Chương 22: We Were the Cure

As we prepared to leave, an uneasy feeling kept pulling at my attention. Thoughts were easier to examine, argue with, and dismiss once they became inconvenient. This feeling refused to cooperate. It was immediate, persistent, and impossible to reason away. Instinct… Beneath my skin, the certainty remained fixed: leaving Vera behind would be a mistake. Strategically, taking her with us was foolish. She was the target, the royal piece, and the bargaining chip Duke Vale intended to use.

If he possessed Malcolm, then Vera was the lever he planned to pull. Bringing her onto the field meant carrying the bait directly toward the trap. Unfortunately, leaving her at the casino felt worse. The casino belonged to me. Its walls were strong, its guards were loyal, and under normal circumstances, that would have been enough. This time, however, Adrian and Celeste would both be leaving with me, which meant the strongest members of House Vaust would be gone.

If Duke Vale had already dared to take Malcolm, I had no reason to believe he would patiently wait before reaching for Vera as well. I hated when caution and instinct reached the same conclusion. Together, they became much harder to ignore. Celeste was already fastening a cloak around her shoulders when I turned toward her.

"Celeste." She looked up immediately.

"Yes, Mother?"

"We're taking Vera. Bring her to the carriage." For half a heartbeat, her eyes widened. Then she beamed. She didn't merely smile. She looked as though I had presented her with a gift wrapped in black silk and emotional inconvenience. Celeste didn't ask why. That was one of her finest and most irritating qualities. Whenever I made a decision she approved of, she accepted it with terrifying speed, usually before I had enough time to reconsider.

"Of course." She turned and hurried away. I watched her leave before releasing a tired sigh. Why did I have to care at moments like this? I had no desire to, but for some reason I allowed myself to get pulled in that direction. Caring was inefficient. It tangled otherwise simple decisions and encouraged people to stand closer to danger because distance felt worse. It made clever monsters place princesses inside carriages when every cold piece of strategy insisted they should be locked inside guarded rooms.

Yet there I stood, choosing the inefficient path because some part of me wanted to protect them. Vera and Malcolm reminded me too much of Celeste and Adrian, and apparently the softness those two had worn into me was beginning to spread. I felt disgusted, but I had no way of stopping my current path. Adrian arrived a few moments later with the blood cleaned from his cuffs, a fresh coat across his shoulders, and his sword resting at his side. His expression told me he had already heard the decision.

"Vera is coming?"

"Yes."

"That's dangerous."

"I'm aware."

"Is it necessary?" My gaze drifted toward the staircase, where Celeste's voice carried softly as she spoke with the princess. My jaw tightened.

"Unfortunately." Adrian studied me for a moment before giving a single nod. There was no argument, lecture, or demand for an explanation. That was why I tolerated him. Celeste returned shortly afterward with Vera beside her. The princess wore a dark cloak over her dress, and although her face remained pale, she held herself steadily. Her hair had been pinned in haste and lacked its usual perfection. Redness surrounded her eyes, evidence of fear she was struggling desperately to conceal. Fear was not weakness.

It was the body's way of admitting that it still wanted to live.

"Lady Vaust," Vera began carefully, "I can remain here if taking me would make matters more difficult."

"You're a burden regardless of where I place you." Celeste sighed.

"Mother."

"What? She is." I just have a straightforward personality; what does she expect to hear from me? Vera swallowed, and a flicker of hurt crossed her face before she managed to hide it. I stepped closer.

"But you're a more useful burden where I can see you." Something shifted in her expression. It wasn't comfort exactly, but it came close enough.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me yet. You may despise the carriage ride." We didn't wait for Duke Vale to send his demands. That would have been idiotic. Waiting gave enemies time to arrange their courage into formation. It allowed them to polish their lies, conceal evidence, move prisoners, prepare traps, and congratulate themselves on being clever. I preferred arriving before cleverness finished dressing. We went directly to Duke Vale's estate. The carriage rolled through Stonehaven beneath a sky the color of old steel.

