Chapter 47
Divided
“Njal,” Kaelun hissed, hands at the ready as he stepped between me and the autumn fae.
“Give it a rest, kid,” the commander taunted. “You’re at the adult’s table now, and I will get what I came for.” His auburn eyes flicked to me with a smile like he’d already caught what he’d feast on.
I had no idea if Tarrin and Sidrick were okay—or knew what we faced—but I prayed to the Mother that they weren’t being ambushed like us and could sneak up on this motherfucker.
According to Caius and my readings, autumn fae were intrinsically weaker than summer fae due to the nature of their court, but as Tarrin pointed out earlier; skill bests strength.
Kaelun and I were centuries behind our commanding counterparts, and I wasn’t about to underestimate anyone or anything after that hellhound had come too close for comfort.
“I don’t know, Njal,” Kaelun said in a taunting tone that surprised me, “seems to me like you’re outnumbered.”
“Are you sure about that?” he retorted, eyebrow raised.
Before either of us had a chance to respond, someone valenned in behind me. Unable to react fast enough, strong hands grabbed me by the base of my neck. Their powers surged, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I didn’t break contact immediately, I’d be valenned away.
I reached over my shoulder, slamming my blade through their wrist hard enough that it slid straight through, the tip nicking my leathers.
“Bitch,” the male roared.
Knowing my dagger would return, I let go and turned to face my assailant, barely registering that he was clad in matching commander gear to Njal as I pushed two hands toward him and allowed that deep, ancient power within to flood from me.
Glittering white streams of power erupted from my hands and shoved the autumn fae hard enough that he was forced to valen before his back smashed into a mighty oak—I distantly wondered how long it would take a fae to heal from a broken back.
Unfortunately, I’d be deprived of that knowledge for now.
“Interesting.” Njal clucked from behind me, stoking flame within me that yearned to burn as bright as the sun.
I didn’t dare turn to face him, leaving us exposed. As if Kaelun read my mind, his back bumped up against mine. “You okay?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” I breathed. “Who was that?”
“Lothar, Wymond’s third.”
Right after Endymion, I thought, wishing more than anything it had been him who’d found us.
As if re-summoned by Kaelun’s words, Lothar materialized in front of me, only this time he’d given himself a wider berth.
Smart.
“Enough of this. This is going to go one of two ways,” he said to me as he raised a finger, “you can come with us willingly, and we’ll spare your little friend here. Or you can fight us and be the reason his precious Adilyn never sees him again—”
“You keep her name out of your traitorous mouth,” Kaelun snapped.
With a second finger up, Lothar’s mouth slowly curled in a smile, knowing he’d hit his mark before continuing as if he’d never been interrupted. “Either way, my High Lord has grown impatient with these games and will take possession of you by any means necessary.”
“But it’s not by any means necessary, is it, Commander?” I challenged.
His head tilted a fraction. “No, I’m fairly certain those were his exact words.”
“Interesting,” I said, rallying my powers, “because I was under the impression that I’m only good to your High Lord alive.
” I took no small amount of satisfaction from the wide-eyed response that was almost comical on his severe features.
“Now!” I called to Kaelun, who’s read my intent though my powers.
Trusting him to take care of Njal, I focused on Lothar, who cursed as I flung four unimbued blades in quick succession, and as he defended against the onslaught, I pulled at threads of magic in a ring around him and tugged—hard.
The ground erupted in flames surrounding him, and I thanked the stars that it actually worked.
Turning, I did the same to Njal, whose look of shock was all I marked before the flames towered over him.
“Come on,” Kaelun said, grabbing my hand as we sprinted back to the others—they were gone, as was their gear.
Not missing a beat, Kaelun turned left, letting go of me as he led us through thinning trees eastward for a time before turning south through the moons-lit forest as if following an invisible line, and I didn’t have to look back to know that our tracks were being covered by his brother’s unara as Kaelun used his own to sense it and rounded us along its furthest reaches at a sprint.
I wasn’t sure how long we’d been running full-out, but my lungs began to burn, and while it was well after they would’ve as a human, legs were close to giving out.
