Erador hurried down the rug. The gray crystal weighed in his back pocket. He had washed it in the stream before letting it touch him. Having it brought assurance to his attitude. What he discovered in the Raven’s cage might help them find who released him.

  He dropped to one knee beside the throne. Erador’s father had slid down in the seat, chin resting on a black shirt. The thorny rose designs shimmered in the firelight, and enhanced his bony body. In his blurry reflection on a marble pillar, Erador visualized his father well, but the wet spot on his chest couldn’t fool anyone. He looked like a corpse dressed in preparation for his burial.

  “Father?” Erador said, voice wavering.

  He reached toward his father’s mouth but no air brushed his skin. With shaking hands, Erador lifted his chin. His heart dropped at the clouded stiff eyes. Grief burrowed into Erador’s chest but he denied that his father could be dead; not after he lived for so long.

  Erador shook his bony shoulder as if hoping his touch would animate him. He didn’t. Shade sent whispers of comfort. Erador dropped his head against the arm rest and held his father’s cold hand. Fingers wiggled. Erador’s eyebrow furrowed as he looked up. Judgment’s chest moved as he sucked in a gasping breath.

  Erador squeezed his father’s hand, unable to convey his relief into words. “Should I get Sescina?”

  “No.” Judgment chuckled softly and patted Erador’s hand. “Don’t worry.”

  “Don’t worry?” Erador’s troubled gaze moved across his father’s body. “You weren’t breathing.”

  “Stop.” Judgment shook a dismissive hand. “I’m here.”

  Erador rubbed his heavy face. “I thought you were gone.” He searched the throne room, but couldn’t find a Paradin. “Where’s Eonidas?”

  “He left for a moment,” Judgment said, dismissively and it sent anger through Erador.

  “Why isn’t someone watching you?”

  “There is.”

  Footsteps tapped behind the throne. A green flame moved in the darkness. Erador’s heart froze over. The woman moved from the archway and into the light, her cupped hands buried in the folds of her knee-length skirt. Her purple-painted lips lifted, and her monolid eyes pierced through Erador, shattering his core. Sweltering heat rushed through him and exited scorching from his throat.

  “What is she doing here?”

  “Ah, Erador!” Judgment struggled to lift his neck. He felt for his son’s arm and squeezed it. “I would like you to meet Yuni.”

  Erador’s dark brown eyes searched her. Her high ponytail was tied with a purple bow. She had other accessories such as rings, bracelets, and a necklace that Erador didn’t care to discern. Her clean image wouldn’t fool him. Up close, her flower brooch had little tear-drop purple gems set in between the eight petals that surrounded the green flame. It was sealed in an oval-shaped gem. She was no good. Venom leaked through her sweet perfume. Flames flickered across her glasses that he wanted to smash into her face to stop her devious smile.

  Judgment’s scratchy voice interrupted the image. “Yuni is going to save me.”

  Erador blinked. “Are you kidding me?”

  Yuni poked out her bottom lip. “It’s nice to meet you too, Erador.”

  Judgment waved Erador closer. He tilted toward his father’s mouth with a weak breath against his ear. “She knows the spell to save me.”

  Scoffing, Erador licked his lip. “Where’s this spell?”

  “In a book.” Yuni adjusted her satchel strap. “I don’t have it yet.”

  “You don’t have it?” Erador rose. “How much are you paying her? We can’t afford this.”

  “Erador—” Judgment began.

  Erador hit the side of the throne. “I want to know exactly what you’re giving her. How do you know she doesn’t want your special ingredient?”

  “She doesn’t.” Judgment laughed nervously. “There’s no need to ask so many questions.”

  “You expect me to trust that she’s going to save you. Where did she come from?” Erador’s shoulders squared and Shade twitched on the wall. “How did you meet my father?”

  “Sescina,” Judgment said.

  Erador’s shoulders dropped. She was one of the last people he suspected.

  He felt for the crystal in his pocket. It was witch magic. No wonder Yuni’s element was wrong. She used a crystal to stop Loma from talking. Her motions were for dramatic effect.

  “You’re a witch.” Erador let out a sharp breath. “Father, she shouldn’t be here.”

  “It’ll be fine, Erador.”

  “I thought Gillian was supposed to help you? Not her,” he said, looking over Yuni.

  He hoped his irritated expression would discomfort her, but she didn’t twitch. As much as he disliked Gillian, she had reasons to be loyal to Judgment. This witch didn’t. It already felt like his father was giving Yuni the privileges of his favorites.

  “Once Gillian gets the blood, Yuni can move forward,” Judgment said.

  Erador tangled his fingers in his hair and paced. Don’t trust witches. His father’s words. That wasn’t the only reason he didn't want her here. The crystal felt heavier as if it would tear from his pocket. He tensed a fist behind his back afraid she would take the evidence he needed.

