It was a rumor she'd heard before-- in fact, everyone in Vezda had whispered as much. They'd called him the demon Prince Mikhail-- a man so evil and blood-thirsty that he killed his own mother.
Talia hadn't really believed it. Not as a child when he'd fed her jerky and tried to hide his injuries from her, and not even as an adult who'd seen him slay countless soldiers.
He had never spoken of his mother, never even alluded to her, but the words came from his mouth easily and quickly now:
"I killed her. She held still and waited for it. She was so calm. It only took one stroke, and she never looked at me from the moment I entered the house."
He froze then, as if waiting for something, perhaps for her to respond. Talia did not know what to say.
"It works... your poison works," he mumbled. "I haven't been able to speak her name in more than ten years. Kalta... her name was Kalta and she was the daughter of a noble family from Frem."
"Every time you speak of anything your bond forbids, you will pay for it later," Talia reminded him. "The more you speak, the more pain you will be in when the potion wears off."
"How long do I have?" he asked.
"I... don't know," Talia admitted, "but it probably won't last very long."
"She didn't deserve it. She was not unfaithful to my father. That was a lie that Grigori spread. She was kind and decent and... I tried to send her away, but the Emperor found out, and I was ordered... I was ordered to.... he lied to me. He said if I agreed to be marked as his servant, he would send her to Frem in exile. He lied. The first order he gave me after the marks were made was the order to execute her for treason. I would have sooner fallen on my own blade, but I had no choice."
Prince Mikhail spoke quickly, almost as if he were afraid that he would be stopped.
"He used a blood oath to force your hand?" Talia frowned.
She had never heard of such a thing. Blood oaths were made to keep a person from speaking, from telling secrets. There was nothing in the histories about blood oaths being used to turn a person into a puppet. To her knowledge, there had been no evidence of blood magic being used outside of House Eosin since the long ago days of Queen Tasha.
That the Emperor had learned to do such a thing-- a spell that even House Eosin had never in their history attempted...
"Yes, over and over, he's used the krovbond to order my hand. I can not count the atrocities I've committed. The war was a welcome respite. For those years, I was not daily at his command," he answered her. "I have never been able to oppose his order. Not once... until you."
Talia opened her mouth. She was going to ask what he meant by that, but already, he had said far too much. Already, he would suffer greatly when the potion wore off.
Earlier, she had hardened her heart to the idea of killing him. She did not want to do it, but she was willing to take the risk to finally have her questions answered. She had reminded herself that the Prince was and had always been her enemy. That he had even poisoned her that day! Now, knowing that he had suffered at the Emperor's hand as much or more than any of her people, she was gripped by guilt.
"She forgave me before I even raised my sword. She forgave me, and I couldn't even... I couldn't even say that I didn't want to... that I would rather it were me... that I... that I... I loved-"
"Stop!" Talia gasped, covering his mouth with her hand. "Please, stop! I told you, the bond is not broken, you will suffer for every word! Stop!" She had not even begun to question him, and already, he might have said too much.
He pushed her hand away and tried to sit up, but fell back weakly.
"Then I will suffer. I have suffered more in not speaking... in silently obeying... I have carried this-"
"My sister... Queen Ora... what happened to her? What did the Emperor do to her?" Talia demanded, determined to have at least one answer.
"He killed her," the Prince said simply.
"Why? Why go to all the trouble... the war... the laws he passed for her to agree to it... why did he kill her?"
"She faked a pregnancy to buy time and then participated in planning a revolt. She was found out. You must have realized-"
"Why did it have to be her? Why did he want her so much that he would destroy Vezda to gain her hand?" Talia demanded, watching him nervously for any sign of pain.
"There was a prophecy. The ancient ones foretold that my family curse could only be ended by her," he spoke slowly now, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. Talia had the distinct impression that there was more to it... that there was something he was desperately trying to hold back.
"What don't you want me to know?" she demanded.
He laughed low, deep in his chest.
"So much," he said. "There is so much I hope you'll never have to know."
"Where did he bury her?" Talia asked.
"He didn't bury her. He sacrificed her to the ancient ones. Your blood... the blood of House Eosin..." he closed his eyes and frowned. Talia at once reached for his arm, attempting to check his pulse. "Your blood..." he whispered.
"You don't have to say it. I know," she soothed. "Until Ora, members of House Eosin did not cross Vezda's borders for many generations. We did not marry outside of the oldest Vezdan families or meet with foreign diplomats alone. We hoped that, in time, the world would forget-- that the rumors of our lineage would become nothing more than legends. I know what our blood is worth to the ancient ones. I suppose I know now where the Emperor learned his twisted blood magic. What did he gain for it? What was his reward for her sacrifice?" she pressed urgently.
"I don't know. Father bargained for many things from them in his day... for more power... for a longer life... for his first born son... he realized too late that everything they gave was tainted somehow. The ancient ones give nothing that could be called a blessing. Grigori has most of the things father bargained for... power and near immortality... but not a child. If I had to guess..."
"Then why is there still no heir?" she asked.
Mikhail laughed bitterly.
"Perhaps even the ancient ones have their limits. There have been children, but not one of them could pass as human. Even our nobles, terrified of him as they are, would not bow before a monster that did not at least look human, but Grigori does not have enough human blood in him to sire something that looks and acts even remotely human."
Talia covered her mouth in shock. There were so many things she wanted to ask. The Prince had not shown any signs yet of the suffering that would soon come. He would pay dearly for these words. Of all the questions that begged to be asked, the one she wanted to know most would benefit Vezda the least. She could not ask it.
Prince Mikhail opened his eyes and stared at for her a minute. As if he could read her thoughts, he smiled weakly.
"I see. You wonder about my lineage now. Did my father bargain for my life as well? Am I half a demon like my brother?" he chuckled weakly.
"It was always whispered about you... but never about him," she said, careful not to ask, but not denying that she wanted to know.
"Of course not. If it is whispered about me, it is only because Grigori wanted it so. My father sacrificed everything to the ancient ones to gain a son... and that son was Grigori. And then, in the twilight of his years, another son was born to him... not from blood or sacrifice or spells, but born naturally by a young concubine from Frem. You could almost understand how Grigori felt... how afraid he was to lose father's favor," Mikhail frowned as he spoke, clearly remembering something unpleasant.
"Yet he allowed you to live," Talia mused.
The Prince nodded and it seemed as if he would say more, but a knock upon the door silenced him.
The door opened without waiting for an answer, and Ilya staggered into the room holding his stomach.
"What's happened to him?!" he demanded of Talia. "Was he poisoned?"
Ilya looked to be in even rougher shape than Prince Mikhail. His face was ashen and his stumbling gait suggested that he was drunk.
It was ironic that he was demanding to know Mikhail's condition, when he appeared to be the one suffering poison.
"What's happened to you?" Talia asked, shocked by his appearance.
"Nevermind that!" he snapped, roughly pushing past her to snatch at Mikhail's wrist and feel for a pulse. "Have you taken an antidote yet, my prince? Do you know where it came from? Was it-"
The Prince's entire body suddenly tensed. He grit his teeth and blew out a short pained breath. At the same time, as if feeling his master's pain, Ilya doubled over and groaned.
"Get her... get her away from me... the servants' rooms are all empty. Put her in one of them and send for Grieta. I might not... I might not..." he was not able to finish his sentence before his body tensed again as another wave of pain seemed to wash over him.