Page 89 of Conspirators' Kingdom

“They will be exiled immediately, escorted to the desert border and ritually barred from ever stepping foot in Maat for the rest of their days. But if my wife dies, then I shall send them to her homeland, to her grieving family, with a sack of iron spikes and a letter detailing what became of her and at whose hands.”

Henenu froze. Time for the killing blow. Mereruka looked at him with a ferocious grin on his face.

“And Henenu? My wife’s family is vicious, calculating and have a special place in their hearts for her. I will have my answer now.”

Henenu closed his eyes, resigned to his fate.

“It is stowed in a pocket realm. You will need my assistance not to set off the traps.”

Mereruka nodded at the soldiers.

“Take him.” He turned to Henenu. “And be swift. If I grow impatient, your family will suffer.”

Every moment he was gone, Mereruka’s anxiety grew. Taisiya didn’t have long before the curse took her life or worse. When the soldiers escorting Henenu teleported back with the bastard and the small bottle of blood, Mereruka felt faint with relief. He held out his hand to receive the bottle from the soldier. A flash of movement caught his eye. A blade rushed towards him. Mereruka fell back as Bas shoved him, deflecting the blade with his claws and hands.

The bottle fell from the soldier’s hand and was snatched before it hit the ground by the blade-wielder. She leapt away, bottle in hand, a triumphant grin on her face. Bas hissed, blood dripping from his wounds, refusing to move from his protective position in front of Mereruka. Vasilisa was absent. Mereruka prayed to the forgotten gods that she was circling in the shadows.

“Back off! Don’t come near me! Release my family or I’ll spill every drop of this blood!”

“Back away!” Mereruka ordered his soldiers.

“Nebet! You fool! You’ve doomed us all!” Henenu shouted.

“Listen to your father, Nebet. Do not test me,” Mereruka replied, his voice calm in a way his heart was not. There was so little blood in that vial. He needed every drop to cure Taisiya. This woman was the only thing that stood between him and Taisiya’s life.

“No! You listen to me. Do as I say, or your wife will die. I don’t fear death, but if the rumours are to be believed, you fear losing your precious wife. What will you decide?” Nebet sneered.

Mereruka grabbed the corruption-cursed blade once again and walked towards her family, a dawning horror on Nebet’s face.

“No! I will smash this bottle!”

Mereruka watched her expression as he passed the blade over the bowed heads of her family members. Tears formed in her eyes as it passed over the smallest head.

“Then smash it. I will ensure that you live long enough to watch this one die of corruption. Or maybe he won’t die, Nebet. Maybe, he’ll survive. Maybe I’ll let you watch as I feed the rest of your family to what he becomes, knowing you were responsible for it, all because you destroyed the only thing that could cure him. What willyoudecide?” he asked.

Nebet backed away, inching closer to a shadow along the wall. Mereruka kept his expression blank as black talons crept towards Nebet, silent. She screamed in pain as those same talons severed the hand in which she held the bottle. Nebet fell to the floor while her hand, still clutching the bottle waved down at her from above.

“Time’s up, bitch,” Vasilisa hissed in her shadowy form.

Nebet crawled away, cradling the bleeding stump as Vasilisa advanced. The darkness mage grabbed a blade from the nearest soldier and ran the fae woman through. Henenu and his wife cried out.

“That’s for hurting my kitty,” she said as she pried the bottle from the fingers of Nebet’s severed hand. “Are we done here?” Vasilisa asked Mereruka, inky black flames hiding her features and making her appear as if from a nightmare.

He nodded. Much as he wished to wipe them all from existence, Taisiya didn’t condone the killing of children. Perhaps he was getting soft.

“Kill the adults. Exile the children,” Mereruka commanded.

Mereruka dismissed Qar and Nofret from their vigil, instructing them to ensure that Henenu and his family did not survive the night. Then he raced to Taisiya’s side.

“The two of you should hold her down. Dragon blood is as painful a cure as there exists,” Mereruka said.

Bas grabbed her legs while Vasilisa held her arms. Mereruka summoned a wooden spoon and placed it between Taisiya’s teeth. That done, he opened the bottle. When the first drop hit the black mass near Taisiya’s gut, Mereruka braced, ready to hold down a flailing, insensate mage. He’d known the pain of dragon blood once before and would not soon forget.

Nothing.

Taisiya remained still as the blood dissolved the corruption before their eyes. Mereruka listened to Taisiya’s weak heartbeat, shocked that anyone living could remain unconscious and still for such a thing.

The blood chased the corruption through Taisiya’s skin, obliterating it. Soon, the black lines disappeared. The only evidence of the attack was her blood-encrusted gown. Mereruka took the spoon from between her teeth and dripped a few drops of blood into Taisiya’s mouth for good measure.

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