A Kingdom of Bloodshed

*¬*Chapter Thirty Five*¬*

Quiet horror fills my thoughts. The Blood Crown just turned to dust at my fingertips. How is that possible? How did that happen? We never managed to switch the pendant. I had the real one this whole time. We talked about it, started to make the preparations and then everything went sideways. I don't get it... how? The Crown spoke to me. I FELT it's power. It was real, so I don't understand what happened to it. One minute it was solid the next it's a pile of sand by my fingers.

Augustus is going to be angry. Why is that what I'm worried about? Xavier regards Augustus smirks at him and then bows.

I don't understand, what happened? Did the power exchange happen? Why is he still here? I thought the whole purpose of this was to raise him from the dead, collect his power and then send him back.

What am I missing? Laughter ripples through the room. Dark, ancient laughter that sends shivers through my skin and deep into my bones. Tossing a glance at the shadows in the corner of the room, I see that Curseclaw has taken on a human shape and he's laughing. Clapping his hands together slowly as he strides towards Augustus and Xavier.

"Well done, what a show of power. Real convincing for a moment, sadly you failed. What a shame."

"What do you mean I failed? It worked. I have the power. I control all." Augustus whirls to face Curseclaw, his eyes blazing with hate. Xavier rises, his face hard and a wicked smirk on his face. "No prince, you didn't. You're smart but not that smart. You cannot claim my power, you cannot just win it over that easily. It must be earned."

Augustus looks ready to explode. "What?!" I can't help the soft laughter that slips from my lips. All eyes snapping to me. "Why are you laughing Althea? You're as good as dead you know. You're useless to me now."

I blink, rising slowly to my feet as my body wobbles with new gaining strength, "I'm laughing because this time, I had no part in foiling your plan. You did it all on your own."

"You look like her." Xavier's voice is soft, tender yet also filled with old malice and hatred. I blink, "Yes I figured that out ages ago." I don't mean to snap but I'm tired and hungry and want to go home. I'm tired of this madness. Of the insanity.

Augustus begins to step towards me when he freezes, "What is that?"

"What is what, sir?" Reese asks. "That." He points to the small pile of dust on the floor by my feet. "What is that?"

"That is-was the Blood Crown." There's silence. Such pregnant silence that it makes me itch. "Oh that's brilliant. The crown was fake. It had to have been otherwise why would it have crumbled like that?"

Curseclaw's voice slithers along the room, filling the large spaces of tension. Almost like he wants Augustus to burst so he's poking at him with that comment.

"Fake? It can't be fake because Xavier is here and I have exchanged powers with him. The deal is done. It must have just broken from the amount of magic used."

But even I don't believe that. I know what the Crown felt like, how much magic it held. I know that it could sustain an event such as this, which is why it makes no sense to me. How did it crumble?

Unless... unless it was the fake one. Unless Kaz switched it on me when I was sleeping, the one moment of reprieve we had and did it then. That is the only logical thought in my mind right now. That he has the real one and I had the fake one but didn't know. To keep me safe and the true Crown's wellbeing secret.

"I don't think that fancy show of light did anything Augustus. You got tricked once again." Curseclaw's voice slithers through the silence of the room. Then he pads over towards where Xavier's figure is standing, a giant smirk on his face, and swipes at the image. It too, crumples and shatters at the movement. Leaving nothing but a pile of dust at his feet.