Chapter 64
Iwas surprised by how much ground we covered, especially with my slow pacing and unhealthy running. Marcus offered to carry me multiple times. Each time I’d refused. I could do it—I had to. He’d given up asking by the sixth time I’d fallen behind and simply thrown me over his shoulder, despite my anger and shouting. He did not care and just carried on running, which was incredibly uncomfortable and painful.
“We will stay here for a few minutes, have a drink and then we must keep going.”
Marcus set me down on a large rock in the denseness of the forest surrounding the castle. Sitting there, I could hear in the distance the beautiful sound of the ocean waves. A shudder went through me.
I’d tried to kill myself only days ago and now, I was fighting to live. Fighting for those around me.
Sipping from the bottle Marcus handed me, I watched the two men. Marcus and Karim talked in hush tones, and judging from the way Karim moved his arms and shouted louder, something was wrong.
“We cannot head back, Karim! We must take the princess to the Shadow King. He will know what to do.”
“And what of my sister? I can hear her screaming,” he shouted. Karim looked at me as if I were to blame. Which most likely I was in his eyes.
“She is begging for me to save her.” Karim broke as he spoke and a tear escaped from his eye.
They were hurting Panya. Because of me. Possibly to draw us out, to hurt Karim for disobeying and betraying them. I hoped Norok wasn’t playing into this as well. Marcus only explained in the smallest of details. My rescue was part of Norok’s plan. Even if it was, I no longer trusted my brother.
“What are they doing to her?” I exclaimed.
“They are torturing her in the worst possible way a woman can be tortured.”
My breath caught as shock and anger ran through me in waves. I knew what he meant as did Marcus. If Norok stood around and let that happen, he was no better than Dorian. Nicholas would see to it he was put down as well.
I prayed to the Goddess Norok was back at the camp with his soldiers, preparing and none the wiser to what our sadistic uncle was doing to the poor, innocent girl.
“Take me back. I can’t allow someone to go through that when this is all my fault. Everything that has happened is because of me.”
“Don’t be stupid, Ornella.” Marcus addressed me, using my first name for the first time ever. “Dorian will kill you as soon as he’s done with you.”
“Then let him, if it means Panya is safe.”
Marcus rolled his eyes at me and mockingly laughed. But before he could start talking again, Karim cleared the space between us. Wrapping his arm around my waist Karim stood behind me, using me as a shield. His hand lit up next to my face and panic filled the air. Marcus was quick to draw his sword and hold it out between us.
“I will destroy you both if we don’t go back,” he shouted.
“Not happening, Karim. We have a plan!”
“Can we all just calm down, please,” I said, sickeningly fearful for my life.
“I will go with you, Karim, but Marcus is to be left unharmed. We all are to go in one piece. Please.”
I sighed deeply. It all seemed so pointless. The rescue and then running away to be pulled back right where we started. To be trapped, tricked into helping Dorian, no matter who got hurt, he would always try and find a way to come out on top.
“No, Ornella, we can save Panya! You know as well as I do, Karim, they will be at the castle, knowing that’s where we are also headed. We can trap them with the Shadow King”s help.”
The tension in the air was thick and tight enough it could snap. I understood why Karim was acting this way. I’d have been the same if it were Talia who needed my help. I’d sacrifice the entire world if it meant keeping her and my loved ones safe.
“I can’t leave her,” Karim muttered as he pushed his hand closer to my face.
“Please, Karim, we have been friends for too long for this to end this way. Ornella is the key to stopping all of this. Please, let her go so we can finish this once and for all.”
Marcus lowered his sword and sheathed it, before getting down on his knees to beg. Beg for my life. The guard I always thought as grumpy, annoying, and a pain in my backside was begging to save me. My eyes widened at the realisation. He’d been my guard since I was a child, but did he know of what Dorian did during the night when everyone slept? Kathlyn knew, so did that mean Marcus also did?
“Do you know what Dorian did to me?” I asked him directly.
He didn’t flinch at my question. His brows knit in confusion.
“Did you know when you would guard my door at night, he would somehow make his way into my bedroom and do unspeakable, horrible things to me?”
Karim loosened his grip as my words sank into him. Marcus stared up at me with a look of horror on his face then lowered his eyes, in shame.
“I found out after you left. Your lady’s maid, Kathlyn, told myself and a few of the other servants who only served you. She also wished to tell your father, but then she was sent away to get you back.”
“Who sent her to find me, Marcus?”
I never thought to ask Kathlyn or Hector who sent them. I had assumed it was my father, but from Marcus’s words, it didn’t seem likely. My heart raced in my ears as Karim finally released his grip and dropped his hand, stepping away I heard him suck in a cry. A sob for his sister and my past.
“Who sent them?” Kneeling down in front of Marcus, I gently lifted up his face only to see shame clouded his eyes.
“I didn’t protect you, princess, when I should have. It is my sworn duty to serve and protect you.”
“You are doing that right now, Marcus, but please tell me. Who sent them?”
“The queen sent them. With that bitch of a whore,” he spat as he mentioned Nora, clearly there was some very bad blood there.
“Your mother knew. She knew of what her brother did, and she still did nothing.”
Heaving in a breath of cold air, the world came crashing down around me. It felt almost as if the floor below me disappeared entirely. All the noises suddenly went muffled. My chest hurt, I couldn”t breathe, and my vision darkened around the edges. Marcus’s large arms wrapped around me tightly as I tried to breathe, desperately trying to make sense of what he’d just told me.
