Chapter 25 Auria #3
Bylur had to see it too. The way he tipped his head toward Ephaltes told me he was trying to figure out what the fae had done. But what—
And then I saw it. The medallions hanging from Ephaltes’s neck.
I’d watched dozens of meetings, and recognized one of them.
Ephaltes always wore it. The other was brand new—I’d never seen it before, and it sparkled more than the older one.
The fae who died this morning used a similar medallion to throw Ivodar across the hall.
And they’d said they’d sold Ephaltes something he needed. And—
I tried to picture the last few meetings. I could only remember two, but in both of those meetings the people who argued about the council were sitting near Ephaltes.
And Ephaltes never sat next to Bylur.
And the people who sat closest to Bylur never opposed him.
Ephaltes was using magic to control the situation. And it was connected to those medallions. I was sure of it.
I skirted away from Brielle and her group, ducked around a dozen other nobles, and hovered just outside of the shadows surrounding Ephaltes, who continued to rant.
“People let you lead because you’ve scared them all.
But I’m not scared. If you kill me before we have a fair fight, everyone will know you were afraid of me.
Me and all the smaller houses like mine! ”
I eyed the older medallion. It was latched with a simple clasp behind his neck, one I could certainly undo without him noticing.
But if I got close enough to touch it, everyone would see me passing the ring of shadows around Ephaltes. Someone would call his attention to me before I reached him and his messed up medallion.
Bylur drew a sword. “If a fight is what you want, a fight is what you’ll get.”
I looked up at my husband. His mask made it impossible to see where he was looking, and everyone probably assumed he was glaring at Ephaltes. But I felt the weight of his attention on me. I felt him focus on me.
And he’d just drawn Ephaltes’s attention. I could grab the medallion with a simple distraction now.
“Wait!” I cried, running forward and crashing into Ephaltes’s side. “Ooh! Sorry!” I pushed off of him with one hand and unclasped the medallion with the other. “Sorry.” I palmed the medallion and patted Ephaltes’s arm. “Sorry.”
I raised a palm toward Bylur to complete the distraction.
“Wait! Do you really want to interrupt your party with a fight?” I glanced over at Brielle to see if taking the medallion had broken her support.
She and Dearan looked at each other with confused expressions, and Dedalus grew his usual scowl.
“She’s right,” Dedalus growled from the side. “We don’t need to interrupt the party. Just kill the little usurper and let’s be done.” I was so relieved I laughed.
Ephaltes, however, palmed his chest. Horror filled his face when he realized what I’d done.
Bylur slid his sword back into its sheath as shadows converged on Ephaltes.
Before they reached his face, he raised a hand and threw some small object in front of him.
It erupted into a shimmering oval—just like the portal I ran through when I first came to this kingdom.
“This isn’t over!” he yelled, running through the portal.
It blinked out of existence the moment he passed through it, leaving a pile of writhing, swirling shadows behind.
Bylur extended an arm to me. I reminded myself to walk up the steps like a lady. When I stood next to him, he wrapped his arm across my back, letting his hand land on my waist. “Lady Auria,” he announced. “Would you like to tell everyone what just happened?”
I nodded. No, actually, I would not like to tell everyone, but, yes, I did know what happened, and I did want everyone else to know too. I just needed to ignore the fact that I was talking to a huge crowd of magical fae nobles.
Brielle. I would talk to Brielle. I lifted up the medallion. “Ephaltes has been using this to control people, to make them disagree with Bylur. In the meetings, it only worked on the people sitting closest to him, but today he bought something that let it reach more people, everyone in the room.”
“Almost everyone,” Bylur corrected. He took the medallion from my hands and probed it with shadows, then nodded.
“Yes. It is an artifact designed to sway the opinion of fae. It did not affect Auria because she is human. The magnifying artifact he acquired, as well as the portal artifact both remain problematic. But we will not let them interrupt our evening any longer.”
He waved at the orchestra, the music started, and the chatter on the floor rose like nothing had happened.
Fae were strange.
* * *
The ball finally ended well after midnight, and Bylur walked to our rooms with me. A thick, rolling thunder shook through the open window in our bedroom, making my arms shiver without permission.
Bylur stepped in front of me and wrapped his arms around my back. I leaned against his chest. “I can’t hide in your arms for the entire thunderstorm.”
“Why not?” He rubbed my back. “We have nowhere else to be, and you just saved my council.” His voice lowered, and he bent closer to my ear. “Fae balls usually go until dawn, but I ended ours early because I was hoping to hold you before I turned into a bear.”
Thunder shook the air again, and I burrowed against his chest. “I don’t even have a good reason to be upset by thunderstorms. They just feel like extra horrible darkness.”
His featherlight shadows wrapped around us, like a blanket, filling all the spaces where he wasn’t hugging me. “I thought we agreed dark wasn’t so bad.”
I shook my head. “Your darkness isn’t bad. Your shadows feel safe now. But a dark sky?” I shuddered as the thunder hit again.
