Chapter 2

IT WAS ABOUT a week later that Blake stepped into the gathering in the courtyard of Sjena Heim Castle. As he wove through the crowd, he saw his cousin Octavia with her latest flame, a stately but clueless boy from a wealthy English background. Blake paused momentarily to embrace his cousin and advise the young man to keep his intentions honorable; after all, he was now her closest, able-bodied, male relation.

He had been attending quite a few of these meetings in his boredom in the past year. This one was different. On that day, his ex-wife appeared among the guests arriving outside. Blake felt his mouth go dry as he watched. Even as he caught a glimpse of her behind the tinted windows of the car, he realized how unprepared he was for this fateful meeting.

It was Winick who took her hand as she emerged from the car. She was wearing a green dress with a black fascinator. She was beautiful as he remembered, but her air was different. There was an antsy look in her eyes and a fearful uncertainty in her movements. Blake blinked several times as he saw her reach back into the car and emerge with a little boy with stark black hair.

As she walked, she nodded at something her male companion said to her. The man accompanying her was a tall, gangly sort of fellow, his manner of dress suggesting a European origin. Blake struggled not to dislike the foppish man instantaneously. Perhaps, he should find it in his heart to be happy for her and to be proud of her resilience. He noticed the ornate rose gold engagement ring on her finger that had replaced the one he had given her, and all those selfless thoughts fled from his mind.

She must have felt the chill from his glowering eyes from afar because she glanced in his direction and then froze as their eyes met. Blake looked away and decided there was no other way to handle this charged situation than head-on. He strolled over to the Balans and reached his hand out to Gabriel Balan's. The patriarch hesitated and regarded Blake with suspicion.

"I see you have something of mine," Blake said as he patted the back of Gabriel's hand affectionately. He allowed his veiled threat to sink into the tense silence between them. Blake noticed that Gabriel was wearing the Sword of Nüwal at his hip although now it had a scabbard of jade dragons. Melody bit her lip as though she was going to interrupt then thought better of it. "You have my chauffeur, Gabriel," Blake said with a dismissive laugh. "When were you planning on returning him? I believe he's still on my payroll."

Gabriel gestured for Winick to return his master's side. Balan wrapped his herculean arm around the foppish man's shoulder and nodded in the direction of the castle. "If you would excuse us, Blake, I need to show my future son-in-law our humble little meeting hall. Why don't you entertain, Lord Thorne, my daughter? Arrange to give him some reparations for detaining his servant for so long."

As Gabriel stepped away, Vivienne gave Blake a furtive glance and motioned for him to walk with her closer to the quiet of the forest. Her son remained asleep in her arms as she turned to address him.

"Don't hate me," she finally said. "I had no choice." He could tell by the way she was glancing about like a trapped animal and the desperate pleading in her eyes that he wasn't going to get anything useful out of her. Blake gestured to the boy in her arms.

"Orion, is it?"

"Yes, Orion Moraru . . . Balan."

The boy lifted his head at the sound of his name. He opened his large green eyes and regarded Blake with intense curiosity. Then, he raised his arms away from his mother and toward him. Vivienne held the child out and allowed the boy to wrap his arms around Blake's neck. Without warning, the boy burped and spit up a mouthful of milk-tinged saliva onto Blake's collar.

"He has your sense of humor," Blake said, chuckling despite himself. With a gummy smile, the boy laughed along with him. His mother sighed and began dabbling away at Blake's collar with her handkerchief. She leaned in close as she did so. 

"And your smile," Vivienne whispered. As Blake wrapped his arms around his son, feeling the warm weight of his body and soft waves of the boy's hair, he felt his conflicted feelings fade. He stared back into her pale eyes with cold, hard intent. This was his son, and he wasn't going to let him go.

As though she could read his mind, she immediately took the child back from him. The boy dug his tiny fingers into the lapel of Blake's jacket even as his mother pulled him away. As the boy glanced longingly back at his father, she tearfully wrapped her arms tightly around his tiny body. "You shouldn't have come."

She turned and ran away. For a moment, Blake considered pursuing her. Then, he thought better of it. Blake turned around and went back to the castle where Gabriel was standing with several of his men. "Blake!" Gabriel said with a heartily laugh. "Come here, my boy, and join us in a toast to my daughter's upcoming nuptials."

Blake had every intention of refusing, but Glenn appeared with a glass of scotch in hand and offered it to him. "Drink it," Glenn said. "You want to. Trust me." Blake wondered what was going on as he took the glass from his chauffeur. He sipped the drink. It didn't appear to be poisoned, but it tasted odd like it had been tampered with. He couldn't imagine why Glenn would appear out of nowhere to offer him a suspicious glass of scotch. It was probably from Vivienne. The brat had probably spit in it.

"Why don't you go find my daughter before she wanders off again?" Gabriel said to Glenn. The older man chuckled as he raised his scotch glass to Blake. "My Melody, she's very prone to going missing. I was telling Mighell that he had better keep a close eye on her after they are married, lest the hungry wolves in the forest find her."

