Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,44
we have Riona, Max would have to suspect we suspect. We may not see him again.”
She grimaced. “Most likely, although given his tendency to do the unexpected, he might stick around, if only to gather information.”
“He might keep in contact via the phone, but that’s it.” Max was many things, but he certainly wasn’t a fool. Nor was he slow in the brain department. I dropped back onto the sofa. “None of this sheds any light on why the hell you think I’m the heir—especially if Max does have the sword.”
She wrinkled her nose. “It’s a combination of things, and it’s possible I’m wrong—but we both know how rarely I am.”
I couldn’t help smiling. “Only when it comes to certain Blackbirds, apparently.”
“That, my dear girl, is still a developing situation, and I continue to believe it will be resolved satisfactorily.”
I once again hoped she was right—for the sake of my future selves if nothing else. I did not want to be going through this sort of sexual frustration in yet another lifetime. Of course, said sexual frustration could be easily solved if I was just willing to agree to a casual relationship …
I took a quick drink and ignored the traitorous inner whisper suggesting it was better to have a short but passionate fling than maintain the current drought. “What things are we talking about?”
“For one, the inscription on the throne—it suggests there’s more than one sword of power, and I know for a fact there isn’t. Mryddin and I were there when Vivienne gave it to Aldred.”
Who’d been the first Witch King. “I thought it and the daggers were created in the same forge?”
“They were—just not at the same time.”
“If the sword in the stone is a fake, why wouldn’t you know that? And why would it react magically to heirs? And to me?”
“As I said before, I left Ainslyn after Uhtric re-caged Darkside. The sword he held at that time was the real thing.” She paused to sip her tea. “And the sword in the stone has always reacted to heirs—that’s how kings were chosen. If it is a secondary sword rather than the original, then perhaps that was intentional. Mryddin always did have a penchant for creating magical swords—it was the godly blood in him.”
“I thought he was the result of an incubus and human union?”
“Demon, god, they’re all the same.” She pursed her lips. “I do think the inscription on the stone—”
“The one that’s impossible to read, you mean?”
She smiled. “There you go with that ‘impossible’ word again, but yes. I think it’ll answer at least some of our questions.”
I finished the whiskey, then moved back to the tea. “And the third thing?”
“Your brother’s sudden appearance at the main gateway.”
Which, I remembered, he’d explained before she’d placed her spell—but even without it, I hadn’t really believed him.
I gulped down my tea and found myself fighting the desire to grab some more whiskey. “You think he was there to test the sword?”
“I think it highly likely.”
“He didn’t have it on him in the canyon.”
“Because he’s not a fool. Besides, he would have sensed my magic from the roadside and known we were there.”
“I should’ve fucking followed his car.”
“You wouldn’t have kept up, darling girl. Not in your weakened state.”
I sighed. “So, what are we going to do?”
“Find Gianna and Reign as a matter of priority. If anyone knows for sure what is going on, it’ll be Gianna.”
“Unless she’s just being paid to be an incubator and nursemaid and doesn’t know who the father really is.”
“No intelligent woman these days would go into a deal like this without at least investigating the man and the situation.”
“Wouldn’t it depend on her situation and the money offered? Surely not all Aquitaines are wealthy.”
She wrinkled her nose. “The king’s line has fallen from grace and gold since Layton handed full rule over to human royalty, but I wouldn’t call any of them poor.”
“Their ability to manipulate fire—like our ability to heal—has gone out of fashion since the industrial revolution, though. And even if they can call on all four elements, they can’t do so without a conduit strong enough to withstand the force flowing through them.”
And from the little Mo had said over the years, not only had very few conduits survived to modern times, but the number of people with the knowledge to create them was now limited to the old gods—and they didn’t take a whole lot of interest in the affairs of humans and witches these days.