Chapter Two
Reign
The war still thundered around us long after Helroth and the Night Fae vanished, but I couldn’t bring myself to let go of her.
Not yet. Not when the echo of almost losing her still pulsed beneath my skin like a second heartbeat.
And still, a part of me knew it was up to us to stop the pointless fighting.
But when confronted with the safety of nameless, faceless Fae and my cuoré, there was no question.
I would choose her a thousand times over.
Eventually, I would be forced to release her and put an end to this, but I simply wasn’t capable yet.
My shadows whirled in a maddening tempest, a cloud of unrelenting midnight encircling us as I held her to me. They’d always been protective of Aelia, but now that the bond had been completed, they clung to her like they knew she was the only thing keeping me whole.
Gods, how was it possible that Helroth had dug his claws so deeply into her mind again?
Even now, traces of his voice clung to her like smoke.
I could feel him through our bond. What if the cuorem wasn’t strong enough?
What if he could reach for her again? Breaking his hold over her had been nearly impossible.
Unease settled low in my core, deep and unrelenting.
But I couldn’t focus on that right now. All that mattered was that Aelia was safe and in my arms.
But for how long?
The ominous thought sent ice surging through my veins.
Smothering the fear, if only to keep it from bleeding through the cuorem, I called on the embers of nox, then the slick, oily zar rushing through our bond.
No one would take her from me again. I would ravage the entire continent of Crescentia until I found the Night King and ripped out his cold, dark heart.
Only then would Aelia be truly safe, freed from his mental hold.
We have to put a stop to this. Aelia’s voice flooded my mind, drawing me from the grisly musings. The sound of it alone eased the turmoil, smothering my scowl.
So, you do still remember how to communicate through our mental link…
I never forgot. Helroth only blocked it…somehow.
And that was exactly what had me so worried.
How in all the realms could he overpower the most sacred gods-blessed bond?
In theory, nothing should be stronger than the cuorem.
I had secretly hoped that completing it would somehow overcome the blood vow, but it appeared I was mistaken.
Still, there had to be another way. Perhaps, it was time to send Gideon back to research the ancient tomes of the Arcanum library.
Aelia startled in my arms, the spasm sending a jolt of fear straight to my heart. “Oh, gods, Sol! Where is he?”
“He’s safe, resting. Phantom is with him. She succeeded in dragging him off the battlefield while we dealt with Helroth.”
“Oh, thank the stars. What did those fiends of smoke do to him? I can’t remember any of it…”
“Only managed to knock him out. Luckily, he’s a hard-headed beast.”
“I need to see him.”
“We will as soon as we deal with this.” I scanned the horizon of the Wilds, the battling Light and Shadow Fae still locked in a pointless clash.
Aelia’s chin tipped up, blazing silver-blue eyes meeting mine. “We have to stop them.”
“Any idea how, princess?”
Her head dipped, radiant wings extending across her shoulder blades as she stepped free of my hold. It took everything I had to fight the overwhelming urge to pull her back to me, scoop her into my arms and fly her far away from here.
Instead, I watched as she rose like a flame into the smoke-choked sky, her wings unfurling in a blaze of light and shadow. Gods, she was radiant. My chest clenched at the sight of her, hovering above the carnage, a living embodiment of all the powers of the gods in a world tilting toward ruin.
She burned with starlight and conviction, and for one fleeting moment, I forgot how close I’d come to losing her. So lost was I in the gloriousness of…her. But gods help me, what would happen if the next time, I wasn’t fast enough?
Shoving the errant thought to the dark recesses of my mind, I focused on her, on this pivotal moment.
The battlefield below her was pure chaos, Light Fae slashing with their glowing blades, Shadow Fae striking with ribbons of nox, both sides so blinded by rage they didn’t understand the real war had yet to begin.
“Stop!” Her voice cracked like lightning across the field, and the power laced in it brought everything to a standstill. Power shimmered in the air. Heads turned. Weapons faltered mid-swing.
“This is madness,” she shouted, her voice fierce and raw. “Can’t you see? Our true enemies, the Night Court, have fled. Helroth has vanished with his army, and we’re still spilling blood as if it means something!”
I felt it then, that flicker in our bond, the fire behind her words. The thrall pulsing through her voice wasn’t just power. It was purpose. It was truth.
She turned in the air, slowly, meeting their stares, the Royal Guardians from the Light and the Umbral Guard born of Shadow who had once called her a weak little Kin or an enemy or worse.
