“Kier was often at our court and he was a sore spot for my Father. We had become affected by the plague that was sweeping through the Horde, Blood, and Dark kingdoms. We had been working with Kier to find who was responsible for what was happening to Faery, and trying to find a way to stop it. Kier had also been trying to get his sister released from Alazander and back to the Dark Kingdom for years as my father’s madness had escalated. Adding to this volatile situation was Danu. She was not pleased with his excesses and abuse of the Fae people and had been relentless in the visions of what would happen if we did not intervene.”
“So, Kier and I, along with the Elite Guard, had been formulating a coup behind Alazander’s back. Not exactly an easy thing to do, considering the magnitude of his powers. It boiled over one day, when my mother put voice to her concerns during one of Kier’s visits. My Father abused her in front of an entire assembly of the Horde. Most thought nothing of it, since Alazander was known for taking his wives and concubines wherever he deemed fit. Dristan could take no more, and tried to intervene. Alazander turned his attention from my mother to my brother.”
I swallowed, slowly placing pieces together. My eyes flickered up to his, and caught him lost in the memory of his past.
“It was as if the centuries of insanity had all escalated to this moment. He’d done so much damage to everything, most of our allies had turned on us. He’d killed so many innocents. He was killing us, and even though we were the strongest of the Castes, sooner or later, fate would catch up with us. I was the only one who could kill him. Up until then, I couldn’t do it. I had faltered, right up until that day.” He exhaled a shattered breath and shook his head. “He pierced Dristan through the chest with one of his wing talons. Dristan had chosen death rather than witness more of my father’s sickness; he knew attacking the Horde King, even in defense of our mother, was suicide. We all knew what my Father would do next. I killed him then. I was unable to stop the beast inside of me from coming out when I’d seen what he had done to my mother and Dristan. But, in killing the reigning Horde King; I was fated to take his place on the throne.”
I swallowed and tried to picture the men they had been, and the ones they had become. “He was family, Ryder. You chose to save your brother, but at a price to yourself. I would have done the same thing had I been in your place.”
His mouth slashed into an angry line, and his eyes turned from amber, to complete obsidian. “I don’t think you would have. You, unlike me, would have looked for a way out of it without killing your own father.”
“He took the choice from you when he struck at them. You made the right choice.”
“For who? Dristan? My mother? For Danu? For Faery? I did not want to take the throne!!”
“But you weren’t the Horde King before tonight?” I asked carefully.
“No, there was too much that I had to accomplish, that I could not do as the Horde King and all that the title entails. Those in attendance that night were sworn to a blood oath not to reveal what had happened. To perpetuate what needed to be done to save Faery, Kier adopted me as one of his sons so that we could misdirect our enemies and find the heirs, and relics of the prophecy. It allowed me to hide in plain sight without being challenged, or lied to by those who would want to challenge or cause the Horde King issues.”
“That’s how you were able to say you were Kier’s son,” I said with a wince. “You’re not Adam’s brother; you’re his cousin.”
“I am. My mother is Kier’s only sister. He saved us, all of us. If he hadn’t been willing to help, my father or the Mages would have eventually killed us all. Ristan had already been having visions of what was needed to fix the damage my father and the Mages had wrought on this world. Part of the prophecy included atonement for the damage done by my father, but something like that has to be undertaken very carefully so the other Castes don’t sense weakness and attack. Another part of the prophecy is the recovery of the relics and the union of the Light and Dark Heirs and their offspring.
“So, why me? I don’t understand why you asked for me.”
“You are part of the last piece of the prophecy that we did not discuss with you before. The one concerning the union of the Horde, and Blood Heirs. You are an Heir, or you will be. Danu picked you,” he whispered as his hand found mine and swallowed it in his much larger hand. “We birth an Heir of both Horde and Blood, one who will help heal the lands.”
“Yeah, sure. Just like I was supposed to with Adam? Anyone ever consider the idea that maybe Danu ate a batch of funky brownies and decided to send Ristan some very random, very kinky dreams? Or, maybe Ristan ate the brownies? It’s plausible with that Demon.”
“I don’t think Danu eats funky brownies, as you call them.”
“Wishful thinking. I’d really like to meet this Danu, and give her a solid piece of my mind. I also want to know why all her visions about me include making babies.”
He shook his head and smiled sadly at me. “I don’t know why she had to make things as complicated as she has. I know she cannot directly help us so she sent the prophecy to try in her own way to help. I do know that her anger with my father knew no bounds and we have been trying to heal the rift with her since his death.”