Chapter 11

Zevander arrives at Eidolon’s keep on Insidian Ridge carrying an unconscious Rykaia, casts a sleeping spell to quiet her, and orders Vendryck to lock her in and dose her with vivicantem to curb violent withdrawals. He secures a potent vivicantem stone with the castle’s Golvyn, then seeks rest in his chambers.

In the baths, Zevander heats the water with sablefyre and hears a whispered warning, “Death awaits.” He reflects on recent hunts for King Sagaerin and the sixth bloodstone’s lead to Costelwick. Memories of sexual enslavement to the Bellatryx—and the enchanted piercings left as lasting torment—explain his avoidance of intimacy and his barred prospects of marriage as a Letalisz.

A vivid childhood memory surfaces: his mother sends him to feed Branimir in the dungeon, where Branimir, bound to a proliferating brood of spiders, craves raw meat and shares their impulses. Branimir warns Zevander away, then attacks him in a feral rage, triggering the first emergence of Zevander’s scorpion sigil that keeps the spiders at bay.

Back in the present, Zevander studies his black-veined scar, fearing the same madness that consumed Branimir. To break the mounting vision and stave off a potential episode, he slices his thigh with a poisoned dagger, enduring agony until the hallucinations recede. He concludes he must secure the final bloodstone soon—or take drastic measures—before the curse devours him.