Chapter 29 - Jael #2
Shock gave way to rage as Corban pulled his lips back.
“So now you’re a coward as well as a magicless hack?
” He spat. “Who do I have to thank for this change of heart? That vampire bitch? The way you two came back mooning over each other tonight, I should have known you’d pull some shit like this.
Do not turn your back on this mission, Jael.
If you even think about it, the first thing I’ll do when we return to Soldara is direct the city guard to her precious fury. ”
“Corban,” Pimmin warned.
He scoffed. “What? You think I wasn’t paying attention to where we were going? I know every dip in the ground. I’ll order the entire mountain be razed, let the dragons find a new home.”
“Right, because you have such sway with the guard,” Hethyr said.
“Don’t I?”
As soon as the words were out, his eyes widened and his fingers twitched towards his sword. I tracked his reaction, his movements, and a dark suspicion dripped down the back of my neck. “Do you, Corban?”
His tongue darted out to lick his lips. “No. Of course not. But an anonymous tip would probably be enough to—”
“To send a host of city guards into another country to deal with a vampire problem?”
I thought of our failed ambush, the city guards who’d arrived to take us down when only the royal guards travelled with the princess.
The logic didn’t make sense—after all, Corban had been struck down too.
But Zath had fallen first, as had many others who would have gotten in the way of Corban’s intentions to step up and take over.
What would have happened if Corban hadn’t been hurt by Brynna’s entourage? Would the city guards have arrested him, or would they have turned on the royal guards protecting the carriage?
“Did Zath have any idea you planned to turn on us?” I asked.
Corban’s expression oozed contempt, but I caught the panic in his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That vampire messed with your head, ledsha.”
“Twenty fae, Corban,” Hethyr said, horrified. She settled her hands on the hilts of her daggers and stepped away from him. “People you knew. People you worked with. People you led here.”
He shushed her harshly and looked over his shoulder towards where Princess Brynna and the four guards sat, looking completely unconcerned about what might stalk them in the darkness and showing no concern or curiosity about what had happened to the city guards who’d come in search of us.
“Those guards were looking for you, weren’t they?” I demanded. “When they attacked us in the woods. They were guards you hired. They noticed your body wasn’t among the dead, realized you must have survived, and came looking for you.”
And had nearly killed Kalla in the process.
“How?” Pimmin asked. “Why?”
Corban scowled and drew his shoulders back.
“Fine, what does it matter anymore? Yes, I turned on the Coynfare. What a useless group you lot have proved to be. I spent years trying to convince Zath to take a stronger stand, and he never fucking shifted. Killing Brynna was my idea, yet he took the credit and left me out of the planning. So I went to the guard. Knew some of them had issue with the wedding, not wanting to bind our country to some mortal mages. Didn’t take much work to convince them to join me.
Now they’re all fucking dead thanks to your vampires.
Fuck!” He tore his hands through his hair.
“So no, you don’t get to back out now, not when we’re so close. You are going to come with me and—”
Blood sputtered between his lips.
I looked down at where my blade protruded from his chest, my fingers wrapped around the hilt.
I hadn’t even known I was going to strike, but listening to him admit to being behind Kalla’s near death, the deaths of the twenty rebels who’d come out here believing we stood a chance of success, and the death of the rebel leader who’d taken each of us in and dedicated his life to improving the world for those who’d been hurt by Leonine’s wrath—it was too much.
I jerked my blade free, and Corban fell to his knees.
Neither Pimmin nor Hethyr moved to help him, watching him with horrified tears and parted lips. When he slumped to the earth, his eyes empty, they turned their stunned gazes to me.
“So…” Pimmin said. “What do we do now?”
I stared at Corban’s corpse, thinking of his years of rage.
From the start, he’d been the loudest advocate for Zath’s plan. His flesh was marked with similar scars to the rest of us, his far more faded and far more extensive. He’d been under the king’s hand at least five years longer than I had and had suffered pains few could understand.
I did. My anger was a hot sun of fury and betrayal that had stolen my magic and left me bitter and numb to everything else. It had left me empty and had fuelled that all-consuming void.
Until I’d opened my eyes to find music incarnate staring down at me.
If I continued down this path—killed Brynna, somehow survived it, and returned to Soldara—the void would become permanent. I would be a husk of a fae. Breathing, but with no purpose except to keep travelling in the direction I’d chosen.
If I didn’t…
For the first time in six years, I wondered what my options were if I chose a different path. By the sky, for the first time in six years, I saw there might be a different path. If I was lucky, it was one that smelled of earth and wove heart-wrenching melodies through my every thought.
But what were the odds the Fates would grant me that kind of ending? Maybe the only peace I could expect was at the end of a guard’s blade.
Kalla’s eyes flashed in my mind, the endless dark blue streaked with red. I thought of the way she’d looked when I’d seen her for the first time, when I’d believed she was a spirit sent to guide me to my final home.
Maybe she had been. Maybe there had just been a few days’ delay before I got there.
I squeezed my eyes shut to block her out, leaving them closed until the last image of her faded to nothing.