Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
I twisted my hands, thinking of what would come if I did this, but if Jax had tricked me, if he had no intentions of letting me go, and I just sat here na?vely believing he would eventually free me, it would be better if I took matters into my own hands and escaped when he least expected it.
Besides, I had rulibs. I had enough coin to start my own life. But the collar was still entirely in place. However, if I escaped now, and neither Guardian Alleron nor Jax knew where I went, I could truly start anew. They would never find me. And with the collar in place, I truly wouldn’t be a danger to others. Then, the supernatural courts would definitely deem me worthy of being free.
My heart raced, and hope began to spread through me again. Blessed, beautiful, courageous hope .
Nobody knew me in Jaggedston. I could escape into the masses and actually stay living in society since the collar meant I wouldn’t have to flee to the Wood. I could do my best to lead a normal, low-key life. It wasn’t what I wanted for myself, but in my current circumstances, it was probably the best outcome I could hope for.
A sharp pain of regret hit me that I would never know true freedom, but what Guardian Alleron had confirmed in the Ustilly Mountains remained. I would never be free of the collar. It couldn’t come off. I would have to make the best of it, and since I already knew my mother was dead, did I even need to do my own calling anymore?
Magic rattled inside me when my mind was finally made up.
I raced to the bag that contained the clothes I’d gotten in Fosterton and quickly hefted the sack of rulibs into it. That, along with my meager pile of clothes, was all I had, but it was plenty to get me started.
I strapped the heavy bag to my back and returned to the door. This was it. This was the moment I’d spent my entire life waiting for.
A shallow breath lifted my chest, but I closed my eyes and delved down into the darkness inside me. My collar vibrated, warning me at the abrupt shift in power, but I was careful. If I ventured to the Veiled Between as I had when I’d been trying to delay Jax on our trip to Stonewild, I could end up in a perilous state, entirely broken and unconscious.
But if I did it slowly and withdrew the second I got what I needed.. .
Concentrating, I dove to that place within me, to the center of where my powers lay, and latched onto the darkness, demanding that it heed my call and venture me to the Veiled Between.
My collar jolted me with electricity, warning me, but I didn’t stop.
Weightlessness drifted around me, and the collar zapped me again, but I sped through the galaxy until the Veil appeared, then punched through its mist.
A bone snapped.
White-hot agony seared along my corporeal limb. I screamed, instinctively cradling the injury as my soul remained unattached from my body. My physical hand was cradling my wrist, and I could feel enough of my body to understand what was happening. The collar had broken one of my bones. So be it. I could still walk with that injury.
Wincing against the suffocating pain, I returned my attention to the Veiled Between but stayed on the edge, hovering at the entrance. Despite my care, another zing shot from my collar, burning my throat.
Panting, I called into the darkness. Come to me. Quickly!
A semelee drifted forward just as another zap electrified me, an even bigger one than before. A tendon severed in my hand.
I screamed anew.
What do you seek, Princess of Shadows? the semelee crooned .
Breathing heavily, I called to it. I need your power.
Lightheadedness consumed me when another blazing blast from the collar electrified my nerves, but I managed to stay conscious as the semelee curled around me and offered me its monumental strength.
I pulled on its magic, mixing it with my own. Breathing through the pain, I whispered the unlocking spell again.
In the fae lands, the door’s lock clicked open.
Triumph skated through me just as another bone snapped, this one at my elbow. I cried out again and hurriedly let the semelee go. Thank you.
Breathing hard, I immediately calmed my lorafin magic and barreled back into my body before my collar could punish me more.
Panting, I came awake and became aware of my surroundings, only to find my arm hanging at an odd angle at my elbow. My wrist throbbed, and my fingers hung limply. I was relieved to see it was all on the same side, though. I wouldn’t be able to use that arm or wrist until everything healed—several hours at least—but my other arm was still workable.
I cradled my injury, and mind-numbing pain blazed through me, but panting, I quietly opened the door and peered into the hallway.
Nobody lay about.
