Season of Sacrifice (Blood of Azure Book 1) Jonathan Michael (red novels .txt) 📖

that is exactly where he belongs—on the silver screen. Not standing before my tyrant, threatening him.

“Why do you do this, Jaymes?” the Taoiseach asks. I keep quiet, assuming it’s rhetorical. “Yes, I have secrets I withhold from all the realm. Secrets that will only destroy what we have achieved, and that is why they are mine and mine only.” He pauses momentarily, pondering whatever decision he is about to make. “You know there will be consequences for this.”

I find my voice and rise from hiding to step into his chamber. Harris is sitting back in his chair again. “Yes, but did you see him? Did you see his face?”

“Yes, and unfortunately, so did you,” he replies.

“His face changed! He was one man, then another in the blink of an eye. And he—”

“Jaymes, forget what you saw,” the Taoiseach interrupts.

“Taoiseach, sir, he changed into…into you, sir. What does it mean?” I ask genuinely, probably for the first time ever.

“It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Tigershit! I heard what he said. You’re planning a massacre with him. You don’t even care about the people of this realm. You say you withhold your secrets because it will destroy the realm, but you are going to allow this?”

“Your language is offensive! Talk to me with respect, or don’t talk at all.”

“My apologies, Taoiseach, sir.” I pause a moment to gather my calm. “Taoiseach, sir, I’m not concerned about what your secrets are, but I do hope…” I must forget that word, hope. But that is what it is, hope. “I do hope you can make the right choice to defend your realm. And one other thing. I expect, when you see fit, you will give me the answers I desire. Are you the man who murdered my parents or was it the man I just saw flee from this sundeck?”

“Jaymes, just as he is doing, you meddle with what you don’t understand. Hope is not something I believe in. When I was young like you, maybe, but not anymore. I have long outgrown it. Hope is something only the weak possess and the fearful desire. Hope is meaningless to me. I make choices and with those choices come the consequences I tolerate. You see me as the evil tyrant lord who is brutal and unwavering, but that is not me. I make hard choices to keep the calamity at bay. And yes, some indirectly involve malicious acts—murder, rape, sabotage, and the list continues—but none of them have malicious intent.” Harris rises from his desk and edges closer to me. He finds a casual seat on the front of his desk before getting too close.

I exhale, unaware I was so tense.

“Those malicious acts,” Harris continues, “are mere vassals and byproducts of a much larger, grander picture. The men and women of our world have great power at their fingertips, and they must know there is an even greater power above them to keep them in line. Susy has the attention of many, and somehow, I didn’t ask for it, but I became that greater power for the rest. And so, because of the hope of others that have brought me to this point, I have accepted my duty, and I am managing it as I see fit. I have been around for a long time, Jaymes, and I have knowledge you are not worthy of. I carry with me the knowledge I expected you would be worthy of someday, but your lack of patience and immature nature continue to control you. I tolerated the espionage up to this point because it was harmless, but this time…” Harris slams his fist on his desk and shakes his head with disappointment. I stagger backward. “This time will be your undoing. Blind ambition can be a good thing, you know, if you have loyalty and trust in your authorities. I thought you were on the verge of overcoming your natural inability to trust, but today you prove my judgment wrong.”

Harris rises and steps closer. The desire to run prods at me, but I hold my ground. Ellia didn’t train me to run from my fears. She trained me to face them head-on. I inhale and puff up my chest as he moves closer. He stops when within an arm’s reach.

“You know, Jaymes, there is something about you that raises my tolerance to another level. And because of that I will give you until dawn to remove yourself from my manor and my city. If we ever meet again, don’t expect the same mercy. I ought to end your life now with the knowledge you have. But you have caught me in a moment of weakness. Now, get out of my sight.”

His arm snaps up, pointing to his patio. I flinch the slightest and don’t hesitate to follow orders.

When I step outside, I release the breath I’ve been holding. Banished? This couldn’t be. I can’t be banished. I’m not going back into hiding. I’ve been there for too long. It’s not a life worth living. I look over my shoulder. Only the whites of his eyes are visible in his dark chamber. They watch me intently.

So, this is how the Taoiseach rules his realm. He sacrifices anyone who gets too close and uncovers too much. But he didn’t kill Carib because he couldn’t. Harris is only a man.

A knife in the heart, then straight to the head for the kill.

Have I lost faith? Am I giving up? Am I failing the inhabitants of Azure? Or is it a blessing I am fleeing? Or maybe this is the epitome of faith. Walking away from my selfish design, sacrificing what I know and facing the unknown.

47 Stone

H e can sense my emotion. Harris knows I am broken, weak, worthless. All I have is my fury. Fury fueled by hatred. Hatred that Master Stormwood outed me for being a Graft,