“Don’t get too comfortable. Like the queen said, there are many other body parts we can take until you talk, and trust me you will talk,” Alexandal threatened. “So you’d better start. Who hired you?”
It took a few moments for Bolo to gain back the strength to speak again.
“Despite what you all think of me, I am a man of my word and I promised my master I would never repeat his name. But I will tell you this; he is a very high lord. One of you, yet I don’t see him here with you at this hour,” Bolo said, holding back tears.
Montague swallowed hard. His gut felt like it had spikes. The speaker immediately thought Bolo was referring to Demitri, even though Ikarus’s master mason, the new head farmer, and the two priests from The Temple were also absent from the council. But they were not required to attend emergency meetings.
“Who? Tell us!” Alexandal screamed. He held the sharp end of his blade against the man’s groin.
“He is not one to do manual labor. This lord wouldn’t dare lower himself to work the fields, or hammer wood and stack stone, or pray at the altars of temples,” Bolo said.
There was a gasping choir of shock. Now everyone knew he was referring to Demitri.
Montague’s suspicion was confirmed. He knew his old friend was the host of the Nekrums and it was time to tell the queen everything. But how and when the possession of Von Cobb took place, he didn’t know.
“Take him away to the dungeons,” Alexandal ordered. “He will never touch another child again.”
Olivia’s eyes were lidless. Montague could tell that the queen was distraught.
Ikarus guards bound the prisoner’s feet then dragged Bolo out of the room by his chains. A trail of blood and tears followed.
OLIVIA VOLPI stood frozen in light of Bolo’s confession. She felt nauseated, knowing that a dear friend had been plotting against her under her own castle roof. All this time she had been in danger.
These attacks were the first under the rule of the new queen. She began to doubt herself. Am I strong enough to be the leader of men? Would all of this have happened if my father was still alive and king? Would Demitri have been able to fool him too? She missed her father and her mother.
The queen was dazed, but she knew this revelation wasn’t a delusion. Thanks to Montague, her hallucinations and migraines had been held at bay.
She saw Montague leaning in, talking to her, but she couldn’t hear him. The pounding of her heart was too loud. Flashbacks of Demitri’s generosity and kindness consumed her thoughts. His enthusiasm was contagious when he would present new discoveries that could help the world. The fact was Demitri had saved her life and contributed much to society. How could he be the one responsible for all of this? she wondered.
Then, in the middle of a sentence, Montague’s voice reached her ears. He was huddled in close to her, looking concerned. The ambassadors walked around discussing aloud the events on each other’s homelands while Alexandal stood, waiting for new orders. Maids mopped up the bloody pool and spotty trail around him.
“I’ve seen it. We’ve got to find him,” Montague finished in a soft voice.
“Seen it? Seen what?” Olivia was confused.
“His blood, my dear, it was blue. Weren’t you just listening to what I was saying?” Montague asked. “I know Demitri saved your life during the attack on Illyrium, and believe me, I thank him for doing so, but he was playing us just to get close to you. We need to act now.”
The queen was still dizzy from disbelief.
Montague kindly repeated. “At the celebration during Demitri’s speech, his bandage had blue spots. It wasn’t ink splatter or dye. The source of the stain came from inside the wrapping. It was his blood.”
“So what are you saying?” Olivia asked.
“I believe Demitri is the host of the Nekrums. The host has blue blood. Demitri has blue blood. We thought the host was destroyed long ago with farmer Paddett. But it seems as though we were wrong,” Montague muttered.
The scribe came in again and handed Montague another letter.
Olivia studied her appointed speaker’s reaction, but he wore a stoic face.
“Your majesty, a message from Faux Tower. They are holding Von Cobb. Children were found tied to posts in the back of his wagon. He is also with suspicious company,” Montague finished.
“Alexandal!” Olivia impulsively shouted.
Alexandal looked to his guards. “Gather the horses! We’re riding!”
“I’m coming with you,” said the speaker.
“Be at the gates in ten counts,” Alexandal said. The captain and his men rushed out the door.
“This session is closed,” Olivia announced.
The rest of the attending council members left the room.
Montague held Olivia by the arms. But even her own healer’s hands couldn’t comfort her. The truth shook her bones. The queen remembered Demitri always telling her that people were evolving, and science was evolving. In his speech, he even referred to children’s blood.
“Demitri recently told me that children can unlock abilities that adults cannot. He claims that children have a stronger connection to memories of our ancient history,” Olivia said, hoping that Montague would know what that might have meant.
The queen watched Montague’s face flush with realization.
“I don’t know what he wants with the children…but…‘connection to our history’,” he repeated, his brows pinching. “Gabriel’s Diary is like a library that documents every event that ever happened on Naan since Gabriel came to this planet, down to the most precise detail. The diary records only truth,” he said. “But more importantly, we know the Nekrums are after you, your blood. You’re the only Volpi alive.” The speaker turned pale. “You have never given him blood, have
