Bonds of the Forsaken: A Reverse Harem Romantasy (Her Forsaken Mates Book 1)

26. Kaiya

Afew moments later, we stepped into warm sunshine and a soft breeze. I paused to take in the tall cliffs towering above us on either side of the winding, dusty path toward town.

It was beautiful in a harsh kind of way.

Mirrim led the way down the path, past dozens of empty doorways carved into the stone. Most were boarded up, the people long gone. Even the streets were strangely empty.

”Where is everyone?” I asked.

”Fixing the wall, at the council meeting, or gone.” Mirrim”s voice was tight, but she kept her smile in place and waved to another girl around her age carrying a bucket the same direction we were going. ”As the dragon population has declined, so has ours. To make matters worse.” Her lips flattened and her brows pinched at the center. ”Many don”t agree with our current leadership and have chosen a life outside these walls. With so few remaining, everyone must pitch in to keep things running — especially when something like a mountain wraith incursion happens.”

Forsaken hells. No wonder Liam was worried. He was the head of the village, so if people were leaving because of leadership issues — that was on him.

A loud caw pulled my gaze to the left. A spindly tree grew from a crack in the rock wall. Perched atop it was a brilliant red revyn with a tall golden plume atop their head.

”There are revyns here?” I hissed.

I hadn”t seen one since Eli had arrived with his familiar in Gleyma.

”There are!” Mirrim said, her face bright with a wide grin. ”That one”s name is Fi.”

”And Riarlo?” I looked around for those familiar blue feathers, red plume, and disapproving golden eyes. ”Is he here?”

”He was.” Jaiel interjected, sharing an uncomfortable look with Mirrim before letting out a displeased sigh. ”But he left around the same time we arrived.”

I inhaled sharply. ”He was that upset? I knew he didn”t like me, but — ”

”Not at all,” Mirrim interrupted with a smile. ”He was happy when you returned. At least according to Liam.”

”Then why leave?”

Jaiel clicked his tongue. ”It started a few months ago. Something about Riarlo changed. He”d always been so rules focused and proper, but according to Liam, he suddenly started acting erratic. He”d just disappear for days and weeks on end, and when Liam confronted him about it, he demanded help finding some girl.”

”Of course Liam refused,” Mirrim said, rolling her eyes. ”And I think that broke them. I assume he went to find her himself.”

My stomach sank. They had always bickered, but this …

”Don”t bonded familiars and their humans stay together, though? There are so many stories about —” I stopped myself. In the past week, it had quickly become obvious just how few of those stories were actually true.

”You”re right,” Mirrim said, motioning for us to follow her down a dusty, narrow alley. ”They usually do. But those two were never normal, and bonds can fray and warp over time. Riarlo washed ashore one day, badly wounded, and my brother agreed to bond him to save the poor creature? Riarlo was the only revyn we”ve ever met who could mind-speak, though. And once he healed, both seemed to regret the bond. It wouldn”t surprise me if the bond is mostly gone by now.”

Gods be damned. Those two were both a mess.

I opened my mouth to ask another question when we turned a corner, emerging into a dusty clearing ending in a giant, red stone wall — or at least what was left of it.

Letting out a slow breath, I dropped Mirrim”s arm.

An airship-sized chunk had been torn out of the towering reddish hued barrier, and dozens of men and women worked in teams to clear the debris strewn across the area. Others carted in red stones to repair the wall.

This was a large portion of the inhabitants? There couldn”t be more than 200 people! And from what I”d seen, the village was at least as big as the shopping district or maybe even Ellesmere in Gleyma. There should be far more people …

Mirrim wasn”t exaggerating at all when she said there weren”t many people left.

Jaiel walked to one particularly large stone and bent down, running a finger along an edge.

”Interesting,” he lifted his finger for my inspection. ”A ghoul-type?”

My stomach lurched, but I nodded. A revolting black ooze interspersed with shiny green flecks dripped from his finger in gloopy chunks. I”d never heard of a ghoul that big, but gods — that black ooze sure looked like it came from one.

Mirrim”s lips twitched with disgust. ”I know they don”t spread their corruption through physical contact, but it doesn”t mean you should touch the stuff, Jaiel!”

Jaiel”s face remained impassive, though, as he pulled a deep blue silk handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the goo away.

”What were the mountain wraiths before they were twisted?” I asked, looking up at the massive section missing from the wall. ”That”s FAR too large to be any kind of human or Fae, and there aren”t many creatures who can be twisted into wraiths.”

Jaiel”s expression tightened. ”They”re the last of the giants.”

My jaw dropped.

Giants?

Holy hells! Giants were the stuff of legends — a gentle race of powerful protectors who knew the secrets of the land before the age of man, before even the Fae had been born. And those twisted mountain wraiths were all that was left?

