Princess Of The Skulls - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

The war room had been hastily converted from the castle's old solar, its tall windows now barricaded with iron shutters and protective runes. Maps covered every available surface, marked with red pins indicating the locations of mysterious deaths across both kingdoms. In the past week since Kael's midnight visit, the pattern had become disturbingly clear.
"Seventeen deaths," Captain Thorne reported, his weathered face grim. "All showing the same signs as
Thomas Millwright—no wounds, black eyes, and traces of demonic magic."
I studied the map, noting how the deaths formed a rough circle around our castle. "She's drawing power from multiple sources, building up for something big."
"The question is what," Master Dorian said from his position near the fireplace. "If this Morwyn truly has found a way to tap demonic energy without binding constraints, she could theoretically—"
"Theoretically overthrow the seals entirely," I finished. "Which would release every demon we've spent our lives containing."
Prince Aldric stood at the window, his back rigid with tension, and I could feel through our soul-bond. Since Kael's attack, he'd barely left my side, his protective instincts amplified by the knowledge that someone had entered our supposedly secure stronghold.
You're brooding, I told him silently.
I'm planning, he replied, but I caught the undercurrent of darker emotions he was trying to hide.
What kind of planning?
Instead of answering directly, he turned to address the room. "We need to discuss something that none of you are going to like."
The assembled council—Captain Thorne, Master Dorian, my grandfather Malachar, and the castle's senior mage—all turned to look at him with varying degrees of apprehension.
"If Morwyn can drain power from people to strengthen her abilities," Aldric continued, "and if she's specifically targeting locations around our castle, then she's not just gathering random energy. She's preparing for a direct assault on the binding itself."
"The new moon is in three days," Malachar added quietly. My grandfather had recovered much of his strength, but twenty years of imprisonment had left him gaunt and hollow-eyed. "The demonic influences will be at their strongest then."
"Which gives us three days to find her and stop her," I said. "We know she's somewhere within a day's ride of the castle, probably in one of the abandoned settlements."
"Or," Aldric said, his voice carrying a weight that made everyone in the room go still, "we let her come to us."
The silence that followed was deafening. I felt my own shock mirrored in the faces around the table, but beneath it, I began to understand what he was suggesting.
"You want to use yourself as bait," I said.
"Not myself. Us." Aldric moved from the window to stand beside my chair. "The binding requires both of us to maintain the seals. If Morwyn wants to break it, she has to either kill us both or corrupt us both.
Killing us would be easier, but corruption would give her access to our power."
"Absolutely not," Captain Thorne said immediately. "The risk—"
"The risk of doing nothing is worse," Aldric interrupted. "She's already proven she can strike at us here.
How long before she finds a way to attack when we're not prepared?"
I studied his face, noting the determined set of his jaw and the way his hands had clenched into fists.
Through our bond, I felt his fear—not for himself, but for me, for the kingdoms we'd sworn to protect, for the consequences of failure.
"What exactly are you proposing?" Master Dorian asked carefully.
"We make ourselves vulnerable," Aldric replied. "Publicly. Announce a ceremony to celebrate our binding, invite nobles from both kingdoms, make it look like we're distracted by politics and pageantry."
"A trap," I breathed, beginning to see the shape of his plan.
"A trap with us as the bait," he confirmed. "Morwyn will have to act, and when she does, we'll be ready for her."
My grandfather leaned forward, his necromantic senses probing the magical currents around us. "It could work," he said slowly. "But the danger ."
"The danger is acceptable," I said, surprising myself with the certainty in my voice. "If we're going to face her eventually, better to do it on our terms."
Could you let me know if you are sure? Aldric asked through our bond.
No. But I hope you'll be able to make your decision. And I trust us.
Over the next two hours, we planned what would either be a brilliant tactical victory or a spectacular disaster. The ceremony would take place in the great hall tomorrow evening, ostensibly to formalize our binding in front of both kingdoms' nobility. In reality, it would be a carefully orchestrated trap designed to draw Morwyn into the open.
"The protective wards will be reduced but not eliminated," Master Dorian explained, sketching runes on a piece of parchment. "Enough to make the castle seem vulnerable while maintaining some defenses."
"Guard rotations will be altered to create apparent gaps in security," Captain Thorne added reluctantly.
"But we'll have hidden archers positioned throughout the hall."
"And if she doesn't take the bait?" I asked.
"Then we hunt her down the hard way," Aldric replied. "But I don't think it will come to that. She's been building power for weeks. She won't be able to resist the opportunity."
As the council dispersed to make preparations, I found myself alone with Aldric for the first time since
Kael's attack. The war room felt suddenly intimate, firelight casting dancing shadows on the stone walls.
"There's something else," he said quietly. "Something I didn't want to discuss in front of the others."
I felt a spike of apprehension through our bond. "What?"
"Kael mentioned that Morwyn has found a way to break bindings like ours. If that's true, and if she tries to use that knowledge during the ceremony ."
"We could lose control of the seals," I finished. "The demons would be free, and we'd be powerless to stop them."
"Yes. Which means tomorrow night, we're not just risking our lives. We're risking everything."
I moved closer to him, drawn by the vulnerability I felt beneath his determined facade. "Are you having second thoughts?"
"Every moment of every day," he admitted. "But not about this. About us. About whether I have the right to ask you to share this burden."
I reached up to cup his face in my hands, feeling the slight roughness of stubble against my palms. "You didn't ask. We chose together, remember?"
"I love you," he said, the words coming out like a confession. "Not because of duty or politics or the soul bond. I love you because you're brave enough to gamble everything on a desperate plan. After all, you trust me even when I'm not sure I trust myself."
"I love you too," I replied, and meant it with every fiber of my being. "Whatever happens tomorrow, we face it together."
He kissed me then, soft and desperate and full of all the things we might not have the chance to say.
Through our bond, I felt his determination solidifying, his fear transforming into resolve.
Together, he agreed silently.
But as we held each other in the flickering firelight, I couldn't shake the feeling that tomorrow would change everything—and not necessarily for the better. The demonic whispers in my mind seemed louder than usual, more insistent, as if they sensed opportunity in our desperate gamble.
Soon, they seemed to whisper. Soon, you will understand that power shared is power weakened.
I pushed the voices away and focused on Aldric's heartbeat, steady and strong against my ear. Whatever tomorrow brought, we would face it as we had everything else—united in purpose and bound by something stronger than magic.
Even if that something might not be enough to save us.