After he was gone and they were alone, Blake finally sat down. "How attached are you to Orion, Gabriel?" He asked with an icy smile.

"Are you stating your intentions to kidnap him?" Gabriel asked, nonchalantly. "I should think my daughter would be just a tad upset if she were to be parted from him." Gabriel raised one of his eyebrows. "That is unless you are stating your intentions for my daughter's hand as well."

"Oh no, you misunderstand - I have no interest in your daughter. I am fully aware that to ask for her hand would mean risking war with a foreign country." Blake sipped on his scotch noting the hints of citrus and a slight metallic aftertaste. He continued darkly. "You and your deceased mistress got yourselves into this mess. Now, you fight your war alone, Gabriel. I want no part in it."

"That is mighty bold rudeness considering you are asking to foster my heir," Gabriel said tersely. "Your request is denied."

"Very well, this was merely a courtesy. You will give me Orion Balan. Mark my words, you will - sooner or later." Blake stared into Gabriel's amber eyes with a barely concealed rage. If they hadn't been meeting in the midst of all of the nobility of Manna City, he would have snapped the older man's spine right there. But, that was not the kind of bloodshed a well-bred boy engaged in on a drunken, emotional whim. He would wait and prepare to strike. Blake adverted his eyes and once again spoke with his usual cordial tone. "I am simply doing you a favor, Gabriel before the rumors start that your grandson has a striking resemblance to me."

"My boy, have a drink and listen to me," Gabriel said in a calm, fatherly manner. "Do you remember that day in Aemon when I told you that in time I'll reveal to you why Wynn killed your father? All these years, I've watched you target Maglania, Ives, and finally Aemon itself, but you never knew the truth. Do you think I sent my daughter to you because I wanted a silly sword?"

"Then why?" Blake asked, trying his best to keep the annoyance from leaking into his voice. "If all these things are so insignificant why don't you return them to me, Gabriel?" Even as the question left his lips, he regretted it. Here he was, practically begging his enemy to return his wife and child. He might as well be a sobbing ten-year-old again, sitting in the rubble of Aemon, crying for his father.

"Because of who you are and who Orion is," Gabriel said, leaning in and bringing his voice down to a whisper. "As you are now, you can't protect your son. If I return him to you, you'll have to prove yourself to me first. Don't you find it odd that Aemon has grown quiet recently? Do you think that was the act of that wrench Alesandra Janvier?"

Blake leaned away from the older man even as Gabriel leaned closer. His eyes drifted across the crowd to where he saw Alesandra standing in the distance. She wasn't looking his way, but he knew how suspicious it would appear if she saw him whispering with Gabriel Balan before the meeting. It wasn't Alesandra he feared, it was the force of the rest of the families that stood behind her.

"So, you are saying Orion is the true king, and his presence is enough to tame Aemon," Blake said, gravely.

"Ah," Gabriel said with a smile. "Now you're starting to understand. The Sarastri are your family, more directly than you realize. That's why Wynn killed your father. It wasn't because Sebastian wanted to destroy Aemon or his dabbling in the Dark Waters. Did you ever wonder how they could have executed a head of one of the Great Families for such trivial crimes, especially since the rest of us have committed so many of our own crimes?"

Gabriel's amber eyes studied his face for a reaction, but Blake kept his expression blank. He had started suspecting a long time ago that he was different from his ancestors. From what he was able to do at Tercel to his demon form being a griffin, it was all there if only he had really thought to look. And he had never really thought to look, after all, he had no desire to rule. From the beginning, since the day his father was killed, he had only wanted to leave the politics of the Manna City elite behind.

His secrecy was his only protection from the desire of the Great Families to control him. He was starting to understand how Gabriel's plan was coming together. With every word Gabriel spoke, Blake was beginning to see that the older man had always been two steps ahead. Blake had managed to escape notice up to this point because he always kept his cards close to his chest. Like an idiot, he had gone and revealed everything to Melody Balan, and now Gabriel held all the cards.

"My father Dismiss Balan knew Barthélemy Gemmel Sarastri who was heir to the throne. They had a cordial relationship despite being enemies. As you know, the day would eventually come when Barthélemy's brother Wynn rose up against him with the help of the families of Song, Janvier, and Winther. Wynn murdered his older brother and put himself on the throne, promising to rule as an oligarchy instead of a monarchy."

"I thought Barthélemy's entire family was slaughtered," Blake said with a sigh. He didn't want to hear this story, it could have only one ending, and it was one he didn't want to contemplate. "Didn't they kill all his children and grandchildren?"

"Yes, all of them, except one. Barthélemy's oldest son - Fredrick - had an infant son named Uluric. My father smuggled him away from his mother who died in childbirth before the mobs came."

"My, my, Gabriel. Are you telling me my father was descended from the deposed king?" Blake asked, sarcastically. He scoffed but downed the rest of his scotch. Perhaps, this was why Glenn had brought the drink to him. He really did need the sedative to clear his mind. Gabriel continued, slowly weaving his story that would rip apart the fabric of his reality.