He rubbed my arms. “Let me take off this mask and hold you in the bed. As a nightmare prevention tactic. You don’t want to dream about dark places.”
I nodded and stepped away from him. When he let go of me, I assumed he took off his mask, so I did the same.
He kept his shadows close enough to me that they brushed against my arms every time I moved.
The storm had blocked any light that normally came in from the moon or stars, but Bylur’s shadows made me feel bolder than normal.
“If you’re going to declare war on my nightmares, maybe we should try some more tactics. ”
He was at my side again, cradling my face in his hand and brushing my cheek with his thumb. “You don’t think holding you while you fall asleep will be enough?”
I leaned into his hand. “I… wouldn’t mind adding some more tools to our arsenal. Would you go to war with only one tactic?”
“No,” he whispered, bending closer and kissing the corner of my mouth. “Should we try something… like this?” He breathed the words against my cheek.
“Yes,” I whispered against his skin. I turned my lips to find his, relaxing into his gentle touch and warm hold.
As we kissed, the last pieces of my own fears about Bylur melted away. I trusted him entirely, and I wanted so much more for us than the original contract we’d made. And the way he held me, the way his shadows sang in my heart, the way he’d told everyone he cared about me—I knew he wanted more too.
The key he’d given me warmed against my chest, and I felt a rush of emotion from Bylur.
Love, hope, appreciation, hesitation, a desire to protect, and a desire to keep—it was all there, just waiting for me to accept.
No criticism. No judgement. No annoyance.
I felt it all, felt it in my heart and lungs and whatever soul I possessed.
For a moment, I was as connected to Bylur’s emotions as my own.
I relaxed into them, into the feeling of being wanted and seen and calm and comforted.
I was so relaxed in his arms that I forgot about the storm. When the next round of thunder shook the very shadows that swirled around us, I jumped. Literally. The thick sound rocked me, violently bringing me back to the thunderous reality outside.
My eyes flew open as a streak of lightning shot across the sky and filled our room.
And I saw Bylur.
Not just Bylur.
No. I saw his face.
I clenched my eyes shut and threw a hand to my mouth. Was it all over now?
He wrapped one hand around the side of my face, and tugged my hand away from my mouth. His thumb pads gently brushed my eyelids. “Open your eyes, Auria. Look at me.”
My eyes found his—bright blue orbs filled with… with love.
“I’ve ruined everything,” I whispered, “haven’t I?” One terrible, startling sound, and I forgot to keep my eyes closed.
“No,” he whispered. “It wasn’t your fault the lightning came when it did.
This was always a fool’s hope, but in risking it, I’ve had the most wonderful moments of my life.
” A tear leaked out of my eye, and he wiped it off my cheek with his thumb.
“I hope—” His voice turned hoarse. “I hope it hasn’t been bad for you. ”
I shook my head. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I was so, so sure I could break your curse. I wanted—”
He set a finger on my lips. “Auria. I don’t have much time. I can feel the shift in magic on me. But I want you to know—”
A shimmering portal opened directly behind him, and a soldier stepped out with a chained set of metal wrist cuffs.
Bylur pressed his forehead against mine. “I want you to know I love you. As much as I am capable of love, I’ve given my heart to you. As long as I live, you can reach its magic. Read my journal.”
As long as he lives? Did he expect to die?
His lips just grazed mine one last time before the soldier pulled him away from me. “By order of Queen Daniera of Kerebos, you’re to join her in her palace immediately. Cuffed.”
Bylur extended his arms and, as the cuffs snapped in place, the shadows swirling around us disappeared, as if the cuffs snuffed them out. His gaze landed on me, and I couldn’t stay away.
I closed the few steps to him in record time and threw my arms around his waist. “I love you too.”
He looped his chained wrists over my head and pulled me against his chest in a tight hug. “You shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know how to let go of you twice.”
The soldier gripped my arm. “Queen Daneira will accept your gift of a human slave, but I’ll take her though the portal.”
In an instant, Bylur’s arms no longer held me close to him. He smacked the guard, who fell away from us in a swaggering backstep. Bylur waved me back and shifted closer to the guard. “If you value your life, Queen Daneira will never hear of my human.”
The soldier stepped back again, an angry glare making it clear that he preferred his captive to not fight back, but that he also knew he was outmatched, even with Bylur cuffed. He nodded. “Fine.”
“Say the words,” Bylur growled.
The soldier marched up to Bylur and sneered the words in his face. But he said them. “I will not do or say anything to tell or hint at this human’s existence, or to reveal your feelings for her.”
Bylur nodded his approval. Then he turned to me and bowed. My stomach flipped and tried to crawl into my throat. He wasn’t really leaving. Not now. As he rose from his bow, his bright blue eyes held mine, and I replayed his words in my mind.
I love you. As much as I am capable of love, I’ve given my heart to you…
And then he stepped through the portal.
And was gone.