Adrian's informants had already spread throughout the surrounding districts. Most were not fighters, but watchers, messengers, and quiet little eyes hidden in alleys, rooftops, stables, and servant passages. They would tell us who fled, who arrived, who carried letters, and who lied too loudly. House Vaust possessed relatively few monsters, but we possessed many ears. Vera sat across from me beside Celeste, her hands clasped tightly in her lap while Celeste held one between both of hers.

Adrian remained near the carriage door. For several minutes, the only sound came from the carriage wheels beneath us. Vera eventually broke the silence.

"Do you think Malcolm is there?"

"There's no doubt." I said with confidence. Vera drew in a trembling breath.

"Do you think he is alive?"

"For now." Why go through all the trouble of taking him if they would just kill him? That would make no sense.

"How can you know that?"

"Because a dead hostage provides very little leverage." Pain tightened her expression, but she nodded and forced herself to absorb the answer. She took it better than expected, but a few sobbing cries came from her direction. The carriage slowed as we entered the upper district. Adrian looked through the window first, and his expression immediately hardened. Celeste noticed.

"What is it?"

"We have company." I pulled the curtain aside. Duke Vale's estate rose ahead of us, pale and imposing behind its iron gates. The quiet mansion I had visited only days earlier had vanished beneath the presence of an occupying force. Royal troops crowded the grounds. Armored soldiers filled the space between the gate and the mansion steps, standing in disciplined rows with shields locked and spears raised.

Royal banners stirred above them, while Vale's own men were scattered throughout the formation in darker uniforms marked with Westmere's black hawk. Archers watched from the walls. Mounted knights guarded the side paths, and mages in royal-blue robes waited behind the front ranks with their hands concealed inside long sleeves. There were hundreds of them. A small part of me felt that same thrill of the hunt when I first chased after Elias all those years ago. Celeste leaned forward, her eyes narrowing.

"Those are royal troops." Vera went rigid beside her.

"My father?"

"Perhaps," Adrian answered.

"Or one of your brothers may be acting under the authority of his seal."

"Does the distinction matter?" No one answered because we all knew it did not. Whether the king had openly sided with Vale, been deceived into supporting him, or allowed one of his useless sons to move troops in his name, the result was the same. House Vaust now stood against Duke Vale and the steel of the crown. The carriage rolled to a stop before the open gates, where no servant came forward to receive us. How rude…

I stepped out first, and the soldiers shifted as one, sending a ripple of metal and nervous breath across the grounds. My violet rune stirred faintly beneath my skin, casting a dim glow along my hands as Celeste followed with her usual grace, lightning already beginning to gather around her fingertips. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Adrian emerged next with one hand resting near his sword.

Vera stepped down last and remained several paces behind us, exactly as instructed. Fear clung to her, but she didn't run. I surveyed the assembled troops and sighed. This was going to get interesting.

"Humans!" I yelled. Celeste glanced toward me.

"That sounded like an insult directed at the entire species."

"It was." Adrian remained silent, but a quiet breath escaped through his nose as the corner of his mouth lifted. For him, it was practically laughter. Why did humans insist on driving their skulls into walls? Did they believe enough broken heads would eventually persuade the wall to apologize? I had accumulated eighty years of power since Graymere. Eighty years of feeding, fighting, learning, and becoming something the frightened girl I had once been could never have imagined.

I had torn through monsters, curses, mercenaries, and more than one noble who mistook his bloodline for armor. An army didn't frighten me. Neither did its banners, its royal seals, or the old man with delusions of ownership hiding behind borrowed shields. A door opened above the courtyard. Duke Vale stepped onto the balcony overlooking the grounds. There he was in all his arrogant glory. A faint bruise marked his throat where my hand had held him. He had chosen a high-collared coat, most likely to conceal it.

How amusing… The gathered soldiers looked upward as he appeared. Hundreds of eyes shifted away from us at once. They had left themselves wide open. Celeste sensed it as well. Lightning whispered around her fingertips, while Adrian adjusted his stance. I raised one hand: "Not yet." I wanted to hear Vale speak first. Men such as him adored speeches, and occasionally they incriminated themselves with remarkable enthusiasm. He gripped the balcony railing.