Kaelun stopped so abruptly that I ran into his back. Hard. We both grunted as air rushed out of our lungs, the impact throwing us down the hillside of a small ravine until we landed unceremoniously on rocky ground.
“Why did you stop?” I groused through the heavy, searing lungfuls of air my body greedily drank in while I lay flat on my back feeling like I’d been trampled by a horse.
Like me, Kaelun took a moment to recover and didn’t respond.
Once my heart stabilized and the head rush pressing hard against my temples subsided a fraction, I shifted my head to the right and watched my shadow’s chest rise and fall at the same pace as mine. “Kaelun?” I asked, voice soft. “What is it?”
He closed his eyes, and a single tear slipped down the corner where crow’s feet should be, disappearing behind his elegant fae ear before it rounded the curve of his neck and stained his leathers. My heart ached for him.
“Sidrick’s unara,” he said, eyes still closed. “It just… vanished.”
Reaching over, I slipped a hand into his and squeezed. “Look at me,” I whispered, the emotion I held back stealing my voice.
Kaelun hesitated before his head lolled toward me, and I could’ve wept for his sadness as the moons lit his face.
“You don’t know that anything happened to him, okay?
” I said and squeezed his hand again, this time holding the pressure as I spoke.
“He could’ve valenned out of range for all we know.
Besides, Wymond won’t kill him. I’m not saying he won’t get hurt if he’s captured, but I’m saying that he’ll come home. ”
Kaelun’s eyes filled with fresh tears as he finally squeezed my hand back. “He’s still alive,” he breathed, like a mantra he’d undoubtedly repeat until he laid eyes on his brother again.
“He’s alive,” I echoed.
“Okay,” he said.
I wished more than anything I could take his pain away. “I’m so sorry, Kaelun.”
His brows knit together, and I noted how they didn’t crease like his brother’s. “What could you possibly have to apologize for?” Releasing my hand, he sat up, holding my gaze the entire time.
Mirroring him, I groaned as I peeled myself from the riverbed. Sighing, I said, “None of you would be in this mess if it weren’t for me.”
“No. You don’t get to do that. Do you hear me?”
I started, surprised by his conviction.
“This mess”—he motioned all around us—"is our mess, and you’re caught in the crossfire.
Not the other way around. The blame is more my burden to bear than yours.
I’m not proud of it, but it was my ancestors—and all those of the seasonal courts—who sought to steal the very essence of us.
Of the Celestial Court." Voice lowering, he said, “Of you, Lady Nyleeria. A grave mistake that cost us so much, and one the Autumn Court still has yet learned after all this time. So, no”—he shook his head—"you don’t get to claim this as yours. If anything, you should hate us for the burden that’s been unfairly thrust upon you.
I’m beyond sorry you’re the one forced to shoulder it, and ashamed that my kind still covets it for their own. "
It was my turn to shed tears brimming with emotions, and it was truly the first time I’d truly been validated in feeling wronged by the unfairness of it all.
It was comforting in a strange way to know fate’s web had ensnared us all, making me feel less isolated.
I felt seen. Not for being the spark, but for the human girl who’d never stood a chance of having a perfectly mundane life.
“Thank you for saying that, Kaelun. It means more than you could know,” I said, voice thick.
He nodded, then took in our surroundings. “Now what?”
“Well…” I said, dragging out the word. “I assume you can’t use your unara now that we’re not protected by Sidrick’s?”
He shook his head. “By that reasoning, my brother wouldn’t be able to use unara to mask us; it doesn’t work that way.”
“Wait? What? Are you saying that not even a High Lord can sense when someone uses an unara?”
He nodded.
“Does that mean they wouldn’t be able to sense arcane magic?”
Kaelun shrugged, then seemed to think it over. “I don’t know. Maybe? Either way, I’d rather not test it.”
I chuckled. “I wasn’t planning to. Though I really, really, wish you could just valen to the border.”
He pulled at his neck. “Yeah. Me too. I don’t know how you humans do it.”
“Well, for one, we have horses. For another, we normally don’t have magical beings able to track us to the ends of Lumnara with hellhounds and ways to appear out of thin air,” I deadpanned.
