Chapter Thirty
Reign
Ghosts lingered in the halls of the Fortress of Umbral Shadows, Tenebris’s former domain, each turn down a dark corridor toward the barracks resurrecting nightmares of my past. An icy chill frosted the air with even the flames flickering in the sconces wavering as if the obsidian stone threatened to swallow every ounce of its light.
Noxus, I hated this fortress.
Of all the places in the realm, I never thought we’d end up here.
Once the Night Fae had fled, Ruhl had suggested returning to our old home to rest and regroup. He’d sent his mother and our youngest brother, Dom, away to the seaside for safekeeping. The boy was too young to witness war and my stepmother too weak. It was best to safeguard them from all of this.
None of us were soldiers, not true warriors honed by battle; most of the Fae that fled with us were little more than children. The brutal trials at Luce and Arcanum were nothing compared to the horrors of real war. A war that loomed at our doorstep now.
One that could no longer be ignored.
And with Light divided because of that damned traitor, Elian, we would have to fight twice as hard to combat the impending doom.
How many Night Fae warriors did Helroth truly have?
We had no real notion what we were up against. Neither Ruhl nor I had any real battle experience beyond our training at the Citadel.
And now we were forced to lead a ragtag group of students, Royal Guardians, and the Umbral Guard into a war?
Gods, this was madness.
My steps quickened as I passed the door to Father’s private chambers.
It was ajar, just as I’d left it all those days ago.
Did our blood still stain the stone floor?
Or had one of the servants cleaned it after I’d captured my father and handed him over to his greatest enemy?
The bastard who’d then turned around and plunged a knife into my back at his earliest opportunity.
Realms, I’d been such a fool to trust Elian for even a moment.
I tore my gaze away from that door, forcing my boots to keep moving, the pull of the cuorem like a lifeline in the choking gloom. Aelia. She was here, somewhere within these walls that had once broken me, and now, she was the only reason I was still breathing.
I reached the barracks, the thick wooden doors hanging slightly ajar, just as my father’s had been. But instead of silence and ghosts, voices spilled out. Some were frantic, others hushed, but all were scared. The whispers layered into a chaos that prickled against my senses like needles.
Pushing inside, I was hit by a wall of tension.
The large, cold space was packed with bodies.
Flare Team was huddled near the hearth, while Royal Guardians stripped off their gleaming armor, their faces drawn and haunted.
Shadow Fae, a mixture of Arcanum students and the court’s Umbral Guard, lined the edges of the sprawling chamber, weapons within arm’s reach despite the truce that still held—barely.
And there in the center, a tether of light in the gloom, stood my Aelia.
She was surrounded by them, her hair mussed from battle and shadowtravel. Her steady gaze scanned each person with that impossible blend of command and compassion that made people follow her. That made them choose her.
The moment her eyes found mine, the disorder in the room seemed to pause. The cuorem thrummed between us like a drumbeat, steadying the storm inside me for just a breath. But only for a breath.
“Reign.” Her voice was soft, but the weight in it made my shoulders tense.
Scanning the hall, I found Rue kneeling near one of the cots only a few feet away from Aelia, her eyes hollow. I followed her line of sight and felt my stomach clench.
Heaton lay there, pale and too still, his chest rising and falling shallowly. His hands twitched now and then, his eyes fluttering beneath closed lids. It seemed as if he were caught in some nightmare he couldn’t wake from.
“How is he?” I asked, striding toward them.
“He hasn’t woken since we pulled him from the Night Fae lines,” Rue said, her voice cracking, though she tried to hide it. “It’s like he’s trapped.”
“We’ve tried everything,” Aelia added, moving to my side. Her hand found my wrist, grounding me. “Rais healing, shadow coaxing, even zar. Nothing reaches him.”
The Guardians surrounding us exchanged uncertain glances, and one of them muttered, “We don’t even know what we’re fighting anymore.”
The words echoed the fear already pressing against my ribs.
“And how can we be sure she truly is the heir?” Another voice.
A few more muttered whispers of agreement.
Then, yet another voice, this a quiet, rough one. “Shut up, you imbeciles, don’t you see it? It’s in her eyes. There is no doubt in my mind, she is Alaric’s daughter.”
Aelia’s gaze zipped toward the older Light Fae male who leaned against the wall in the corner. He appeared to be around Aidan’s age, but it was difficult to tell with elder Fae. Aelia’s feet were moving toward him before I could stop her.
