Reign Shadowfell's Arc

Chapter 28 of 29

Reign took Vixen's hand and held it firm. Lyla stepped in a half pace behind her. Lux climbed to his shoulder and gripped his collar. Huntley pushed both doors of the throne room open and walked in ahead of them. His voice carried the length of the hall. "My king, Reign Shadowfell and his party have arrived." The four of them crossed the stone floor together. Reign kept his head up and his chin level. He did not look at the woman in dark red on the step of the inner circle. He did not look at the guards along the walls. He stopped where a brass marker was set into the floor. Vixen stopped with him. Lyla stopped a step behind. Thanos rose from the throne. He came down the three steps and walked toward Reign until only a few paces stood between them. A single tear cut a line down the old king's cheek. He did not wipe it away. "You have her mouth," Thanos said. His voice was low and rough. "And her eyes." He looked at Reign a long moment. Then he said, quiet enough that only the front of the hall could hear, "Walk with me. Alone. There is a room behind the throne." Reign glanced at Vixen. She gave the smallest nod. Lyla did not move. Lux stayed on his shoulder. Reign said, "The imp comes. He knew her." Thanos looked at Lux and his mouth tightened. He said, "Then the imp comes." The room behind the throne was small and plain. A table, two chairs, a jug of water. Thanos shut the door himself. He sat and put both hands flat on the wood. Reign stayed standing. He asked the question he had carried three days in the carriage. "How did my mother die." Thanos did not lift his eyes. "They told me a fever. I believed it for sixteen years. Your letter was the first I heard of a child, and the first I doubted the fever." Reign watched his hands, his mouth, the pulse at his throat. Lux watched too, and after a slow breath the imp pressed his small face against Reign's neck. It was the sign they had agreed on. Truth. Reign felt the red stone under his shirt go warm against his skin. He said, "The Church of Light killed her. Their grand inquisitor." Thanos's hands closed into fists on the table. He did not speak for a long moment. When he did, his voice shook. "Then I have been lied to by someone in my own house." Reign sat down across from him. He had his answer. His grandfather had not known. The enemy wearing his mother's earrings was not the king. She was the king's blind spot, and now Reign held the only lamp.