Chapter 56
Elsewise Engaged
Ifelt like I’d fallen through ice into the frigid lake below as I stood before the High Lord of the Autumn Court. I didn’t dare look away as he stared down at me from a few paces away like I was a pestilence he needed to eradicate.
The hate that wafted off of him was strong enough I swore I could taste its acridness, and I unconsciously took a step back.
I didn’t have to look around to know I was in the Great Hall Endymion told me I’d be stolen away to, the sound of the rain pelting the glass ceiling and walls was almost deafening.
I’d experienced a High Lord’s power before. Had been drawn to it. Had flinched when Caius’ had lost control out of anger. But I’d never experienced its ire turned on me, and stars above, it was enough to bring any being—mortal or not—to their knees.
I swallowed, then reached for my power only to come up empty. Darkly, I prayed poison still coursed through my veins. I’d hated Artton for calling me out that day, but as I stood there with heavy breaths and trembling knees, I finally understood what he had—that one day my fear would get me killed.
I refused to prove him right.
“You found her,” a familiar voice said, shifting my fear to anger.
Wymond glanced over his shoulder, and I followed his gaze to see King Thaddeus descending a massive, ornately carved wooden staircase that curved inward as it cascaded downward us.
I took in the room then, drinking it in like it would be that last I’d ever see—despite my promise to Endymion.
There was no questioning why it was called the Great Hall.
The ceiling’s expansive dome was crafted by countless geometric panes of glass in burnished autumnal colors, the sight utterly mesmerizing.
Had it been sunny, I instinctively knew their colors would litter the rustic redwood beneath my feet in a way that continued the tapestry of leaves blanketing the ground on the other side of the glass walls as if there was no divide.
If I hadn’t found myself living my own personal nightmare, I would’ve reveled in its warm beauty—the kind that called for a hearth and a warm blanket.
Thaddeus’ gaze lingered on me for a moment before flicking past me, and I shuddered at the poorly veiled menace in his eyes. “Ah, the traitor returns,” he purred.
Slowly, I turned and regretted it instantly. Sidrick, Kaelun, Tarrin, and Artton were heavily bound on their knees. “No,” I gasped and made for him.
Their eyes flashed with fear. “Spark!” Artton called, but he was too late.
A harsh crack sounded before cool leather coiled around my neck without mercy. I gasped for air as my fingers tore at the leathery noose. The other end was tugged, pulling me hard enough that my feet left the ground as I was whipped backward.
A harsh gush of air pressed out of my lungs as I collided with the ground.
“Move again, Nyleeria,” Wymond said with lethal calm, “and I won’t be as gentle.
” Adrenaline quickly stole my daze when he knelt and leaned over until his face hovered just beside mine from behind.
I didn’t dare move as he tucked my hair behind my ear and hesitated for a moment when its pointed tip was exposed to the cool air as if he hadn’t believed I’d been turned.
It was a testament to just how little he trusted Thaddeus not doubt, and I wondered if I could somehow leverage that knowledge.
“Understood?” he finally said with a low voice next to my ear.
Every tiny hair on my body stood on end.
My focus darted to my companions. Alive, I silently reminded myself in a weak attempt to bolster my waning hope. Though, as I took in Kaelun and Tarrin it was hard to feel grateful for that small mercy, given their bloodied state.
I fought back the guilt and fear that prickled behind my eyes, and as I did, the grip around my neck tightened, forcing my thoughts back to Wymond with a strangled cry.
“Is that understood?”
“Y-e-s,” I croaked through the noose.
“Very good,” he crooned, then released me.
I heaved over to my hands and knees, gasping for air through a fit of coughing. My palms on the warm, ancient wood calmed me—that is until I noted its rustic markings were eerily similar to Thaddeus’ escritoire.
“We’re going to do it here?” the king asked from my side, pulling Wymond’s attention from me as he stood to face his ally.
“Yes.” The word was cold, challenging even.
As I continued to catch my breath, a glint of light—barely noticeable—caught my eye.