Fuck! Whoever had been responsible for that tragedy deserved an eternity of painful torture.

Suddenly, a tall boy with bright red hair ran to us and tapped Mirrim”s shoulder. She looked over her shoulder at him and held her hands out. He passed her a package with a wink, then ran off as fast as his feet would take him.

Mirrim”s cheeks turned a bright pink, and she cleared her throat, forcing her gaze to meet mine.

”Boys,” she said, attempting to shake her head nonchalantly. ”Am I right?”

I held in my grin and nodded in agreement, stealing a glance at Jaiel, who smirked at me before returning to examine the wall debris.

”Was that someone you like?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Her green eyes went wide as she shook her head. ”Derryl? No. He”s cute, but I don”t like him like that.”

”Oh, really?” I said, looking over as the red-headed boy disappeared around a street corner. ”Someone else then?”

”No. No one yet.” She shrugged. ”Uh — how about you?”

My memory slid to the way Jaiel had held me earlier while I cried and my cheeks heated.

”No.” I cleared my throat. ”I”ve been too busy with work.”

”Yeah, I get that.” She sighed, tapping the box distractedly. She may not know she was interested — but she definitely was. ”There”s never enough time, is there?”

I nodded.

”I don”t know, Princess,” Jaiel said, brows waggling as he approached. ”You seemed to do just fine with Tye and —”

I choked and slammed my hand over his mouth, cheeks hot. We were not going to talk about that with Eli”s sister!

Jaiel took the opportunity and slid his arm around my shoulder, with a smug grin.

”Anyways,” I said quickly, dropping my hand and attempting to push away from Jaiel. ”What did your friend want?”

The prince held tight, long fingers caressing my shoulder and sending a shiver down my spine.

Mirrim looked between us, brows raised. ”He uh — needed me to pass this box on for the meeting.” She gestured the way we”d come.

”No problem.” Jaiel twisted a strand of my hair between his fingers. ”I”ll show Kaiya around while you”re gone.”

Mirrim”s lips curled into a grin. ”Okay, then. If you”re sure?”

I wasn”t at all sure. But if that box would help with the meeting, I couldn”t exactly keep her back.

”Thank you!” she yelled, and then she was off, running with her friends back through the village.

The second she was out of sight, I shoved an elbow into Jaiel”s side.

He let out a soft chuckle as he stumbled back. ”I think you like me more than you”ll admit, Princess …”

That didn”t even deserve a response.

Shooting him a withering glare, I turned to the wall.

Work. I needed to focus on the work.

”How”s your monster reacting to all this?” I asked, gesturing to the ooze covering everything.

He stepped past me, rolling up his sleeves as he approached the crumbled stone, and let out a considering hum.

I waited and watched as his blue eyes began bleeding black at the edges.

”It”s definitely agitated with these traces of the wraith around,” he said. ”More so than I”d usually expect. But maybe that”s because I haven”t been able to refill my charisma in a while.”

”You better get that fixed before we go,” I said, voice stern. ”I”ve heard what happens when you don”t take care of it, and the last thing we need is your shadow going rogue and consuming non-corrupted, too.”

He looked over his shoulder with a considering grin. ”Are you sure you don”t want to help me with that problem tonight … for the mission, of course?”

My stomach heated at the thought, but I ignored it. We didn”t need that complication to be piled on top of the current mess.

”I”ve heard how that goes, and I want no part in it.”

Jaiel”s smirk broke and his blue eyes widened for a moment, shadows flickering at the edges.

Were his feelings hurt?

Before I could apologize, though, he stepped in closer. ”Sounds like you”ve heard a lot.” His lips curled into a smug smile and the shadows disappeared from his eyes. ”Am I really such a common conversation piece? Or do you just ask about me often?”

I rolled my eyes. ”The only time I think about you is when I”m sharpening my dagger, asshole.”

He chuckled softly and turned to look at the wall again. ”You don”t have to worry about my charisma, Princess. After we meet with Liam tonight, I”ll head to the tavern and woo a lucky companion. Problem solved.”

Another irritating pang of jealousy stabbed through my chest, and I winced.

Stupid.He was literally doing what I”d asked!

Shaking my head, I forced a wink. ”Isn”t that a slow night for you? I”d think you”d need a few partners to refill that well of yours.”

For the second time that day, it almost seemed like something resembling pain flashed in his eyes, but it was gone and replaced by a smug grin too quickly to be sure.

”What can I say?” He shrugged. ”I”m a scandalous rake through and through.”

I smiled, ignoring the lump in my throat.

”You guys!” Mirrim came skidding to a halt in front of us, her eyes wide with excitement. ”We need to get to the town hall. The council broke out into a fight. It would seem my brother has chosen to accept his betrothal!”

A sharp pain cut through my mid-section.

”Betrothal?”