Being careful to keep my footsteps quiet, I ducked into the corridor, the heavy coins in my bag jingling slightly, and I wondered which way to go. Searing pain cut through me again, and I clung to consciousness, sagging against a wall. The pain was agonizing , but I needed to keep my wits about me.
Which way? Through a haze of pain, I was able to make out the wide hall that was extravagantly decorated. It was just as decadent as the suite I’d been in—Jax was obviously extremely wealthy—but the door to where I’d been lay at the hall’s end.
Only one way to go. Evening light streamed in through windows ahead, and the hallway intersected with another not far away.
I blinked and shook my head slightly to stay focused. Once certain I wouldn’t fall over from the throbbing in my limb, I picked up a run, keeping my footsteps light and quick.
When I reached the windows, I almost stopped. They were clear, and I could easily see the blazing city of Jaggedston spilling out before me. Wherever I was, it was high up, giving a clear view of the city and the stunning Adriastic Sea just behind it, but I didn’t slow. I couldn’t.
Not stopping to contemplate just how grand Jax’s residence was, I carried on. A stairwell appeared to the left, and I took the stairs down as fast as my feet could carry me under the bag’s strain.
I’d managed to travel down two flights, my vision only going black once, as the monstrosity of Jax’s home baffled me anew. He has to be a lordling of one of the ten Houses.
At the bottom of the second flight, voices drifted to my ears. Female voices .
I came to a careening stop and ducked behind a window’s long curtain just as two wildlings walked by. Thankfully, the jingling coins quieted just in time, and I made sure to keep my injured arm still. If I jarred it, I didn’t know if I would be able to stop from crying out.
I froze, not moving a muscle even though it nearly killed me to quiet my breathing.
“He’s in a right tizzy tonight,” one of them said quietly to the other. “Best to steer clear of the ballroom if you can manage.”
“Stars Above,” the second replied. “He punished poor Willowman this afternoon when all he was doing was dusting the chandelier in preparation of their arrival now that they’re all back in residence, but I guess Willowman’s odor offended the king. It must be because of that emergent meeting that House Graniteer called. The king’s been positively dreadful.”
The king? House Graniteer? It felt as though my heart stopped, and for a moment, my disbelief cut through the pain. I couldn’t be where it sounded like I was. No . That wasn’t possible.
The other one tsked and said something more, but they’d grown too far away for me to hear any of their conversation.
Chest heaving, I stepped out from behind the curtain and peered cautiously down the hall. The females were gone.
I paused to study more of the details of wherever I was. Forest green, gold, and sapphire blue colors were everywhere. With a sickening sense of dread, I held my arm carefully and bolted.
I flew down the remaining stairs as fast as I could. Panic began to consume me, making my movements louder, but if I was where I suspected...
I yelped when I hit the bottom floor too fast and jarred my arm.
Cradling it more, I searched for a way out. A wide hallway spread out before me, but pain was clouding my vision again. Blinking, I tried to see straight. Through a fog, I could barely make out two large doors ahead. The city was visible through them, and its meaning was clear.
An exit.
Relief hit me. Panting anew, I leaped off the last stair and plunged right through an invisible ward.
My body seized, the ward’s grip holding me briefly before releasing me.
Once on the other side, I didn’t pause to contemplate why a ward had been surrounding where I’d been kept. Instead, I ran, surging toward the exit.
A clatter came from the side, then someone boomed, “You there! Who are you?”
My collar rattled violently at my throat, and my arm throbbed with every beat of my feet, but the doors promised freedom. If I could just reach them.
My uninjured hand clasped the door handle and yanked on it .
Fresh air swirled into the entryway. I made it!
I leaped out of the door, but just as my feet were about to touch the stones outside, someone clamped onto my shoulder.
I screamed and tried to jerk away, but whoever grabbed me was strong. He wrestled me back inside, then slammed the door and spun me to face him. The spin threw me off kilter, and my broken arm collided with the closed door. Blazing white-hot pain sizzled along my nerves, blacking out my vision.
“Who are you?” the male demanded.
My vision cleared just enough to gaze up at a wildling. He wore serving garb, very similar to what the staff wore in Faewood Kingdom’s court.
A sickening sense of dread filled me all the way to my toes. “I’m no one.”
