The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 5 by Bella Forrest (book series for 10 year olds .TXT) 📕

had cheated somehow, or forced somebody to give their life. Alex simply couldn’t believe Virgil had enough moral fiber to have won the book on his own merit.

Drawing his focus back to the book, he began to absorb the words on the page in front of him. The steps themselves were relatively brief, only requiring a few items, but the incantation was long. Surprisingly, it was just one sole object on the list that caused his heart to sink the farthest.

The first was the revelation that the counter-spell had to be performed by consuming more than five drops of blood from the king or queen, and the second was the knowledge that the spell had to be done by someone who was wholly ready to meet their fate. Alex wasn’t sure what that meant, but he was beginning to suspect it meant that the spell required voluntary participation. So, he couldn’t be coerced into doing it, no matter how much the royals might want to force him. For a moment, he felt a fleeting sense of joy, as he realized that the royals must not know about that aspect. Elias’s words began to take on more clarity too; the shadow-man had said it was Alex’s battle, nobody else’s.

However, he began to have doubts about the implications where Virgil was concerned as he read on. The spell said that the performer must give an honest sacrifice, without selfish intention, with one hand placed on the book, so that the book may gauge the honesty of the spell-caster. Alex hoped he could manipulate Virgil’s mind into feeling those things, with enough truth to convince the book of good intention and honest sacrifice, but the blood aspect was a huge wrench in the works. He definitely couldn’t fake that.

After all this time trying to evade the upper echelons of royal society, to be told that he now needed their involvement was a real blow to his optimism.

He kept reading, regardless. The incantation covered two whole pages, but there was a rhythmic flow to it. On the back page, where the incantation ended, was another section, written in a box below the spell itself. It told of a loophole, though not in so many words:

Where there are rules, there are always exceptions. Should a Spellbreaker be unable to undertake the task at hand, there is another who will suffice. A mage may take the place of a Spellbreaker sacrifice, should they be of extraordinary power. No simple, everyday mage. The mage must be nearly unique in their potent ability. Failing such a volunteer, the king or queen whose blood is consumed may be used in the completion of this spell, though the sacrifice must be willingly intended, just as the Spellbreaker’s should be. If an apology were to be made, with the price of their own life paid, then the powers released would be drawn into the earth again, all ties mended, all lost lives paid for in sorrow.

Alex knew he had little chance of making Julius take on the mantle of martyr, not with what he had learned of the king, and seen with his own eyes. Venus, however, remained something of a mystery, though he was pretty sure she’d have the same reaction as her husband, if the option were put before her. He didn’t think one disastrous affair with a Spellbreaker would be enough to make her change her mind, though the more he dwelled on her, the more he wondered what she would make of him, given his origins.

She had loved his ancestor. Did that bind them together, in some strange way?

If it did, he still had zero hope that she would step in and voluntarily take the task of the counter-spell upon her shoulders.

No, it’s either you or me, Virgil.

Before he could even think of the Head, however, he had to come up with a way of getting the blood. In the spell, it said he needed the blood of the king or queen, but Alex didn’t even know where they lived. He would have to bring Julius or Venus to him, somehow.

His mind raced with possibilities, settling on Venus as the proposed target. Julius was too volatile and too unpredictable, and Alex knew he’d never get close enough to the king to extract any blood. He was, however, more optimistic about the queen; so far he hadn’t heard any fearsome tales about her. Alex would just need to get close to her, perhaps visit her as she slept and take some blood without her even knowing.

How hard can it be to get five drops? he thought as the ideas rolled in.

If he could get her to come to Falleaf House, he was positive he could retrieve the blood, one way or another. There were endless methods he could utilize, but it meant enlisting Hadrian’s help. The kind royal was scared of his own shadow, and visibly quaked at any mention of Julius, or any other royal for that matter. Alex didn’t know where to begin when it came to convincing Hadrian that it’d be a good idea to invite Venus down to Falleaf House. Elias had been right about Hadrian’s pacifism, but it was so much more than that—it wasn’t pacifism, but an all-out refusal to face conflict of any sort. This was going to take some real effort, and all the charm Alex had at his disposal. He knew it might even take a threat or two, if pushed.

With his mind brimming, he walked toward the door of the chamber and peered out, but the dining table was empty. The others had undoubtedly gone to bed too, after the strain of an arduous, sorrowful day.

For a moment, he pondered going in search of Hadrian, to start convincing him right now, but thought better of it. It didn’t seem polite to steal through someone’s home and disrupt them in their personal chambers, just to ask a favor that they would no doubt have nightmares over. It would have