Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
“ W ere you not listening when I said I agreed to help?”
The angry, neckless man grunted in response, then shoved me further into the trees.
Any hopes I had that my cooperation would earn me better treatment than a prisoner of war had been quickly dispelled when Cordellia ordered a Guardian to “chain her up with the other one”—a description I was equal parts eager and anxious to investigate.
“You could at least remove the shackles,” I grumbled as I struggled to stay on my feet against his harsh jerking and pushing. “I’m not going to run. I gave my word that I would stay.”
“You’re a Descended,” he sneered. “Your word means nothing.”
“ Half -Descended. We’re not so different. I was raised mortal. I was treated like scum by them, too.”
“You’re all selfish at heart. It’s in your blood, no upbringing’s gonna change it.”
I abruptly planted my feet, forcing us both to a stop. “You can’t really believe that.”
He sneered. “Lady, there’s nothing I believe more.”
“We both know there are good and bad mortals. Why can’t there be good and bad Descended, too?”
He glared at me in a way that said he knew I was making sense and it pissed him off. “If you were raised like us, how can you defend them?”
“I can’t. The shit they’ve put us through—” His eyes narrowed accusingly, and I rolled mine. “—fine, put the mortals through... it’s unforgivable. But no matter how this war goes, we still have to live together when it ends. We can’t do that if we refuse to see any good in each other.”
I offered him a hopeful smile. His curled upper lip softened into more of a bark than a bite. There were cogs churning in his head, slogging through a toxic muck of earned prejudice I knew all too well.
As he worked his jaw, chewing on my words, my eyes drifted over his shoulder. Nestled in a circle of dense brush that obscured it almost entirely from view, I caught a glimpse of something that sent fear crackling down my veins.
Explosives . The favorite tool of the mortal rebels. Stacks upon stacks of them in an array of sizes and materials. Enough to level an entire town—or a Descended palace.
I took in a sharp breath, and the man followed my stare to the hoard of homemade bombs. His features gnarled into a scowl as any ground I might have earned with him eroded away.
“Planning your attack on us already?” He yanked me forward again. “Mother Dell might be willing to work with some of you, but that don’t mean I have to trust you. I know what you are. Save your pretty words for some other fool.”
We stalked along in silence until we reached a thinly forested area with tents scattered throughout. Chained to the trunk of a small tree was a woman on her knees, her hands similarly shackled, a glowing Crown of foliage and continuously blooming flowers hovering over her head.
“Arboros?” I gasped.
Her emerald eyes locked with mine and widened. “Lumnos!”
I turned my shocked expression on my escort. “You captured the Queen of the realm you’re hiding in? Are all of you out of your gods-damned minds? ”
He didn’t respond, staring doggedly ahead as we approached her.
“Thank the Kindred you’re alive,” she said breathlessly. “I thought you’d been killed in the explosion.”
The man began to secure my shackles to a chain woven around the base of the tree, and I felt a burst of relief that she and I would be close enough to talk—and for me to learn what had happened on the island.
My heart skipped a beat. If she had seen the attack, perhaps she had seen Luther get away safely. The question rose up in my throat and hung there, trapped in place by the terrifying prospect of discovering the answer.
“Are you hurt?” I asked instead.
Though the moss-lined cape I’d last seen her in now hung in singed tatters over her shoulders, she looked otherwise unscathed. She shook her head and climbed to her feet. “Did you see any of the others?”
“No—I thought I was the only one.”
I frowned, thinking back over Cordellia and Vance’s words. Why had they spoken as if I was the Guardians’ only bargaining chip? If they already had the Arboros Queen to exchange for my mother’s freedom, why keep me from returning to Lumnos?
Unless they didn’t plan to let the Arboros Queen live that long.
“You’re up next,” the man barked at her. He waved over a few more Guardians to join him. They boxed us in against the base of the tree, several with knives out, another swinging a wooden club.
“What are you going to do with her?” I demanded, my hackles rising.
“Choosing to protect them , eh?” He snorted. “Just like I thought. Get out of the way, lady. She’s coming with us.”
I shimmied in front of her as much as the chains would allow, using myself as a shield. “Not until you swear she’ll be brought back unharmed.”
“I don’t answer to you, half-breed. We’re in charge here, and we’ll do whatever we want.”
I returned his scowl. “You sound just like the Descended.”
A furious red flushed across his face. He jerked his chin at the others. “Grab her.”
