The Keep (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #4)(61)

The only person Alex thought Caius could be talking about was the Head. Though he understood the Head’s existence was somewhat spurned, he could not imagine anyone feeling sympathy for the skeletal creature. And yet there was a note of benevolence in Caius’s voice.

“Virgil?” Alex asked, the name still strange on his tongue.

“A strange fish indeed, that one,” said Caius, neither confirming nor denying the story was about him. “You see, Leander was always lauded as an errant Lothario, with countless women on his arm, but I truly believe he only had two loves over the span of his life—two that truly mattered to him. I know for certain he loved the non-magical woman who gave your ancestor life, but there was another too—the pang of a first love, that haunted him down the years. There is no escaping first love, you know. It is like a weed; no matter how you cut it away, it always returns, coiling around your heart.” He winked, causing Alex to shift uncomfortably once more, unable to glance down at the girl beneath the blankets. “Leander was no different. When he was younger, still a teenager, he met a young woman while vacationing in the ordinary, non-magical world. They met purely by chance, a true Romeo and Juliet story, and it led to a summer romance that never really went away. Unfortunately for Leander, the girl he fell for was none other than Venus, my brother’s wife.” He raised an eyebrow, letting the ties connect in Alex’s mind.

“A mage?” Alex murmured, though the thought didn’t seem all that strange to him. After all, Ellabell was a mage.

Caius nodded. “And not just any mage, but one betrothed to my brother. They loved a good betrothal, my mother and father, the old king and queen.”

Alex wanted to ask if he’d been betrothed too, but Caius moved quickly on before he could open his mouth to inquire.

“They met again during wartime. Venus saw him from a distance, swooping into battle on the back of his fearsome Thunderbird, and went in search of him that night. Under cover of darkness, she snuck into the Spellbreaker encampment… and that is how the world ended up with my dear hybrid nephew, Virgil.”

Alex couldn’t wrap his head around what he was hearing. He had presumed the Head was probably the result of a tryst between a random Spellbreaker and a random mage, or even the end-product of an unknown, mystery mutation, but hearing the truth in Caius’s story made his brain hurt. Leander Wyvern was the Head’s father. Alex’s ancestor was the Head’s father… which meant Alex and Virgil were related in some strange, distant way. He wasn’t sure whether to be horrified or baffled. At that moment, he was both.

“I can’t imagine anyone was very happy,” was about all he could muster as he tried to take it all in, working out the complex ties that bound everyone together.

Caius shook his head. “Something of an understatement,” he chuckled, but again the smile did not reach his eyes. “Julius already despised Spellbreakers with every fiber of his being, and was naturally furious, calling her every name under the sun, threatening to have her torn apart by kelpies. I stepped in, for Leander and for my sister-in-law. I managed to persuade my brother not to execute Venus for treason—and he would have done so, believe me. There are a thousand different ways to torture a person, and Julius knows every single one of them. He was always a violent, spoiled child, and that volatility only grew as he did.” He pressed his lips together, as if remembering cruel memories.

“I had to save Venus’s life. I fed him lies about what Leander had done, terrible lies I am almost too ashamed to admit, calling it a kidnapping instead of the love affair it actually was, so that Julius might take pity on his wife instead of punishing her. It was a long shot, given that my brother is not prone to pity of any kind. Fortunately, Venus is a woman of exquisite beauty and sharp mind, and he did not wish to give up the most precious jewel in his crown if he didn’t have to.”

“So the plan worked?” Alex murmured.

“It did indeed. Our woven lies tricked Julius just enough to shift the blame—a small mercy, but I knew I had to do it to save not only Venus’s life, but the life of her unborn child. Her only crime was falling in love with a Spellbreaker… I understood that feeling more than she knew, and though she has never thanked me for what I did, I know she was grateful,” Caius explained. “Nobody ever thought a baby would result from it, least of all her. Until then, it had been unheard of. I had certainly never heard of it happening, but when poor Virgil arrived, everybody knew he was different. It was obvious from the moment he was born. I thought Julius was going to drown him the moment he set eyes on the creature.”

It angered Alex that he felt a small twinge of empathy toward the hooded being who had brought him nothing but misery since the moment he set foot in Spellshadow Manor. Surely, a bad past didn’t make up for being a bad person, but Alex couldn’t even be certain of that. The Head had done bad things, but perhaps he was only the result of an upbringing of hate and derision that had molded him into the cold being he was today—a creature that sought only to better his standing in a family that didn’t seem to want him, by doing their bidding as best as he could. Alex knew it didn’t absolve the Head, but it certainly put a few things into perspective.

“Did Virgil know who his father was?” Alex asked, feeling utterly overwhelmed by the news he was hearing.

Caius shrugged. “I don’t believe so. As far as I know, it was a foul family secret, kept between only those who needed to know. Julius made sure he had the final word, mind you.” The old man’s voice was tight with anger. “When Leander was put up on the scaffold after being ambushed on the field of battle, it was Julius who chained him up, wanting to be the last thing Leander saw as he died beneath the magic of the firing squad. Julius told me that as he was fixing the chains in place on Leander’s wrists, he whispered that he would wipe any remnant of Leander from the face of the earth. That’s when Leander broke free from his chains and clawed at my brother’s neck, leaving deep scars. Did you notice that my brother was wearing a high collar?”