58. Chapter 58
Chapter 58
D awn crept over the mountains, spilling through the windows of the corridors as Aurelia left their chambers.
Ven had kissed her brow in the darkest hours of morning, a steaming cup of coffee beside her as an apology that he’d had to leave.
Nira was already waiting for her when she walked onto the Ledge.
The female wordlessly handed the heavy blade to Aurelia. Relentless as she shouted, “Again!” every time Aurelia successfully completed the sequence of movements with the broadsword. The real relic remained safely locked up in the armory; a risk none of them were willing to take before the battle was brought to their doorstep. But Nira had tasked one of Hathos’ apprentices to make a blade roughly the same size and weight as the true one.
Crude, but effective.
The weight of the weapon still made her shoulder ache, but with every passing day, she was able to maneuver the heavy steel a little more gracefully. Growing stronger, her balance surer.
Fighting with a broadsword was another skill entirely, separate from the magick she’d learned to wield or the daggers she’d grown so fond of. But blind determination kept Aurelia fighting past the burn of her biceps, the searing pain down her shoulder blades. If she had the chance to destroy another relic and kill another demon prince—she wanted every advantage.
Sweat dripped from the tip of her nose as Aurelia raised the blade once more. It’s gleaming edge arced through the air, clashing with Nira's steel.
The Commander's mouth split into a grin as she uttered, “Good.”
The lower levels of the fortress still rang with the sound of hammers day and night.
It had been three days since the Allokin arrived, and as she passed one of the wings they’d offered to Lanthius, she could see a handful of the blond and red-haired spellmasters and their apprentices bent over the wide tables. Further down the hall, Wraiths stacked barrels in the center of the forge. Hathos stood at the far end, thick arms crossed over his thicker chest, his bushy brows furrowed.
Ven had ordered the smiths to save the dust from the ravenstone blades and the ground steel at Lanthius’ request, and she was just as puzzled by what the Spellmaster had planned for the waste as the Mastersmith was. She’d only glanced in his makeshift laboratory—equal parts curious and cautious about the metallurgy and precise chemistry of Allokin magick. But she trusted Lanthius enough not to question his methods.
Heat poured out into the corridor, the winter chill seeping back in as she made her way further into the keep, toward the rooms that still remained dark and unused. Well—nearly unused.
Fist poised at the heavy iron door, Aurelia wondered if it was a mistake coming here. The female had chosen these chambers for a reason, after all. It was as far away from the heart of Ravenstone as one could get. Isolated. Forgotten.
They’d been true to their word, allowing Valea freedom of the fortress, but she’d chosen to sequester herself in the disused rooms of its lower levels. The damp was not easily chased away this far down in the belly of the mountain, and she wondered why the female had selected this chamber in particular when there were far more comfortable ones without windows a level above.
Recalling her own emotions when she’d arrived here, in the midst of people that were not quite her own, it wasn’t difficult to understand why Valea had chosen to disappear. Especially given the kingdom she came from.
Ven trusted her enough that there were no guards at her door. Karro had gone back to feigning disinterest in the female’s whereabouts, but Aurelia noted how his eyes scanned every room and searched the balcony above the Ledge when he trained. Nira and Seth probably monitored her activities from a respectable distance, thinking that if nothing else, self-preservation would keep her loyal. But the rest of the Blood Folk were another matter entirely.
They knew of the female’s existence in their kingdom, rumors of their king’s half-sister had already made their rounds. It turned out immortal warriors were even bigger gossips than the nobility in the Captiol. And though none of them had outwardly shown hostility toward her, it was palpable in the warning glances, the lingering stares.
Aurelia gave a single knock on the door.
Only silence replied as she waited one heartbeat, two. On the third, she turned away.
The door creaked behind her, a single bright red eye peering out from the dark chamber.
“Your Majesty,” Valea murmured, seeming surprised when she realized Aurelia had come alone.
Aurelia glimpsed the room behind her. Bare. Cold. All the more amplified by the fact that Valea had only come here with the clothing and weapons on her back. Ven had offered her whatever she needed, Aurelia, too, but the female made no requests of them—and whether it was distrust of the offer or simply wanting to disappear in this place—she wasn’t certain.
“There’s something I’d like to show you,” Aurelia said without preamble.
Valea gave a shallow nod, suspicion creasing her silver brows.
The female was nearly silent as she followed Aurelia through the fortress.
She’d been careful to choose the paths that kept away from the exterior walls—ones that would safely shield Valea’s porcelain skin from the sunlight. Still, she pulled the blood red hood of her cloak over her sharp features anyway, only the end of her thick white braid trailing out.
Every other door in the hall had been closed as Aurelia had ordered, throwing the corridor into darkness even though the sun still blazed high above outside.
Every door save for one.
