I could leave sooner.
I hadn't expected to run into him here of all places, especially when there was no gathering today, and without his guards. It was all too strange to be a coincidence. I tucked away that piece of information for later.
“My ‘Heir’ gets distracted easily and forget important events. Hearth have mercy on the draginkind if you ever become High Lord.” he delivered his words casually with a shake of his head.
I ground my teeth together and fought hard to keep my face from betraying my emotions. He wanted a rise from me. And I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
‘...if I ever become High Lord…’
Like he'd ever given me a choice. I had undergone the rigorous training, sacrificed everything, went to war several times and proved myself repeatedly, but my father never seem to believe in me. He's never hid his disappointment and never failed to tell me how I didn't live up to his expectations of me.
I've learned not to care about his expectations anymore. I hadn't asked to be born as royalty and have this huge burden thrust on me. I didn't even want to be an Heir most of the time, but I strived to be a High Lord, if only to wipe the smug look off my father's face when he realized someone had taken his precious throne. And that someone was me.
I didn't realize I was glaring at him, my hand fisted at my sides, until he tilted his head sideways, a sinister smile on his face. He strode to me, his head high and hands clasped behind him.
“I see determination in the eyes of many, just like I see in your eyes now. But it's only a set of people that have managed to achieve their goal, many stray from the path the minute it gets hard. Which set of people do you belong to, Lord of Bastards?”
I didn't think I could have stopped it even if I wanted to, but I hadn't particularly wanted to. The second the last words slipped from his tongue, I lost control.
Shadows burst out of me in waves and the hallway went black immediately. They took different forms and raced towards him with the intention to hurt. I could still see my shadows despite the thick darkness. And I could see my father with a satisfied grin on his face.
That was when I noticed the phantom darkness caressing my mind before he shadowshifted away.