Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
Guardian Alleron stood rigidly at my side, his very presence like a cloud of malice. My hands shook as I filled out the form. How has this happened? How has my guardian walked free, while Jax remains imprisoned?
I couldn’t comprehend how my mate was being held behind bars while my guardian—the most vile male I’d ever encountered, who’d murdered my mother—was being handed my leash once more.
“Don’t forget that line.” The processing employee pointed to a question near the end of the parchment. “Choose an option there, then sign here.”
I did as she said, then handed it back to her.
She folded it precisely and dropped it into a small slot beside her desk. A whoosh of magic sucked it away through a narrow channel that disappeared into the floor. “We’ll be in touch with your court date.”
I clasped my hands tightly in front of me to hide my trembling. “How will I be notified?”
“Via dillemsill, like we do for all notifications.”
My guardian grabbed my elbow again, but I dug my heels into the floor. “And will that dillemsill deliver my court date to me or my guardian?”
“Since you are of legal adult age, you will both be notified.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, and my stiff stance relaxed. My guardian’s fingernails dug into my skin once more, and with a firm wrench, he whisked me from the courts, back outside, then summoned an enchanted carpet.
I stood numbly on the steps, my magic roiling inside me. Tears threatened to fill my eyes as I thought of what Jax was going through at this moment. Our bond burned hotly inside me. He was here. I was sure of that now. Somewhere in this building was my mate, and I was being whisked away.
Pain nearly closed my throat. Being parted from him was like a knife cutting through my very soul, but I vowed to free him, no matter the cost.
The hired enchanted carpet glided to a stop at the bottom of the steps. Automatically, I hurried down the stairs, then stepped dutifully onto it.
“Sit,” Guardian Alleron ordered.
Nostrils flaring, I did as he said while I contemplated my next step and tried to find a way not to partake in the idea that had struck me at the processing desk. But if Jax was being charged, if the courts had evidence to prove that he was always gone when the Dark Raider’s crimes occurred, and if they had witnesses attesting that the Dark Raider was Jax...
There was too much going against him.
I couldn’t possibly come up with a counterargument to prove how all of that wasn’t possible while also proving that Jax wasn’t the Dark Raider. And while I could hope that his parents would hire a genius magistrate to somehow wheedle Jax and our friends out of their crimes, I wasn’t willing to take that chance. Which meant I was left with only one choice. I would have to travel to the Veiled Between. I would have to twist fate to stop this. It was the only way to guarantee Jax’s freedom.
But how?
I chewed on my lip as my guardian whispered a command, and the carpet took off.
Hair blew in front of my face, but I didn’t push it back. I closed my eyes and tried to figure everything out because I’d never changed the course of fate before, and I had no idea how to do such a thing. Never mind that it was illegal. Never mind that such an act was forbidden. If it was the only way, I would do it so my mate wouldn’t hang.
I took a deep breath as a rush of hysteria threatened to rise in me. A part of me wanted to laugh maniacally at how upended my life had become. Just yesterday morning, Jax and I had been set on rallying the kingdoms to fight King Paevin. Yet now, I was fighting for my mate’s life as the king continued with his horrifying plans to build his army.
And Bastian. Poor, innocent Bastian. What was to become of him?
A moment of panic hit me that I hadn’t asked Saramel about him last night. I’d been too wrapped up in my mate’s predicament and my coinless state, but I needed to find a way to help him too. Or who knew if he’d ever be freed of that enchanted chambers.
My mind raced.
Okay, you need to find a way to get away from Guardian Alleron. Then you need to meet Saramel, get some rulibs so you actually have funds to support yourself, then you’ll need to ask her to help with Bastian. I nodded emphatically to myself. With Saramel having access to Jax’s enchanted chambers, she would be the perfect help. And with any luck, she’d already realized that and was helping Bastian.
Wind blew across my skin as the carpet picked up speed. My guardian and I flew through the streets, but I refused to look at him.
And after you have coins and know Bastian’s safe, then you’ll need to venture to the Veiled Between to save Jax and our friends. And then, you can figure out how to deal with King Paevin.
I finally opened my eyes only to find Guardian Alleron glaring at me.
“What happened to your collar and my adaptor?” His cold tone flowed over my skin like ice.
I met his stare readily. “They’ve both been destroyed.”
His breath sucked in. “That’s impossible.”
A spark of life flared inside me. Vengeful life. “It is possible. You may legally still be my guardian, but you control me no more. I will no longer be your puppet, and I won’t do callings for you.”
For the first time that I’d ever known him, his authoritative air slipped, and a moment of uncertainty stole over his face. “Elowen,” he said, his voice gentling, “many things have happened in the past weeks. I know that it’s been difficult to?—”
“Don’t even think you can manipulate your way out of this.” The carpet shot around a street corner, heading toward the southern section of Jaggedston. “Even though you’re still legally in control of me, you won’t be for much longer, and I will never be your lorafin slave again.”
His nostrils flared, and a flash of fury coasted over his face. But he sat back, shoulders stiff, and took a deep breath. “I had thought we could perhaps come to some sort of agreement.”
I scoffed. “No.”
His teeth grated together. “I can still provide you with food, clothing, and shelter. You have nothing on your own. Without me?—”
“Without you , I would still have a mother.”
Red bloomed on his cheeks. He opened his mouth and then closed it. Silence passed as he studied me, and I could practically see the wheels churning in his mind. I knew he was going to try to manipulate me again. That he was contemplating how to spin this to his advantage. As always, he was going to twist everything around to make me feel like the guilty party while he was an innocent victim, but I saw through it now. Jax had helped me see him for who he truly was.
