Chapter 34
“Aegir! Quickly, you must come.”
I was startled back to reality. Aegir let go of my waist and we both whipped our heads towards Eldric. His eyes went from Aegir to me, then settled back on Aegir.
“What’s wrong?” Aegir asked.
“The Phoenix is here.”
“What? What’s that reeking bastard doing here?” Aegir hissed, breath misty.
“Well, looking for you. He’s perched on the red monument. He told you to hurry.”
“The Phoenix?” I asked.
“It’s the Fire King’s pet. It can shift into a human form,” Eldric answered, his tone bitter.
“Is it dangerous?”
“It’s evil incarnate,” Aegir spit, shaking his head. He strapped on his twin axes.
“The red monument is in the schoolyard at the School of Dunes,” I mumbled.
I rushed towards the stable entrance and looked up.
I searched for the sun, trying to figure out what time of day it was.
I also tried to remember how long ago it was that I heard the castle chimes.
Shit! “The Belzari twins go there and, oh gods, Sabriela! We must hurry.”
I had barely taken a couple of steps. Aegir wrapped an arm around my belly and pulled me back inside. “You’re staying here.”
I turned myself around, to face him. “I’m coming with you.”
“I’m not letting you anywhere near that bastard’s sight. Wait for me here, I’ll come back once it’s safe.” The look I gave him did not require any words.
I will do no such thing!
“Promise me, Cordelia. Promise me that you’ll stay here.” Our eyes locked. I couldn’t bring myself to promise him something that I knew I would immediately break.
“Gods damn it,” he mumbled beneath his breath.
I didn’t realise he’d moved us. My back was now pinned to the stable stall just as I had many times envisioned.
I was too distracted, working his mouth, accepting the heated kiss that made Eldric look away.
Because that’s what it was. A distraction.
Before breaking our kiss, Aegir opened the water valve, soaking my feet.
He froze my shoes, anchoring me to the ground.
“I’m sorry. I—I won’t risk you.” Then he followed Eldric outside and urged, “Let’s go. ” The two of them sprinted away.
“Wait!” My desperate shout was in vain.
Fucking shit!
I grunted, trying to free my legs, but the ice was so tightly wrapped around my ankles, my feet wouldn’t budge. Fuck it. I reopened the water valve. Thanks to the desert heat, and my efforts, it only took me a few minutes to finally manage to set my feet free. Few precious minutes, though.
They were faster than me, there was no doubt in that, but I was sure they didn’t know that the quickest way to the school was through the castle’s underground passage.
In as little time as possible, I snatched the nearest inconspicuous weapon—a dagger—and sprinted until my heart’s thunderous beats could be felt through my ear drums and my lungs threatened to explode inside my chest. I dashed through the servants’ quarters and thankfully found Farah right where I thought she’d be at this time of day.
“Where’s Sabriela?” I asked, catching my breath.
“Why are you panting? Is everything okay?”
“I need to find Sabi. Where is she?”
“She took Yuri and Ira to school. The twins wanted to play with their new marbles before school started, so they left early. Is everything all right?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Despite my every muscle beckoning me to rest, I leapt into another sprint. My shadows ran with me as the flickering lights from the torch fires illuminated my way along the underground corridors.
I shielded my eyes against the bright sunrays as I exited the tunnels. I climbed the steps towards the school entrance two at a time. Throwing the door open, I carried myself into the hall by my own momentum. As I was hurrying towards the schoolyard, a woman caught my eye.
“Excuse me, Teacher!” I rushed towards her.
“Who are you and what are you doing h—?”
“Have you seen the Belzari twins?”
“We are not allowed to discuss the whereabouts of our students, especially the Belzaris.” She hushed her voice upon the mention of the king’s twins. “And this is the king’s property. I will ask you to kindly leave.”
“Please, they might be in danger!”
“For all I know, you could be the danger. Now, I will ask you one last time to leave.”
I looked behind her, the schoolyard not too far away. “Listen to me, do not let anyone inside, do not let anyone out in the playing yard and sound the bell.” I dashed towards the yard, ignoring the protesting teacher, but turned my head momentarily to bellow an order, “Sound the godsdamned bell!”
I almost bolted out of the open door at the sight of Sabriela. She was laughing, watching the twins playing. And I almost shouted her name, but my legs stiffened and my voice died in my throat when I glimpsed it.
