“Because he knew what he’d find. He oversees the kingdoms in our father’s stead. Do you truly think a man burdened with wrath didn’t notice my kingdom growing every month while his kingdom shrank? That my supplies went up every month?”
“You think he knew you were taking them?”
“Yes. But as long as he never checked, he could pretend he punished them, pretend I wasn’t taking them. Seeing is believing for him. That’s why he never comes to my kingdom. He knows if he finds his people there, his wrath will overrule him, and his need for control will kick in. So he simply doesn’t check. He turns a blind eye to my kingdom.”
Yet his words make little sense to me. “But why?”
“When the treaties were created among the sixteen kingdoms, Regan’s kingdom was on the brink of a revolt. The people were being forced to donate blood each month to the Vampiric Kingdom. All kingdoms must supply blood each month since it’s the Vampiric Kingdom’s food source. Regan’s people initially refused. They didn’t want to quietly feed a kingdom that was at war with them only a year prior. They wanted to fight back, despite the potential consequences. The donations are necessary to keep the peace, especially after the previous war, but the humans didn’t see it that way.”
“But the prisoner purges each month?—”
“It started with a group of teenagers who lost their parents in the war. They led a rebellion and intended to face the vampires. Regan knew if they did, the vampires would wipe them out. So, he made a decision. He condemned them to death, intending to stage their deaths in front of the Vampiric King to keep him satisfied and his people in line. He had Lyon place nets at the bottom of the mine. Despite his wrath, Regan isn’t heartless. He knew Lyon would inform me. He needed to instill fear in his people.”
“Then how did you come to save them?”
“Regan knew Lyon wouldn’t risk taking in more people. He has just enough resources to get by, but adding more people to his kingdom would deplete his supplies quickly. Compromising his kingdom’s wealth would go against the nature of his sins, but he knew I wouldn’t be able to say no if Lyon involved me. I believe everything he did was intentional.”
“But if he knows you saved these people, why keep condemning them to this fake death?”
“Because Regan’s people kept trying to go against the treaty. He had no choice but to rule with an iron fist to keep his people in line. If they believed he would kill them over petty things like not donating blood each month, they would be too scared to step out of line.”
“So you continued to save them?”
“Yes. I used the nets Regan placed at the bottom of the mine shafts. It worked. His people haven’t revolted since, the crime rate dropped, and the resistance to blood donation faded. So he kept the laws in place with the threat of death, even if it was all staged.”
“I still don’t understand why he would turn a blind eye to your growing kingdom,” I tell him.
“Regan has been the head of our kingdoms for decades. He is the one who keeps the treaties with the other kingdoms. There is one High Kingdom elected from each species that oversees the other kingdoms of its kind. Silvercrest Arcana is the Lycan High Kingdom. King Slavic from Bloodtaric rules over all four of the vampiric kingdoms, and he is who signed the treaty with our father to end the war.”
“So Regan is just pretending to kill these people to keep his kingdom from revolting against King Slavic?” My brows furrow in confusion.
“Yes, each month, we have to hand our supply orders over to trade between the kingdoms. The vampiric kingdoms are cutthroat. Regan reports his number of dead to their king, which explains the shortages of blood donations from his kingdom. Every six months, the sixteen kingdoms are brought together to discuss the treaties. The council room is spelled, and no one can lie in that room.”
“So if they ask him where his people are and why there is a shortage, he tells them he killed them . . . and that is why he doesn’t go to your kingdom.” I sigh.
“Correct, seeing is believing. So by turning a blind eye and not seeing for himself, he does not have to lie. Technically, he is killing them while praying I save them.”
“And if you didn’t save them?”
“He’d have found another way, probably exiled them to the mountains, but it would have ended in death because survival out there would have been impossible. Still, that option would have given them a chance to live. But he and Lyon both know I’m a glutton, and saving them would become an addiction,” Zeke tells me.
“But why didn’t he tell me this before I rejected him?”
“Regan was caught in a bind, Zirah. Yes, his wrath made him do some regrettable things, and his lust for control drove him to maintain the facade, but the reason he kept this from you goes deeper than that. James was there with him.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because James is a hybrid, a citizen of both the vampire and lycan kingdoms. He is neutral to both. James told you earlier he plays for the winning side. That’s because he is on both sides.”
“He would betray his own family?”
“If his hand was forced. But no, I don’t believe he actually would, and that is why he warned my father of King Slavic’s son being killed.”
“Wasn’t your father with him?”
“I never knew that until my father and James returned, which explains why my father knew so quickly about what happened when we found you that night.”
“What do you mean?”
