Chapter Sixty

***Keiran***

I find Xaden walking along the river towards the lands of Third Isle.

The magic in the water crests the surface, in swirls and slivers of something that maybe once was human, once walked this land. They’re trying to get closer to him. His magic may not be from my Isle, but magic calls to magic, regardless of its origins.

“Don’t start with me,” he calls even though I’m behind him and I have not made a sound.

“I haven’t said anything.”

“I can hear you thinking.”

“You most certainly cannot.”

“Then I can feel you thinking, just like the girl does.”

I pick up the pace and catch up to him. The winds of the forest travel with me, cooling my body in the night. I’ve always felt better in the woods of the Midnight Isle. It calls and responds to me, as I call and respond to it.

The same way Xaden does to his lands.

As dark and twisted as they are.

“It’s getting worse,” Xaden admits as I fall into step beside him.

“Then what do we do?” I ask because it’s always better to focus on solving a problem than worrying about it.

“I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “It’s not like I had any choice in claiming the Pearl, I never even knew it lived inside me until I came here.” He glances over at me with two bright, ruby-red eyes. “It wants to return to its land. I can feel it like the pull of a tide.”’

I can already tell I won’t like where this conversation is headed. “So, will you give it what it wants?”

Meaning, will you abandon us? Leave me? When I rely on him so desperately for guidance.

“I never want to return to that place.”

The tension in my shoulders eases. When my Pearl was taken from me, and I had to strike a bargain with the witches to stay alive… that kind of agony and helplessness left a void. Xaden filled it, but there was always a sense of impermanence to our bond. A pearl belongs to a land, not to the man who possesses it. I just prayed that when he departed, it would be much, much later.

"You could simply return it," I told him. "Give it to someone from your island."

Not that I'm certain there are any others left on that land. Not after what he did.

Xaden glances at me sidelong. "I won't lay claim to the White Pearl if that's what you're implying."

I scoff. “Do not speak in such absolutes.”

“You asshole. I knew that’s what you were thinking.”

“Xaden–”

"No. If I rid myself of this shadow, I would be free of a disease that consumes and destroys." He points to his crimson eyes. "Even now, I can feel it swirling beneath the surface, like the magic in the river. It wants to watch pretty little girls cry while it buries cock in their wet cunts.”

He shudders at his own words. So do I. We both understand he isn't referring to just any girl.

"Very well, then," I say. "Cast away the shadow and return to your former self. You must possess power beyond it; otherwise, you would not have been able to claim it."
He frowns at me. This is a subject we’ve never broached, but one I’ve always wondered about. An ordinary man cannot claim a shadow. He shakes his head, drawing his boundaries. I didn't expect prying his secrets loose to be so simple, but it was worth a try.

"How long do you think you have?" I inquire instead.

"Long enough to endure this ordeal, I suppose."

"Very well. If you want to stay, then I require a few favors."

He eyes me warily. "Why do I have the distinct feeling that I will regret these favors?"

I ignore him. “The first favor is I need you to go to Third Isle and ask for permission to enter their land.”

“And what the fuck will I tell that raging bitch is the reason?”

“Tell her there’s a conflict with some of the Forest People, that I need to remind them not to cross into her lands. That should buy some time to hunt.”
“And the second?”

I hesitate, knowing he won't favor this one, and I'm not entirely certain I do either. But what was it Xaden said? It's a means to an end.

"How would you feel about summoning your brother here?" I inquire.

"The hell for? You really want to stir up that hornet's nest?" he retorts.

"Oh, come now, Xade. You know your brother favors no one but you," I press.

He snorts. "I haven't spoken to him in years. Not since he last assisted us."

"Which is precisely why I need him again. Consider him an insurance policy. A contingency plan," I explain.

"You don't bring my brother in as a backup plan. And besides, last time, the price was right. What would you offer him now?" he challenges.

I attempt to maintain a composed demeanor, but Xaden reads me better than most. He locks eyes with me, narrowing his gaze. "Ah, I see, you bastard. You've been harboring a secret. Spit it out."

I've kept something hidden for a long time. It held little value for me then, but now, I believe it might have doubled in worth if it secures what I desire.

“The first captured Solis Princess never went with the Witches.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

I say nothing. He takes several steps back “Where did the First Offering go?”

“I didn’t want to send her with them, and at the last second, I helped her escape.”