“You knew my father?”
The Fae dipped his head, strands of silver falling across his brow. “I did, your Ethereal Highness. It was my greatest honor to fight beside him at the end of the Two Hundred Years’ War.”
Aelia’s breath hitched, a whirlwind of emotions streaking through our bond. Excitement. Pride. Grief.
“What is your name, sir?”
“I am Eryndor Dawnmere, and I am at your service.” He spoke with his head bowed, body folded over, and eyes cast down to his boots.
“Please, rise, Eryndor.”
“Losing King Alaric was the greatest tragedy to befall the Light Court during the war. Elian…” his words fell away.
“Well, that doesn’t matter anymore, princess.
You are here now, and that’s what is important.
” He dropped to one knee and raised a luminescent sword.
My hands were nearly at his neck before his head dipped in reverence.
“By the light of Raysa, I swear my blade, my breath, and my blood to you, Princess Aelia of Ether. I vow to stand between you and the darkness, to fight at your side until the blessed sun falls from the sky, and to protect your life above my own.”
Echoing footfalls reverberated across the room as the rest of the Royal Guardians dropped to their knees, each and every one repeating the soldier’s vow.
Aelia stood impossibly still, her eyes gleaming with emotion, hands trembling. Through our mental connection, I could feel her uncertainty, her fear. She wasn’t only afraid of failing them, but of losing everything she loved to save them. “Thank you,” she finally murmured.
The moment stretched on, the weight of their declarations thickening the air. Then, finally, one by one, they rose and scattered around the barracks once again.
Inching closer, I laced my fingers through hers and gave a gentle squeeze. “They’re your men now, princess.”
“That seems like quite a responsibility to take on.”
“Nonsense. You were born for this, starlight.”
I scanned the room, taking in the exhaustion and quiet dread on the students’ faces.
Despite the moving display from the troop of Royal Guardians, there was still so much unknown.
They looked to Aelia, to me, and even to Ruhl for answers.
My half-brother paced near the far wall, shadows flickering at his heels as they all waited for someone to tell them what to do next.
But the truth was, I didn’t know.
Gods, we were children leading children into war.
Aelia’s hand tightened around mine, pulling me back from the edge of that thought.
Her eyes were hard, glinting like a blade in the dim light.
“We need to make a plan,” she said, loud enough for the room to hear.
“Helroth wants to tear this realm apart, but we will not let him. Not while we still stand. Not while we stand together.”
A few heads lifted, hope sparking in tired eyes.
“Ruhl,” she called, her gaze flicking to where he stood, “we need scouts on the borders. We need healers working shifts, and we need the Guardians and the Umbral Guard training together, not across from each other. We must learn to move as one, light and shadow intertwined, if we’re to stand against the Night Fae. ”
Ruhl’s jaw ticked, but he nodded once, his eyes softening as they found hers. “Consider it done, Your Highness.”
She released my hand, rais flickering on her fingertips as she turned back to the room.
Her voice was stronger now. “We don’t have the luxury of fear anymore.
We have each other, and that’s enough. Together, we will defeat Helroth.
” Releasing a breath, she glanced to each corner of the room.
“For now, we rest and recuperate. Tomorrow is a new day.”
As the room stirred, moving with renewed—if shaky—purpose, she leaned into me. Despite dreading the onslaught of curious gazes, my arm curled around her shoulders, drawing her closer. Her forehead brushed against mine for a heartbeat.
“I meant what I said earlier,” she whispered. “We will find another way, Reign. You and me.”
I closed my eyes, letting the warmth of her promise bleed into the cold places the fortress always left in me. “I know,” I whispered back, though the fear still pressed against my ribs like a blade.
When I opened my eyes again, I let the bastard Shadow Prince slip away and the leader they needed return. “Rue, you and Symon are in charge. I’ll send the staff down to feed the troops and set up the barracks to accommodate everyone for the foreseeable future.”
She offered a half smile in return as she gripped her brother’s hand. “Yes, professor.”
“And as for Heaton, if he so much as twitches, I want to know.”
The faint smile slipped away, but she nodded all the same. I hated to even think it, but if Helroth had found a way to infiltrate Heaton’s mind, we could have a spy within our midst.
“Aelia, Ruhl, with me,” I said, my shadows sliding across the stone as I turned toward my father’s war room. “It’s time to plan our next move.”