“The cell would shield us from the spark,” Thaddeus argued. We should…"
I stopped listening and focused on where I’d seen the ember. It flashed again and my eyes bulged as I realized Artton was signaling me with a small flame.
Your powers are back? I mouthed.
He winked.
I glanced to Sidrick and Kaelun, who shook their heads almost imperceptibly, indicating they weren’t so lucky.
You? Artton mouthed back, asking after my powers.
I searched again, but the embers were barely there. Reading my distress, he offered me a solemn look of understanding before covertly glancing to the side, then mouthing, Courtyard.
My focus bounced between him and the window in disbelief. Was he really thinking what I thought he was?
Escape, I mouthed.
He dipped his chin.
I didn’t dare draw attention to myself and look back at our captors, who still argued over where to steal my powers.
Holding three fingers up, Artton indicated that he’d count down.
I tilted my chin at the others in a silent question, my heart dropping as he shook his head—it would just be the two of us.
Without magic, they wouldn’t be able to break their bonds.
With Caius’ order, he’d never risk my freedom by wasting precious time to free the others.
My heart was in my throat as I held Tarrin, Sidrick, and Kaelun’s gaze in turn, all of their expressing seemingly screaming one thing: Go!
It took everything I had to keep myself from fracturing.
Three. Artton tapped his fingers once against his thigh, letting me know he’d started counting down whether I was ready or not.
Two.
One.
In a fluid movement, Artton stood, breaking his bonds with the full force of his fae strength before magic like I’d never seen erupted from him. It passed by me with no effect, but my own powers stirred in its presence, and I knew instantly that he’d tapped into his arcane powers.
“Run!” he yelled, and I scrambled to my feet, moving as fast as I could toward him as he made for the window.
I didn’t look back at the grunts and heavy thud thud of Thaddeus and Wymond taking the brunt of whatever magic the summer fae had thrown at him.
I’d have to ask Artton to teach me that neat little trick if we got out alive.
Catching up to him, we sprinted for our lives, the thin glass barrier between us and possible freedom a mere ten paces away.
That close, my mind began planning ahead.
Our pace couldn’t relent until we cleared the palace grounds for Artton to valen us away.
It would be no small feat get through the heavily guarded grounds, but thick woods on the opposite side of the small garden between us would provide ample cover.
Most importantly, if we couldn’t valen until clearing the wards, neither could Wymond.
A loud crack snapped my thoughts back, and I glanced back to find Artton had shielded us from an attack.
“Come on,” Artton called, reaching out a hand behind him for me to grab.
We were mere strides away from the window when he pulled in the air around us, compressing it before throwing it at the glass.
I braced myself for the window to shatter, hand up just in case.
Nothing happened.
“Fuck,” Artton bellowed, skidding to a stop. “Fuck!” he screamed again, looking around us for another exit.
“What…” My words died as I saw the tell-tale shimmer of a barrier. My stomach dropped as I understood just why Wymond didn’t care if he ripped the power from me here—we weren’t surrounded by windows; we were surrounded by shields.
Quickly, I stepped up to the barrier, doing everything I could to ignore the clashing magic behind me as Artton gave as good as he took, his shield taking hit after hit from Thaddeus and Wymond.
Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself and searched for the Mother around me.
Our connection was weak, but she was there.
I dug into my core, and while my powers were still temporarily dormant, I could feel her resonance.
Remembering how I’d done it at the borders, I raised my hands and placed my palms against the invisible barrier.
Searing pain shot through my palms, and I screamed, hitting Artton as I jumped back. He paused his attack, tending only to his shield as he focused on me.
Haunting silence fell, and I looked past Artton’s bulk to see why the magical assault against us had stopped, and the satisfied maliciousness on Wymond’s featured had my chest clenching like a vice.
I hissed, my attention snapping to Artton as he turned my palms up, revealing angry blisters. They stung like the hells, but they also itched as my fae body mended the wounds, and I was grateful that at least enough of my powers had returned for that benefit to manifest.
“You can’t get us through?” Artton asked, and I had to give him credit for being calm.
“I can try again,” I said.
I made for the barrier, then stopped.