Xaden cocks his head. “And where did she go?”

“I helped her escape to the Fifth Isle.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“And you left her there?”

“More like she was liberated from possession of the witches.”

“Fucking hell,” Xaden turns in a half-circle and scrubs at his face. “Why would you do that?”

"Don't come seeking guilt from me—you won't find it." I take a deep breath. "At the time, I thought it better for her to be in that wretched city than to spend her life being poked and prodded by the witches. And I suspect that when your brother learns she's alive and not dead in the mortal lands, he'll want to know where she is."
“He’s going to fucking kill you for leaving her there. You know that, right?”

I snort, lighting a cigarette and letting the smoke burn in my lungs. "What a tragedy it is to remain young and beautiful forever."

“She’s likely someone’s slave.”

"And yet, she's alive." I exhale, dismissing Xaden's previous warning. "I'm not concerned about your brother."

"Always the cocky bastard, aren't you?"

"Yes," I smile at him. Always.

He shakes his head and starts walking away, heading toward a small forest village. "And what reason would I give my brother to return to Midnight Isle?"
“Tell him we’ve decided to murder the Third one.”

“Dangling two carrots in front of him, are we?”

“What kind of a king would I be if I didn’t have carrots well stocked.”

"This is a terrible idea."

"It's a terrible economy."

He keeps walking. “I caution you against this one, Kieran. Wait a while, sit with it. I’m sure I can call him quickly if the need arises.”

“Xade–”

“Wait on this,” he insists, coming to a stop. "I beg of you."

There are very few people in this realm that I wouldn’t kill for disagreeing with me. Xaden is one of two.

A sweet little girl is the other.

The only other.

“Very well.”

Satisfied with my answer, Xaden trudges off again and we soon reach the edges of the small forest village. There are no children in this village, and no males either. When I chased after him, I knew where he was going. When he's on edge, only two things help him release: flying and pussy, especially from the native girls.

His eyes reveal he's lost in thought, but I can tell he wants to say something. I'm not a man of patience, but I let him have his moment.

“You wanted to break her,” I guess. “But you chose not to.”

He sighs smoke into the night air. “I will, though. If she lets me.”

"No, you won't. But you will yield to her."

He scowls at me. “Is that an order, King?”

“Just a prediction.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” I say, holding his glare.

He shakes his head and starts towards the path through the trees that lead to half-naked women. There’s a firelit lagoon here, and many of them are giggling and bathing.

“The Offering annoys me, and I hate her.”

I follow after him. "Wanting her annoys you. And hate is just an inch away from like. The line is incredibly thin."

He pays a sultry woman at the entrance a gold coin. They don’t charge me.

Unlike him, they only slightly fear me.

“I don’t know what she wants from me,” he says.

“Then ask her.”

“Like you are so in tune with the Offering’s needs and wants.”

“I am a king. I don’t ask, I tell. And that is what she needs from me, so that is what I give her. What she needs from you will be different and you need to figure that out before you take something she can’t give.”

He says nothing, which tells me he’s accepted that I’m right. Because, of course, I’m right. I always am.

“And the twins?” he says over his shoulder. “What does she get from them?

“Fuck if I know what she gets from those fuckers.” He stops halfway up as the wind dishevels his hair.

“I know what it is.”

“Are you going to make me beg for it?”

“The twins take care of her in a way no one ever has.”

I nod and look out over the lagoon down below. From this vantage point, the water is like a bright jewel inset in the dark, twining forest. And the women…they all pale in comparison to Remi.

All of them.

“That’s another problem we need to deal with,” Xaden says. “The twins.”

“I know.”

“They’re meant to be kings.”

Of a lost and broken land.

“Yes, I know that too.”

“And right now, there are two Pearls loose in the Isles.”

I catch his meaning. Do I trust Kallias and Rhodes? They’ve always listened to me, even before they left their home. I was an ally of their mother court–their true mother’s court, once upon a time. We were a united front against the Third Isle who arrived on our shores looking to steal what we had already earned.

The princes hunger for home and they are desperate for their birthright. But desperate enough to turn on me? I don’t think they are disloyal, but I’ve been tricked before. Tricked by their own mothers, the Witches, to whom I gave everything I had to give.

Which, it turns out, was being used against me and not enough.

One problem at a time, I remind myself.

If only I had fewer problems.