In the Wake of the Wicked (Veridian Empire #1)

32. Rose

32

Rose

T he tower spun.

His brother .

My uncle .

I took a step back. Dozens of thoughts flew through my mind, cresting and falling and overlapping so quickly I couldn’t think straight. The emperor of the Veridian Empire was my uncle. The same man who had allegedly cast the Somnivae curse, who had doomed a whole host of people to its clutches and took the power of the empire for himself. The same man I had made a vow to tear down from his throne, piece by piece.

Shock, denial, and bitter betrayal warred within me. Morgana and Ragnar had never told me. I’d grown up believing everyone on my father’s side was dead, fallen ill to a pandemic that swept Feywood decades ago.

What else had they lied about?

I had family outside of them. Someone else who shared my blood, hundreds of miles from my home. Someone who knew my father, who remembered him as he was—not the lifeless, gray-skinned, bleeding hunk of flesh I saw every time I closed my eyes. Gayl had memories of him I’d never imagined until this moment, but now, I desperately wanted to learn. What was he like as a child? When did he learn his magic? Who was his first love? His favorite food? Was he like me , with a hard exterior simply begging to be cracked, our deepest desires and fears simmering beneath a surface of quick-witted remarks and a proud mask?

I wanted to know all of the things I never got to ask my parents, the pieces of myself I’d forged from nothing when I should have had hands guiding my way. Morgana had given me so much of my mother, had told me stories from their childhood and made sure I could see the joy that filled my mother’s short life. She gave me what she could of my father, but she hadn’t known him the same way.

This man before me…he did.

I thought what I’d had of my father had been enough to bridge that gap. But now…now it seemed like a gaping hole, pleading to be filled.

Gayl beckoned me closer. “Come, step away from the ledge. Explaining the demise of a Decemvirate challenger will be quite the headache.”

“Why tell me any of this?” I asked, refusing to move. My voice sounded distant and muffled, like I was wading through water.

He sighed. “Believe me, I was as surprised as you when you walked through the doors of the great hall that first afternoon. I did not intend for any of this to happen. But I haven’t seen my kin in so long, and when I saw you, I…” He trailed off, looking to the side at the cracked mirror leaning against the tower wall. His eyes carried a heaviness I didn’t want to try and decipher. “Forgive me. I am a sentimental man.”

His words had the opposite effect of what I imagined he expected. My resentment soared, shoving aside any twinge of sympathy I may have begun to feel for this man. How dare he try to appeal to my emotions, to think because I shared his blood that I would overlook the casualties he’d caused, his unjust reign over the last two decades. When he moved to reach out to me, I recoiled.

“I know your mother has died,” Gayl said, taking a slow step to me. “Your father, too. I tried to prevent that. I tried to protect him from Aris’ wrath?—”

I jolted forward. “Wait, you knew Aris was going to murder him?”

He nodded grimly. “I had my suspicions. Aris and his family had gone into hiding, of course, but I kept eyes on his whereabouts. When I heard he was lashing out at those nearest to me in an attempt to seek revenge, I worried for Hamilton’s safety. I sent men to warn him, but it was too late.”

Branock Aris sends his love . My blood heated. The former emperor had been searching for those connected to Gayl and killing them one by one, just to send a message. My father was caught in the middle of a battle between these two rulers, an innocent bystander in a war far beyond his control.

“This was all your fault to begin with,” I said, so softly the words barely reached my ears. But he heard them. Regret lined his eyes, dejection showing in the downturn of his lips. “Branock Aris may have killed him, but you’re the reason he’s dead, aren’t you?” I asked, stronger this time, with a cold edge I used to cut through him like a sword. “If you hadn’t cast the curse, if you hadn’t stolen Aris’ throne, none of this would have happened. Your brother would still be alive.”

He met my stare. “Perhaps you are right, but you don’t know the full story.”

My hands shook. “Then tell me the truth.”

“The truth ,” he mused, the word rolling from his tongue like honey as he paced across the wooden floor. “A fickle thing. For the truth to myself is not the same as it is to Branock Aris, or even, I daresay, to you. You have your own perception of what happened all those years ago, your own ideas buried beneath fear and whispers. Sometimes a lie is far prettier than the truth, Miss Wolff. The truth can sting worse than any poisonous fang.” He stopped moving and cocked his head at me. “Are you sure you can handle it, niece?”

I blanched at the title and the way he said it, as if he held some new power over me. “Why start caring now, uncle ? You haven’t for the past twenty-five years.”

