CHAPTER 171: THE MASTERMIND

Draegon

There was a knock on the door.

Sharp. Urgent.

"Enter," I said, already sensing something wasn’t right.

The door swung open, and in walked Drakkar and Ariston—both of them soaked through to the bone, clothes clinging to their frames, boots trailing rain and mud over the polished floor. But it wasn’t the water that froze me.

It was the blood.

Ariston looked like he’d been in a bad fight. His clothes were a mess, his shoulder was slumped unnaturally, and bruises were blooming already along his jaw and temple. His face was pale—too pale—and streaked with rain and blood alike.

But what bothered me was what wasn’t there.

I took one step forward, voice already taut.

"Where is Aelin?"

Drakkar raised his hands in a slow, calming gesture. "Draegon, listen—"

"Where. Is. She," I growled, louder this time, stepping toward Ariston, rage uncoiling like a beast from my chest. My heart was already hammering, breath shallow, hands curling into fists.

Drakkar moved, blocking my path.

His eyes met mine, steady, trying to keep me grounded. "We lost her."

The words struck like lightning—hot and sharp and entirely unreal.

I stared at him.

Then at Ariston, battered and silent, his eyes cast down in shame.

And then the rage hit.

It tore through me like fire, hotter than anything I’d felt in years, burning up every thought of logic or calm. I pushed past Drakkar, pacing toward the window and back, again and again, the air stifling in my lungs.

"Lost her? Lost her?!" I looked at him in disbelief, "She was right there with you!" I shouted, turning on them again. "You were supposed to protect her! That was your one fucking job!"

Ariston didn’t lift his head and that seemed to get on my nerves even more. I stormed towards him, ready to give his already battered body another beating for failing to do his duty

But as I stepped closer, Drakkar blocked my path, his body completely covering Ariston’s, "Don’t," He said

"Why not?" I growled at him

"We don’t have time for this," He tried to reason with logic, but I knew he was protecting his human, "We have to find Aelin." He gulped, I could sense he was nervous, "The guy who took him is an abyss worshipper."

"What?"

My voice was shaking with fury. I couldn’t breathe properly. Couldn’t think.

All I could see was her face, her golden hair, her smile that morning when I gave her that hair ornament. All I could hear was the storm outside. The silence since.

I clenched my jaw hard enough to hurt and turned sharply toward the door.

"GUARDS!" I bellowed, the magic in my voice making the walls tremble. "I want every patrol on alert! Scour the woods, the cliffs, the valleys—EVERYWHERE. The Queen is missing. I want her found before the next damn strike of thunder."

The guards outside scattered like wind-tossed leaves, "I want every single soldier deployed." I glared at Drakkar, "RIGHT. NOW"

"On it," He answered and turned to leave, grabbing a broken human guard with him on his way out

I looked out the window

SHIT!!!

***

Aelin

The first thing I felt was the breeze—cool and fragrant, brushing softly over my skin like fingers too kind for the circumstances. I blinked my eyes open, groggy, breath shallow. Above me, a high wooden ceiling arched like the ribs of some great, ancient creature. Sunlight streamed in from the sides, warm and golden, and the scent of pine, herbs, and fresh mountain air was so strong it almost overwhelmed my returning sense of panic.

My hands.

Roped.

I sat up slowly, feeling the faint burn of rough hemp against my wrists, tied just tight enough to keep me from slipping free too easily. But nothing else was bound. No shackles. No cells. Just...a long wooden bench, carved and sanded smooth, sitting in the center of a raised platform like some kind of ceremonial offering.

Then it hit me.

Rael.

He knocked me out. He took me.

He kidnapped me.

Panic threatened to rise—but I bit it down. Breathing steady. Assess. Survive.

I stood carefully, scanning my surroundings.

The room—if I could even call it that—was more like a grand open hall suspended in the air. Made entirely of smooth, dark wood—cedar, maybe, or something older. Polished floors gleamed under shafts of light. The walls were barely walls at all—long, vertical beams spaced apart with flowing fabrics swaying lazily in the wind, allowing air and light to pass freely. There were no doors. No locks. Just open frames, staircases winding around tree-trunk pillars, and narrow bridges leading off into other parts of the mansion.

It was...breathtaking.

And wrong.

How could a place so beautiful belong to someone like him? If it did belong to Rael that is.

The ceiling curved high above like the inside of a ship, lined with wooden ribs and support beams lashed together with thick vines, and woven tapestries hung from it—faded and old, their symbols unrecognizable but graceful. Plants were allowed to grow naturally through the floorboards, creeping moss in the corners, flowering vines twining up through slats and hanging down like jungle lace.

Everything about this place whispered of peace.

Everything except the rope around my wrists.

Behind me, the open window frame drew me like a siren. I turned to it, stepping onto the smooth wooden slats, and leaned toward the view.

We were high. Too high.

The mansion was built on a cliffside—maybe the very peak of a mountain. Endless forests sprawled far below, the clouds so close I could have reached out and brushed their bellies with my fingers.

