Page 104 of The Court of Secrets
Blaise cast his eyes downward. “I already have their soul.”
Soul?
“One soul is not enough.” His jaw clenched. “This is why you should hand the items to me. I can find dozens of sailors to kill.”
I found my voice broken and felt dry in my throat. “You need to kill people to break them?”
Aqugar gripped into the pebbly shore, his talons screeching against the smooth gray edges. “The curse is centuries old.”
Blaise sighed. “I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t find the right time.”
“Who did you kill?”
“One of the feral fae. A man.” He looked down at the Dagger. “An irredeemable one.”
“Where is he?”
He glanced at a derelict shed not far from where we stood. It was the same wooden shelter Cedric and I had slept in when we’d come to this same beach last year.
“You had him brought here?”
“You must be angry.” Sadness poured into his expression, tugging my heart to him.
“I’m not.” I let out a cool, shaky exhale. “I only wish you’d told me. You did what you needed to do, and the feral fae are hardly upstanding citizens.” I shuddered, recalling how they’d placed my head in a noose when I fled Niferum. Their twisted, dark eyes haunted me sometimes. “I know you want to save them,” I said. His mission was to bring them back from the darkness they’d tipped into.
“This one was not worthy of bringing back.”
If Blaise was saying that, then that particular fae had to have done some terrible deeds. “Why do you need souls?” My eyes flicked from his to the mer king’s. “This isn’t sacrificial magic, surely?” I gave Blaise a panicked look.
“No,” he replied, and the mer king interrupted.
“Souls hold great energy. We need a powerful blast of magic to destroy the curses attached to these.”
An idea flickered into my mind, burning brighter by the second. We knew we had souls to bring back the necromancer, and we could use that same energy to break the curses at the same time. “What if I told you I know exactly where to find such strong energy?”
The mer king’s slimy, long eyebrow arched. “Where?”
Blaise got the same idea. His resolve strengthened as he looked at the godlike mercreature. “You’ll need to hand over the Crown of Discieti because my love is right. There’s a way to break the curses.”
Aqugar shook his head, frustration in his features. He disappeared under the surface, and my heart skipped a beat. “Oh great, now he’s gone and is probably going to murder a bunch more of my people.”
Blaise lifted his index finger in the air, the cool gusts of wind pulling between us. “Wait.”
The air smelled like snow and pine, with a brush of salt. It was quite delightful when compared to the fishy stench of the port in Magaelor. I clicked my tongue as minutes ticked over, but to my surprise, Aqugar re-emerged holding a crown of pure gold, two pieces twisted around each other into a circle. On the outside, gems of blue glistened from the gold, made brighter by the sheen of water coating them. Aqugar looked at me, warning in his glare. “If you do not bring this back to me once the curse is broken, then I will ensure every mercreature in this ocean attacks every ship on sight.”
I swallowed thickly. “Why do you want the crown anyway, after all the trouble it’s caused?”
His eyes widened as he admired it from his hand. “Without the curse, the compulsion element will be easier to use. As of now, when I place it upon my head, the curse grows stronger, making it agonizing to use its powers.” Something faded in his bottomless eyes. “You will bring it back to me, Winter Mortis, or it will be the death of your men.”
He threw it to Blaise, who caught it with lightning speed. The mer king ducked beneath the surface, his scaly tail appearing like steel under the light of the moon and crashing against the water as he swam from the beach.
I inhaled deeply, a smile curving my lips. “Is it possible we may be able to get everything we ever wanted?” I pressed my finger against my bottom lip. “Maybe it is possible for us to have it all.”
Blaise blinked disbelief. “Was that…optimism? Coming from Winter Mortis?” His eyebrows furrowed, followed by a slight smirk.
“You know what? For once, I am feeling pretty good about things. We have a way to kill the necromancer and destroy your curse. Vahaga’s gone, and I have the people I love with me. I even have peace with Berovia, something my father could never achieve during his reign.”
“To be fair, I don’t think Amos ever wanted peace.”
