Crimson Heir: Rise Of The First Blood

6

CHAPTER 6

THE PRICE OF SHADOWS

Rylan stood on a rooftop across from the Silent Reach stronghold—that was the name of the faction Lady Ash told him about, counting guards. He was at alert, ready to use the seal if need be.

Mira crouched beside him. "You're really going to kill them all? For a cloak?"

"No."

Mira's head snapped toward him her eyebrows dipped into confusion. Deep down a part of her, she was regretting the decision she made of coming with him.

"What?"

"I'm not going to be a weapon for Lady Ash." His grey eyes were steady and filled with a kind of resolve she had never seen. "If I kill her enemies today, tomorrow she'll have another list and I'll be curating enemies I don't want. I need the Seal, but I won't become someone's blade to get it."

"Then how?"

Rylan's lips curved into a smug smile. "I'm going to offer them a warning instead."

The guards at the front entrance didn't see him coming. Rylan moved through shadows with predator silence, the Seal of Flesh hardening his skin for two precise blows.

They fell to the ground with a soft thud, fortunately still alive.

Inside, the warehouse was a maze of crates. Their leader, Varek, sat in a back office surrounded by maps. He looked up as the door opened, hand already on his blade as his fangs extended.

"You're not one of mine.”

There was venom laced under his fine as he watched Rykan with cautious eyes. “Shadow Court?"

"Not exactly." Rylan replied, stepping into the torchlight. "I'm here to give you a warning."

Varek's hand stopped on his blade. "A Crimson? In my office giving me a warning?” He laughed coldly. "You have ten seconds before I feed you to my hounds."

"The Shadow Court sent me to kill you, but I'm not going to." Rylan let the Seal of Flesh activate, letting his skin ripple as the power bleed through his grey eyes. Varek's hand fell away from his blade.

"You're not a Crimson."

"I like to believe I'm a crimson." Rylan leaned against the doorframe. "Pull your people back from Court territory. If you don't, the next time it happens, I won't be as merciful. Plus you don't want the empress on your tail."

Varek was silent as he stared at Rylan's face. His face held the threat do strongly anyone who didn't know him would think he knew the empress personally.

Varek’s eyebrows dipped as he leaned back, grudging respect in his eyes. "You're playing a dangerous game, boy. Why should I trust you?"

"You shouldn't, but you should fear the Empress more than you hate the Court." Rylan turned to leave. "Spread the word. The Court is under my protection now… touch their territory again, and you answer to me."

He slipped back into the shadows before Varek could respond, still cautious of the environment until he was out of there. This time around, he didn't let Mira follow him back to the court of shadows.

Three hours later, Rylan stood before Lady Ash in the great hall of Shadow Manor, the place just as dark as he'd left it. The Seal of Shadows sat on its stand behind her, calling to him its whispers merging with the echoes already in his skull.

"The Silent Reach will not trouble you again," Rylan said. "I've made that clear."

Lady Ash studied him with silver eyes. "You didn't kill their leader."

It wasn't a question, and Rylan knew she already had the idea that he didn't kill Varek.

"No." Rylan met her gaze. "I offered them a choice. Retreat, or face me. They chose to retreat."

The court murmured. Lady Ash's expression did not change.

"You disobeyed my order."

"I fulfilled your request." Rylan stepped closer. "You wanted the Silent Reach gone from your territory… they're gone. You wanted peace, so I gave it to you. The only difference is I didn't spill blood that would have started a war you couldn't finish."

Lady Ash circled him slowly finding meaning to his words. Though the Silent Reach attacked them first, they were far larger than the Shadow Court.

"And what do you expect in return? Giving them just a warning won't equal me giving you the cloak." She asked.

"Not what I expect, but what I'm offering." Rylan's voice was low. "There’s going to be an uproar soon, against the empress”

Lady Ash eyebrows raised in disbelief. “An uproar? Against the empress? What a joke!”

Rylan kept his face calm as she spoke. He wasn't completely telling the truth, but he wasn't lying either. All that mattered was getting the cloak.

“Disregard the knowledge to your own obliteration. Soon, she'll send her agents to find and investigate everyone who holds a seal, including you. You've used that cloak as decoration for centuries, not understanding what it is. When she comes for it, she won't ask politely."

Rylan waited, letting his words sink into Lady Ash. He found see the flicker in her eyes.

"But if you give me the Seal, I become your shield. The Court will have something it's never had: protection from the throne itself."

Silence filled the hall as Lady Ash turned, lifted the Seal of Shadows from its mount, and extended it toward him. She had made her decision. Form an ally with Rylan while using him as a pawn to get to the empress.

It was perfect.

"Take it, but know this. If you fail and the Empress comes for us because of you, I will spend every resource hunting you. There will be no shadow deep enough to hide."

Rylan took the cloak.

The moment his fingers touched the fabric, the Seal bonded.

The pain was different from the first. Where the Seal of Flesh had unmade him, this one emptied him.

The Seal sank into him, and when his vision cleared, shadows had depth. He could see paths within them, doors within them… a whole world hiding in darkness.

Rylan looked at Lady Ash.

"The Empress won't touch you, because soon, she'll have bigger problems than the Shadow Court."

He turned and walked out, feeling more confident than before.

Two down. Three to go.