He harrumphed and hauled me roughly toward him, his eyes widening when the rulibs clinked together in my bag. “What have you got in there? Coin, eh? Are you stealing from the king?”
Oh Goddess. I fought him, tried to get free of him, but when he knocked into my injured arm again, blackness coated my vision.
“What’s going on out here?” another male called, running into the room.
“I found this female fleeing the west tower, then trying to escape. She’s a thief. Got a bag full of rulibs from the sounds of it. ”
The wildling thrust me forward, and I nearly collapsed from the pain.
The second male frowned, also a wildling and also a servant considering his attire. “It looks like she’s injured. Was that your doing?” he asked the first one.
The large wildling who had grabbed me huffed. “It most certainly wasn’t. I found her like this, trying to exit the serving fae doors. Perhaps she broke her arm when she was running through the palace, or she injured it when she broke in here.”
The second male sighed and grabbed a hold of my uninjured wrist just as more voices came from farther away in this monstrous castle. “I’ll take it from here. I’ll bring her to the Master of Arms. He’ll know what to do with her.”
Panic nearly closed my throat, but I managed to beg, “No, please . Let me go.”
“None of that. Thieves are always punished. Come with me.”
“But I didn’t steal anything! Please!”
But he dragged me down the hall, and my hope of escape was fading as fast as my vision. He pulled me around the corner, and a sharp intake of breath met my ears.
“What in the realm?” a male growled.
I gazed up at a male dressed in black slacks and a cobalt sweater. Black shoes covered his feet, and two guards marched behind him. One was tall, brawny, and had auburn hair, the other a flaming redhead. None of them wore masks.
And all three of their eyes widened .
My stomach bottomed out as I stared up at Jax.
I knew it was him. I would know those eyes anywhere.
Dazzling blue irises, which were a mixture of swirling azure and navy, filled with shock. My attention traveled swiftly over the rest of him. A strong nose, defined lips, a ruggedly handsome masculine face. Stars and galaxy, he was... beautiful .
The two guards behind him—no doubt Phillen and Lars—wore the same uniforms they’d been in the other day, that I now realized were probably what all royal guards wore at Stonewild’s palace.
Slack-jawed, they stared at me, and I had a feeling they felt as flabbergasted as I did.
“I apologize, Prince Adarian.” The servant bowed.
Oh Gods, he’s the prince.
The wildling’s hold on me tightened, forcing me to stay in place despite my pathetic attempts at inching away. His rough treatment made a shock of pain zing up my arm, and I cried out again.
Jax snarled at the servant, and he made a move toward him, but at the last moment he pulled himself up short.
“I found this female running through the halls stealing rulibs,” the wildling added. “I’m not sure how she got in, but I’ll take her to the Master of Arms to be dealt with.”
Dizziness made my vision swim. The pain was so blinding now that I was close to passing out.
“Did you harm her?” Jax’s nostrils flared, his aura beginning to pulse.
The servant gasped. “Of course not, Your Highness. I found her in this state.”
“Release her,” Jax snapped.
The wildling’s fingers immediately relaxed. “I’m sorry, my prince.” The wildling bowed again and stepped away from me. “I was simply detaining her.”
“This female is my guest,” Jax replied, his tone sharp. The Dark Raider, or rather Prince Adarian, or Jax, or whatever other name he went by, assessed me again. His gaze shot to my injury, his eyes hard, and the intensity of his aura made me want to flinch.
The servant’s eyes popped wide. “Oh, my prince, I do sincerely apologize. I didn’t realize she was authorized to be here. Please, Your Highness, accept my apol?—”
Jax waved his hand. “It’s fine. I brought her here the other day, but given the emergent meeting that came up that required all of us to leave quite suddenly, I wasn’t able to tell her I would be gone. No matter. I’ll take her from here.” Ice filled his eyes, his expression so cold I shivered.
The servant inclined his head and scurried off, rounding the corner and disappearing back into the monstrous palace.
I struggled for words, struggled to comprehend what I’d just uncovered.
Jax signaled Phillen with a twitch of his fingers. “Nellip, find an empty chamber. Now. ”
Nellip?