"I'm glad you came, Helena Vaust." A smile touched my mouth.

"You had one of my people taken. It seemed rude not to visit." Vera stiffened behind us. Vale's eyes found her, and the satisfaction in his smile sharpened.

"You brought the princess. How generous."

"She was bored."

"Mother," Celeste murmured.

"What? She was." Vale's gaze returned to me.

"This is my moment of redress. You invaded my home, murdered my adviser, slaughtered my guards, and threatened a duke of this kingdom."

"You made me wait for two hours." His expression twitched.

"And now," Vale declared, raising his voice so every soldier in the courtyard could hear, "you stand before us as what you truly are: a stain upon Stonehaven and a parasite hiding beneath noble cloth." Unease moved through the gathered troops, but I stepped forward without hesitation. Celeste and Adrian advanced beside me while Vera remained safely behind us, exactly where she had been instructed to stay. Vale lifted his chin, mistaking an army at his feet for courage.

"How many noble houses have you ruined?" he demanded.

"How many fortunes have disappeared inside that den you call an establishment? How many families have been destroyed by the corruption of your casino?" I stared up at him for a long moment before a laugh escaped me. The restraint in the sound carried more contempt than shouting ever could.

"You gathered an army because nobles lost money gambling?"

"Your casino is a trap." He roared with obvious disdain.

"My games are not rigged."

"Your entire business is designed to make men waste their wealth."

"When a man arrives carrying his life's savings, wins a modest amount, and refuses to leave because he believes fortune owes him more, why should his greed become my responsibility? He chooses to stay. He chooses to drink, wager, sweat, curse, and lose everything because one victory wasn't enough." Several soldiers shifted uncomfortably. I suspected more than a few had visited my tables.

"Most of them were ahead at some point," I added.

"That is the amusing part. They held a small but genuine victory in their hands, and then they wanted more. They always want more. When their own hunger devours them, they blame the table."

"You prey upon weakness," Vale sneered.

"Yes. So do taxes, marriage contracts, royal wars, and dukes who operate slave routes. At least the people entering my casino are permitted to walk away before destroying themselves." Silence spread across the courtyard. For one fleeting moment, Vale's smile disappeared.

"You speak of humanity as though you stand above it," he accused.

"What are you, Helena Vaust? Are you even human?"

"What does that have to do with any of this?"

"It has everything to do with the survival of this kingdom." I tilted my head.

"This world contains beastmen, elves, dwarves, fae-blooded creatures, spirits wearing flesh, things beneath mountains, and older things hiding in forests. Humanity doesn't possess dominion over all creation merely because it speaks the loudest." Vale's smile returned, but it had become darker and uglier.

"Eventually, we will." Vera inhaled sharply behind me. Celeste's expression turned glacial, and Adrian's eyes narrowed. Well… that explained a great deal about him. Vale raised one hand.

"You call yourself noble," he shouted across the courtyard.

"You call your house legitimate, but I call you a plague. You're a foreign corruptor, a monster hiding behind contracts and coin. Come forth, champions of mankind, and strike down the creature that has infiltrated our city." The soldiers in the front ranks parted. Three figures stepped forward. I recognized them, though not personally.

Stonehaven possessed only so many S-rank mercenaries, and these three were often mentioned whenever people wanted to pretend Adrian, Celeste, and I weren't the most dangerous creatures carrying Guild badges. The first was a broad man in his forties with close-cropped black hair, a square jaw, and arms like stone pillars. He wore leather armor reinforced around his shoulders and chest, while thick metal gauntlets covered his hands. Force runes had been etched across their surface.

Every step he took made the gravel tremble beneath his boots. Garron Thorne was known as the Breaker. His gift allowed him to generate devastating shockwaves. A single punch could shatter gates, rupture organs, and turn a shield wall into twisted scrap. Rumor claimed he had once stopped a charging wyvern with both feet planted and one fist raised. Impressive, for a human… The second man appeared ten paces to Garron's right. One moment, the space was empty.

