Chapter Fifty-Six
Aelia
It had been two entire days of silence across the mythical bond that connected me to Sol.
It was as if a piece of me had been stolen.
It was like losing a limb, one I could still feel even though it was no longer there.
Every instinct screamed for him, but all I found was silence, a static void where his warmth had once been.
Even my rais felt subdued, the gilded, ethereal energy burning less brightly without my skyrider at the other end.
First Aidan, and now Sol. I wasn’t sure I could survive this.
Sitting on a grassy knoll overlooking the training arena below, I plucked a blade of grass and wove it between my fingers. The moonlight glistened overhead, setting the dewdrops aglow with starlight as the verdant stalk moved.
The moment Sol and Phantom had left us at the hidden cascades, the radiant, flickering tether between us went quiet. Somehow, I could still sense him for a while, and then a few hours later, he was just… gone. Nothing but a black, empty void remaining where his immense presence had once been.
The same was true for Reign and Phantom.
My cuoré was handling it about as well as I was.
Only the distraction of mastering his zar with Kae kept his mind occupied.
My gaze dipped to the arena below where my mate and his great-uncle traded zar-fueled blows.
On the bright side, he’d spent nearly the entire day with my former captor, and from the range of emotions whizzing through our bond, progress was being made.
“No rest for the wicked.” Rue’s voice tore me away from my thoughts, forcing my gaze up to meet a mischievous one.
Symon grinned beside her, throwing his arm across her shoulders. “She’s right, you know.” His fingers reached out for my ear, but I batted it away, earning a dramatic pout from my ridiculous friend. “What are you doing moping around up here all by yourself?”
Rue plopped down beside me. “Yes, why?” She ticked her head at the arena below, where dozens of former Royal Guardians and Umbral Guard trained together. “Shouldn’t you be down there with your soldiers?”
“My soldiers?” I huffed out a laugh.
“Of course they’re yours, little Kin. They worship you almost as much as I did those perfectly rounded, sexy ears.” He heaved out a despondent sigh. “I only wish I’d had the chance to touch them more—”
“Sy!” I cried out with a laugh.
“I digress…” He waved a dismissive hand as he plopped down beside me. “The point was, those Guardians need you. They’ve abandoned the king they blindly served for years for you. You are their princess, their hope for a new and better future.”
“I think you’re overestimating my power.” I fiddled with the blade of grass before dropping it to the ground.
Rue snorted. “Oh, please. You blasted a Night Fae battalion out of Luce with a triune shield no one thought possible.”
“And convinced Reign not to kill Kaelith the first time they met,” Symon added. “Frankly, I’d have let him take a swing after he helped Helroth keep you captive for all those months.”
“You are uniting the Courts,” Rue said softly, nudging me with her shoulder. “Shadow, Light, and Night. And you have a dragon!”
“Don’t forget the adorable Kin children who are surely already asking for ‘Princess Aelia’ stories before bed,” Symon chimed in with a grin. “You’re practically a living legend.”
I rolled my eyes. “You two are absolutely ludicrous.”
Rue wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Maybe. But we’re also not wrong.”
I glanced back down at the arena, where Reign spun, shadows lashing from his hands in controlled arcs. Kaelith deflected with a shield of pure zar, and the sound cracked through the night air like lightning.
“I just… I miss him,” I whispered. “Sol. And I’m scared. About what’s coming. About what it’ll cost.”
Symon’s teasing faded, his hand resting lightly on mine. “Then lean on us until he comes back. That’s what family does.”
Family. That familiar ache of loss thrummed behind my ribs.
“Besides,” Rue said, standing and dusting off her leathers, “you don’t have to do it all alone. But you do need to stop sulking in the grass like some moody Faeling poet. Reign’s going to think they’ve finally broken you.”
Symon grinned, extending a hand to me as he stood too. “Come on, princess. Let’s show your cuoré what he’s fighting for.”
With a half-laugh, half-sigh, I let them pull me to my feet.
The three of us descended the hill together, Rue linking her arm through mine while Symon sang some made-up battle song off-key beside us.
As we reached the edge of the arena, Reign turned toward me, his bare chest glistening with sweat and shadows curling protectively around him.
Kaelith stood to his side, stone-faced as ever, but I swore I saw a flicker of approval in his gaze when he saw me.
Reign’s eyes locked with mine, and despite everything we had yet to face, I felt steadier. Because I wasn’t alone.
“How’s he doing, Kae?”
“Not bad,” he gritted out before taking a swig from his leather skein.
“Not bad?” Reign echoed. “My zar swept the floor with yours.”
Kaelith’s lip twitched into a begrudging smile. “I’ll admit you’ve progressed more quickly than I’d imagined in only two short days.”
I curled my arm around Reign’s waist, glancing up with an adoring smile. “That’s because he’s my mate.”