“Yes, Your Highness.” Phillen, or perhaps Nellip was his real name, bowed, but his eyes burned with worry, and he quickly moved to the nearest door and opened it before peering inside. “No one’s in this one.”
Jax ushered me forward, his movements careful to avoid jarring my injury further, and we entered a drawing room of some kind. It was small, with several couches, an unlit fireplace, and no lights. The crown prince closed the door and locked it.
The second we were hidden inside, he rounded on me. “You’re hurt.”
But I flinched away. “ Don’t touch me.”
He pulled back as if I’d slapped him, but then his nostrils flared. “And not only are you injured, but you escaped from the suite. Dammit, Elowen. Do you know what this means?” He raked both hands through his hair, his fingers tangling in thick dark locks. “You probably thought I wasn’t returning. Is that why you escaped?” But he didn’t wait for me to reply and instead hissed. “Fuck! I knew I should have asked for Saramel’s help. I should have told her to tell you we’d been called away.”
My gaze darted between the three of them. “That’s why you never came back?” I swayed, his reason hitting me like a steel drum. But my abrupt movement jarred my injury, and I inhaled sharply through the pain.
He immediately stepped closer to me, a heavy frown descending upon his features. “Elowen...” His frown increased, renewed concern overlapping his anger. “You need a healer. Fuck, let me help you.”
But I whipped my head back and forth. “No, I don’t need a healer, but...” I struggled to comprehend the last three days of never-ending anxiety. “I didn’t think you’d be returning. You’re right. That’s why I escaped. Because for three days I waited for you to free me, but you never came, even though you promised to return, but...you didn’t.” To my absolute mortification, tears filled my eyes.
His face fell, his expression so crestfallen that for a moment I couldn’t breathe. “You thought I left you. You truly thought I would do that to you.” His attention dipped to my arm again, and a look of such regret passed over his features that for a moment, I physically felt the weight of his despair. It pounded through his aura in steady, throbbing waves. “I should have told you. I should have found a way to explain what was happening. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Elowen.”
He sounded so aggrieved, and it struck me that if he’d been called away to an emergent meeting with the ten Houses, then he likely hadn’t been searching for the half-breed he sought.
My heart twisted at that realization. I wasn’t the only one who’d been caught up in anxiety. Jax likely had been as well, not just because of me, but because who was to say where that half-breed was now.
I cradled my injured arm more. My heart was pounding so wildly it felt like a caged bird beating its wings against a wall, but at least my vision wasn’t fading as much anymore. Standing still helped, and despite the commotion, I was slowly healing.
“What do we do now?” Phillen asked Jax, the worry on his face not lessening.
The prince raked a hand through his midnight hair again. Wavy, thick strands poked up between his fingers. “I don’t know.”
“Well, I do,” I countered. “What you need to do is let me go, because that’s what you promised to do three days ago.”
Phillen let out an irritated sigh. “My prince, she can’t...” He fiddled with the sword on his belt, and Lars did the same. Both looked entirely agitated. “She can’t be allowed to leave now. She knows too much.”
Lars nodded in agreement. “Nellip’s right.”
My stomach sank. “What? Why? I won’t tell anyone what I know or what I’ve seen. I won’t reveal your identities.”
Phillen glared at me. “Even so, and even if we could trust you, the risk is too great.”
Stomach sinking to the bottom of my toes, I turned pleading eyes on the prince. “But you can command me, right? You could command me to forget everything with your Mistvale magic, and all of this will be fine. I won’t tell anyone your secrets, Jax. I promise. I won’t tell a single soul you’re the Dark Raider or who your raider friends are.”
Lars’s head whipped to the door, his eyes widening. “Keep your voice down,” he hissed even though we were still alone in the room.
“I’ve already cast a silencing Shield,” Jax replied just as fast. “No one can hear us.”
My head whipped to the side. Silencing Shield? But I didn’t see anything. Turning my attention back to him, I practically begged, “Please, release me. Command me. Do whatever you need to do to feel safe so you can free me. Please, Jax. You promised.”