"Let me finish — the Thornes were the only family that abstained from the bloodshed," Gabriel said, with a nod at the forest. "They remained true stewards of the royal bloodline to the end even though they didn't know the identity of your father. Your grandfather and grandmother had a string of stillbirths, and they had one merely days before the massacre. My father left Uluric with your grandmother to be raised. She was too happy to take him and raised him in place of her stillborn child - Sebastian Thorne. There was enough of the steward bloodline mixed with the royal bloodline for your father to make a convincing Thorne to the other families."

Blake stared into his glass. He set the empty cup on the counter and tried to stop his hand from shaking. He had always known that there was something odd about all the things he was able to do. His father knew as well, that's why they had always lived away from the city, in guarded secrecy. It wasn't what Gabriel was saying that was shocking to him, rather it was that Gabriel Balan of all people knew the truth.

His father Sebastian died long before Blake was old enough to ask all the questions he had about his abilities. In his loneliness, Blake had often wondered if he would have turned out differently if only his father had lived to guide him. If what Gabriel was saying was true, then his father, too, had lived and died without ever knowing the truth.

At that moment, Blake wished he could have had another word with his ex-wife. He wanted to tell her that he was profoundly sorry. From the moment of his conception, Orion would have only two possible futures - to rule or to die. What parent would wish that on his child? Perhaps, it was better his own father had never lived to see this day.

"Eventually, Wynn discovered the truth. Wynn had your father executed for some forged crimes. I told you the day he died that eventually, Wynn would come after you too. The only reason he waited was because at the time you were too young to be a threat. Fortunately for you, Maglania had murdered Wynn not long after that. She never knew who you really were or she would have killed you as well."

"I see," Blake said. "How fortunate for me, being allowed to live and granted the mercy of being tormented by your daughter for two decades."

"Oh Blake," Gabriel said with a sigh. "Let's not deceive ourselves. I never pushed her on you. You pursued her. If I wanted to push my daughter on you, I would have approached your father with an engagement like Edmund Catesby."

"I should have married Eden Catesby."

"Yes, yes, of course, my dear boy. But what is the point of dwelling on past mistakes? May I remind you, I am far older than you and I have far more regrets in love than you do." Gabriel gave him an unimpressed, patronizing look. Blake couldn't shake the feeling that he was being lectured to. "Let's not allow ourselves to be sidetracked. If the Great Families knew what Wynn knew, they would murder you too. They want their meetings and their votes, and they won't relinquish it easily. You have an uphill battle from this point on, perhaps you should think twice about alienating me. You have a habit of pushing away those who try to help you, Blake."

"I will never work with you," Blake immediately stated. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted it. He was speaking out of anger, and Gabriel knew it. There was something about the older man that made Blake want to strike out in a childish way. Perhaps, it was due to that fact that he never had a chance to rebel against his own father.

As much as he was able to convince Alesandra and the rest of the them that he harbored only hatred for his ex-wife, Blake knew Gabriel wasn't fooled. Blake's irrational and debilitating love for Gabriel's daughter was his greatest weakness, even more so than the illness he had been born with. The latter he had been able to overcome with some demon blood and enchanted waters, the former was like a metastatic cancer on his soul.

"I would prefer not to marry Melody to that Duke," Gabriel offered. "Especially, in light of some recent events."

"Then who will you marry her to? To me? So that you can control the throne?" Blake chuckled, bitterly. "Did you really think it would be so easy?" Blake's eyes wandered over the crowd to where he saw Vivienne standing with Octavia and chatting with his cousin. He lowered his voice to a hiss and continued. "Did you think I would want your whore after all the lies she told me? She's little more than a stranger in my eyes."

"Very well," Gabriel said with an irritated sigh. "Then protect your son. Dear boy, surely, you don't blame him as well for the crimes of his mother and grandfather?"

"And what does protecting Orion have to do with a war with Nivarrin?" Blake wondered if Gabriel was really so foolish as to suggest that restoring an immensely unpopular line to the throne could overcome an invading nation. If Gabriel really wanted to put a descendant of the mad, deposed King Barthélemy onto the throne, never mind fighting off an immensely powerful foreign threat, there would be a bloody civil war.

"So, you've finally pushed me to this point," Gabriel said. "I can barter your son Orion for my daughter, Melody. I believe the ailing king of Nivarrin would willingly exchange my bastard daughter for a child with the power of the Six Families, with the ability to control all the demons in Aemon. Imagine what they could do with him."

Blake couldn't help himself. He laughed outright at Gabriel's suggestion. "Are you crazy, Gabriel? You are aware that the crown has virtually no army. Even if you were to put me on the throne, assuming the rest of the Great Families abstains from immediately killing me for usurping Alesandra's place in the line of succession, you're talking about using a couple of dozen royal guards and coastal guards to fight off a Nivarrin force of thousands."

"You'll figure something out," Gabriel said, standing up and smiling coldly. "You always do, Blake."