The Blood Heiress They Sent to Her Death Chapter 07
The Elder’s ancient eyes moved between Mira and Old Marta like a blade searching for its mark. When he spoke, his voice carried centuries of authority and a current of barely contained fury. “Granted. Bring the sacred water NO
Mira’s shriek tore through the chamber before the Elder’s words had finished echoing. Her face was a mask of pure terror. “Father! You cannot! I am your daughter -how can I be made to perform the Rite with a SERVANT?! It is sacrilege against the Blood itself! Please, Father -PLEASE!”
“ENOUGH!” The Elder’s voice cracked like thunder. His eyes held no warmth, no mercy, no trace of the bewildered father. “If you are my blood, the Rite will prove it and you will be vindicated. But if you are not…”
He did not finish. He did not need to. The weight of what hung unspoken made every person in the chamber shudder.
An attendant carried forward a bowl of freshly drawn sacred water. Corvin stood frozen at the edge of the scene, his eyes venomous, his jaw locked -but he dared not speak. He knew that one more word of obstruction would pull the avalanche down onto his own head.
The attendant approached Mira with the silver lancet. She scrambled backward, shrieking, thrashing. “Don’t touch me! I refuse! Get away from me!”
Two guards pinned her arms. The attendant pierced her fingertip -one crimson drop fell into the bowl.
Then he turned to Old Marta. The silver bit. Another drop joined the first.
Every soul in that chamber stopped breathing. The two drops of blood drifted in the clear water -drifting, drifting -and then they touched, and merged, and became one.
The hall exploded.
“MERGED! They ARE mother and daughter!”
“We were blind! Mira is no Blood Heir -she is a servant’s spawn!”
“This is monstrous! These wretches conspired to deceive the Elder himself -this is a crime against the entire Night Court!
The lords and ladies of the Court, the ancient and the powerful -every one of them had been played. The shame burned across their faces.
The Elder rose from his throne. The sound of his fist striking the armrest cracked through the chamber like a bone breaking. His eyes burned with a fury that seemed to darken the very candles.
“In all my centuries, I have never -NEVER -been deceived so thoroughly.”
He pointed at the two quivering figures on the floor. “You DARED to defile the Bloodline. You DARED to slander my true daughter. You DARED to stage a coup against the Night Court itself.”
“NO! My Lord, mercy -MERCY!” Mira scrambled toward him, sobbing, reaching for his feet. The Elder kicked her away her body flew backward and she spat a mouthful of blood onto the stone.
She looked up and saw the death in his eyes. Appeal to him was finished. So she spun toward Corvin -her last thread of hope. “Corvin -SAVE ME!”
She crawled toward him, weeping. “You swore you would love me forever! You swore you would make me
Lady of the Night Court! Save me -PLEASE!”
Corvin looked down at her. Something cold and final moved behind his eyes. He stepped backward -one
clean step-avoiding her reaching hands. Then he dropped to his knee before the Elder.
“My Lord -I have sinned!” His head hung low, his voice thick with manufactured remorse. “I was deceived -blinded by these two serpents. I believed Mira was truly your blood daughter. That is why I spoke for her. But I never -NEVER -imagined this depth of treachery.”
He lifted his face, a mask of righteous anguish. “I beg you -punish these wretches with the full fury of the Blood. Let me redeem myself -I will personally oversee their Final Death!”