Page 49 of Conspirators' Kingdom

Mereruka was interrupted by the pained moans of another man and the thud of a body hitting the floor. Taisiya turned around, facing the noise.

“You brought me a gift.” Her smile was sharp.

“A wedding gift, as it turns out. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me,” Vasilisa replied, her glare reserved for Mereruka alone. She held a badly wounded man by the hair, his blood staining the rug.

“It was my mess.” Taisiya shook her head.

Vasilisa pursed her lips but seemed to give up her argument in his presence.

“I present you with the servant of our rat. Now squeak, shadow scum, before I get angry.” Vasilisa prodded the man with a vicious yank on his hair.

The man yelped in pain.

“N-nobilissimus P-P-Procopius.” He stuttered.

Mereruka watched as Taisiya froze. The hair on his arms lifted with the nearness of her electricity. He could see the duelling instincts in her, one to lash out in anger, the other calculating the deepest cut. She was beautiful when she was vicious. This was the villainess he needed.

“Shall I dispose of him… is it Princess, now?” Vasilisa asked.

Taisiya scoffed at the title.

“No… no, as satisfying as that would be, I think Procopius should properly,publicly, atone for blackmailing the daughters of the nobility.” Taisiya walked over to the shadow mage and crouched in front of him. “I don’t care what your name is. I don’t care if you have a family. I don’t really care if my friend decides she wants to watch you get torn apart by wild dogs. But I suspect you wish to live. Am I right?”

“Y-yes,” he replied.

“Then you’ll do as I say. Or Vasilisa will find you in whatever shadow you call home and feed you to the void, far from the shadow path, where I know your kind are as helpless as the rest of us.” Taisiya turned from the man and looked at the blonde darkness mage, “Put him somewhere for safekeeping. We need to travel to the graveyard tonight.”

Vasilisa’s eyes widened with her obvious question. Taisiya shook her head.

“If you think it’s a good idea.” Vasilisa looked Mereruka over like he was some flea-bitten creature her master had dragged home with her.

“I don’t, but it seems I have very few options left to me. Let my family know as well.”

When the darkness mage disappeared with her prey, Taisiya turned to Mereruka.

“Summon Bas. If he truly is your family, then there is something I expect you both to do before we leave Lethe.”

Mereruka suspected he knew exactly what she spoke of. It wasn’t ideal, but he could hardly refuse without revealing his chicanery.

“He shouldn’t be far. Would you like me to get the barge ready?”

“No. We’ll travel through the void.”

He’d really hoped he would never have to do that again. But then, wasn’t marriage all about compromise?

“As you wish.”

Taisiya hadn’t expected to return to the graveyard so soon, not for any official reason. She suspected that whoever Sonya and Daria chose as their husbands would need to be thoroughly tested before they risked bringing them here. As for herself, she hadn’t expected to wed for years yet, and certainly not to a foreign, would-be traitor with kingly ambitions. She also hadn’t expected to need to give up her position as heir so quickly, but it couldn’t be helped. The role belonged to someone who would remain within Lethe, their hand guiding the future of their family. Not for the first time, Taisiya felt ashamed to have been given her father’s gifts and his trust. She carried a part of his soul with her, and now she would be betraying everything that mattered. She’d be abandoning her duty.

For their part, neither Bas nor Mereruka appeared to be as impressed as they ought upon entering the grand, underground chamber. It was a place of otherworldly wonder, bathed in faintly glowing lights and housing the bones of the greatest creature ever to rule Oblivion—a dragon. As spectacular as that was, it was the crystalized heart of the dragon that always held her in awe. Every one of the Dragonsblood line, without fail, heard its strange, beautiful resonance and were drawn to it like moths to the flame. This was the home of her heart. It needed to be protected at all costs. They all knew it, felt it down to their marrow. And now she would betray it.

“Do you both remember the steps I taught you?” Taisiya asked them.

They nodded. Taisiya sighed. She looked around at her family, all of them expressing varying shades of misgiving. At least Uncle Vadik wasn’t here to see his niece’s disgrace. What a disappointment she’d become.

“I won’t pretend to be pleased about this state of affairs, but given I’ll be leaving shortly, I felt it was for the best. Mereruka, Bas, what we’re about to do cannot be undone. Are you ready to risk everything you hold dear for me?”

“Yes,” Bas replied shyly.

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