After a blink, a lean man in a long gray coat stood with one hand resting on the hilt of a narrow sword. He was pale and handsome in the irritating way assassins often were. Silver streaked his black hair, which had been tied at the base of his neck, and his restless eyes never remained fixed for long. Silas Crowe, the Vanishing Blade. His teleportation was short-ranged, rapid, and precise.

He could cross a battlefield in a series of blinks, appear behind shields, cut throats, and vanish before an arrow could find him. Many considered him unbeatable in a duel. The third mercenary raised the earth beneath her feet as she approached. She was an older woman dressed in dark green robes, with bronze skin, brown hair streaked with gray, and a staff carved from petrified roots. Rings of stone floated slowly around her wrists. Unlike Vale, her expression held no arrogance.

That made her considerably more dangerous. Her confidence was overflowing. Mirelle Ashford, the Stone Matron. Her earth magic specialized in defense, terrain control, stone bindings, ground spikes, walls, and crushing pressure. During sieges, she was considered equal to five hundred soldiers. Together, the three S-ranks stood before the army like a carefully arranged offering. I looked toward Celeste. She met my gaze before glancing at Adrian.

His hand rested upon his sword, though his eyes remained fixed on Silas Crowe. Of course, the swordsman always noticed the blade first. Vale's voice rang from above.

"Garron Thorne, Silas Crowe, and Mirelle Ashford. By royal sanction and noble authority, you're commanded to kill Helena Vaust and those who follow her." The blood drained from Vera's face.

"Royal sanction…" Celeste's voice softened.

"Then he truly has the crown's support."

"Or a convincing forgery," Adrian replied.

"Either way, they came," I commented. Garron rolled his shoulders, and the air around him answered with a faint boom. Silas smiled as the edges of his body began to fade. Mirelle planted her staff against the ground, causing the courtyard stones to groan beneath us. I stepped forward.

"I will give the three of you one chance to walk away before this ends badly for you." Garron barked a laugh.

"How generous."

"That was what I thought." My gaze fell on him, feeling the slightest bit of pity somewhere in the depths of my heart. Silas's smile widened.

"What happens if we refuse?"

"You become examples." Mirelle studied me with thoughtful eyes.

"You're not human."

"No."

"What are you?" I smiled and allowed my fangs to show.

"Hungry." I smiled.

"Does it truly matter what I am?" Unease rippled through the soldiers. Vale's voice tore down from the balcony.

"Kill them!" The courtyard erupted. Garron moved first. He slammed his gauntleted fists together, sending a shockwave tearing across the ground. Stone tiles ripped upward in a straight line as the force rushed toward us like an invisible battering ram. Adrian stepped in front of Celeste on instinct. She clicked her tongue.

"Dear, move." He did. Lightning flashed from her hand, not toward Garron, but into the torn stones between us. The impact blasted them apart and split the shockwave's path just enough for the force to rush past on both sides. My hair and cloak whipped around me, but Vera remained untouched behind us. Celeste had improved. Silas vanished. I turned before he reappeared. His blade swept toward my throat from behind with remarkable speed and precision. I caught it between two fingers.

Those dead-eyes that I'm sure have lost most of their emotion showed surprise at my action.

"Predictable." My kick sent him through a fountain. Water, stone, and blood erupted together. Garron laughed and charged. Adrian met him halfway. The sword collided with the gauntlet, and the impact rang across the courtyard. The shockwave from Garron's punch shattered windows throughout the estate. Adrian slid backward two feet, his boots carving lines into the stone, before a faint smile touched his lips. Garron's expression brightened.

"You're strong." Adrian's eyes sharpened.

"So are you." They collided again. Mirelle raised her staff. The ground beneath Vera split open. I moved before the first stone rose. One heartbeat found me facing the S-ranks. The next placed me behind Vera, my arm locking around her waist as I pulled her clear of the stone jaws snapping shut where she had stood. A sharp gasp escaped her, and her fingers tightened around my sleeve.

"Stay behind me," I demanded.

