Chapter 19
Zirah
The following day, I wake to the sound of knocking on the door. “Wakey, wakey!” Shelley’s chirpy voice rings out loudly as she steps into the room. I sit up in the comfy bed and rub my eyes. My breath fogs the air in front of me, and I notice the empty fireplace smoldering with the embers of last night’s fire.
She wanders over to me, and Hunter sits up where he is lying beside me and sniffs the air before lying back down. I pat his head. “How did you get in?” I was sure I locked the door last night.
Shelley holds up a key. “Master key,” she tells me, and I groan.
“Please tell me the three kings don’t have one of those.” She gives me a sympathetic look. “Of course they do,” I mutter, tugging the blanket back over me. I swear this place is colder than the caves.
Shelley chuckles, walking closer. “The king wishes to see you.”
“Which one? Asshole one, two, or three?”
“King Theron,” she whispers.
“Ah, the master asshole,” I tell her, and she chuckles.
“He’s not so bad. He’s usually quite nice.”
“He was going to make me pick women to enter the maze of death, I would say otherwise,” I tell her, and she shakes her head.
“He was testing you. Only those volunteer in the kingdom enter the maze. He was never going to let them enter,” she tells me.
“Wait, you didn’t think to tell me this? I could be free and miles away by now!” She cringes.
“I’m sorry. He ordered me not to tell you.”
“Then why were you crying ?”
“Because I didn’t know at first, not until Malachi told me otherwise once we got there. I kind of thought you would pick twenty of them.” She cringes, and I raise an eyebrow at her.
“Really? Because I look like a murderer?”
“Well, no, but people change depending on the situation they’re handed, and honestly, if I were in your shoes, I don’t know if I would be brave enough to do what you did,” she admits, looking quite embarrassed.
“So he knew I wouldn’t pick any of them?”
“Yes, he said you tried to save one of the girls in the stables before you entered the maze.” I sigh and nod.
“Great, so I agreed just like he wanted.” I shake my head and climb out of bed, grabbing the fluffy robe, and pulling it on.
“But if it makes you feel better, now you know he won’t risk his people,” she tells me, and I chew my lip.
“But that doesn’t help me now, does it?” She shrugs, glancing out the door, which was left cracked open.
“The king is leaving tonight. That is why he wants to see you. He sent for his sons, too. He is setting rules for while he is away.”
I watch her for a second, wondering if she’ll answer honestly. Something has been eating at me since I saw the darkness flickering in King Theron’s aura. “The king is dying, isn’t he?”
Her eyes widen in shock, and she rushes over to close the door.
“He is, isn’t he?” She chews her lip nervously.
“His sons don’t know, no one does except for me, and he told Malachi last night,” she whispers, looking down at the floor.
“That’s why he needs to choose between his sons?”
“Yes, but no one is supposed to know. If they find out, the surrounding kingdoms may start a war for King Theron’s throne, and if the Vampire Kingdom gets their hands on his throne . . .” She shakes her head.
“But King Theron has vampires working for him?”
“Yes, but not by choice they’re from the Bloodtaric Kingdom. It’s part of the alliance. He knows they’re traitors and were sent here to report back,” Shelley tells me.
“So why doesn’t he want his sons to know?”
“Because they’ve been at war with each other for years. He’s hoping that this . . . I can’t say. I’m sorry. Just trust me, what he’s doing is for the best. If you think the lycan kingdoms are brutal, you’re wrong. If the vamps get their hands on his throne before he hands it down . . .”
“What? Just tell me.”
“Humankind will be enslaved.”