CHAPTER 115: A DISCOVERY OF SNOWBLOODS

• DREVON •

I stood before the long table where the withered ancient texts were laid out. I spent the whole day re-inking the ghostly letters. Most of the letters had vanished, and the only way we could tell their contents was by re-inking the entire thing.

We were careful not to make any mistakes. I still couldn’t believe we got our hands on this, it has been lost for centuries or more. These ancient texts not only had the answers I needed, but also about what our tribe once was before we created a new Lycan Order.

I imagined re-inking this would take days, but thanks to Garrick, Lucan, and Ravyn, we were done.

"So what are we doing here? Aside from spending the entire time lettering?" Lucan asked, stretching as if his back had too much to bear when it was nothing of the sort.

None of us was tired, and it was simply more of a side activity for all of us, but Lucan likes to be dramatic.

"Lucan, Garrick..." I began dragging out my chair to sit. "What I’m about to say to you both will determine the future of the lady you serve."

"Your Grace?" A look of worry crossed Garrick’s face.

"Did something happen?" Lucan asked in alarm.

I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips at their reaction. She may just be a human, their monarch married, but they were beginning to respect her.

"Are you sure, bringing them into this?" Ravyn asked in a defensive tone.

"It’s only a matter of time, Ravyn, because what we’ll uncover here might change everything."

Ravyn sighed before nodding in agreement. I was about to take such a huge risk, and it was clear she didn’t approve, but she understood why I had to.

"Eloise Balthar is a snowblood."

"What are you talking about?" Lucan questioned, amused. "My liege, why would you say such a thing? She’s about as human as any human goes." He scratched the underside of his chin. "That doesn’t sound right, but you understand what I mean. Respectfully."

"Yes, she is human, more so. But there is a side of her that craves blood and...I saw her fangs. That is all I can reveal for now, and I pray that when we go through the ancient text, we can understand why a human has traits of a snowblood."

"That’s impossible," Lucan murmured in shock. "A human, a snowblood? Or a snowblood, a human?"

I pinned him with a look, and he shut his mouth.

"How long?" Garrick questioned. "How long have you known this?"

"More than two months now."

Garrick watched me with a quiet intensity, a moment that took up to a minute. Breaking eye contact, he walked closer to the table. Ravyn and I shared a look, waiting to see an unexpected reaction that would drive us to make drastic decisions, but Garrick simply grabbed a few parchments.

"When re-inking, I stumbled upon some mentions of snowblood, I think it was written by one of the elders in the past, detailed recounts about the study of snowbloods, and more." He stretched his hand to me.

I leaned back on my seat, eyeing him quietly, as much as I was relieved by his desire to help with this, I still needed his clarity. "I still haven’t heard what you have to say. You do know what this is...I do not need to explain myself further, but what I’ve told you is of utmost secrecy and importance. If it leaves this room, I’ll not hesitate to cut you down."

He smiled. "You mentioned that day, when the time comes and I’m forced to ask you why... Do you remember the words you said? I’ll always choose her."

Garrick was the last person I expected to accept this. He was as deeply opposed as any Lycan should be against snowbloods. Our instinct was to eliminate them, but it seemed like that was far from the thought he had for Eloise.

"When you married her, I questioned your decision," he said.

"You never told me that. You were quiet all through the process."

"Yes. You of all people know I was in a disagreement, so I mentally wager she wouldn’t last in the castle nor survive a meeting with the Dowager or anything else thrown her way in a castle filled with Lycans. But she and Talia changed that notion for me."

"And you, Lucan?" I asked without breaking eye contact with Garrick.

"I love Eloise! I mean Your Grace. She’s not like those vicious snowblood, and even if she’s one, she’s nothing like them."

I smiled, taking the parchment from Garrick.

"What are you hoping to find, my liege?" he asked.

"To understand more about Eloise," I replied, going through the parchments, eyes skimming them swiftly.

"Understand? Doesn’t she have the traits of a snowblood?"

"She does... in a way," Ravyn replied. "But we have strong reason to believe it could be something more. Hopefully, our elders from centuries ago will have the answers to the present."

~•~

After burning the midnight oil, after going through several parchments relating to snowblood...at first light, we made our discovery.

"I don’t believe this..." Ravyn said with shaky eyes.

"Is this even possible?" Garrick asked.

"I don’t understand any of this, but this could be wrong, right?" Lucan looked over to me as if I had more answers when I was just questioning everything.

"Eloise is a hybrid," I said, dropping the parchment among the many others. "Part human, part snowblood."

"Does this mean the Archduke is her biological father?" Ravyn reasoned. "I mean, we did conclude he might not be related to her."

"It still doesn’t explain this. Why would the Archduke have a relationship with a snowblood when it’s clear they have tried to lay siege against them?" Garrick questioned.

"The whore Talia spoke of could have been a snowblood; there is a possibility he might have made up that story," I said. "The best course of action is to hear from the Archduke himself."

"You intend to summon him to Valkanor?"

"He’s my father-in-law. He won’t think too much if I summon him. It’d be under the guise of a diplomatic meeting about the progress of our mutual alliance."

"That could work," Lucan said. "It will work, right?"

"If Eloise’s mother wasn’t the whore as mentioned but a snowblood, don’t you think the Archduke might’ve been in cahoots with the snowbloods from the start? And their siege against Beloria for that reason? Maybe the Archduke betrayed them," Ravyn uttered.

"It’s too soon to speculate that far. The answer we seek will be uncovered. If the Archduke truly was in cahoots with the snowbloods, I’ll need to hear it from him."

I peeled my eyes away from the table, back to them. "Find out more information about hybrids, and I need on moonblood’s too... about delayed shifts."

"That could take weeks or more..." Lucan complained.

"Then get working."