Chapter 3
Chapter three
Rhodes
The heavy wooden gates of Naryian, the capital of Besmet, loomed in the distance before us, weathered stone walls stretching up into the gray sky. My stomach churned as we approached, a dark dread seeping into my bones.
We were still far enough away and secluded by large boulders. Security was tight as I'd already spotted ten different guards rotating near the gate in the past twenty minutes.
I glanced at Misha out of the corner of my eye, taking in his stony expression.
He hadn't spoken a word since Balor left us a few hours prior, and it wasn’t that silence was anything new, but we were back in our home!
I expected at least a few more verbal expressions of emotion from him.
I watched his fist clench and unclench, his fingertips brushing the hilts of his daggers, and I frowned. He was thinking about her.
Without permission, words echoed in my head. Harsh, cruel words that I'd flung at Palmer without a second thought. I'd gotten so good at pushing down memories; I honestly believed I'd healed, that I was strong enough not to be affected.
Clearly, I was wrong. My jaw tightened at the thought.
Fucking outrageous. All it took was her speaking his name for me to go off like a bomb.
But Jasper was dead. All five of us handled the loss the same.
We didn't talk about him. We didn't acknowledge the fact that he'd ever been a living and breathing part of our brotherhood.
It hurt too fucking bad.
My chest tightened, panic clawing up my throat. Sucking in a sharp breath, I forced myself to remain calm. I couldn't lose it now, not when we were this close.
What if she wasn't lying?
I slammed the door on that hopeful thought faster than the very walls that seemed to be closing in around me.
What will they do when they find out what you did?
Misha's hand closed around my arm, his grip firm but gentle. I jerked away on instinct, nausea churning in my gut. He raised a deep, thick brow in question.
He didn't need to voice his question. I'd been around him long enough to read his expressions well enough. "What's going on with you?"
"I'm fine, Misha. Leave it."
He stared at me, his intense stare looking through me for the truth. I'd gotten so good at hiding it though, I knew he wouldn't see anything I didn't want him to.
As we edged closer to the gate, I couldn't ignore the feeling that something was off.
The guards were distracted by something.
Probably the excitement and anxiety that a public execution stirs, especially when it's the crown fucking prince who is getting beheaded.
My heart rate increased, and I could feel the sweat starting to bead on my forehead.
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the air, and I froze in shock, locking eyes with Ashland. Together, we peered around the giant boulder in search of the source of the noise.
My gaze landed on a woman who was being dragged across the courtyard, her hands and feet tied, her body bruised and battered. I didn't recognize her, but her plain charcoal grey dress uniform gave her away as one of the serving girls who worked in the castle.
"LONG LIVE PRINCE brAM!" she shrieked as she wriggled like a worm on a hook. Profanities spewed from her lips like the sharpest of blades. Each shriek filled my ears like the drums of war, every insult a battle cry.
My blood boiled with rage as I watched the guards throw her to the ground like a discarded piece of trash. She whimpered in pain, tears streaming down her face.
"Orders are to take her to the pit," one of the guards barked at the others. As soon as the word pit left his mouth, it was as though a match had been lit and dropped into the driest of fields. We’d all done time in that fucking pit. It was barbaric and not something I’d wish on my worst enemy.
"We’ve no place here for royal sympathizers.
It’s too bad that the lunatic blood mage was removed from the pit earlier for execution.
He would’ve killed you in seconds. Get her out of my sight. "
I growled low in my throat and rolled my spine, ready to take action. "I'm going to kill that one first."
"Not yet, brother," Felix whispered, his own eyes glinting with bloodlust.
"Another thing to add to the list," Talon murmured. "Free the dragons and fill in that fucking pit..."
The guards lifted the girl like she weighed nothing and handled her as if her life meant less than that. Balor still hadn't returned.
"Quit fuckin' fighting, bitch!" a guard yelled, grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling hard enough to make her cry out in pain.
I blinked. My body vibrated with rage.
"Don't have anything to say now, do ya?" he laughed coldly.
I hoped she'd stay quiet. Tension in these high-stakes situations could cause people to do things without thinking. She could be dead in a second, and none of those guards would give it a second thought.