The Guardians launched forward. Before I could react, strong hands clamped around my arms and waist and dragged me out of the way. The lock on the Arboros Queen’s chains clicked open, her panicked pleas for help sending my heart sprinting.
“No!” I shouted, thrashing against their grip. I swung my shackles over my head and connected with the solid flesh of a skull. A voice swore as the arms caging me loosened.
“We’ve got her,” someone announced. The others released me and hurriedly ran out of my reach. One of them clutched a bloody gash at his temple, the promise of retribution burning in his glare.
I watched in horror as the Arboros Queen was dragged further away. “Lumnos!” she pleaded, her bright green eyes bulging wide.
I tried to rush toward her, but the hefty chains snapped me backward. “Arboros!” I cried helplessly.
A few men in the group lingered beside me and chuckled at my panic. One of them spat at my feet. “Say goodbye to your pretty friend, Descended scum.”
Boiling adrenaline surged through my veins. I pulled at my chains, straining against their hold as my feet clawed divots into the earth.
Having not been raised as a Descended or given the benefit of their in-depth education, I had no clue how far I could go before my body snapped. My very skin and bones were an enigma.
And what about the flameroot—did it dampen strength and healing like it affected magic? In my years under its influence, I had never attempted to push myself beyond what I believed a mortal could realistically do.
But what if I wasn’t as weak as a mortal—what if I was capable of so much more?
At first, the men watched me in haughty amusement. Even as a Queen, in their eyes I was just a frail, pathetic woman, struggling pointlessly against the superiority of nature and of men.
But I had almost given up once before, and it had nearly cost me everything. Since then, I’d sworn to never be weak again. With or without my magic, I would not stop fighting—not now, not ever.
I strained forward against my chains. Mud curled around the soles of my impractical silk slippers as the balls of my feet sank deeper into the rain-softened soil. The iron shackles bit painfully into my skin, their metal joints squealing under the force of my tugging.
A crackling sound reverberated through the forest. The men’s laughter abruptly stopped.
I grunted and pulled again at the manacles until the chain links began to groan and warp.
Behind me, the crackling grew louder, and I gained a step.
“What in the glaciers of hell,” one of the men mumbled, his face blanching.
“The tree,” another breathed.
I spared a glance over my shoulder. The trunk of the tree was cocked at an angle, roots dangling in the air and dripping clumps of freshly turned sod.
Even the Arboros Queen stared in disbelief.
I wasted no time, burrowing a new foothold and lurching forward in short, powerful bursts. With every yank, the tree tilted further, more and more roots springing free from the earth. The mortals began shouting, swarming, calling for help, surrounding the trunk.
With a liberating clink , the chain holding my right arm snapped apart.
Chaos broke out. Some Guardians fled, while others called for help. A few clawed onto the remaining chain that kept my left arm tethered.
“You can’t hold me forever,” I growled at the man who’d escorted me. “Let her stay here safely with me.”
A split second of indecision wavered over his face. He squared his shoulders and snatched the wooden club from his colleague’s hand. “Get the other one to Mother Dell,” he ordered, then turned toward me. “I’ll handle her.”
I heaved forward with every ounce of remaining strength. The tree crunched and swayed, threatening to fall, as a crowd of Guardians pushed against the trunk to counter my efforts.
Their fight was as useless as a flower striking a nail. Despite the flameroot’s effect, I was strong— incredibly strong. Stronger than I ever would have imagined. I wasn’t sure the throng of mortals could have made a dent against me even if they were triple in number.
The thought was as exhilarating as it was worrying. Were all Descended this strong—and this difficult to contain?
I might have taken a moment to fret over what that would mean in the coming war, had the final chain not snapped free just as a club came barreling at my skull.
My momentum launched me forward not a second too soon, the weapon whizzing past the tip of my nose. I darted around the man before he could make a second attempt and sprinted for the horrified-looking Queen of Arboros.
And I might have made it, had my newfound finery not caught up with me. The long, silky blue-grey gown I had chosen for my coronation— because it reminded me of Luther’s eyes, and I’d wanted to feel like he was watching over me , I remembered with a sharp pang in my chest—tangled around my legs and sent me sprawling. I scrambled to get back to my feet.
“Lumnos,” the Arboros Queen screamed. “ Behind you! ”
I twisted around. The last thing I saw was a pair of thin brown eyes, smoldering with hatred, and the blur of a swinging club.