Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, #1)(32)

“And do you hear these prayers?”

“In spirit, I hear all of them. But when they want something badly enough, they will offer a blood sacrifice to show honor to me.”

Blood sacrifice? How deeply savage. No wonder they were a dying people, reliant on a handful of vineyards to keep their economy from stagnating completely.

“How interesting,” Magnus said instead.

“The greatest sacrifice must be something that one truly values. To sacrifice something of no value is meaningless.”

“Agreed.”

“Is that what you’re asking of me right now?” King Gaius asked. “A blood sacrifice to show honor to you?”

Basilius spread his hands and turned toward the king. “As there are legends about me, there are also many stories about you. It is difficult to separate truth from fiction.”

“What have you heard?”

“That you are a king who accepts no less than perfection from all of those who surround you. That you tax your people until they can barely feed themselves. Your army polices the villages of Limeros, and anyone who strays outside of the rules you’ve set forth will pay dearly for their error, often with their lives. That you will torture and execute anyone accused of witchcraft found in your land. That you have ruled your kingdom with violence and intimidation and that your people fear you even as they bow at your feet. That they call you the King of Blood.”

If Magnus had been required to speak after that little speech, he was certain that nothing would have emerged from his mouth. These were the rumors about King Gaius?

How incredibly…accurate.

He watched his father closely for his reaction, fully expecting him to lash out with threats and anger, throwing the chief and his entourage out of his kingdom immediately.

Instead, King Gaius began to laugh. It was a dark sound edged in danger and it made a chill run up Magnus’s back as it echoed through the cavernous hall.

“Such stories,” he said. “Magnified for entertainment value, of course. Are you offended by such possibilities?”

“Quite the opposite,” Chief Basilius replied. “A man like that is one who would not sit back and let others fight his battles. He would fight them himself. He would kill and take what he needed, when he needed it. Are you that man?”

King Gaius leaned forward, all amusement fading from his face. “I am that king.”

“You want Auranos, but I can’t believe it is merely due to outrage over a murder committed in my land. Tell me why you’re so driven to align with Paelsia to take it.”

King Gaius didn’t speak for a moment, as if assessing the man before him. “I want to watch the ruler of that land suffer as he sees his kingdom slip away from him and into the hands of someone he hates. This is my opportunity to have that.”

Chief Basilius seemed satisfied by the answer. “Good. Then there is only the matter of you proving yourself to me in a way more tangible than words. Do this and I pledge to give this matter deep thought and have my final answer to you soon.”

“Prove myself through blood sacrifice.”

The chief nodded. “I want you to sacrifice something you care about very much, something over which you will mourn the loss.”

The king’s gaze flicked to Magnus. Magnus’s grip tightened on the edge of the table. His palms were damp.

His father couldn’t possibly agree to something so savage, not at the mere whim of this Paelsian peasant king.

“Tobias,” King Gaius said. “Give me your dagger.”

“Certainly.” Tobias slipped his plain, steel-bladed dagger from the sheath at his hip and handed it to the king hilt first. “If you need a suggestion, your majesty, there are several thieves in the dungeon currently awaiting trial.”

“Would that be acceptable to you, Chief Basilius?” The king rose from his throne on the dais. “Thievery is not a crime with a death sentence here. At the most, they would have had their hands severed. The unnecessary loss of any Limerian subject’s life would also be a loss to my kingdom, to my economy—and therefore to me.”

Basilius also rose. Magnus stayed right where he was, watching all of this with a mix of interest and distaste.

“I am underwhelmed by this choice,” the chief said. “There are those among my people who would sacrifice their own children for me.”

“And you’re fine with such a crime?” the king asked, his expression tense. “Family, to me, is the one thing I value more than anything else in the world. And children are our legacy, more precious than gold.”

“We’re finished here. I’ll think through what you’ve proposed to me today.” The chief moved toward the door. His tone no longer held the same enthusiasm at the prospect of an alliance as it had earlier.

“Tobias,” the king said evenly.

“Yes, your majesty?”

“I do regret the necessity of this.”

The king swiftly moved behind the boy, pulled his head back, and slashed the blade across his throat.

Tobias’s eyes went wide and his hands came up automatically to his neck. Blood squirted out from between his fingers. He collapsed to the ground.

King Gaius looked grimly down at him as the boy’s body went still.

Magnus fought with every ounce of his strength not to allow the storm of emotions inside him to show on his face. He commanded himself to wear only the mask of impassivity he’d worked hard to build over the years.