The Blood of Darkness

Chapter 57

An Interlude of Duplicity: The Other Letter

Deep in the center of Trivette, in his new room at an unremarkable inn, General Arden Lux, successor of General Andras (may he rest in hell), smooths his fingers over the wax seal of an envelope. It's the letter one of his men intercepted from a doomed-to-death soldier-messenger from Nieves, right before the Royal Guards got to him. A letter sent by his cruel cousin himself.

Trust him, is all it says, in Manar's formal, inky script.

Arden knows who his cousin must be speaking of. The Captain of the Royal Guard—Anshul, the man who apparently allied himself with Arden because he wants Trivette to surrender peacefully, so that thousands of fighting people aren't butchered in the streets when Rurik inevitably invades. But the only way to do that is to kill Queen Aithne. At the ball that will, rather coincidentally, be held tomorrow night.

Arden is desperate to fulfill the task he was sent here to do—kill the Queen. But he is not desperate enough to be an idiot. Anshul's proposal seemed almost too easy. And since when is anything easy for Arden? From his warped, distorted, cursed memories, he can't recall a single instance of happiness, of any situation even remotely being carefree or convivial.

Yet Manar is telling him to trust the enemy Captain. Trust him, trust him, trust him. Arden trusts no one; shouldn't his cousin know that? Believe him would have been a better choice of words, he thinks.

Despite his suspicion, Arden knows that Manar has a way of knowing certain things. Things that he shouldn't know, but are told to him by something or someone. Is this why he sent him this message? He knows something that Arden doesn't?

It's an order, Arden thinks to himself. It doesn't matter what I think of it or not. I don't have a choice; I'll follow it either way. I don't really care, either, to be honest. He'll follow Captain Anshul's plan, and it will at least get him into the castle. And after that, it's not like he has anything to lose. He can either kill the Queen or die trying.

And kill Valerie Tenebris. Manar is mad for wanting to marry her. Why the hell would he want a Queen like Valerie for Rurik? She may be powerful, but she's not even human. It's unnerving to Arden. Her eyes and her hands and her blood, her manic smile and the way she fights. It's unnerving and unnatural.

Then again, his cousin sometimes seems like that too. The way his dark eyes would occasionally glow silver....

Still. Manar's blood runs red. He is human.

Valerie almost killed him, but Terra, Rurik's Goddess, saved him. Healed him. Spared him.

Cursed him.

It was strange and surprising. Arden shares blood with Manar, the single man who caused everything horrible to happen. So why would Terra heal him when that same vile blood runs in his veins? Because she wanted his brutal self to live some more, kill some more, destroy some more? He can do that. He can do anything with a warped goddess behind him. But anything is nothing to him.

Because it doesn't matter. Nothing does. Arden is cursed, and his mind, his self, his soul, is clouded by its veil.

Yes, he hates his cousin, his King, but he hates everyone. Even his sister. He wants her dead, though he doesn't quite know why.

But Lucy—Lucine isn't with him anymore. It's odd, knowing her presence is not near. She's always been there, for as long as he can remember. But she finally left him, and he doesn't miss her. He's glad she's gone. Because now he has a reason to kill her. She was always a distraction—even just her face and voice would pull memories out of the darkest depths of his cursed mind, and remembering them always caused this agonizing kind of pain to rip through him, as if a war was being fought in his very soul.

All he knows is that this madness, this rage, this harsh song of savagery sings from someplace deep inside him, and he is like a helpless sailor drawn to its siren call.