“The poison in your veins prevents you from slipping through my wards, shields, and boundaries,” Wymond said in a matter-of-fact tone as he walked toward us, unhurried, like a hunter that knew his pray was well and truly ensnared.
Artton closed his eyes for a long breath. Then, when he finally opened them, I wasn’t met with determination, I was bet with the resolution of a male who’d decided this was his last stand.
He turned to face our nightmare.
“No,” I cried, wincing when I grabbed his arm to stop him. “Artton, please.”
His gaze found mine as he looked down at me with a half-smile, the kind that made his dimple appear. Before I could react, he pulled me into his chest and pressed a kiss atop my head. I wrapped my arms tight around his torso.
“I’ll buy us some time for Endymion to get here,” he whispered.
My fingers fisted into the soft fabric of his shirt, and I knew there was nothing I could do as he stepped out of our embrace to face Wymond and Thaddeus, tucking me in behind him.
“I have to say, Artton, I’m impressed,” the High Lord said, observing his pray up close. “I’ve known you for centuries, and not once did I sense arcane magic from you.”
A collective gasp had me scanning the oval Great Room to find it had five feeder hallways; all entrances now flooded with autumn soldiers.
While that was shocking to see, it would forever pale to the stricken look on Sidrick’s face as he learned that—just like Endymion—the friend he considered a brother had kept it from him.
“Had I known,” Wymond continued, stopping about ten paces away, “I would’ve made sure you received the same poison as your precious Spark.”
Artton’s fists bunched from the venom-laced nick name that’d been reserved for him alone.
“Say what you will about the humans,” he continued, nodding to the king, “they have the most clever minds. In fact, it was King Thaddeus’ idea to mix my blood—whereby a fraction of my magic—with the dose Nyleeria received so that she’d be rendered useless until I personally pulled the poison from her.
” He clicked his tongue as he stared Artton down.
“Lesson learned, I suppose. I’ll have to ensure all poison has the same failsafe moving forward in case anyone else is holding such delightful secrets. ”
I bristled, instantly thinking about Endymion, and I prayed that he’d never endure being cut off from his source in such a cruel and controlling fashion.
Then again, he had said he was immune. Had that meant against whatever I’d received?
Did he even know? No, he couldn’t have; otherwise, he would’ve never inoculated me, knowing it wouldn’t work.
“Now, move aside,” the autumn lord ordered. “I’m in no mood to explain to Caius why I’ve returned his commander hanging on to life by a thread.”
“You can’t,” I blurted, stepping forward.
Artton hissed at me and put an arm out to push me back behind him.
A vicious smile darkened Wymond’s warm features. “My. My. Nyleeria. So protective. It appears your allegiances sway as often as a flag. I wonder, King Thaddeus, is your betrothed’s promise to marry as feckless as her sister’s allegiances?”
Her sister’s.
My… sister.
“Cassy,” I breathed, feeling ill as the world spun around me so fast I was forced to place a hand against Artton’s back to keep my balance.
He looked down at me, and it was the first time I’d ever seen pity from him.
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to breathe as blackness crept in from the sides of my vision.
What had Tarrin said? That time had moved differently in the human realm?
My mind raced to formulate a timeline. A year.
That’s what they’d said. A year had passed in the mere weeks it’d been in the Summer Court.
Cassy and Leighton had been returned to Thaddeus.
They’d been taken out of stasis.
They’d been under his influence.
And now, she was his betrothed.
I’d been stupid. So fucken stupid to pay them any mind. To feel guilty at the pain I’d caused. Of course she’d fallen for Thaddeus. Fuck, it really didn’t even matter if she had feelings for him or not. Cassy was an opportunist, at best—and to have a chance to elevate her status to queen…
Gods. Oh, gods.
“Breathe, Spark.” Artton’s calm voice pulled me back, and I’d never been so grateful to have an anchor as the last of my familial bonds were shattered—leaving me adrift.
From the corner of my eye, Wymond nodded to Thaddeus, and I realized too late that he’d intended the news as a distraction.
“Artton!” I cried out as a massive wall of power came hurtling our way.