The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 6 by Bella Forrest (books for men to read .TXT) 📕

to blackmail you, Your Royal Highness. Hadrian is a different creature entirely—like chalk and cheese, the pair of you could not be more different if you tried,” Alex replied. “Blackmailing a man like Hadrian is easy. Blackmailing a man like you would not be.”

Julius suddenly sped in Alex’s direction, circling him. “So, is it a ransom you want? Think very carefully about your reply.”

The to-and-fro of Julius was unsettling, with Alex never knowing if the king was going to lunge toward him or drift away. The man was like a shark, stalking its prey, sizing it up before going in for a bite.

“No ransom either, Your Royal Highness. I took your property; I admit to that. I took the queen, without your consent, and for that I am sorry. But I took her for a very good reason,” Alex began, aware that Julius was now behind him, breathing down his neck. “I took her because I needed to broker a deal with you, and I believed her to be a valuable bargaining chip. I needed to get your attention, so we might meet like this. You would not have met with me if I were some nobody who mattered little to you. The truth is, I wanted to matter to you—I had to matter enough that you would agree to this.” Alex gestured between himself and the king.

Julius smiled, puffing out his chest a little. “Well, you have certainly gained my attention, though whether you will keep it remains to be seen,” he remarked, laughing coldly in Alex’s face.

“I wanted to strategize like a king,” Alex ventured. “I wanted to think the way a leader would think. So, I stole Venus from you and took her hostage, because that is what a leader would do. With her in my grasp, I now have something to offer you in return for what I want, where before I didn’t. Are you familiar with Sun Tzu’s The Art of War?” he asked, taking a gamble.

Julius nodded. “I know it well. I have read it many times,” he replied proudly, his eyes glancing at Alex with curiosity.

“Excellent. Then you will be familiar with the quote, ‘If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win numerous battles without jeopardy’?”

Another eager nod. “I know it very well. I can recite much of that book by heart, I have studied it so intently,” Julius replied, though Alex had a feeling the king was embellishing the truth slightly. Still, it was clear Alex had his interest.

“Then you must understand why I did what I did. I had to meet with you, to know you, and know where your weakness lay, so we both might win the battle we seek to fight, without anyone having to die or any war being waged,” Alex pressed on, pausing as Julius flew toward him, raising a hand as if to strike. Alex trembled, watching a swirling orb of magic appear beneath the king’s palm, preparing for it to smash down on his face.

“You think I have a weakness?” the king spat, his spittle flying across Alex’s face.

Alex shook his head. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. Of course you have no weakness—you are the strongest, most powerful man in the magical realms, and undoubtedly beyond,” he said hurriedly, conscious of the heat of the swirling magic on his face. “I simply meant that I had to take something you cared about, to make you care about getting that property back. It was my way of knowing how to get to you, so we could talk—that is all I meant,” he added, hating the fact he was referring to Venus as “property”.

For a moment, Julius kept the burning ball close to Alex’s face. Then he drew it slowly away and wandered toward a bookshelf, his index finger scraping along the spines. “I see. You were strategizing, as you say, using ideas from Sun Tzu’s fine text?”

Alex nodded. “Indeed, Your Royal Highness. That is what I was doing.”

“Very shrewd,” said Julius, evidently impressed. “So, what is it you want to put on the table, in exchange for my wife’s safe return? Though, I think you put too much weight on how much I care for her. If she returns to me tainted in any way whatsoever, any deal we might make is terminated, effective immediately. Is that understood?” he warned, though it was clear in his eyes how much he actually did care for his lost “property”.

“I understand, Your Royal Highness, but I assure you she is being safely kept and treated well,” Alex said. For the briefest instant, he thought he saw a wave of relief pass over the king’s face, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

Storming over to his throne and sinking back down into the plush velvet cushions, Julius waved his hand in Alex’s direction. “Go on then, get on with it. What is it you want? I can’t guarantee I’ll give it to you, or that you will even leave this room alive, but you have intrigued me enough that I will listen to what you have to say,” he said, unsettling Alex even more.

What if it didn’t even matter? What if Julius heard him out, but simply didn’t care about the future of the magical realms, so long as he got to be king of whatever remained? Gulping quietly, he hoped his friends were in place, to help him if things quickly turned sour.

“In essence, Your Royal Highness, I want what you want,” Alex began. “I want to see an end to the Great Evil, and the scourge it has caused upon this land. I have the power and the ability to do that, but in order to succeed, I need your blood. A small amount of it, that is all. In return for doing the spell, or getting my volunteer to do it, in this case, and returning your wife to you unharmed, I would ask only that you promise to