“Wait—are you saying that he has pretty much been kicking your ass for over two hundred years and all you can do is just defend?” I was outraged that the Horde King, this badass I had heard of all of my life, the one who accepts anyone, was nothing more than a bully. This idea of the Blood Fae just bending over and taking it was just too much, but if the Horde King were that powerful it made sense; it also made sense as to why the other Fae looked up to the Blood King. The man had serious balls for trying to stand up to the Horde King for over two hundred years. My father nodded grimly and continued.
“Alazander desired your mother to be one of his concubines; he requested that Anise give her as a peace offering to the Horde. He was known to ask other rulers and noble families for their daughters to keep peace between the Horde and their families; he was also not above stealing them. He took what he wanted from people, including their children. Rumors of abuse toward his wife and concubines had reached your mother’s ears, and she begged Anise for an alternative. Anise was a good person and a loving great-aunt to your mother, and she arranged our union , and soon it became a love match.” He shook his head sadly at the memory.
“Alazander killed Anise for her part in defying him. He hadn’t forgiven her for losing the relics and this was just one more mark against her. Now, that pompous little shit Dresden sits on her throne. I cut ties with the Light Fae as soon as he took the throne. Anise was ten times the ruler he is.” I had to agree with him on that point; anyone was probably better than him.
“Over the years, Alazander hounded your mother and I through his emissaries. Even though your mother and I had several children together he persisted—actually it became worse as all of our children were males and this seemed to be of particular interest to him. He stepped up his demands and his attacks on our borders and your mother became despondent. I would not allow her to make the sacrifice to save my people. She would have, simply because she would have sacrificed herself to save one single life. I couldn’t allow her to leave our children motherless, or to allow her to be mistreated at his hands.”
I nodded and digested his words. Well, that explained my own loyalty, which could be considered a fault to some.
“Then news came that the Horde was sending the daughters back to their parents in pieces, or broken of mind and body. The Horde King was sending messages to them, reminding them how he was in control of this world and the other rulers were just his puppets. When your older brother joined my army, and rode at my side, I couldn’t have been more proud, but we were separated in the chaos of a skirmish, and he was lost to us.”
I shook my head. That didn’t sound promising.
“He was captured and thrown into the Horde’s prison. Tortured daily, but kept alive so that Alazander could continue punishing him and us. We had a few other boys by this time, but Liam was our first. Eventually, the Horde started sending us pieces of our son as he had done with the others of the realm. For over fifty years, he was sent back to us piece, by bloody piece. I was out on a battlefield when you were born. I should have been beside my wife, but you came too soon, and on your own time schedule.”
I narrowed my eyes, but kept listening. Now, he was getting into the good stuff.
“I came home to be handed this beautiful little bundle that had the blue of my wife’s eyes, and hair the color of the sands of the Fae desert. This new little being that had my blood and bond, and looked at me with so much trust. I was holding you inside the Great Hall when the missive came; one that would change our world forever.” His eyes took on a distant look as his face showed lines of strain. As if the memory hurt him. “The Horde King wanted to strike a deal. He wanted my first born daughter as his concubine, in exchange for our son. Of course, we said no right away. The next day we received a pair of hands delivered to us by a messenger of the Horde. One who explained that if we made the deal, the Horde King would promise no harm to our daughter, and the torture of our beloved son would end the moment we signed.”
“Me, for Liam,” I said, wondering what I would have done had it been my child being cut to pieces.
“Yes,” he said, shaking his tawny head. “You have to understand, Liam had been broken. From the blood bond between Fae father to child, I knew him to be alive and suffering. You, for Liam, and an end to the war; that was the agreement the Horde wanted. I had an entire caste to protect, and a son who had endured far too many years of torture. This wasn’t an easy decision, and, yet, it had to be made.”
“But the Fae play on words, and, for some reason, you worried that inside this was an out clause. One that would allow him to harm me.”