'He looked human, but I think he was a demon. He called me Princess.'
His expression shadowed. 'I don't know how this is possible, Michael is the only one that I authorized to travel to the human realm. How would this assassin even know of your existence?'
I shrugged. 'He could have slipped through.'
'It must be because my powers are weakened by my illness. It's the only explanation I can think of.' My father shook his head gravely. 'You're okay, though?'
I was too focused on these newfound revelations about Michael to obsess any more about the big guy with the knife. 'I survived.'
'I'm very glad.' He didn't say anything for a moment. And then, 'Has Michael told you anything else about himself?'
'Not much.' I swallowed. 'But, he did say that if he didn't return here in a couple of days he'd die. Is that true?'
My father stood up and walked toward the fire. The light illuminated his stern, handsome features. 'The green stone amulet he wears is made from what was once a large deposit here in the Shadowlands back when his kind ruled. They drew their power from it.'
'Do all Shadows have green eyes?' I asked.
He looked at me. 'Yes, they do.'
'When he blasted the guy, the amulet kind of went dull and so did the color of his eyes.'
'He was weakened from using his abilities in the human realm.'
'But he recovered. Kind of like recharging his battery.'
He nodded. 'Yes, it is much like that. Michael needs his amulet to sustain his life force. In order to take the land, the demons had to destroy the deposit and clear most of it away. But since Shadows need it for survival, they were each given a small piece of it that they could wear on the outside of their clothing at all times. To keep the energy charged, Michael must remain in the Shadowlands or the Underworld, or else he will steadily weaken.'
I tried to add this new information to my already full brain. On the bright side, my headache from earlier hadn't shown up ever since the incident with Robert. 'I don't understand why the demons had to take the land at all. Why couldn't they share it with the Shadows?'
My father's harsh expression softened with a small smile. 'You are asking me to condense a millennium of history into a few minutes. Shadows are. . very stubborn, difficult to control, and as you saw by what Michael did to your assailant, they are also very powerful when they have the chance to be. They are unpredictable by nature. When presented with the option of joining us, the Shadow king declined. Rather rudely, from what I understand. Unfortunately, they left us with no other choice but to use force.' He paused for a moment. 'Michael is a direct descendant of that king, so he does come by his insolence naturally.'
I sucked in a breath of air and clutched the side of the table tightly. 'So he's actually a prince?'
'No.' He shook his head. 'Michael is your servant. And neither he nor you should ever forget that.'
I heard something at the entranceway and looked over. Michael had reentered the room in time to hear the last thing my father had said. His expression looked stricken.
'Michael,' my father said, 'why didn't you tell Nikki who you really are?'
His gaze was now firmly fixed on the floor. 'I should have, Your Majesty.'
'Please tell her now.'
I could barely breathe. Why was my father making him do this?
Then Michael glanced at me and our eyes met. He looked ashamed-of who he was or of how he had kept the truth from me, I didn't know-and it made my heart twist sharply.
'I am your servant, Princess.' He choked out the words. 'And it was wrong of me to keep this from you. I'm very sorry.'
That's why he called me Princess instead of Nikki. It was a term of respect. He'd been assigned to find me, tell me about who I was, and keep me safe.
He didn't tell me who he was-he was vague and avoided the question- because he didn't want me to know the truth.
But now I knew.
'Michael, you can wait downstairs until Nikki is ready to go home,' my father said sternly. 'Thank you.' Michael turned and left the room.
I felt sick. He'd been completely humiliated. I wanted to hate my father for what had just happened, but when I looked at him he simply looked back at me curiously, as if he couldn't understand why I was so upset.
Servants were a normal daily thing for him here, and what he'd done hadn't been cruel or unusual for him. But not for me. Not like that. And not to Michael.
'What is it, Nikki?' he asked softly. 'Why are you upset?'
Before I could say anything, somebody else walked into the room. It was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, flawless translucent skin, and a wide, friendly smile.
For some reason, my already aching heart dropped a little more. The queen. Had to be. My father may have felt badly about leaving my mother all those years ago, but that didn't mean that he hadn't moved on.
'My goodness,' she said. 'What did you say to Michael? He looked very distressed.'
'He'll be fine,' my father said. 'Please, Elizabeth, come and meet Nikki.'
She didn't take her attention off me as she approached and reached out to clasp my hand in hers. 'Nikki,' she said, beaming at me, 'I'm so thrilled to meet you. I'm Desmond's sister, Elizabeth.'
I raised my eyebrows with surprise at that introduction. 'You're my aunt. So you're not married to my father?'
She smiled a bit wider. 'Well, that would be rather inappropriate, wouldn't it?' Then her smile faded a bit. 'You also look rather distressed. This is all horribly overwhelming for you, isn't it?'
'You could say that.'
She touched my shoulder. 'I know. Believe me, I know. This would be surprising news-to find out your Darkling nature-on a good day. Let alone with everything else that's happening here.. ' Her eyes grew misty and she glanced over her shoulder. 'Are you feeling all right, Desmond?'
He'd moved to the table and leaned against it, a hand to his stomach again. 'Well enough.'
Even I could tell he was lying. He was feeling pain again and, despite what had happened with Michael, concern for him welled up inside me.
Elizabeth shook her head and then went to the long black table. She poured a goblet of water from the pitcher there and brought it to him.
'Drink this,' she said.
He lifted it to his lips and drank.
She glanced at me. 'You do know that your father is gravely ill?'
My throat thickened and I nodded.
Her attention moved to the vial I still held in my hand. 'You've given her the potion, Desmond?'
'I have.'
My head still swam from all the information I'd received. Meeting my aunt only added to it. 'So if I take the potion. . when my father. . when he. .' I swallowed, not wanting to finish that sentence. 'Who will take over the throne?'
Elizabeth helped my father into the chair and stroked the hair back from his face. His skin had gone very pale.
'Elizabeth and I have already discussed this, Nikki,' my father said weakly. 'She's consented to take the throne. After you, she's next in line.'
'So that means. .,' I began. 'That. . that you won't be able to leave here either? That you'll be stuck here in this castle?'
'Don't worry about me. I'll manage. Although, I may consider redecorating.' Elizabeth gave me a small smile. 'Truly, Nikki, it's the best solution in this unfortunate matter. You shouldn't have to deal with this burden at your