He flinched, but didn’t deny it. “Twenty-seven years ago, Evadine Aris went into labor with her firstborn. A daughter by the name of Clarissa. She was born swiftly in the middle of the night, a great answer to the many prayers uttered to the Fates. But what they did not know was that Evadine had been blessed with twins. A rare occurrence, especially for two people of different magic lines.

“Their son, Zareleon, was unexpected and caused complications within Evadine. The baby was in distress, and his mother was losing too much blood. The midwife made the decision to cut into her to remove the baby by force. She told Branock the chances of both his wife and his son surviving the procedure were slim. And so, he summoned me.” Gayl paused, looking down at his gloved hands.

“I had gained the favor of Emperor Aris in the short time I’d been here in Veridia City. I’d arrived only three years prior with nothing but the clothes on my back and the charms in my pocket. I spent what little money I had on seeds to grow my own herbs, then sold various potions and remedies in the markets. Not six months into my time on the streets, the emperor paraded through the sectors, as he often did to check on his people and see how they fared.

“There was an accident. His horse was spooked and threw Branock from its back, leaving him with several broken bones and a critical injury to the head. I happened to be nearby and was able to heal him with charms on hand. He said he had never seen a healing spell work so well and so quickly, even being from a family of Alchemists himself. He insisted I accompany him back to the palace and serve in his court.

“We became as close as brothers.” Gayl cleared his throat and turned away from me at the word. “Together, we honed our magic. We grew strong. We solved the problems of the empire—eradicating illnesses, ending food shortages, creating more resources. He trusted me above any other. Which was why he turned to me when his world was falling apart. He called me that night from my slumber to save his wife and son. To do the impossible. What Branock did not know was that the babe’s life left him upon birth. The Fates had been ready to take him.

“But I stopped it. I saved him. I brought him back .” His words pulsed around me, the very air between us thickening and sweetening with the taste of power. “And magic that strong has a price. It demands payment. The Somnivae curse is more than a curse , Miss Wolff. It’s a reckoning . A consequence for what I took from the Fates—for what Branock made me take.”

Was he saying that he’d brought someone back to life ?

That was impossible. Leo should be dead, according to Gayl. If the Fates were truly out there, there was no way they’d allow something like this to go unchecked. Someone with the power to overthrow their precious plan for destiny, who could bend laws of nature and rewrite the stars at will. I couldn’t fathom the boundaries he’d crossed, the amount of magic he’d used, all to save the baby’s life.

“H-he was dead?” I stammered. “You brought him back from the dead?”

“I did what I had to do.”

“ How ?” I blurted, then shook my head furiously. “No, no, I don’t want to know. That’s dark magic, Your Majesty. Unnatural.” So why was I so intrigued? “How come you haven’t gotten rid of the curse?”

He scoffed. “You think I haven’t tried? After we understood what the curse was doing, I spent months attempting to reverse the spell I had cast to bring Zareleon back. Branock and I enlisted the help of every trained Alchemist we trusted, but nobody could figure out what had gone wrong. Over time, however, the truth became clear to me.

“There was one component to the spell we had not touched. One variable I had not been as forthcoming about with His Majesty. Not an ingredient, not a spell. ”

I froze, my sudden inhale sharp and icy in my lungs. “The baby. Zareleon,” I whispered.

Gayl nodded. “I had never told Branock how his son’s life had been forfeit, nor the depths of power I’d had to draw from in order to bring him back. It was too dangerous. All Branock thought was that I’d healed his wife. But it was the missing piece. In order to reverse the curse that had been cast as payment for saving Zareleon?—”

“He would have to die,” I finished for him, horror snaking through my veins. Gayl merely stared at me, unmoving, confirmation shining back at me through his white and blue eyes.

It explained everything. Why the curse was connected to the birth of the twins, why nobody had been able to banish it after so many years. I couldn’t believe Leo was still alive, if he was the key to ending the suffering and loss of so many people.

“Have—have you ever tried to kill him in order to break it?” I asked warily.

He grimaced. “I have considered it many times. Watching this nightmare unfold and knowing I had the power to stop it…I warred within myself for a long time. Once, Branock caught me in the nursery standing over his son’s crib with a pillow in my grip.” When Gayl saw the horrified expression on my face, he shook his head somberly. “I wouldn’t have done it, of course. But the thought …” His jaw tightened. “You look at me with revulsion, but you cannot begin to understand the way this burden weighed on me. The way it still weighs on me. Branock had me imprisoned and forced me to explain what was happening. I think, in the end, the truth was what began his downward spiral. He turned utterly paranoid, thinking I had told others and we were plotting against his family, preparing to kill his child at any moment. He was rash and suspicious, a terrifying combination for the man ruling an entire empire. The people blamed him for the curse and in a way, they were right. I had warned him the night the twins were born how the price would be too much for him, and he didn’t care. The guilt ate at him, but he was unwilling to give up the life of his son to save thousands. Eventually, it became too much for him. He abdicated his throne and fled the palace with his family.”