The Phoenix was silently perched on top of the red monument.
Embers of fiery orange and red danced around it as if the flames themselves were alive and breathing.
The hairs on my body stood on end. I waved both arms at Sabi, but she was too focused on the twins to see my desperate attempts. She did not see the Phoenix either.
I need to decide between shouting or running towards them.
I had almost made my decision when I glimpsed two figures zipping down the dunes, one dark, one white. I watched them with one eye, the rest of my body hidden behind the doorframe.
Aegir and Eldric disappeared from my vision, hidden behind the towering red monument that stood at the centre of the grainy yard. But they must have been close now, as I watched the Phoenix leap off the monument, gliding into a spiralling descent. His landing was aimed towards Sabi and the twins.
“No,” I whispered to myself in panic.
As soon as the Phoenix touched the ground, it shifted, feet replacing talons. The desert somehow felt hotter and a feverish wave hit me, followed by an awful smell of burning rot that had me covering my mouth.
Sabriela yelped, grabbing both twins by their arms. She tried to hurry them away, but the Phoenix—now in the form of a burning man—entrapped them in a ring of fire. My heart raced at the sound of their screeching screams.
The bastard was using children as leverage.
I was about to leap out the door but halted once more as I heard Aegir’s harsh voice. “Let them go!” I could not see him with the monument standing in our way, but I had never heard him speak with such a demand.
“You’re a little too far from home, Prince Aegir Hailin of Silch, Lord of the Ice Vanguard, don’t you think?”
“As are you. Let them go and let us talk like civilised men.”
“Civilised men know how to read and interpret a precious letter, Prince. Didn’t your parents tell you what was written in the one sent all those years ago? You are not to scheme against Naar, or else what’s left of Ilma, including your valuable healers, will be turned into nothing more than ash.”
“Then it’s a good thing that I’m not here to scheme. Now let them go.”
“Then what are you doing in this scorching Land, Ice Lord?”
“Ramel was…desperate for some ice, so I kindly obliged.”
The Phoenix raised a fisted palm and the whirl of fire contracted. The twins’ screams pierced my ears—the fear within them made its way to my heart.
“I’m not here to play games, Prince. I am here to remind you of the consequences.”
A swirl of bluish white formed around the fiery ring. Crackling sounds resonated in the midst of a battle between fire and ice.
“I did read the letter your king sent to my parents. I read it many times. Which is why I know you should tread carefully. The letter specified that no harm would come to us if we remained passive. That means we have every right to defend ourselves. We have the right to defend those children. What would your king make of it if you violate his…what did he call it? Peace treaty?”
The Phoenix moved towards Aegir’s voice, now hidden behind the monument as well.
“The King of Fire wants to know why you are here. I’m sure he would understand the need for me to take certain measures should you resist cooperation.”
“Then if you’re so desperate to know, we are here on mere trading business. Our castle is in need of new glass windows.”
“Your Ice King sent the Lord of the Vanguard to transport his decor?”
“Yes. And that’s because of your Fire King. He destroyed the waterways. If he hadn’t done that, there wouldn’t have been the need for my king to send his strongest men to carry his glass. Now let the children go and get the fuck out of Ramel.”
“You know, accidents happen all the time, Prince. After all, I did have to fly a long way to get here. It would be a shame to leave without giving you a taste of what your precious Hydrans’ fate would look like should we find out you’re scheming behind our backs.”
The circle of fire grew stronger; the thin shield of ice seemed like no match against it. Screams tore out of the twins’ throats, just as the rhythmic gongs of the bell finally resounded across the yard.
The three of them were blind to my presence and deaf to my sounds.
And so I took that moment as my opportunity to act.
I ran until my palms hit the red sandstone.
I calmed my breath, hoping to remain silent, undetected.
I wasn’t sure what my plan was. I didn’t really have one.
But I took out the dagger and carefully moved along the monument.
I halted as I found a narrow gap through the carved sandstone, wide enough for me to peek through.
My eyes settled on Aegir first, standing tall, summoning the shield around Sabriela and the twins.
Eldric was at his side, his arms raised, his face strained as he, too, held the shield.
Shit. They were two against one and his fiery ring was dominating.
The desert was not the best place for Ice Fae.
The heat, the lack of ice, it was antagonistic to their powers.