Rise of the Gryphon (Belador #4)(91)

“I don’t hate them. Not anymore. After talking to Kizira, I’ve come to realize I was wrong about our origins as Alterants.”

Forgetting everything else, she zeroed in on the question that had plagued her life as a half-breed. “What’s the other half of our blood?”

When he didn’t answer, she shoved to her feet, fingers curled into fists. “No more stonewalling me, Tristan. What are we other than Belador?”

“We all have Belador blood and that of an ancient warrior called Cú Chulainn. In battle he would turn berserker and change into a beast. That’s where we get the beast traits. He was a celebrated warrior during the time of the original Cathbad the Druid and Queen Maeve.”

“Maeve, as in the first Medb?” When he nodded, she raised her hands in the air in a frustrated motion. “That was like . . . forever ago.”

“Right. She and the original Cathbad created a prophecy, to take down the Beladors. They set into motion a perpetual changing of the guard where a female blood descendant of Maeve became queen and mated with a druid descendant of Cathbad, of which there were different lineages. Those two always produce a female child, who becomes the next Medb queen six hundred and sixty-six years later, upon her mother’s death. This has gone on for generation after generation, but Flaevynn refuses to play by the rules.”

Evalle tapped her finger on her lip, thinking. “What’s supposed to happen now that hasn’t happened before or won’t in the future?”

“That’s the one question no one has been able to answer.”

“Or won’t tell you,” Evalle pointed out.

“No, I think they really haven’t figured it out, because the curse is written as a riddle. Flaevynn doesn’t care. She’s determined to be the last queen standing even though the prophecy doesn’t actually designate her as such. Word is that Flaevynn’s rushing the time line and risking everyone’s life to beat the prophecy, which she calls a curse, so this may blow up in everyone’s faces.”

“Do you believe she can do this?”

“Unfortunately, yes. And you have no idea what creatures she and Cathbad have accumulated here in six hundred plus years. If she destroys the Belador power base, she’ll be able to unleash things worse than demons on the mortal world.”

“But how can she beat the curse if the other queens didn’t before they died as scheduled?”

“By becoming immortal. Once Brina is dead and a Medb—Kizira—has control of Treoir, Flaevynn and Cathbad believe that either the cycle of the curse that imprisons them in T?μr Medb will be broken or Kizira will bring back water from the river beneath Treoir that will turn them immortal. Either way, they expect to be able to leave here at that point.”

“I will die before helping turn those two immortal,” Evalle declared under her breath, then ran back over something he’d said a moment ago. “If we all have the same blood, what makes five of us different?”

Tristan seemed reluctant to answer, but he said, “Your father was in the military, right?”

“Yes.”

“So were mine and Petrina’s. We’re not blood brother and sister. We were both captured by a troll when we were teens and stuck in cages. Together, we figured out how to escape.”

Evalle nodded. “I can see why you’re close.”

“Before I was captured, again, by the Beladors and stuck in a spellbound prison, I was searching for other Alterants. I found out about three more, all with fathers in the military. I’ll bet your mother got pregnant after your father was stationed in one of a handful of places.”

“Don’t know. I told you she died at my birth and my father’s never spoken to me.”

“Right. I had thought the Beladors had found men with Belador blood and cast a spell on their offspring while we were in the womb. That was before the Medb brought me here. Now I’ve finally put it all together. The Medb figured since Beladors are born warriors, they would gravitate to the military. The women who didn’t were alphas and attracted to alphas, thus they were drawn to the military environment.”

“Reasonable guess, since we have a lot of Beladors in militaries in allied countries.”

Tristan chuckled softly, a sarcastic sound. “They didn’t guess. Their depth of planning over many centuries and amount of resources would scare you.”

“Why would they let you know any of this?”

“I’ve worked hard to convince Kizira that I’m on board with her plans as long as my sister is safe. I’ve been on the outs with the Beladors for a long time, so convincing Flaevynn and Cathbad of my loyalty wasn’t that hard.”

Evalle hoped he really was only acting loyal. “You were saying about the Medb knowing where to find Beladors in the military,” she said, prompting him to continue.

“Alpha males are drawn to strong women. Kizira said the sperm of male descendants of Cú Chulainn and a Medb witch had been held in a spelled cask for all these years. Thirty years ago, a druid with Medb warlock blood traveled to fertility clinics located near military locations where Beladors were known to reside. As a Celtic druid, he could identify Belador descendants, even those who were not warriors.”

“Let me guess. This happened around the time we were conceived.”

“Right.”