“And how convenient it was that you were more than willing to wear his crown,” I said, but my words lacked bite. I felt both hollow and overflowing with information at the same time, his story and my own doubts weaving a spider web in my mind.

“Make no mistake, Miss Wolff—I am not a saint. But perhaps”—he took a step toward me, and I didn’t back away—“I am not the monster you have been so eager to believe.”

I don’t know what to believe anymore .

Apparently I’d said the words aloud, for Gayl smiled, a resigned upturn of his thin lips. “I don’t expect you to readily trust me. But there is so much more I wish to tell you, Rose, if you will allow me. So much your father would want you to know.”

I met his stare at those last words, sensing the growing urge within me to feel connected to my father, the yearning for the life with both him and my mother that had been ripped from me.

What if Gayl was telling the truth? What if Rissa and the Sentinels had it wrong? Branock had obviously never told his children how the curse had really come about, since they still believed they could find the secret for banishing it in the pages of Gayl’s Grimoire.

It was pointless. His Grimoire would solve nothing. Their entire focus of the last five years was for naught.

I closed my eyes. The mission . I was still expected to find the book and help them counteract the curse, removing Gayl from power in the process.

I still wanted that, didn’t I? Only…to break it, Leo would have to?—

This wasn’t something I was ready to deal with tonight.

We know how this ends, daughter of the moon—only you will decide who meets their doom. The parting words of the Oracle splintered through my mind. Had they known? Was this what they had been referring to? This knowledge Gayl and now I possessed that could decide the fate of so many people…it was like a bucket of ice water had been thrown over me.

Too much. This was all too much .

“I—I need time, Your Majesty,” I choked out, opening my eyes to his pale features, the moonlight making his eyes glow.

Gayl bowed his head. “Of course,” he murmured. “I understand. All I ask is that you do not speak to anyone about what we’ve discussed tonight. I’ve kept this knowledge hidden from the world for over two decades in order to protect Branock Aris and his family, even in his death.” His gaze bore into me. “I’m afraid your new friend will wind up dead within hours if others were to learn the truth. It’s one of the reasons I made sure Zareleon and his sister stayed far away from this place. Living as a recluse in this city is the best way to ensure he is not hunted and sacrificed.”

I pursed my lips and nodded. He was right—people would line up at Leo’s cottage demanding his head on a spear if they knew the real story. But that meant Gayl had been protecting them this whole time. Some sort of savior in the shadows. Did I really believe that? That his actions were completely selfless, that the idea of Clarissa rising up to claim her rightful title as the Aris heir had never influenced him to keep her far from the throne?

Nobody was that altruistic. He’d said so himself—he wasn’t a saint.

But perhaps he wasn’t the villain, either.

I had never been the naive girl who believed every word fed to me. I wasn’t like Morgana and Beau, desperate to see the goodness and sincerity in the darkest of lives. There was always both. A balance. We all lived in shades of gray—some lighter than others, some so bleak you had to search for the smallest glimmer, the faintest spark. And as difficult as it was to question everything I’d accepted about our emperor over my life…he’d planted a seed of doubt tonight. Maybe there was truth to his words, some goodness to his actions over the years.

Gayl stepped to the side and swept an arm to let me pass, his cloak swishing at the wooden floor as he moved. I took a step toward the stairs, but before I could go far, his hand fell to my shoulder.

“While I have pardoned you, my own blood, for wandering these halls in search of my secrets, that forgiveness only extends so far. I protect the Aris heirs from the mistakes of their father and from certain violence that would come if anyone discovered the truth, but if I find them and their little group of rebels continuing to lurk where they don’t belong, I cannot promise the same forgiveness.” He released his grip. “I hope to see you again soon, niece.”

I held his stare and nodded once. There was the threat I’d been waiting for. There was the all-powerful Emperor Gayl, the one who incited both fear and awe in his subjects.

And I felt both.

His words hung over my head the entire way down the tower and through the palace, an uneasy sense of foreboding slithering across my skin, lingering even as I entered my chambers and slammed my door shut.

Only the sound of tapping on my window snapped me from my spiral.