Chapter 6
Chapter Six
BELLAMY
I vaguely heard the sounds of splashing water, boots stomping in the marshy sand as I stared down at Soloman helplessly. All the other swans crowded around, peering at him and dipping their heads as if they knew he was in trouble.
Maybe they did. I’d always wondered how much of themselves they retained in these swan forms. If they knew that I was their sister. If they knew that they’d been cursed. If they knew I was doing everything I could to save them and bring them back.
“Here, let me help,” a voice said.
I looked up to see the shorter woman staring at me. Freckles dotted her skin, her red hair pulled back into a bun, her round face scrunched in concern as she planted her hands on her wide hips.
Driscoll stood behind her, running a hand over his short curly black hair. “She’s good with wounds,” he said, nodding at the woman. “Being a queen’s guard and all, she has experience treating them.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, not able to believe it had come to this. That I had to accept help from these strangers. Well, Driscoll wasn’t exactly a stranger. We’d met shortly before I escaped from the Wilds. I’d actually even liked him a little. I liked that he was honest, said exactly what was on his mind. What I didn’t like was that he’d chased me here, that he was trying to stop me. I looked down at my satchel and pulled it closer when I realized he was staring at it.
Then I turned my attention back to Soloman and gently laid him in the woman’s lap.
“I’m Leoni,” she said, reaching into her own satchel and pulling out some salves and bandages.
I nodded, signing my name, even though I doubted she’d understand.
“Bellamy,” she repeated.
My eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“I learned sign language in school.” She unrolled the bandage.
Driscoll huffed. “Seriously? Do you just have to know everything? It’s kind of annoying.”
Leoni unscrewed a small jar and spread the salve over Soloman’s wound. “You’re just jealous that I know how to read.”
“I know how to read, thank you very much.” He made a face at her. “I just prefer doing other things.”
“Like Aron?” Leoni asked, not looking up.
Driscoll sputtered.
Aron. My heart hurt just hearing the name. He was my closest friend. Well, not anymore. I couldn’t think about that right now.
“That was just a fling,” Driscoll said.
Aron and Driscoll had bonded when Driscoll came to the Wilds. Really bonded. And it made me happy for Aron. He didn’t often open up to others, had never shown any interest in relationships in all the time we’d been trapped together in the Wilds. But then Driscoll appeared and got him to open up in a way I’d never seen before. Aron was smitten. My tall, muscled, stoic friend. Smitten. It had been amazing to see.
“Where is Aron?” I signed.
Leoni looked up at Driscoll. “She wants to know where your lover boy is.”
Driscoll scowled at me. “He’s safe, no thanks to you and your antics. Did you know he was the heir to the frost throne?”
I had. I also knew he had no interest in ruling. He didn’t think he was worthy of the crown, thought he was better off staying trapped in the Wilds, staying by my side.
I nodded slowly.
“Well, it turns out we kind of killed the frost queen and now Aron is trying to ascend to the throne and claim his rightful position.” Driscoll waved his hand in the air. “It’s kind of a mess.”
Oh, spirits below. Aron as king of the frost court? I wished I could be there for him. To help him. He must feel so stressed right now. Aron would have been an amazing leader, and I’d told him so many times. But he never believed me. I wondered what changed. I studied Driscoll with a growing feeling that I knew exactly what had changed.
The swans ruffled their feathers, a few of them shuffling back and forth as they kept staring at Soloman, eyes darting to Leoni as she wrapped a bandage around him.
His chest rose in short, quick bursts, breathing rattled. “It’s not working.”
I hoped Leoni would tell me this was normal, that it would take time for the salve to heal the wound. But she just scrunched her brows together and pursed her lips. “I can only do so much,” she said softly.
No. No. She couldn’t be saying what I thought she was saying.
Driscoll swallowed thickly. I’d told him the truth. He knew these were my brothers. He knew I couldn’t lose one of them. Especially not when I was so close to finally saving them.
Something glinted in the corner of my eye. I slowly turned my head to see a bottle laying on the edge of the thick jungle tree line. A bottle filled with a purple liquid. I gasped. I’d heard of these objects. Magical items that appeared every time a shadow elemental ripped someone’s shadow from their body. The violence of the act created these objects that filled the shadow court. The items tended to appear right when you needed them.
Powerful items that could produce powerful magic. For a price. Magic always came with a cost. I looked at Soloman, laying limp in Leoni’s lap.
The price was worth it. Whatever it was, I’d pay it. I scrambled to the object as Driscoll yelled out.
“No.” He grabbed my arm, and I whirled, glaring at him. “You can’t use that.” He pointed to the bottle laying on its side. “You know that’s dark magic. If you use it to save your brother, there will be a cost. And you don’t even know what it is.”
I shook my arm loose. He was right, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was saving Soloman.
“Don’t do this, Bellamy. Would your brother really want this? What about your father? You know he’s alive. We saw him in the Wilds after you left.”
I ignored him. The last person I wanted to think about right now was my father. Not when this was his fault. All his fault.
Tears pricked my eyes as I stared at Soloman.
As for my brother, I didn’t know what he’d want because I hadn’t seen him in over fifty years. Fifty years since he’d been cursed and trapped as a swan. And I’d finally escaped, finally gotten us where we needed to be to break the curse. Now I was going to lose him.
My hand hovered over the small glass bottle. No I wouldn’t. I snatched it and shoved past Driscoll. I popped open the cork and gently prodded Soloman’s beak open as I poured the liquid in his mouth, telling the magic what to do.
Save my brother.
Leoni shot Driscoll an unsure look, but I didn’t care. This was worth it. It would all be worth it. His labored breathing stopped, his chest now rising and falling underneath the feathers in even breaths.
I slowly peeled back the bandage and gasped. His wound was gone, his wing completely healed. I almost cried out in relief but stopped myself. Soloman stood, shaking out his wings and turning his long neck. I threw my arms around him and squeezed him tight.
“Uh, are they supposed to be doing that?”
I looked up as Driscoll pointed to the other swans, who were all flying off—straight into the jungle.