“Hellhounds.” He grinned. “If that’s not their official name, it should be.”
“Speaking of,” I said, grunting as I stood, “let’s get as far away from Wymond’s evil spawns as possible.”
“By evil spawns,” he said, lifting himself off the hard ground, “you mean the hellhounds, right?”
I threw him a mischievous grin. “Actually, I meant his two over-confident lap dogs.”
That got a real laugh out of Kaelun, who threw his hands over his mouth to muffle the sounds. “Gods, I never did like those two.” A shiver wracked his body as if agreeing. “They’re so…”
“Condescending?” I threw over my shoulder as I started down the stream.
“To start, yeah. And they’re that way to everyone. Aunt Fiora refuses to join events they attend. Actually, when you came for the summer solstice, that was the first, and only, time I can remember her going in my lifetime.”
I tried not to think about how emotionally and physically spent I was as the sun began to paint the morning sky pink, spurring the songbirds into action.
Tarrin claimed it would take a solid eighteen hours at least to reach the border, and while Kaelun and I had walked through the night, we’d been on our feet for over twenty-four hours without resting.
While that may have been impossible as a human, it was no picnic as a fae either.
“Lady Nyleeria?” Kaelun asked from behind.
“Hum?” I said, feeling myself sway.
“We need to rest. My unara is flickering out, and I can barely sense your magic.”
He was right. We were dead on our feet, but my mind was convinced that we’d only make it if we never stopped. Was it reasonable? Absolutely not. But fear rarely danced with logic.
“Just a little farther,” I murmured.
“No.” The word was firm but weak. “There’s a small recess up there that’s well hidden.”
My gaze dragged up to where he pointed, and I almost wept at how far it seemed. “Okay,” I conceded. “But just for a little while.”
We climbed that damn hill in silence, and no one would ever convince me that it hadn’t taken an eternity to reach.
The small recess was already too small for either of us to sit up in it, but with Kaelun’s bulk, it was a tight squeeze. I adjusted my bag, using it as a pillow, the cool rock wall at my back welcomed. Facing me, Kaelun curled into himself, ensuring his limbs weren’t visible from below.
It wasn’t ideal having his back exposed, but the foliage was thick enough that I could barely tell the sun had breached the horizon. Besides, ideal or not, our bodies succumbed to exhaustion within seconds of settling, and we had no choice but to hope the gods were on our side as we finally rested.
“Lady Nyleeria,” a soft voice coaxed, “it’s time to get up.”
“Kai,” I grumbled under my breath, “how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” Shifting, I tucked my face further into my pillow. Gods above, why couldn’t she just let me sleep for once?
A low chuckle rumbled, the sound reverberating through my chest. “It’s not funny,” I groused, nestling in deeper.
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but you’re kinda adorable when you’re pouty,” a male voice said—Kaelun’s voice.
My heart sank as the veil of sleep was flung away, replaced by the heavy blanket of reality. Blinking my eyes open, I found Kaelun’s gaze on mine, his earnest deep mahogany eyes alight with amusement.
Soft light flitted in through the curtaining vines, accentuating the golden threads of his dirty blond hair.
It was true that his features still clung onto a bit of that awkwardness we all have when we’re younger, but Kaelun was handsome, and it was clear he’d boast the same striking features as his brother.
I wondered if it weren’t for their vastly different styles if some would mistake them for twins once Kaelun fully matured.
Either way, Addy was one lucky gal—and I kinda wanted to meet her.
“What?” Kaelun asked with a small frown.
I sighed loud and long. “I don’t want to go back out there,” I admitted, looking at him through heavy lids.
“Yeah. Me either. But the sooner we get home, the sooner we can get help for Uncle Artton.”
He’d left his brother off that list—his way of clinging on to hope. My chest was heavy with worry for all of us, including the twins.
And Endymion.
“What is it?” Kaelun asked, and I tracked his gaze, realizing I’d been rubbing the ache in my chest.
I drew my hand down. “It’s nothing, just not looking forward to whatever this gods-forsaken court has in store for us today.”