Twenty One #3
When I opened my eyes, I found him and my father standing beside me.
Sebastian’s posture was tense as he stared at the woods before us.
My father looked defeated for a moment before he straightened his spine and squared his shoulders.
As the king, he couldn’t waver, no matter how much he was breaking on the inside.
He was a formidable wall, and only select few knew that he, like the wards, was on the brink of falling apart.
“All is not lost. Not yet,” I said low, but the words sounded louder somehow in the gray wintry stillness.
My father’s gaze found mine, and what I glimpsed in his eyes squeezed my heart with icy fingers. Fear. My father, the king, was afraid. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it when Adrian walked up to us.
The lord’s face was all hard lines as he looked past me, peering into the woods on the other side of the border.
Glancing at him over my shoulder, I studied his taut features.
What was he searching for in the trees? The Fae lurking within?
Shuddering at the thought, I followed his gaze, but all that I saw was the green panorama of the woods.
“Are you ready?” my father asked Sebastian, and my brother nodded.
I’m also ready, I wanted to say, but I didn’t dare speak the words aloud.
Adrian was close enough to overhear, and while he knew the truth about the state of the wards, my father didn’t know that I had told him.
I wasn’t sure if it still mattered, but that was not how I wanted the king to find out.
For that reason, I would have to wait for the lord to walk away before I could attempt to feed my magic into the barrier, adding my own splash of color into the nearly colorless canvas.
With a rough exhale, Sebastian shook out his arms before he outstretched them in front of him and closed his eyes. My father began to quietly guide him through the magic transfer as Adrian and I stood by, silently watching the woods.
After a moment, Thea walked up, stopping next to Adrian.
Her eyes seemed too big for her face as they, too, zeroed in on the woods.
She and the lord exchanged a look as unease stirred in the pit of my stomach.
They were acting strangely, but I couldn’t blame them for being wary when only a few feet separated us from the Fae.
I expected Tom to join our group as well, but he didn’t.
Instead, he walked along the border in the opposite direction, stopping a considerable distance away from us.
My eyes narrowed as I watched him turn his back to us, his navy-blue cloak swaying around his stocky frame.
“What is he doing?” I asked Adrian, my eyes never leaving Tom’s back.
The lord didn’t answer at first, too focused on the woods before us, but when my question registered, he blinked as if breaking a trance and turned his head to look at me.
When I jerked my head in Tom’s direction, Adrian followed my gaze.
Still with his back to us, Tom lowered his head slightly, bringing his right hand up in front of him as if looking down at something.
Adrian tensed next to me, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. His unease became palpable, which only increased my brewing anxiety.
“What is it?” I asked, searching his face. His striking features turned unreadable before I could glean anything from them.
“Nothing. I’ll be right back,” he said in a clipped tone. “Thea, stay with Emelin.”
My brows knitted in confusion as I watched him set off toward Tom.
“Actually, Thea, can you give the three of us a few minutes alone?” my father said.
Only then did I realize that Sebastian had stopped transferring his magic into the wards.
His arms were lowered, and he looked a little pale, rubbing his left wrist with his other hand.
My father was asking Thea to leave because it was my turn to transfer my powers.
My pulse quickened as nervousness surged.
You can do this. I silently gave myself words of encouragement, lifting my chilled hands to my face. I breathed on them to warm them up while I waited for Thea to walk away. To my surprise, she stood unmoving as if she hadn’t heard my father’s request.
“Thea?” I asked, stepping closer to her.
She didn’t respond, her wide-eyed gaze darting between me and the woods.
“Are you all right?” I tried again as I peered into her pale face, forcing her gaze to stay on me instead of bouncing back and forth.
She did focus on me but didn’t respond, her mouth set in a taut line.
Scowling, I shifted my attention to Adrian and Tom standing in the distance.
Their heads bowed together as the adviser whispered something urgently into the lord’s ear.
I made out the word “now” on Tom’s lips a second before Adrian’s gaze shot to me.
The shadows in his eyes instantly deepened, spilling onto his face, which became leached of all color.
My heart plummeted like a stone as the world around me stilled.
A faint hiss whispered through the air a moment before the arrow struck its target.
The earth shifted beneath my feet when I heard my father’s strangled cry.
“We’re under attack!” someone yelled as the world sped up again, erupting into chaos.
My eyes were still on Adrian as he roared, “Get her out of here!” a second before Thea grabbed my hand, and everything went dark.