"Here we go with your prophecies again. Are you truly an oracle, Soryn? Oracles irritate me." Ashiyn reached over to pick up one of the large knives on the table to turn it over in his hands.
"No, my King, not to worry. I'm merely a scholar of prophecy. Rurik was obsessed with prophecies,” Soryn said, shaking his head. "I believe Seraphine is one of your rivals. The spell you describe was her attempt to sacrifice the pixies to gain more power."
"You can sacrifice pixies for more power?" Ashiyn asked with a raised brow. He hadn't realized that. “Why didn’t you tell me that before I killed them all?”
Soryn narrowed his dark eyes at Ashiyn, the irritation rolling over his face. "I am trying to be serious and warn you of danger. If she is one of your rivals, she will try to be rid of you."
"Unless I convince her it's in her interest to be one with me instead." Ashiyn stood up, unconcerned. He returned the knife to the table. "Perhaps I should put your unicorn stew to good use and make certain she's with child tonight."
Soryn stared at him in disbelief.
Ashiyn laughed at the shock on his friend's face. "If she is as powerful as you say, our offspring would be rather fantastic, don't you think?"
"I would be cautious, my lord. She is a naga. They are not known to be very nurturing. She's more likely to sacrifice the babe for more power," Soryn warned with a snort. "It will be a few hours before the stew is ready."
"I will leave you to it then, my friend." Ashiyn turned and wandered out. Unicorns did not just wander onto his island. Most were bonded to elves. They could leap great distances and transport themselves with magic, but they would have no reason to come to his castle alone.
Soryn hadn't mentioned another body. Random elves had no reason to come to his island either. There was only one half-elf that had any reason to be here. Ashiyn rubbed his forehead in an attempt to stall the headache he felt coming on. He drew Sihtaar and started to hunt. That was all he needed right now. His idiot son, Ember, had come to try to kill him again.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
It took Ashiyn almost no time at all to find Ember. The most obnoxious of his offspring sat there in the middle of his courtyard like an arrogant bastard making no effort to disguise himself. If Ember was here again, it was at the behest of his mother. Why was Queen Harm still alive? Elves lived a long time, but surely the old bat had to be on her deathbed by now.
Ember had tried to kill him on no less than twenty separate occasions and failed miserably every time. He also had horrible timing with the attempts. It was an all-around annoying experience.
Sihtaar hummed to life in Ashiyn’s grip as he brought the tip to Ember's face, a threat. "Ember. Never a pleasure to see you. Come to make it twenty-one failures?"
Ember's golden eyes narrowed at the tip of the sword in his face, but it did nothing to wipe the smirk off his handsome features. Except for the long ears and a lankier frame, Ember looked uncannily like Ashiyn.
"Still relying on the magic swords, father? Well, I suppose old age can make one's strength start to fail. How old are you now? Three thousand? Five?"
Ashiyn slipped the blade back into place despite Sihtaar's demands for blood ringing through his mind. He crossed his arms. "I don't need any weapon to fight you. You have your mother's weakness."
Ember's eyes burned with hate at the mention of his mother, and his fists clenched. Then he reached up to brush some of his ashen colored hair from his face with a shrug. "I haven't come to fight you this time, father. I think we've both learned that it is a waste of our time."
"Then why are you here?" Ashiyn asked with an annoyed glare. "You are wasting my time just by speaking."
"I've come to join you, father. You are the only one who can stop the madness this world is falling to." Ember rubbed one of his eyes.
Ashiyn could see the faint scar there. That was fresh since he'd last seen Ember. "Your mother finally threw you out, did she?"
Ember's expression soured again at the mention of his mother, and he stood up slowly. "My mother sees only her rapist when she looks at me. No matter what I do, it’s impossible to win her approval. The only thing I could do that would appease her is kill you. You are immortal, so that is an impossible task. And even if I could, exactly what would it solve? Nothing. I would still look like you. She would still hate me. I have decided she’s trying to get me killed."
Ashiyn rolled his eyes. "Is she still claiming I raped her? Won’t admit she seduced me to have you? I don't exactly care for you either, Ember. I'd kill you if you weren't immortal."
"Oh, but I am. And so are you. The way the world is going, only the immortals will be left. My mother’s health is failing. You are ruler of this world. I would be part of your kingdom. It's the only smart thing to do." Ember shrugged. "You may hate me, but you've only abused me when I provoked you first. Will you let me stay, father?"
Ashiyn looked his son over. Ember wore the ceremonial leather armor of the elves and carried fine enchanted daggers covered with elven runes. Ember wasn't a bad fighter, and it was probably wiser to have him as an ally rather than wasting his time continuously