After a few moments of silence, I exhaled in relief. I looked down at Ashland, who was looking every bit as on edge as I was. "Thank fuck..."
The sound of an echoing slap bounced around my ears, along with the sharp intake of the girl's breath.
"That son of a bitch," Talon hissed.
"That's what I thought!" the guard bellowed in her face. I could already see the redness blooming from his abuse.
I pressed my forehead against the warm stone and willed myself to relax. Where the fuck was Balor?
"We'll get her from the pit as soon as we can," Felix growled.
Suddenly, a noise carried out on the wind. Loud and clear. Words that I didn't realize were known here.
"WITH THE FALLEN, I RISE!"
"By the stars," Talon said, awe in his tone and shock on his face.
"WITH THE brOKEN, I CRY!"
Misha's fist shot out, slamming into the boulder and cracking it down the middle.
"WITH THE LOST, I FIND MY OWN!"
Another guard punched her hard in the ribs. "SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!"
"WITH THE O-OUTCASTS—"
She sucked in a painful breath.
Fuck this. Balor wasn't here. She was one of us.
"I FIND MY OWN!" I stepped out from behind the boulder and sprinted toward the gate, my brothers right on my heels in full support and synchronicity.
"WITH THE FORGOTTEN, I REMEMBER!" All five of us chanted.
I grinned wildly as the guards focused on us, and the fear in their eyes as they recognized us. The girl was dropped and forgotten, but she didn't stop chanting.
A sentry along the top of the wall reached for a horn to alert the rest of them that they were being invaded, but Talon scurried up the wall like a spider of death and ripped the horn from the guard's fingers.
A spray of blood sailed through the air as Talon used the damn thing to smash his head in.
Three other guards simultaneously hit the ground, glints of metal sparking in the sunlight. Misha stomped over to the dead guards and plucked his blades from their bodies like it was just another day at work. I supposed it was.
I barely registered that Felix and Ashland were working together to swiftly eliminate the four remaining guards because my eyes were locked with the big bastard who was about to incur my wrath.
"Y-you're the... t-the..." the girl stammered with wide eyes as I marched to where she had been dropped.
"The Exiled," I finished for her with a wink. "And you're one of us."
The guard spat in my direction and cracked his knuckles as his wings jerked in irritation. I began rolling up my sleeves, eager to crush his nose. "Fuck The Exiled. Your lot won't last the evening. Once Asrael learns of this, it’ll be your death!"
I snarled at the sound of his name, which was the guard's only warning, before I slammed into him with as much force as possible. He grunted in pain as he hit the cobblestones beneath our feet. I had no desire to hear his mouth, whether it be words or noises of pain. My hands found his throat.
"Fuck. You," I hissed, applying enough force to have already killed a human man.
"Asrael doesn't know what just waltzed into his kingdom.
We wear the faces of The Exiled, but believe me when I say this.
" I leaned down, relishing the way his face was turning purple. "You’re looking at fucking death."
His eyes widened as I tightened my grip with all my might, followed by an audible crunch. His gaze then became empty and vacant.
Ashland landed beside me, his boots tinged red with blood. "Can you fuckin' believe it? There are people in the bloody castle chanting the oath?" He was never one to get overly emotional over much of anything, but it was hard not to notice the shine of building tears in his ice-blue eyes.
"Isn't that something?" I said softly, almost as if my voice got one octave higher, then the illusion would shatter, and we would be back in Port Black, working endlessly on creating the gas that allowed us to break Asrael's mind control and return home.
Suddenly, a sickening splat from behind us broke the moment, and we whirled around, ready to fight whatever enemy wanted a turn. I frowned at the body lying at the base of the wall as a pool of red flooded the cobblestones.
"Oi! I thought unicorns were supposed to fly!" Talon shouted, looking down at us. His wings snapped out, and he stepped from the wall, catching himself at the last possible moment.
"What are you talking about?" Ashland demanded.
Talon pointed at the body of the guard. "I found this fucker hiding up there." He pointed up at the wall. "Hiding like this was a game of hide ’n seek!"
Felix snorted. "Doesn't he know we're the best at that game?"
"He does now," I grumbled.
"What's this have to do with a unicorn?" Ash asked again, keeping Talon on topic.