She stopped just beyond the threshold, glancing into the open room. Valea’s carnelian eyes met hers, platinum brows furrowed as she looked from Aurelia to the open door, her gaze flitting down the hall, assessing every detail. Every threat , Aurelia realized.
She was looking for a trap.
“You will not come to harm here—not by my order,” Aurelia offered gently, taking a step into the chambers.
The blade of a female cautiously approached the open doorway—not daring to step into the patch of sunlight that flooded through the uncovered windows. “What is the meaning of this?” she asked, her voice edged with wariness, hand dropping to her side within reach of her dagger.
Aurelia leaned against the doorframe, giving the female space. “New chambers—if you’d prefer.” She gestured to the arched windows spanning the length of wall, realizing her mistake almost immediately when Valea grasped the hilt of her blade at the sudden movement. Lifting her palms, she waited until the female's shoulders dropped just a fraction—the skepticism never leaving her expression. “Lanthius spelled the windows to filter the light—so that you might be more comfortable here.”
The female was so still that, for a moment, Aurelia wasn’t sure if she was breathing. Even the bright red rings of her irises remained unmoving, focused so sharply on her face—searching for any sign of deception—that she wondered if she would leave this room unscathed.
She waited, not daring to move.
Patience had never been one of her virtues, but self-preservation won out, whispering in her ear that to take even a single step right now beneath the immortal female’s withering stare would be a death sentence. One that would up-end everything that they had fought so hard to achieve.
After what might have been moments or hours—Valea’s eyes slid to the room, bathed in filtered, morning light. And for a moment—just a moment—there was something like longing in her narrowed gaze as it widened slightly.
“A temporary solution,” Aurelia amended, “until we can find a more permanent one.”
It had only taken Lanthius a few moments to work the spell. But it had been Karro who brought the book to him, detailing the magick needed to remove the harm of the sunlight. He’d made the argument that they would need every last warrior when the demon army finally descended on the fortress, that it would be in their best interest to find a cure. But all it had taken was one shared look between her and Ven, and she’d known as well as him that Karro wouldn’t rest until he found an answer.
He was right—whatever his true motives were. They would need Valea, and she would be more use to them if she wasn’t incapacitated by the sunlight. And Aurelia couldn’t have guessed how many hours he'd spent searching the library, how many volumes he’d scoured before he finally found the right one.
Valea took a single hesitant step beyond the threshold, her white sheet of hair shifting with the movement.
Aurelia held her breath as the female finally took another halting step further into the room, her eyes darting, seeming to mark all of the potential exits as if this might still be some trap. Safely in shadow, she edged closer to the arched patch of light illuminating the bronze and gold veins in the floor.
A sheen of sweat broke out along her pale brow. Her moon white skin flushed the faintest shade of pink, her chest rising and falling as rapidly as the pulse fluttering at her white throat. And reaching out a hand, her slender fingertips pierced the rays of golden light.
She yanked them back with a soft hiss, examining her porcelain skin.
But there was nothing—not a single mark.
A rush of breath left Valea's chest. Something like a smile lifting the corner of her mouth as she flipped her palm over once more. “It’s warm . . .” she whispered, softly enough that Aurelia wasn’t quite sure if the words had been meant for her.
“More have been spelled throughout the fortress—the common rooms and the dining hall,” Aurelia added, ticking off the list on her fingertips. “Ven’s study and the council chambers—so that you may feel free to come and go as you please. The Ledge—” she gave an apologetic shrug, “there’s not much we can do about that for the time being.”
But the female didn’t seem to hear as she took a single step. Arching the white column of her neck, she tipped her head back, her hair a cascade of platinum down her back as she let the sunlight flood across her pale face.
Ecstasy.
That was the expression softening the female's sharp features.
Silence stretched in the sun-drenched room as Aurelia turned to leave, not wanting to disrupt the moment.
“Why?” The question was spoken low. Not a demand. Not with the usual cutting directness that Valea preferred.
But Aurelia heard the undercurrent of her simple question. Why bother with this when none of them might live long enough to see next week.
She gave a shrug. “This is your home now too, should you choose.” Not much of a choice, really. There was no going back after her egregious betrayal to help them escape. “Without your help, we wouldn’t have made it back here—it seemed the least we could do.” And all of them had decided that they were making decisions for the future—whether or not Fate granted it to them.
Valea lifted her eyes to meet Aurelia’s, the harsh angles of her face beautiful and terrifying all at once. “I’m sorry—that I doubted your intentions.”
Aurelia gave her a small nod in return, turning to leave again. It was more gratitude than she’d expected.
“If you sharpen yourself long enough," the female whispered, the words making Aurelia pause, "you forget what it’s like to be anything but a weapon.”
And even though Aurelia had been sworn to secrecy, she couldn’t help herself from throwing over her shoulder as she left, “The windows—they were Karro’s idea.”