Page 19 of Queen of Thorns
“We didn’t realize it was this bad,” the Crystal Queen whispers. “Reveln’s comparison to a father stealing food to feed his children feels much more apt now that we’ve heard your story. I’d like to know what your plan is. How do we reverse their course?”
“You mentioned the shadow heirs,” Rai says slowly. “I assume you mean the Shadowspell line, but it has been lost for hundreds of years.”
Rev shakes his head. “It is not lost.”
The room stills, but it’s the High Queen who speaks next. “We knew one family with Shadowspell blood remained in the court; we just didn’t know where. It’s why we continued to force marriages that weakened the court.”
“You admit to this?” the Twisted Queen says, her eyes darkened.
The High Queen nods. “I’d like to remind the room that none of this was my decision. All of these events and decisions happened before any of us were born.”
“No, you just continued the unjust rules.” I release a shuddering breath.
It was that sacrifice that broke my ancestor, Darren. When he completed the spell, he didn’t know the full repercussions. Or perhaps it was never intended at all. Maybe it was all a result of the botched magical. The Night Bringer was never imprisoned fully as they had intended. With him free, the courts knew he would forever seek out the right fae to free his mate. So long as the Shadowspell line existed in the Shadow Court, there was risk. So, they systematically weakened them.
Darren Shadowspell did what he could to save his children, but in the end it only got worse. His hatred for the next High King’s decisions turned him so dark he became a wraith for nearly five hundred years.
“The Night Bringer is the one who uncovered the Shadowspell line,” I say quietly. “He never stopped seeking a way to free his mate. Your tactics to weaken the court worked for a time. He was unable to use other fae of Shadowspell blood to break the curse on his mate. They weren’t strong enough.”
“Until...” the Luminescent Court king says like an accusation.
“Until he tricked me into a bargain and gave me the power to complete it. It was all a big chess game.”
“So, you.” The Luminescent Court King stands, leaning over the table toward me, expression full of rage. “You are the culprit after all. We all suspected it, but we were so desperate for the cure we...” He shakes his head. “You were the only fae able to break the spell and release those evils beasts, and they are now free. You did this.”
“No,” I whisper.
“No,” Re says over me, his voice strong and proud. “I did.”
I release a short breath. My stomach plunges. The Luminescent Court King was going to use this to try and bury me. To convict me of another crime I am not guilty of. But Rev jumped right in front of it.
“How?” someone whispers.
“While I was in the Schorchedlands, I met a wraith,” Rev continues as if he didn’t just drop a major bombshell. The kind of truth that could not only cost him his role as High Heir but get him arrested. “The spirit of the once High King. Darren Shadowspell.”
“Truly?” the Crystal Queen whispers.
“He was... well, he was a wraith, and he had questionable morals and tactics. But he cared for Caelynn. He sacrificed to save her—and me, in the end. I did what I had to in order to retrieve the cure.”
“Was he freed too?” the High Queen asks, her eyes glittering. She’s as fascinated as much as the rest of us.“The wraith of Darren Shadowspell?”
“No. His soul was redeemed.” Rev puts his hands in his pockets. “But he helped us to escape the Schorchedlands with the cure. And it was through him that we learned that Caelynn is his ancestor.”
The room stills.
“And this long story was all to explain that we are going to help the Shadow Court by giving them a queen. Their true queen. Caelynn Shadowspell.”