“The Night Fae aren’t just shadows of myth. They are real. And they are coming for all of us. For years, we’ve been blinded by the lies spouted by our kings in a vain effort to keep us ‘safe’. But that time has passed.”
A ripple spread through the crowd. I could see it, feel it, the doubt starting to take root.
“Helroth wants to burn the realms to ash. He doesn’t care about your bloodlines, your grudges, or your ancient pride. Light and Shadow mean nothing to him. He means to unmake the balance of this world, and he will succeed if we keep doing his work for him.”
She glowed brighter with every word, her wings flaring wider, casting that luminescent glow across both Courts. She wasn’t just speaking to them, she was becoming something more. Someone they could follow.
“We have been divided for too long. Taught to hate, taught to fear. But we are all one Aetheria, and we must fight together if we wish to survive.”
I swallowed hard, the pride swelling in my throat almost unbearable.
“I’ve felt what the Night King can do,” she continued. “I’ve heard his voice inside my mind. And I swear to you now, if we don’t stand together, none of us will survive what comes next.”
Her voice dropped, soft but unshakable. “But if we do, if we unite, if we fight not as separate Courts, but as one realm, then I know we can win.”
Then, slowly, she descended, and I was moving toward her before I’d even made the conscious decision to do so.
She landed between the two armies, her wings folding behind her like a divine shield. I stood only a few yards away, my shadows coiled around me, desperate to reach her. But this was her moment, not mine.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Then, like the stars themselves taking a breath, both umbral and luminescent blades were lowered. Nox and rais faded. I watched as the impossible happened. And I realized Aelia hadn’t just stopped the futile battle today, she had begun something far greater.
As the bands of muttering Light and Shadow Fae warriors began to disperse, gazes cast at each other suspiciously even as they retreated, I moved to Aelia’s side.
Today was only the beginning. It would take time and a concerted effort from both Elian and Tenebris to truly come together to defeat Helroth and his forces.
But the change had started here, with her, my cuoré.
“You were incredible,” I murmured as I pressed a kiss to her temple. “A true born leader.”
A rueful grin curled the corners of her mouth. “I suppose all that royal blood has to count for something.” She eyed the field of retreating soldiers, a wary expression shadowing the temporary moment of triumph. “Now what do we do? After we find Sol, of course.”
“Of course.” I paused, carefully considering my response. “Now, we go home, starlight. And tomorrow, we will fight again.”
“Which is where exactly? I still don’t belong anywhere, Reign.”
Tendrils of shadow curled around her waist, drawing her flush against me. Framing her face with my hands, I dropped my forehead to hers. “That’s not true. You belong with me. And our home is wherever we are together.”
She drew in a breath, and a slow smile crept across the grim line of her lips. “How did I get so lucky that the gods chose you as my mate?”
“We both must have been very good in a previous life.”
A warm chuckle spilled from her lips, and the sound was like a balm to my weary soul. Coming so close to losing her again had torn another fissure across my heart. I wasn’t sure how many more I could withstand.
“Are you ready to test out those new luminescent wings, or does my princess wish to be carried to rendezvous with Phantom?”
“From the battlefield?” she retorted. “What sort of a sorry picture would that paint?”
“Fair enough.”
Those radiant appendages unfolded across her back, the brilliant spectacle difficult to look away from despite the blinding light. She was a goddess incarnate, pure rais, nox and zar. My boots remained rooted to the earth, my head tipped back reveling in her splendor for a long moment.
“Well, are you coming or not?”
Before I could respond, her eyes glazed over, and I could only assume she was communicating with her skyrider—or that was my hope. I had to force away the momentary panic I felt that it could be Helroth infiltrating her mind again.
“Sol’s awake!” Her eyes brightened, the vivid blue like a cloudless sky. “He’s at Shadowmere, and Phantom is on her way to retrieve us.”
“Wonderful.”
There was a certain Night Fae I needed to have words with at Duskridge Manor. Then, I would take Aelia far away from that gloomy isle and her demon trainer. The only person who would be in charge of my cuoré’s instruction from now on would be me.
Dark shadows spilled across my shoulders, morphing into powerful wings, and I thrust high into the sky to meet Aelia and rendezvous with Phantom.
As we soared over the scorched battlefield needlessly littered with bodies of both Light and Shadow Fae, dread coiled in my gut like a prophecy waiting to be fulfilled.