Chapter 17 Mari #2
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I’m often told my mouth will be the end of me one day. Thank you for saving me.” I kept my eyes lowered.
“What is the message my queen sent me?”
My queen?
Shit.
I couldn’t let a misspoken word sway me.
Or the errant memories that flooded my mind.
Me kneeling before him as I gave him my name.
The regret in his eyes when he was forced to take it.
The sensation of his firm mouth on mine.
Even taking me to the cavern that I would use to help my Doves escape him and this place.
My eyes stung and I blinked hard.
“Lord Vin is on his way with an army. We heard of it through the House we were interviewing. A soldier was sent ahead to scout the path and he bedded one of the Doves in Sixthell, bragging that they’d been in the castle by tonight. He will call on the Dael’Torin to be held.”
I held out a shaking hand with the note I’d written myself.
He took it and stared down at the words. “Does the Briar Queen not believe I can defeat him?”
“I…do not know, Your Majesty.” I wrapped my fingers around themselves and kept still, burying my hands in the volume of dark green material. “She fears for the Doves, Lord Vin…he would kill us all.”
Gabriel…Demon…King…he stood there and stared at the note. “And where is she?”
“Preparing the girls.” The words slipped out and I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was right or not, but my heart was being stupid. “They should be moved…at least to the upper levels so they can escape if…”
A wry smile twisted his lips. “If I am killed. I see.”
Slowly he nodded. “It is prudent.” He scribbled a note, folded it in half and gave it to me. “I will send Luc to help you gather as many Doves as you can, move them to the upper levels until the fight is done.”
I lifted my eyes and stared at him. “And the men?”
“All of the humans who can be moved, we move them.” He stared back at me. “Innia, correct?”
Lowering my gaze, I curtsied again. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Be safe.”
The lump in my throat was too tight. “You as well…” Demon.
Turning before he could see the tears in my eyes I hurried away, slightly shocked that not only had I gotten permission to bring all the girls closer to the surface, but he’d also agreed to send everyone.
All the humans.
“Leave everything you can,” Luc’s voice reached me first as I turned the corner to our section of the castle.
“We can’t leave without the Briar Queen, I won’t, she wouldn’t leave us.” Faiza stood with her hands on her hips, and…damn it all…
My eyes flooded with tears. “I gave her my word that I’d get you all out. Feather, Tulli, and I will help her go to the other Houses.”
The girls looked at me, and I managed a wobbly smile. “I promise you; we are not leaving anyone behind.”
I looked at Feather and Tulli, my heart breaking more than a little.
Maybe this was why I’d never been able to pull the trigger and leave. There had always been one reason or another to stay. But deep down I knew the truth was, I didn’t want to leave any of my Doves behind. Not one of them deserved to be stuck here while we escaped.
“Not ever.”
Feather clutched her hands to her chest, and a sob escaped her as her eyes widened with understanding. Tulli put an arm around her, holding her tight, her own eyes shining. They had known, maybe long before I had, that this was the issue.
None of us could truly just walk away from our other sisters.
“Well…let’s make like Doves and fly the fuck out of here, ladies!” Luc barked. The girls went with him, and I ran to my room, slipping out of “Innia’s” clothing and into my Briar Queen dress.
I slid my sharpened ring on, grabbed the box of rings and slid them into a small bag that I handed to Feather.
“Let’s warn the others.”
For the next few hours, we ran from House to House, Harald and two guards with us as we made sure everyone was moving to the tunnels that led up. They curved around, and would take time, but there was only one tunnel up, and one tunnel down.
Lucky or not so lucky for us, Lord Vin and his army were coming from the north and wouldn’t be using the tunnels.
The soldier who’d given up the information to a Dove had been certain it would be by the dinner bells that the army would arrive.
The Dael’Torin would be officially offered and then…
the fight would happen at the stroke of midnight, between one day and the next to signify the possibility of a changing of the leaders.
“How far will they take them?” I asked Luc as we stood watching the sheer volume of humans headed out of Seventhell.
Servants. Doves. Breeding stock. Eunuchs.
Luc stood with his arms folded which showed off just how big his arms really were, and I took note of how Feather watched him from under her long lashes, tiny spots of color on her cheeks.
Another time I would have taken more interest in her interest in him, he was kind and would be a good match for her if she had been forced to stay here.
“The faster ones…they might get as far as the third level. The rest will be lucky to reach the fourth.”
Not far enough if I wanted them to be safe from both this murderous werewolf, or from Vin, should he prevail. “Keep them going all night.”
“You don’t think he can win?”
I hesitated, but then finally spoke my fears. “I’ve seen Vin fight. He…he will cheat. And no matter how good the king is, he does not seem the type to fight dishonorably.”