  “Gillian shouldn’t have been given another chance,” Erador said. “She could cost us more.”

  Judgment hit the armrest. “It wasn’t her fault before.”

  “Then explain why glass was inside the New Akthelian’s corpses?”

  “She... was teased and she was nearly a child.” Judgment wheezed, grabbing his chest. “That’s why she lost control of her element.”

  “It was still her fault even if it was on accident.” Erador bent over the throne. “I heard she was dared to. You know how much she wanted to be accepted.”

  Judgment’s lips trembled. He coughed, blood spraying on Erador’s clothing. From the other room, footsteps clacked to the throne. Pia grabbed a cloth from her apron and wiped Judgment’s face. As she set her hand on Judgment’s shoulder, his chest movements slowed and his body calmed. Erador’s gaze widened at the wet splotches on his shirt as he stepped back. She took a clean rag from her apron and reached toward Erador, hesitating before dabbing his sleeve.

  He pulled away. “Get me another shirt, please.”

  Pia nodded and scurried to the next room.

  “This ballroom incident was my fault.” Judgment swallowed. “I shouldn’t have sent them without a better plan. Gillian doesn’t deserve to be exiled for my mistake.”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Erador threw down his fist. “That doesn’t excuse what she did. She should’ve handled the mission properly, regardless of how stupid you were.”

  Judgment’s nostrils flared. “Don’t take that tone with me.”

  “Then maybe you should’ve listened to me, rather than sending Gillian to Odinaty.”

  “Look what it got us,” Judgment said, pushing up but he slid down further. “We found what I need.” He poked his chest. “What we need.”

  Erador unbuttoned his shirt and glared at Yuni, who adjusted her thin glasses on her low-bridged nose as if pretending she wasn’t interested in the conversation. What he didn’t need was a deceitful witch.

  He leaned near his father, lowering his voice. “How can you trust her?”

  “I’ve seen her honest heart.”

  Erador looked at his father’s chest where the pendant had once been; he told Erador it could help him see a person’s true nature. It was destroyed. He never could judge anyone properly. It was just his biased opinion.

  “When Yuni fails, what then?”

  “What choice do I have?” Judgment said. “Look at me.”

  “I don’t need to.”

  “You take a good look at me.” Judgment grabbed Erador’s sleeve with surprising strength that he was forced to lean. “What would you do if you had another chance? Would you suffer, or take whatever you could to become well again?”

  Erador looked at the petals of the sunflower tattoo peeking out from his father’s sleeve that had a red bird wrapped around it. Every Lucrethian had a chance to redeem themselves for their sins. That was different. They had no spell, no cure. They had to decide if they wanted to change.

  One of Judgment’s bandages slipped down revealing a deep sore on his forearm. It appeared as if his body was eating itself. A shiver ran across Erador’s shoulders as he knew several more were underneath his clothing. It was like a disease had riddled his body. There was no explanation for why Judgment got them. Erador looked away to avoid letting his guard down and buried the rising sympathy. Would his father ever change?

  Erador removed his shirt and turned. Pia blinked, cheeks flushing as she lowered her head. She held out a new garment. Thanking her, he exchanged his black button-down shirt for another one and slid it on. As he folded the collar down, he couldn’t count how many times his father coughed blood and gasped for air. He would rather be dead than endure that.

  “Now, I know where to find the rarest ingredient.” Judgment reached toward the ceiling as if what he’d been waiting for was there. Color flourished on his pale skin. “It’s finally within our reach.”

  Erador moved away and snapped his fingers at Pia. She rushed to a short table behind the throne, grabbed a pitcher of water, and poured a glass. Pia handed it to Erador. He took a sip and moved to the table, trying to comprehend his father’s ridiculous ideas. What messes would it get them into next?

  “Do you realize getting that ingredient could further incriminate you and bring destruction to Lucrethia?”

  “Not if done right.”

  Erador growled and slammed the glass on the table. Water splashed onto the wood varnish. “So you get it, then what?” He grabbed a hand towel and wiped up the liquid.

  “You’re better?”

  “We have to gather the other ingredients first.”

  Erador looked at Yuni. “They’re in the book, right?”

  “I don’t know where it is,” she said.

  The towel slipped from Erador’s fingers and sloped on the ground. “You don’t know?” He turned toward his father. “And you trust her?”

  “Yes,” Judgment said. “Tell him.”

  Yuni lifted her chin. “The person who has the spell won’t give it easily.”

  “Then let me get it,” Erador said, pouring more water.

  Yuni pulled off her glasses and wiped them with a cloth. She held them up to the torchlight and slipped them back on her nose. Erador quirked an eyebrow. Pia grabbed the towel from the ground and left. Crackling torches and his father’s wheezing filled the silence.

