Page 20 of Vicious Is My Throne

I explained my theory about the Oracle keeping her brother in check, the timing of all this, and by the end, Dane was nodding. Tavion looked vaguely ill.

“Seems a likely argument.” Dane sighed. “Can’t be a coincidence the blight’s spreading from the north when the evil bitch is locked away. But you can’t run forever, and if he poisons all the realms, then we’re all fucked.”

“Succinctly put as usual, Dane.” I pulled the pan off and flipped the bread over, then put it back on the heat. “But he won’t get the chance to destroy this world.”

“How do you plan to stop a god, Princess?”

“We’re not going to stop him. We’re going to kill him.” Dane spat out a mouthful of coffee, but I kept an eye on the eggs, since at this stage they burned easily.

“With the Oracle locked away, Corvus is on his own. If he’s expending magic fast enough to poison all the land from the Hammer down to Warrington Hollow, he’ll be weaker than he’s been in a long time.”

“You are certifiable.”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But we know where he is. We have a narrow window of time with Gelvira locked away. We just have to figure out how to kill him.”

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Tavion asked, a corner of his mouth kicking up.

“No, she didn’t.” Tristan yawned, heading straight for the pot of coffee. “I can vouch for the fact she laid there all night. Thinking.”

“I slept a little,” I hedged defensively.

“Never lie to a wyvern.” I swore Tristan’s eyes glinted red as he glared at me over the rim of his coffee. “You were up all night, and now I come down here to discover we don’t even get to rest for a few days. Instead, we have to go up into the armpit of the world and kill an Old God. When I joined your court, I never pictured you to be such a harsh task master, princess.”

I opened my mouth to defend myself then noticed the humor in his eyes.

I smirked. “Well, just wait until I tell you how we’re going to kill him.” I pulled breakfast off the fire and set it in the center of the table along with a pile of plates.

“Then you’ll really complain about my leadership skills.”

While my dissatisfied subjects ate the breakfast I’d made them, I woke Raziel and Zor, their faces pale and drawn like they hadn’t slept at all. “I know we planned to stay for a few days, but that’s changed.”

I set down the pile of clothes Tavion and Dane had scraped together, two sets of old, scuffed boots on top. “Get dressed then come to the kitchen. Once you’ve eaten, we’ll fill you in.”

They moved slowly, like two males caught in a trance. Raz sported fading burns on his face and neck, and Zorander’s arm was marred by a wicked looking gash. But I was more worried about this unshakable fog hanging over them.

Since the last thing they remembered was being swallowed by the black mist, I made a second round of eggs and bread while Tavion explained everything they’d missed. They shoveled food into their mouths mechanically, like every motion was pure habit not because they were hungry.

Raz rallied enough of his magic to heal Zor’s arm, then he worked on Lucius’s badly burned legs. Tavion helped his father up from the bed before getting him dressed and downstairs beside the fire.

Lucius felt well enough to sit at the table, a blanket wrapped tightly around him. His lined face was heavy with exhaustion, but he burned with outrage.

“How dare he threaten our lands?” he growled, the table shuddering beneath his fist. “Poison our forest. Everything was covered in that blight, all the animals that couldn’t escape…dead.” He turned to Dane. “This blight is heading south. Is that true?”

“All the way south to Cutter’s Creek. Beyond the creek by now, I’d guess,” Dane muttered. “But Anaria has a theory.”

I sighed as every eye turned to me and I explained everything. Again.

“The timing isn’t a coincidence. With the Oracle gone, Corvus is unchecked. That’s the only explanation. We can’t hesitate, we can’t rest.”

I shot Lucius an apologetic glance. “Once the Oracle escapes the blood circle, and she will, our window of opportunity is gone. Which means blight or no blight, we have to get this done quickly. There is only one place we can go to find out how to kill Corvus, and that’s back to the past.”

“I have a lot of faith in you, love, but Torin is the only seer I know.” Tavion gave me a faint smile, his elegant fingers dancing on the tabletop.

“A seer won’t help us. There is a place we can go to see the past,” I said slowly. “If I’m right, we’ll find our answers there.”

“You’d better not be talking about what I think you’re talking about,” Raziel mumbled, hunched over his plate, looking even paler than he had when he’d woken. “Because that is a very bad idea.”

“Why?” I challenged softly. “Someone preserved those skulls for a reason. Who’s to say it wasn’t for this very purpose? So we could see our own history and learn from it.”

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