Mother.
My mother.
She knew.
She’d known all along what Dorian did to me.
She allowed it to happen.
I wanted to tear out my very heart from my chest, the pain so intense. I wanted to rip off my own skin, for it was tainted, touched by someone dark and disgusting.
“I’m sorry, your highness. I am so sorry.”
This large, giant of a guard—my friend—hugged me close into his chest. The man I deemed annoying and always wanted to be away from, was protecting me. He surrounded me in a consuming, comforting hug one would give their child as I sobbed.
“We do not have time for this!” Karim shouted as the sound of a horn echoed in the distance.
Marcus’s arms shot off me as he stood up quickly pulling out his sword. His eyes darted every which way. Karim’s hands lit up with a red light as his fingertips snapped against the air.
“DID YOU TELL THEM WHERE WE WERE?” Marcus accused Karim.
Grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt and lifting him up off his feet. They had a stand-off for a few seconds before the horn blew louder. This time closer.
“I did no such thing! I don’t know what that is!”
Marcus dropped Karim to his feet, before lifting me up forcefully by my sleeve and shoved a dagger into my hand. Our eyes met for a second and I knew what he was trying to say. This was it. I had to fight my way out if I were to get to the castle on time. They would give me as much time as they could.
I couldn’t break now, I needed to fight.
All that training by Nicholas, Vanessa, and Nora that I was forced to learn, it would be time to put it to use.. If only I could keep my nerves from destroying me and get myself out of here safely.
Sounds of marching and the beating of drums followed the horn in the short distance within the tree line we’d sheltered under. There stepping through were a mixture of reds, blacks, and bright golds. A Fae army was marching towards us, one I’d never seen before.
Holding up my dagger before myself, Karim and Marcus stepped in front of me. The sound of hooves stomping through the dirt and grass raced towards us as around twenty soldiers on horseback surrounded us within seconds.
Each holding their swords towards us. Their armour was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It glittered and shined in the morning sunlight, polished beautifully. Under each helmet were the eyes of a distant Fae race, one I’d only read about during lessons.
“The riders of Nadrolan,” I said in surprise.
Marcus and Karim looked back at me then quickly at the soldiers that enclosed around us. As a few parted the way, in rode another with a decorated helmet, atop of it looked like white or light blonde horse”s hair. Etched in silver was the crest of Nadrolan, a dragon surrounded by fire and a dove sweeping through the sky.
“I hear my cousin is in trouble. No, thanks to you.”
As the soldier lifted off their helmet, it revealed a woman with sharp blue eyes and an even sharper tongue. She threw her helmet to the soldier on her right and dismounted her horse in one quick motion.
Each sword rose towards us, to protect their leader. She circled around us, eyeing us up and down. Karim’s hands lit up, ready to use his magic if needed.
“You must be the wife I heard about. Quite annoying that I wasn’t invited to the wedding,” The leader spoke again, with a cunning sense of sarcasm under her voice. “I am Genu, Empress of Nadrolan and I am here to give you and my dim-witted cousin some help.”
A sigh of relief escaped my lips as my body relaxed suddenly. She wasn’t an enemy or someone on Dorian’s side. She was here for us, which meant Nicholas would have sent for her to help us. It also meant he thought we’d need help.
“Most of my men have already taken control of the border. I am, however, under orders not to harm your brother, the crowned prince.”
“And my sister Talia, please.”
She eyed me again, closer this time. Marcus and Karim lowered their swords as I placed my hands on either of their shoulders.
Her armour was stitched so close to her body it looked almost as if it were skin. Her skin was pale and beautiful, porcelain even. She reminded me of a Chinese doll who knew how to sting.
“General, send word to find the princess’s sister, Talia, and bring her to me. She may have been mixed with the women prisoners.”
“You’ve taken the border?” Marcus asked, his mouth widened with surprise.
“We are the riders of Nadrolan. No land is safe from us when we arrive. Many of the soldiers tried to flee or dropped their weapons in surrender. The crowned prince however, he did attempt to put up a fight, but is now locked away in one of our carriages.”
I didn’t know if I wanted to ask for Norok’s safety or pardon. He’d allowed Dorian to hurt me, even if it was part of the plan or some greater good. I didn’t know if I’d be able to forgive such a thing.
Only time would tell.
“Where shall we escort you, princess?” Empress Genu asked, her eyes never leaving mine.
“I need to get back to Nicholas. My uncle plans on opening the portal he has underneath the castle, to unleash all sorts of hellish creatures against our world.”
“Well then, we best get you suited and ready for battle.”
She winked at me as Marcus and Karim were ushered away towards the rest of the soldiers that had arrived.
“What about my sister, Panya?” Karim asked. “She’s a mage. We are born of Nadrolan blood. Please, is she safe?”
“My soldiers do not harm women or children. She will be with her royal highness’ sister and the others I imagine.”
A wave of calm rushed over me as Karim seemed to relax, his magic dispensing from his fingers and a small tear escaped his eye. We still had half a day’s walk to get through if we were to beat Dorian in time, who by now knew where I was heading.
“Once we dress you with armour, you will ride at the front with me, and we will head to Nicholas.”
Genu seemed hard around the edges, as if she’d been moulded by a man. She carried her way like a warrior would as she placed her hand on my lower back and moved me towards the rest of her army.