Luc turned to me fully. “When did you see Vin fight? Few have seen it, although the tales of him have been spread far and wide.”
Which of course worked in his favor. If no one had ever seen him fight, they didn’t know what his dirty tricks were, or his magic.
“A long time ago,” I said softly. “Before we were taken in at Rose House, not long after we arrived.”
Deadly, Lord Vin was deadlier than even Gabriel understood.
Which was why I wouldn’t be continuing on with them. I’d never intended to.
I turned to Tulli and met her gaze. I could see the second the truth dawned on her.
“You’re not coming with us.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact.
“What? No.” Feather grabbed my hand and squeezed hard. “Of course she is,” she hissed at Tulli before turning her face toward mine. “Of course you are…Right?”
My gut churned as I tried to think of how to explain it without adding on to the already mountainous pile of worries.
“There is more at play than you know. I need to make sure that Ga–” I broke off and then continued, “the Demon King survives this. The Oracle has foreseen that he needs my help. Many lives depend on it.”
Luc nodded slowly and I realized that he knew what I knew.
Maybe more.
“Our lives depend on you coming!” Feather whispered. “We cannot live without you! We’re together forever. We promised…”
The blow of a horn signaled that the army was within sight of the castle, the sound deep and sonorous as it echoed through the core of Seventhell.
“Briar Queen…” Luc muttered, his voice low and urgent.
“I’m so sorry. I have to go. We will be together again soon, I swear it! I love you both.”
I wrenched my hand away. There was no time for more explanation or long, tearful goodbyes. I blew them a kiss and ran back the way we’d come, Luc following quickly.
They would be angry, but we were sisters. All would be forgiven if I made it through this in one piece.
It was a big if.
We passed other humans as they were hurrying toward the tunnel up to the next level. I waved to Harald and Jeff. “The girls are ahead, look out for them!”
Jeff saluted me, and Harald gave me a solemn nod. “Always, Briar Queen.”
Maybe they would be safer in the upper levels, but it wouldn’t be for long. Jack…or whoever he was…he would follow them eventually.
One fire at a time, Marinnia.
In this case, literally.
“What is his magic?” Luc finally asked as we made it to the main gate of the castle. “Gabriel can bend metal, warp it to his very will. We haven’t had a Forger in…maybe a thousand years?”
Forger, I hadn’t heard that term, but it made sense. “And how long since you’ve had a demon who could…” I didn’t have the right word for what Vin could do, and I’d seen it in action, though I’d been hiding behind crates while he’d fought ten other Fallen, as if it were nothing.
Luc had me by the elbow, hurrying me up several flights of stairs, not taking me to the library but to the rooftop.
Gabriel had his back to us as he stared out across the city, no doubt watching the army that approached.
“Did you see them all leave?”
“All but one.” Luc let me go and stepped back, shutting the door behind him.
“Demon.”
“Marinnia. You should not be here. You were to go with the others to safety! Damn Luc for—”
“I didn’t give him a choice.” I swallowed hard. “I need to speak with you.”
He looked over his shoulder then, an eyebrow raised. “You needed to speak to me?”
“The Oracle said you would need my help. It does me no good to have the Doves moved aboveground only to have them die in the end along with the rest of the world. If you lose this fight, we all lose. I have information that might help you. I have seen Vin fight, it is like nothing else, and I am afraid—”
He turned slowly to face me, leaning now with his back to his enemy, as if he wasn’t about to be challenged to a fight to the death. “You are afraid for me?”
My mouth opened and shut and all I could do was nod, unable to look away. “I saw him fight, years ago. He has a power like nothing I’ve heard of in any Fallen.”
Gabriel stepped toward me, catching my hand, touching the ring…shit…the ring was not the simple ring, but a ring of Innia’s. I tried to pull my hand away, but he held fast.
It will be fine, you are wearing your cloak. It hides you, you know this.
But in the fear of the moments, the rush to leave, I’d forgotten to change out that one ring.
“Marinnia,” Gabe drew me a little closer, “I am touched that you’re concerned.”
I let my fingers weave with his, my hand engulfed by his much larger one.
“I am worried, Gabe. And not just for the world at large. But for you.” In a moment that might be our last, I couldn’t stop my lips from speaking the truth.
“Despite what I thought at first…you are not like the others. And I believe you could do much good here, as king, but not if you are dead. For some reason I can’t even explain to myself, that would pain me more than I can say. ”
Slowly he lifted my hand to his mouth, kissing first the back of it, then rolling it to my wrist, to place another kiss there. “I am not going to die, my queen, but I cannot be worrying about your safety either.”
The door behind us reverberated suddenly, as if someone were fighting to get through.
“Let me in immediately! He is my fiancé, damn you!”
Gabe closed his eyes and swore under his breath, letting me go slowly.
“Son of a bitch.”