Jax placed his hands on his hips, his fingers tapping them repeatedly. “My psychic magic doesn’t work like that. I can command you not to speak of it, but I can’t command you to forget.”
“Then command me not to speak. I’ll never tell anyone, and it doesn’t matter if I remember. Your secret’s safe with me. Please , just let me go!” I grabbed his sweater with my uninjured hand, my fingers digging into him like claws. I was met with firm muscle underneath that jumped at the contact.
He stared at my hand, and the muscle in his jaw pumped. A fleeting emotion washed over his face. Longing. Regret. Or perhaps despair. I couldn’t tell because it passed so quickly.
Fingers covering mine, his expression filled with sorrow. “Elowen...I want to?—”
“She knows too much, Jax,” Phillen interrupted on a low growl. “We’re all at risk if the truth comes to light. You know what that means, and you know what you promised all of us when we went down this road with you.” He raised his eyebrows, and a silent exchange took place between them. “I have a family, Jax.” His face burned with meaning.
“But command me not to tell anyone,” I tried again. “Even if you can’t make me forget, that’ll fix that I’ve discovered your true identity. Right?”
Jax tore both hands through his hair simultaneously again before shaking his head. “No, it won’t. If another fairy with magic like mine commanded you to tell the truth, if his or her magic was superior, it would overpower mine. You would be forced to speak of what you know, and it would implicate all of us.”
My fingers gripped his sweater more. “Then we can do a fairy bargain that promises I won’t be able to tell anyone!”
He slowly shook his head. “A fairy bargain only ensures you’re punished if you speak. It can’t stop you from talking if a Mistvale fairy commands you.”
I released his sweater and threw my hand up. “But what are the chances of that happening? I’ll stay away from Mistvale. I’ll never speak to anyone from there who may have the power to do that. I promise. Please, Jax. Please .”
But Phillen’s glare on Jax held firm, and Lars leaned closer to Jax and whispered, “Phillen’s right. We can’t take that chance, no matter how small. You promised us, Jax.”
Prince Adarian’s jaw locked, and his attention collided with mine. Another flash of raw emotion flitted through his eyes. Aching regret meshed with a flash of...fear .
My head snapped back as I struggled to understand that, but then he uttered, “I’m sorry, Elowen. I’m so sorry.”
And I knew . I knew to the bottom of my heart that any chance of a new life, freedom, and independence had just disappeared from my grasp like mist on the wind.
And with a crashing realization, understanding dawned on me.
My freedom was entirely lost.
Because I’d uncovered the identity of the Dark Raider, I was now a liability to them all. And one look at Jax’s intent expression told me that despite our deal, he wasn’t going to let me go.
“You’re not going to free me, are you?” I choked.
Jax’s eyes dimmed, and slowly, he shook his head. He reached for me, tried to touch me, but I whipped back.
“No, you never touch me again!”
His eyes shuttered, and his jaw locked, but I held my ground as my shoulders heaved in a quiet sob.
Jax wouldn’t release me now. And given all that I knew, any hope I’d once had of being free of my caged life disappeared like a dream. A coveted, hopeful, stupid dream.
I was so foolish to think my life would ever be anything else, because the crown prince of Stonewild Kingdom was now my new guardian. Forever, Jax would have to keep me close. Confined. Watched. Owned .
And I would never be allowed to escape or be free.
My collar rattled violently at my throat as hatred for him instantly ignited inside me. Dark, burning hatred at what he was forcing on me erupted like a volcano within.
And when I seethed and cast my rage toward the prince, that fleeting flash of fear I’d witnessed earlier vanished, and in its place, the heir to the throne emerged.
An icy mask descended over his features. The prince’s shoulders straightened, and his aura swelled. And his next words confirmed all that I feared.
“Nellip, escort Elowen back to her chambers. She’s not to leave there again until I command it.”
Thank you so much for reading Kingdom of Faewood. Krista hopes you enjoyed it! If you want to know more about what happens to Elowen, Jax, and the mystery surrounding the half-breed and Centennial Matches, download book two, Veil of Shadows .
Jax and Elowen’s bumpy journey to love has only just begun. :)