  Erador set down the pitcher. “You’re not going to answer?”

  “With your attitude...” Yuni’s critical gaze wandered from his feet to his face, “do you really think I want you to come? You’ll lower my chances of getting that spell.”

  Erador clenched the glass as he brought it to his lips. Could it be true? Could a spell save his father? Maybe all Yuni needed was money, but something wasn’t right. It was her demeanor and the brooch with a green fire inside of it.

  “Sounds to me like it’s another excuse.” He gestured with his glass. “A way to drag this out so you screw my father.”

  “Erador,” Judgment said, tone rising. “Don’t be rude.”

  “I think he needs proof,” Yuni said, smoothing her blouse. “He’ll have that once I get the book.” She walked around the throne. “For now, we’ll have to get along.”

  “That’s best.” Judgment adjusted in his seat. “Relax, my son, so when we have the book, you’ll be ready to get the ingredients.”

  “What about the Raven?” Erador focused on Yuni. She didn’t flinch. “The night of the festival you mentioned we couldn’t rely on anything to keep him caged. Why did you say that?”

  “For fun.” Yuni unwrapped a candy in her satchel and popped it into her mouth. “I stole my own bucket.”

  “You terrified the entire town for candy?”

  “Uh-huh.” Yuni moved to the table with bounce in her step. Her smiling teeth were yellow and Erador did a double take to confirm it was true. It clashed with her unwrinkled blouse with long cuffs, black stockings, and polished shoes.

  “How do you know about the Raven?”

  “People talk.” Yuni sucked on her candy and ran her finger along the table's edge as she moved toward him. “I know he sabotaged Lucrethia under Judgment’s identity.”

  “How?” Erador asked, brow furrowing. “Only Lucrethians know Judgment is innocent. They don’t know about the Raven.”

  “Some do, but most think it’s a fictitious tale to restore your Lord’s reputation. The Raven's story is an awful lot like Sirith’s, after all.”

  “You believe us?”

  “It could be true.” Yuni’s glasses slid down her nose. “Look at how bad Lucrethia is. Why would Judgment jeopardize his own people? It seems this place is getting worse with the dead crops and sick livestock?”

  Erador narrowed his eyes. “Did you do that?”

  “No, but others might have.” She walked around him lifting each finger. “There’s Odinaty, Morgo Reis, New Akthelia, Maivia... They want Lucrethia gone. Pretty soon they’ll come for him.”

  Erador clenched the table's edge. Light flickered across the banner of the Raven. The cage offered comfort to Lucrethia for decades. They never suspected the Raven could escape because of the orbid, like they didn't expect his father to be in this state. Judgment’s lips trembled with regret. The Raven was free to shred his father with his claws. But he didn’t deserve that. He didn't deserve any of it.

  It wasn’t his fault.

  Erador felt like a child again, grasping for an excuse to explain why he went to the Shadow Realm alone. Shade threw a negative response like a slap in his gut, reminding Erador that he wouldn’t have been hurt had he listened. I didn’t mean it. The words drew him back to a moment when his voice was higher in pitch. A time when he wished his father supported him rather than thrown his feelings aside.

  The shadows in the room seemed to grow and shift as the regret rose in Erador. Sweat dribbled down his chest as Slen’s singing echoed in his head. He exhaled and squeezed his eyes shut to force those memories away.

  “My father didn’t hurt them,” Erador breathed.

  “They all think so.” Yuni moved next to the throne and touched Judgment’s shoulder. “Right, Judgment?”

  Judgment’s chin seemed to sink deeper into his chest. “Yes.”

  “That’s why I’m here to help.” Yuni brought her hands together. “He will get better.” She turned on her heel toward Erador. “Trust me.”

  Those last words drifted from her lips like poison. Each word was meant to deceive Judgment. To make him believe he would be normal again and would no longer have to take the blame for the Raven’s actions. No outsiders cared about his father, so why did she? As a disgusted feeling overcame him, it dawned on him why she was here. Did one of these kingdoms send her? Could she be here to kill his father?

  Yuni was the poisoner. Not Erador. His blood pumped, and he tensed trying to conceal his frustrations, but the power in his chest swelled cold. Shade’s arms reached across the ground toward her.

  “I forgot to mention,” Judgment said. “Yuni will be staying in the manor until I’m better.”

  Erador’s fingers dug into his palm. Yuni licked another candy and slipped it between her poisonous lips. Her cheeks raised as she returned to the arched opening where the brooch cast a green glow in the darkness.

  “That reminds me.” Judgment cleared his throat. “Did you find how the Raven escaped?”

  Erador swallowed, gaze breaking from the doorway. “I have no idea.”

  “You found nothing?”

  “No.” Erador touched the crystal in his back pocket. “Nothing.”