"I was behind you!" She retorted.

"Then do it better." Celeste appeared at Vera's side with fire curling around one hand and frost gathering around the other.

"Mirelle is targeting her."

"Yes." She's going straight for our weakness.

"That's rude." Celeste said with annoyance.

"Extremely," I concurred. Mirelle's voice carried across the courtyard.

"The princess is not your concern, monster." I looked directly at her.

"She has entered the boundaries of what concerns me." Celeste glanced sideways.

"That was almost affectionate."

"Do not ruin the battle." Silas reappeared atop the broken fountain, soaked and bleeding from the mouth. He wiped the blood away with one thumb and laughed. Across the courtyard, Garron and Adrian exchanged blows that sent ripples through the ground. Shockwaves burst from Garron's fists, while Adrian's blade sliced through pressure and stone alike. Mirelle raised walls to protect the soldiers before launching spears of rock toward Celeste and Vera.

Celeste shattered them with fire and lightning, her expression calm and every movement precise. Behind the three mercenaries, the army began its advance, hundreds of boots striking the ground as weapons rose in unison. Their confidence carried across the courtyard in every measured step. I moved away from Vera and met Celeste's gaze. A silent question passed between us, and my smile gave her the answer. Then I released my power. Violet ruin seeped from my skin like smoke escaping a beautiful wound.

The air darkened around me, and the stones beneath my feet cracked, not from my weight, but because my magic disliked everything it touched. The advancing soldiers slowed before coming to a complete stop. They could feel the pressure rolling from me, and every creature with even the faintest survival instinct understood the warning. Above them, Duke Vale gripped the balcony railing as the color drained from his face. I raised one hand, and a sphere of violet destruction formed above my palm.

It began as a small pulse of light, then swelled larger and brighter until its terrible whisper spread across the courtyard.

"You gathered an army because you believed numbers mattered." The sphere spun faster.

"You gathered champions because you believed titles mattered." Violet light washed across every shield, blade, and frightened face.

"You hid behind royal sanction because you believed permission mattered." I looked up at Duke Vale.

"But you took someone beneath my protection." Behind me, Vera's breath caught while Celeste smiled with anticipation. Adrian's blade rang against Garron's gauntlet, yet even through the clash, he seemed to hear the promise in my voice. My fangs lengthened as hunger stirred awake within me.

"And now we will discuss consequences." The violet sphere flew from my hand and struck the ground before the advancing army. For one perfect second, the courtyard held its breath. Then the earth screamed. Violet ruin tore outward in a sweeping crescent, bending around Vera, Celeste, and Adrian before crashing into the soldiers foolish enough to stand between me and my prey. Stone vanished beneath it, shields dissolved, and armor unraveled around the bodies trapped inside.

By the time the light faded, the front line no longer existed as a formation. Not every soldier died. I was showing restraint. Some had lost their weapons, others their armor, and many simply lacked the courage to remain standing. That was enough. Chaos consumed the courtyard. Garron glanced toward the shattered formation, and Adrian punished the distraction by driving a fist into his ribs hard enough to fold the larger man sideways.

Silas vanished once more, while Mirelle raised both hands and dragged a towering wall of earth between me and the soldiers who remained. A smile spread across my lips. Finally, they were becoming interesting. Above us, Duke Vale shouted orders that no one was calm enough to obey. His army had broken into scattered pockets of panic, and every command only added another voice to the noise. Vera remained behind Celeste, trembling as she stared toward the balcony.

Her eyes were fixed on Vale, the man who had taken Malcolm and expected her fear to make her obedient. That fear remained, but it no longer controlled her. Beneath it, something fiercer had begun to take shape. Vera would witness what power looked like when it stopped asking permission. Duke Vale would learn the cost of mistaking a casino owner for prey, and every soldier who survived would carry the story back to their barracks, taverns, families, and nightmares.

House Vaust had come to reclaim what had been taken. We wouldn't leave empty-handed. Before this night ended, Stonehaven would learn that monsters weren't always the plague. Sometimes, we were the cure.