“You know?” Demitri laughed bitterly. “What do you know? Are you accusing me of being some kind of monster from your fantasy books? These men, our own men, attacked me!” he yelled.
“Monster may not be a strong enough word for what you’ve done, you sick son-of-a-bitch. Where are the children?” Alexandal demanded.
“The children are just there,” Demitri said casually, pointing to the wagon tied to two horses. “I saw the fires. I feared another invasion and attempted to take them to safety. I meant them no harm.” He flashed a sinister grin.
“You stole them! Why would you think that taking children against their will, without permission, would be acceptable?” Alexandal asked.
Demitri’s eyes twitched. “No, no, General. They were afraid and came willingly. I would have taken very good care of them.”
“Persuaded by a fear that you yourself created,” Alexandal said. “We know you’re behind these attacks. You won’t be taking care of anything in the cells where you are going. You’re charged with abduction and conspiracy to destroy the throne. Like your friend, it will cost you your hands. For being the mastermind behind this, I hope we take more. You are stripped of your title and citizenship from the United Kingdoms of Naan.”
Demitri exploded. “Is that how you speak to me, the headmaster of the Ikarus ministry of science? I am the greatest mind this world has ever seen, and you treat me like a leper? You did the same to Burton Lang, the man who helped build this civilization. How dare you!”
Funny, Montague thought. Demitri now defended and compared himself to the man he resented for years.
“The queen knows that you hired Bolo to collect those children. He confessed. Your servants are not as devoted as you might think. You are no longer the headmaster of science of any kingdom,” Montague said.
Demitri took a long, slow look at the men who’d drawn their swords. “The air you breathe will soon belong to me. Like sheep, I’ll tear your hearts out with a lion’s bite. I will shake your grounds with the rage of a quake! The Kingdom of Ikarus will resemble the aftermath of the attack on Illyrium and will forever be a victim to my wrath.” He glared at Montague then mounted his horse. “Peace will only remain a concept that your future will tell in tales of the way things used to be. Not a hundred men will stop me, not a thousand. I curse you all!” Demitri’s voice was like thunder. His horse reared.
With blackened eyes, Demitri’s body was now the vessel of the Nekrums, used to promote death and suffering. He must have coordinated the attacks against Grale and Mern, Montague thought.
Demitri quickly rode away.
“Take the hounds! Track him,” Alexandal said to a team of four guards.
“I’ll untie the children and ready them for a safe return to the kingdom,” said Montague.
Alexandal sent his fastest riders after him, but Demitri’s tracks vanished after a mile. When the Ikarus soldiers returned, they had no news of the former headmaster’s whereabouts. The hounds had lost Demitri’s scent near the runoff at the plateau’s edge.
Montague wished that they’d caught him or at the very least had some sort of idea where he was going. Demitri would be much less dangerous if he were in custody. Now the host, an unpredictable demon set against mankind, was free. He’d accepted the loss just to have reason for another day’s revenge. And his loyalists would remain as spies within The Temple.
It seemed as though children were the host’s new target. This entire time, he had lived so close to the last known Volpi. And what disturbed Montague even more was why Demitri hadn’t attempted to take the queen when he had the chance. It was her blood that the Nekrums were after—the reason they came to this planet. Unless Demitri had already tested Olivia for the secret gene and the result came up negative, then he would surely wait until the next generation to be born. The abduction attempt had been too precarious. Demitri knew that he would never be allowed near the queen again if he was caught. And he was caught. So why did it appear that he was now more interested in random children than a Volpi?
The trial concerning missing children, the attacks on two neighboring islands of the united kingdoms, and the exposure of a close advisor made Olivia Volpi shake for days—the stress was unbearable. Every night for the past week Montague had been giving her crushed pixel flowers mixed in with the third and last dose of nutwood and pigroot, an hour before she went to sleep. It relaxed her, but the effect was short lived. Last night she’d asked for an extra dose.
It was the month of Ellender and the first day of spring.
Today, the morning sunlight streamed through the eastern windows of the queen’s room at the top of the castle tower.
Olivia woke, finally feeling rested after consecutive, sleepless nights. She stretched out from under her blanket, sweating and surprisingly aroused. A scene of passionate romance with a man other than her betrothed filled her dreams with a pleasure she had never experienced in all of her life.
She lounged against her pillows and reimagined every detail, making love again to a man she had never seen before; a handsome man that emanated a warm, brilliant light. He’d held her, caressed her, and kissed her in places and in ways she never had imagined. The man’s fingers had felt like feathers across her skin, tracing the queen from mouth to toe. Her entire body fluttered.
But as clouds passed, the room darkened and Olivia remembered what had happened at the beginning of her dream. She was lying down
