Page 102 of A Kingdom of Lies
I couldn’t catch a breath. My chest heaved, cheeks reddening as I replied, “Thentellme.”
Fury thrummed through me. If I was without the iron band around my throat, I would’ve exhaled such force across the room it would have broken through stone and flesh. From the look of teetering pleasure, Aldrick knew it too.
“I, like you, do not solely belong to one realm. It is that truth that has led me here, and you to me,” Aldrick began, clearing his throat as though it was cluttered with cobwebs. “We are merely products of the world around us. It causes us to act in certain ways. Some may call it desperate and deranged, where others would see us simply changing ourselves to find a place to fit in.”
“That is an awfully long way of telling me you are half human and fey,” I said, lip curling in disgust.
How could a man so old and frail inspire such demanding hate in a group of people?Duwar. The answer was at the tip of my tongue before I finished thinking. “Which of those halves causes you to inspire such bloodthirst? That is why you are doing this, isn’t it? Blood.”
Aldrick limped slightly, edging his way back around the chair until he could lower himself into it. Seeing his fragile nature stole all fear I had for him. Instead, I felt only pity. That was until a voice echoed through my mind.Hisvoice.
“There was a time when fey would construct walls within their minds. I see those teachings have been forgotten with my absence.”
I shook my head, feeling as though I bathed in filth with his presence in my mind. “How are you doing that?”
“It was a gift which was passed through blood from my father,” he replied. “Imagine the fey’s distaste when a half-breed displayed such powers. How jealous they became. What theydidbecause of that very jealousy.”
“Stop it!” I cried out, skin shivering as the voice tore through me. When Aldrick spoke, his voice reflected his age. Feeble and pathetic. Yet the inner voice was brimming with strength and vitality; it was loud and demanding, echoing slightly with each word.
“You wanted to know, did you not?”
Gritting my teeth I did my best to keep a hold of his glassy gaze, feeling how soaked my head was becoming with sweat. “So, they treated you like shit. You have harboured such hate for so many years and I can see how it has changed you.”
“Assumptions,” Aldrick spoke aloud. “Did you not heed my warning? It matters not why I do as I do, but you should be asking how. That is a question which I would perhaps answer. Tell me what it is you want of me, Robin.” Again, his voice shifted to the pits of my skull. “You wish for me to help you kill a king.”
I winced, his voice slicing like a knife across my mind.
“I sense that you feel as though you have made a mistake.”
“Get out of my head.”
“It could be done.”Aldrick continued, ignoring my growling demand. “Doran Oakstorm is, as the fey are, the epitome of delusion and selfishness. If his head is what you desire, then so be it. But there is a cost that comes with seeking revenge. Would you be willing to pay it?”
“I changed my mind,” I cried, feeling the mental pain of his claw-like presence. “Please, stop.”
Aldrick retreated his presence from within me like a serrated blade being withdrawn from a fresh wound. “All this way for you to change your mind. Surely there is something you desire from me?”
Perhaps it was my exhaustion, or deliria from his horrific power that had me spluttering my deep, burning want. “Duncan, I want Duncan to be spared.”
“General Rackley,” Aldrick spoke, drawing out his name as though he thumbed through a list in his mind, trying to locate Duncan upon it. “Ah yes, the man accused of sinning. Forgetting his mission for our God and defiling himself, well, withyou.”
“Yes,” I said, jaw tense and hands clutching the chair. “That’s what I desire.”
It was only half a lie.
“Do you truly care for him more than killing the man who stole not one, but both of your parents? That is an interesting priority. Not one I personally can understand.”
“Too many lives have been taken in your authority. It would be wrong for me to add another to your list.”
That amused Aldrick. He barked a laugh which soon turned to a barrage of hacking coughs. He clutched his chest, eyes bulging and bloodshot. I could do nothing but watch as he struggled to catch his breath, fighting for some control as if his aged and tired body was at war.
I spotted small flecks of blood around the corners of his mouth, staining his grey beard in places. He had coughed it up, noticeable by the splattering across his fist which he lowered quickly to his side.
“You’re dying,” I said, knowing it wholeheartedly.
“We all die. Doran will die whether you hold the knife or not. You will die. Duncan, the man you hold so terribly dear to your heart, will die.”
I scowled, not caring for his distraction. “That is not what I asked.”