The wind shifted against my cheeks as I stood at the open window, gazing out at the endless sea of mountains beneath a sky far too peaceful for the storm inside me. The place felt unreal—wooden pillars carved with whorls and ancient symbols, open walls instead of rooms, beams that let the sun pour in, air sweet with pine and mountain bloom.

It was beautiful. It made no sense.

I blinked slowly, trying to piece together what had happened, why I was here, and then—

Footsteps.

I turned around, expecting Rael, my body tensing for a fight, for mockery, for anything from that snake.

But it wasn’t Rael.

My breath caught as I saw the person that came into view.

!!!

I stared. No—gawked.

The man standing there, dressed in royal silver and forest blue, hair swept back, a sword I recognized too well at his hip... it was someone all too familiar.

Reagan.

My brother.

The crown prince of Havenmoore.

"...What the hell," I whispered, "Why are you here?"

He smiled.

"Oh, don’t look so surprised," he said, voice too casual as he stepped inside, his boots echoing against polished wooden floors. "You’re smarter than that, Aelin. You know why I’m here."

I stared at him in horror, a thousand memories slamming into me at once. The cruelty. The silence. The way he and Raya treated me like a ghost in my own home. But this? This was beyond anything I could’ve imagined.

"You—" I breathed. "You’re behind this?"

He gave a scoff, wandering to a nearby pillar and leaning against it like this was his personal retreat and I wasn’t tied up like some offering.

"Behind what?" He asked

"Why did you kidnap me?" I asked as I looked around, "What are you-" Then paused.

A frown appeared on my face, and I slowly looked back at Reagen

"Why did you kidnap me?" I asked again, this time softer but more concerned.

My heart began to pound.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong

But he only smirked

"It’s very simple. Now that it was confirmed you could fight the abyss, I had to do something about it."

"What?" My chest tightened and my heartbeat kept getting louder.

"To the abyss, you’re the strongest opponent there is." I narrowed my eyes at him, "Which means, if I sacrifice you to open a gate, I’ll be able to open the biggest gate ever." He chuckled

But I couldn’t grasp it right away

Or maybe I just didn’t want to.

"You’ve been opening gates...?" I shook my head, "Why?" My frown deepened, "There was never any indication like that from you... Why would you-" I couldn’t grasp it, "You? But Ruoxy and Alishay- And you?"

"Well," He said, "I could say the same thing about you," He let out a playful sigh, "When I got the report from Ruoxy about you having a special power, I didn’t believe it." He smirked, "I gave her more black milk and told her to confirm it since she had a good sense for these things. She seemed to have grasped something about you before your power even awoke but instead of confirming anything she died." He rolled his eyes, "Useless demon."

I could hear my heart pounding in my chest.

So Ruoxy was under his command? He was the one who sent her our way when we were coming back to the capital after meeting him...

"But Father confirmed it. That you—the worthless brat—could fight the abyss. I didn’t believe it. Not at first. It just didn’t make any sense for it to be you. You’re trash."

"..."

He laughed.

"But when I did... I was relieved. Because it means I know exactly what to do with you. You are easy to deal with. Offering you to the abyss will be easy too and then the abyss will give back in greater value," He opened up his arms, "More black milk, more power. Like it had been for years."

My stomach dropped. "You... you caused all this? The gates opening? The black milk? The madness—those people losing their minds?" I gulped, "You were the mastermind behind this?"

"Yea," He shrugged, like it was nothing. "So what if I did?"

"You’ve been killing-" I paused, "No, I don’t even know what to say about those poor people who drank the milk, and all those people you killed to open the gate, how can you be so cruel?" I looked at him straight in the eyes, "You had people under you give false promises to those poor people, just to exploit them?"

He seemed un-amused, "The people are pawns. Only a chosen few can truly wield the abyss’s power. If you give a thousand people the same power milk, only one will be able to endure and evolve, the rest will crumble under the great power and lose their minds." My heart dropped at his words, "The abyss seems to choose who can wield its power." He pointed at himself with his thumb, "And it chose me."

This is bad

This is really bad.

I looked around to look for an escape.

"You can’t run, Aelin," I shot my head at him, "There is nowhere to run to." He gestured for his underlings to come in, "You will be sent straight to the ritual site." Two dark figures, dressed like ninjas came and grabbed me, "Where you will be tortured till you lose your sense of self, along with a few hundred others and then we’ll open the gate."

!!!

The guards began to drag me away

"Wait," I tried to resist but the two of them were strong, "Reagen!" I shot my head back at him as I was being dragged away

"Bye-bye," He waved at me, "I always wanted to get rid of you." He smiled as he brought his hand down, "Finally, the day has come."

Volume 2- End

Unfortunately, the book’s situation didn’t change much. I had plans to make this book longer but since it didn’t perform that good and has no exposure I’ll finish the final volume fast.

Oh and don’t worry, I’ll wrap it up for you all nicely. I hope you all read till the end and leave positive comments and reviews for me.

Thank you