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"The betrayer..."

"The unclean…"

Fae felt Blaidd go rigid beside her.

"But here," the changeling leader went on, "she has another name. She is drunk on the essence of your bodies. The life within you is intoxicating, and is difficult for the young to pull back..." The vine-hair twisted slowly around her shoulders. "And she will not stop."

The words echoed outward.

"She seeks to root herself here. To build her own nest; to prey upon your people."

Lyda's father made a broken sound in his throat before going silent again, silent sobs shaking his shoulders.

"Once the hunger takes hold, there is no release," the changeling leader said, her tone neither sympathetic nor cruel, merely factual. "She will need to be purified by fire."

Blaidd's voice was low and dangerous. "She is a child."

"Yes, Isolde's daughter. She is also a creature who should have died with Isolde but didn't. She has a little of us within her."

Fae's hand found Blaidd's instinctively.

"But understand this," the leader added. "We will not require your essence for another thousand years. If you promise to give her to us for five years, she will nourish us with her blood. Give us what we need."

The words struck like a blow.

Blaidd stepped forward, rage barely contained. "She is only a child—"

"A child who chose the wrong path. Her mistakes ended in the death of her brother. This is her atonement. She will spend the next five years tending to us," the leader continued, unmoved. "And then we shall free her of servitude. Or we will find another..."

Five years.

Fae's breath left her lungs.

"Servitude?" Blaidd growled.

"She will water the roots," the leader said calmly. "She will sing to the saplings. She will tend what must be tended. She will live. Make up your mind, former alpha. She won't have a life to bargain with if you wait too long."

"And you expect us to just accept this?" Blaidd demanded.

The changeling leader's gaze shifted to him, ancient and depthless. "You came seeking the truth," she said. "We have given it. But we have the hive to protect. Or the forest will die, and with it, so will you. Everything has a price. Choose."

Chapter 46

He was not a strong alpha-born in that moment.

He was a man cornered by impossible choices.

The clearing beneath the Great Oak had gone unnaturally still, even the leaves seemed afraid to rustle.

The changeling leader's vine-hair stirred faintly as she regarded them.

The changeling leader's vine-hair stirred faintly as she regarded them. "You wish to understand why your people suffer," she said, her voice resonating. "Then listen."

Blaidd nodded.

"It is a story of a young witch of inordinate power," the changeling began, her tone neither sympathetic nor cruel. "She was born to two purebreds, born for greatness, they said. Even as a child, her intelligence and skill far exceeded that of the elders. But once she turned sixteen, the high priestess drew her life chart. She foresaw that she would be the end of them."

Her dark eyes deepened. "But they made a mistake… They did not end her."