Kaelith scoffed, rolling his eyes so hard the citrine of his irises all but disappeared. “Why don’t you show him how it’s done, Aelia?”
A sliver of unease rushed through me. Of the trio I’d been blessed with, zar was still the one I avoided using most. I’d even happily given up on the necromancy lessons with Kae now that he had Reign to instruct.
“Yes, show us what you’ve got!” Rue squealed as she and Sy clapped their hands excitedly.
“Use only zar,” Kae commanded.
I exhaled, stretching my fingers at my sides as the zar-infused shadows responded instantly, eager and coiling, as if they’d been waiting for me to stop ignoring them.
“I don’t know…” I hesitated, eyeing the target dummies still lined up at the far end of the arena.
“Oh, come on, princess,” Reign goaded, stepping back and crossing his arms, that infuriatingly smug smirk that he knew would rile me on his lips. “You can’t let your mate outshine you in front of your own army.”
Rue and Symon whooped.
With a dramatic sigh, I stepped forward, drawing in a slow breath as I sank into the darker well of powers deep within me. Unlike rais, which shimmered and danced, zar was heavier. It thrummed like the weight of midnight in my blood.
The arena quieted. Even some of the soldiers had stopped to watch.
The moment I tapped into the zar, my heart stuttered. It was denser than before, darker, like something coiled and waiting beneath my skin. I welcomed it anyway. I raised one hand, fingers splayed wide and summoned the night.
With the cuorem flickering to life, awakened by the ancient power, I used it to anchor myself. I knew only Reign could keep me grounded, keep me from losing myself in the abyss.
I moved on instinct, guided by something innate. The coils of zar obeyed, not like Reign’s quick strikes, but slower, more controlled. When I launched the blast, it wasn’t with precision. It was reflex. Rage. Grief. Power. It hit the first target like a storm split open from the inside.
It poured from me like a living veil, shadows stretching long and sharp across the stone floor. Again, tendrils of inky zar twisted up my arms, thick and sinuous, unlike the ethereal shadows Ruhl commanded. Then, with a flick of my wrist, I launched them.
The second dummy erupted in a blast of black hellfire, the zar consuming it whole.
Gasps rang out from the barracks above.
I stepped into a smooth spin, calling more zar to my other palm. This time, I shaped it, something I’d only ever seen Kae do. A sleek dagger formed, serrated and humming with volatile power. With a grunt, I hurled it at the third dummy. It impaled the center of the chest with deadly precision.
“Sweet Raysa’s ass,” Symon whispered. “Remind me not to get on her bad side.”
“That was impressive,” Kaelith said, blinking. “You’ve been holding back.”
I turned toward Reign, breath stilling in my chest, waiting for his reaction.
But there was only awe in his midnight eyes. Pride. “You never cease to surprise me,” he murmured.
A smile split my lips. Maybe I had been avoiding the zar because it reminded me of captivity. But now, it felt like something else entirely, something that actually belonged to me. And to Reign. It was power, not punishment.
Then my cuoré stepped forward, grinning.
“Now, it’s my turn.” He moved into the center of the arena, raising one hand without flourish.
His zar answered like a dog to its master, swift, silent, and lethal.
A ring of smoky blades hovered around him, then flared with raw energy as he spun, launching them one by one.
Every blade found its mark.
The soldiers broke into stunned applause, but Reign was already walking toward me, shadows still pulsing around him.
“We’re stronger than we’ve ever been,” he said, his voice low and urgent, meant only for me. “When our dragons return, mated and even more powerful, we’ll be ready.”
I nodded, the lingering sting of zar still humming beneath my skin. For the first time in days, I didn’t feel numb. I felt powerful.
Together, we turned to the training field as the soldiers resumed their drills. Light and darkness, united. And for one fleeting heartbeat, I believed we could win this war.
Then, an ear-splitting roar pierced through the moment of triumph.
Mordrin sailed overhead, wings pounding and silver scales glistening beneath the moonlight. All eyes turned upward as the Shadow Regent descended aboard his monstrous dragon. The moment his talons hit the earth shaking the ground beneath my boots, unease settled low in my belly.
Ruhl leapt off Mordrin’s back and raced toward us, shadows buzzing across his lithe form and the expression on his face doing nothing to quell the brewing storm in my gut.
Reign must have sensed his brother’s unease as much as I had. His feet were already moving toward the uncrowned king the moment he hit the earth. “What’s happened?” he growled.
“The Night Fae… they’re here.”
Ruhl’s voice was a ragged whisper, but it cracked like thunder through the arena. Around us, drills stopped. Blades fell still. Even Kaelith’s zar stilled mid-pulse. And just like that, the air shifted, as if the realm itself was holding its breath.
The war hadn’t just begun. It had arrived.