I met my guardian’s gaze, unflinching. And when I held it, not backing down, not cowing, not showing the reverence I once had, his expression faltered.
He glanced away, anger still strumming from him in waves, but I caught the way his fingers picked at the carpet, aggressively tugging at loose strings. His nervous fidget spoke volumes, and a brief sense of victory barreled through me.
I would never be his slave again.
We reached the city’s edge, and my guardian commanded the carpet south, away from the palace, away from my rulibs, away from my freedom, and away from my mate .
With each mile that passed, the bond inside me burned less and less. Jax and I were being separated. Truly separated.
Hills and trees grew around us. Signs of civilization fell behind us until it was only Guardian Alleron and me on the barren road.
I finally broke the quiet. “Where are we going?”
Guardian Alleron glanced at me with disdain. He straightened his clothing and smoothed his hair. “We’ll travel south until dark, then we’ll stop at an inn and finish the rest of the journey in the coming days.”
My eyebrows shot up. “We’re going to Faewood?”
“Of course, to Faewood.”
“You’re truly taking me back to Emerson Estate? You actually think I’ll live there with you?”
“You have to. You have nobody without me.” His words were calm, but the edge of a threat loomed behind them.
I didn’t bother replying. My lips pursed, and I glanced at the disappearing capital behind us, growing farther and farther away. I’d seen this view once before, when Jax and I had been atop Phillen as we’d ridden into Jaggedston following our night in Fosterton all of those weeks ago.
Jax had stopped us in the Wood so he could rob me of my eyesight and change into his princely attire. That stretch of the Wood was just up ahead.
A ball of agony clogged my throat. How much had changed since that time.
I returned my attention to my guardian and crossed my arms. “And what about your voice? How did you get that back?”
He smiled smugly. “The courts hired an advanced spellcaster from Ironcrest, and once that spellcaster caught hold of Jax’s magic, he verified that my stolen voice had indeed come from your beloved prince.”
My eyes widened, and the implication of that statement wound around me like a coiling serpent, squeezing me so tightly that my breaths threatened to stop. The fact that my guardian’s robbed voice had been identified as Jax’s sense-stealing magic further proved his case that Jax was the Dark Raider. And if the courts knew that, it was possible that they would eventually view me as his accomplice, which meant my freedom wasn’t guaranteed.
Magic roiled inside me. I had to stop this. All of this. Now .
I assessed the area more. Wind blew through the trees. The city was far enough away now that it was merely a glimmering speck. Houses and small dwellings from local fae had fallen behind us as well. Nobody was about.
My guardian regarded me from across the carpet, his gaze gentling in mock sympathy. “Elowen? When we get back, I’d like you to see the king right away. He’s?—”
“No!” I loosened my crossed arms and shot to a stand. Rage erupted inside me.
“No?”
“Correct, no . Fuck this. Fuck all of this.”
Before he knew what I was doing, I wrenched on my magic as fury blazed through me. Cold shadows lashed from my hands, shooting toward my guardian in a swell of power. He shrieked, but I wrapped my shadows around his mouth, neck, and chest.
“You will not command me anymore!”
His eyes bulged, and his hands rose. Fire shot from his palms, shooting toward me.
I dove to the side, and my guardian’s fire element blasted right over me and hit a tree in the Wood. Smoke curled around its bark, and flames flickered at the tree’s base.
Hands whipping through the air, I wrenched my guardian off the carpet with my magic. Power unfurled within me. Magnificent, heady power. All of the heartache this male had caused me roared through me like a quickly spreading wildfire.
He’d abused me.
Used me.
Tortured me since I was a child.
And now, he’d taken the only fairy in my life who had actually cared about me. Who had ever truly loved me.
“Elowen!” he muffled through my shadows, but I just gagged him more.
Another blast of fire shot from him, but it didn’t matter. Magic exploded out of me, coating me in shadows and repelling his fire like it was harmless smoke.
“Don’t you know what I am?” I asked, my voice rising. Power crackled around me. “I’m the queen of the semelees. The walker between the Veils. I am the enchantress of the shadows, and you will control me no more !”
I whispered a command to the carpet, and it stopped. My heart pounded as I stood, hands raised as I held my guardian aloft above me. He hovered in midair, his eyes widening with terror.
He tried to speak again, but I curled my shadows down his throat, stopping his breath.
I lifted him higher. It was so easy. So simple to manipulate him like this. Power flooded my limbs, crackling like lightning through my veins. Jax had once said that a lorafin’s power was godlike, and in that moment, I knew he was right.
My shadows writhed and danced, snaking around my body as energy crackled in the air. I lifted my guardian higher, then higher, until he rose above the trees’ canopy.
Fear shone upon his face, true fear, but I was done being merciful. I was done being his slave.
I. Was. Done.
My lips spread in a terrifying smile. “I hope you can swim.”
With a huge surge of power, I shot him through the sky, catapulting him through the air. I used so much magic that he flew toward the sea.
I commanded the carpet to lift, taking me above the tree line until the ocean’s sparkling view appeared in the distance. My guardian was still hurtling toward it, moving so high and so fast that he was just a speck amidst the clouds.
I didn’t release my shadowed hold on him until he was miles out to sea, but I watched him the entire time, reveling in his fury mixed with sheer terror, which streamed toward me on my shadowed hands.
His plummet into the Adriastic Sea was so distant I could barely see him, and his splash into the water was nearly non-existent.
His magic wouldn’t help him there. Water doused fire. He was entirely on his own, miles out to sea, and despite my taunt to him, both me and my guardian knew that he’d never learned to swim.