Chapter Twenty-seven

Zaith

Zaith materialized in his room at Lord Tovos’s castle. He had been directed not to use the noktum cloak within the castle, to teleport outside and use the servants’ entrance. He suspected this was to remind him of his place, and Zaith wasn’t interested in ingratiating himself to the Lord right now.

Zaith felt conflicted and it inspired a recklessness in him. He wanted to sabotage his victory. He’d done his duty, yes. He’d brought Lorelle into the Great Noktum, and she’d bonded with the Dark—almost entirely—in just a few short hours. That was even faster than Lord Tovos’s unrealistic demand.

Yet his victory felt hollow.

He’d lied to her to bring her here. The trap was about to be sprung on her, making her a slave to Lord Tovos for the rest of her life. That was fine. It should be fine. It was going to save Zaith’s family. He was serving the whole of Nox Arvak, which was his sworn duty as a Glimmerblade. He shouldn’t care about one Luminent. She was a means to an end. Delivering her to the Lord was his duty. He shouldn’t care.

Except he did.

Lorelle wasn’t what he thought she’d be. Arrogant. Ignorant. Secure in her superiority just like every other Luminent. She wasn’t like that at all. She cared only for her friends. She was loyal. She served her tribe. She was driven, determined, and as tough as anyone he’d ever met. By Grina’s sharp nails, Lorelle shouldn’t even be alive, let alone standing and fending off assassins. That she’d managed to survive weeks with half a soul was unthinkable. Zaith had never even heard of such a thing.

The more he tried to turn away from it, the more obvious it became. She was just trying to save her family like he was trying to save his. They were the same.

It was dangerous thinking. He’d delivered her to the Lord. There was no going back. He was serving his people. His family. This was what he must do, his purpose as a Glimmerblade.

So why did it feel so wrong?

He’d promised her freedom, and he’d delivered her into slavery. Amidst all the truths he’d told her, the grand lie stayed hidden. Bonding with the noktum bound her to Lord Tovos. Zaith had fastened a collar around her neck, clipped a chain to it, and handed that chain over to Lord Tovos.

Doubt and self-recrimination grew within Zaith, transforming into a sickening foreboding.

The truth was he hated Lord Tovos. And he liked Lorelle.

And that was a truth he could never reveal.

He shook his head. Liking a Luminent… It was ridiculous. Zaith killed Luminents. That was what Glimmerblades did.

Humans… Luminents… They were supposed to be the enemy. The Lords were gods. He’d believed that his whole life. He’d believed it having never met a Lord before.

They’d been absent for almost two thousand years, and Zaith’s people revered them, taught that it was a spiritual mandate to serve them. But now that a Lord had actually returned, all of Zaith’s thoughts were sacrilegious.

He twitched his head. Even thinking such things in this place could cost Zaith his entire family. Lord Tovos could use his magic to read Zaith’s mind if he wanted.

“You may find your temerity bracing, Nox,” Lord Tovos’s voice slithered into the chamber, stopping Zaith’s heart.

Lord Tovos materialized in the corner of the room. Normally, the noktum would have warned Zaith if someone tried to sneak up on him using the shadows, but the Dark obeyed Lord Tovos first, all others after. If the Lord wished to remain invisible to his servants, he would.

For a moment, Zaith thought the Lord had actually read his mind.

“But I find it tedious,” Lord Tovos continued. “Break one of my rules again and your family will suffer.”

Cold relief flooded through Zaith. No. He hadn’t read Zaith’s mind. The Lord was referring to Zaith’s ill-conceived teleport directly to his room.

“I have brought Lorelle,” Zaith said. Best to get to business. Best to get to the point.

“I know. I am watching, Zaith. I knew the moment the girl touched the Cairn. The question is why you felt the need to flaunt my rules by teleporting here?”

Zaith raised his chin, but once again he couldn’t match the Lord’s stare for more than a second, and he looked to the side. “I have done as I promised, Lord, and sooner than you—”

“Have you? Were you simply going to gloss over the fact that Lorelle did not fully bond with the noktum? Your task was to sever her soul-bond to the Human and bring her into the Dark. Are you trying to convince me that the task is complete?”

So, the Lord knew. It was such a subtle thing that if Zaith hadn’t been standing right there, his hand on the Cairn as well, he would not have noticed those five tiny threads Lorelle had protected.

But of course, he knew. The Lords were the absolute masters of the noktum.

“How do you think I should respond to this?” Lord Tovos continued.

“I only live to serve you, Lord Tovos,” Zaith said.

“Do you?”

“I wasn’t sure it mattered. Those five threads.”

Lord Tovos narrowed his eyes. “You like her.”

“She’s a Luminent,” Zaith said derisively.

“Let me make myself perfectly clear to you, Glimmerblade, in case there is any doubt. If you interfere in my plans for her, your family will die, Lorelle will die, and you will die. In that order. You will get to watch each of them depart before I give you permission to die.”

“Yes, Lord Tovos.”

“Must I make an example of another of your loved ones?”

“No, Lord Tovos.”

“You stand for your entire people, Zaith. If the Nox are of no use to me, then they may as well not exist at all. Do you understand?”

“I understand, my Lord,” Zaith said, frightened and yet still seething inside.

“Deliver what you promised. You have one more day.”

“I—yes, Lord Tovos.”

“Well?”

“When she wakes, she will wish to search for the Plunnos…” Originally, Lord Tovos had said to bring her to the castle. But Lorelle was supposed to be fully bonded to the Dark by then. Zaith wasn’t even sure if Lord Tovos possessed a Plunnos. Surely, he did, but…

“Manufacture an adventure for her. Take her into the wilds and convince her to complete the bond.”

“Of course, My Lord.”

“Wait…” Lord Tovos looked over Zaith’s head, contemplating, then turned his focus back on Zaith. “Jai’ketakos.”

Zaith’s eyes widened. “My Lord—”

“That is your path. Jai’ketakos. He has a Plunnos. Perhaps several. Take her there. To slip by him, she will need a full connection to the noktum. It gives you the perfect reason to convince her.”

Zaith opened his mouth but had difficulty closing it. “My Lord, the dragon… He has not been disturbed for thousands of years.”

“Then you must be stealthy, hadn’t you?”

“It will kill us both.”

“Let death be your reward,” Lord Tovos said, his black eyes flashing. “If you are not equal to this mission.”

“Lorelle will also be dead.”

“If she is not entirely bonded to the noktum, what use is she to me? I can as easily use another of her friends. For now, your hope—your quest—lies in that cave, in the dragon’s lair. Take Lorelle’s soul in hand. Bond her to the noktum forever.”

“My Lord, I believe I can get her to trust me, to complete the bond, without taking her to the dragon—”

“I did not ask you for what you believe. Go now. And be grateful.”

The noktum cloak flew from the bed toward Zaith. Before he could protest, it enveloped him.

Zaith’s room in the palace vanished and he suddenly stood a stone’s throw from the guest house where Lorelle slept.

He paused for a long, hateful moment, then spoke to the quiet.

“Yes, My Lord.”