Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Adrien
I hated the idea of being away from Ama for even a moment.
When she had disappeared— literally into thin air—it had single-handedly been the most terrifying moment of realization in my life.
More than my parents being imprisoned. More than my sister in danger.
More than any of that because the woman I loved was gone, just fucking gone.
Not that I didn’t love my family, but I knew where they were being held, and I knew they would be used as bargaining tools against us.
With Ama...I didn’t know any part of the equation, and that had driven me to insanity.
I hadn’t known who had taken her, what they wanted with her, or where she was.
Still, I’d known our efforts were essential to making sure that we not only survived what came next, but also won the damned war.
So, I’d kept my desire to be by her side to myself and had decided to go with Jace to gather intel from the front lines.
Commander Pandora and the others had been discussing our plans moving forward, but the largest piece of missing information was predicting what the Dark Elves planned to do next.
Luckily, Jace and I had the Wraith ability to move seamlessly in the shadows towards the barrier of the capital, where there were a heavy amount of forces lining the gate.
I knew Dark Elves were powerful, but they were also prideful and underestimated us, which was their biggest fault.
It also was a direct reflection of the leadership that commanded their house.
My parents weren't perfect, but they had always emphasized the importance of not underestimating any opponent, whether a Wraith or otherwise.
Although, I thought that was somewhat intrinsic to being a Wraith.
We constantly stayed in the shadows, summing up our opponents in silence, gathering the intel we needed without our targets knowing.
Unlike the other houses, specifically the Hellhounds, our best strategy wasn't outright combat.
Not that we weren't skilled in that because we very much were, but more than anything, being able to move silently through the shadows was our best advantage. It was one of the reasons I could appreciate the level of skill that Finias worked with. He truly didn’t flaunt the extent of his powers.
No...he was the most lethal of us all by far, and the most he did was threaten people with a dagger to the throat or tongue.
In reality, I knew he could blow us all into fine particles of dust within a matter of moments if driven to using his most powerful runes. He might not have been a Reaper, but he was death incarnate in other ways.
"I am really hoping this doesn't take long," Jace admitted quietly from beside me. "My Hellhound is practically jumping out of my fucking skin being away from her."
I completely understood that feeling. My shadows itched to wrap her into my embrace.
"Hellhounds can only mark one mate, right? Is it the same for hybrids?" I had a large amount of knowledge about the other houses, but mating was one of those things not as readily discussed, mostly because it was considered not only intimate but sacred in the text I had read on the subject.
At one point, it had discussed harems being quite normal in society before the first war that had sought the genocide of hybrids. While it was strange to us in a sense because it wasn’t practiced anymore, we truly would have fit right in when everyone had been free to love who they wanted.
"Yes," Jace nodded then exhaled roughly, "After marking our mate, we are supposed to spend a few days together, mostly alone, just getting used to the bond...
I can't imagine how painful that was for Damien, especially since he couldn't see her at all.
I'm practically losing my shit over the fact that I've been away from her for thirty minutes, let alone days. "
The marking that Jace and Damien had bestowed upon Ama spoke far more to how serious they were about their relationship than anything they could have said.
Although it seemed that all of us had come to the same conclusion, that it was worth sharing, especially with men we respected...
rather than to lose Ama. The woman had stood up to the devil himself to come back to us—she deserved anything she wanted. Always.
"We will get back soon," I promised as we continued to watch from where we were hidden on the ledge of a building above the entrance to the capital, looking down on the Dark Elf forces that were gathering equipment.
"I know," Jace grunted, "I am just paranoid that fucker is going to come and take her again."
I shook my head, "None of us would let that happen."
"He's the devil, the literal fucking devil," Jace's jaw clenched. "How are we supposed to stand up to that if he just decides he’s done letting us have her again?"
His point wasn't wrong, but he wasn't considering one important part.
"We don't have a choice. If it comes down to it, it's either fight the devil or lose Ama," I hissed. "I am not willing to lose her again. Ever."
"You're right," Jace nodded before narrowing his eyes on the capital ahead. "Do you think we can win this? Do you think they will eventually run out of bodies to keep throwing at us?"
"Yes," I immediately answered, then frowned, "I just hope that our army doesn't suffer too many injuries before that...and that it's not too late."
I had to get to them, and quickly, before the Dark Elves escalated matters, now that they knew we were here for war.
Jace offered me a dark look, "Your parents are being held prisoner?"
"And my sister..." I hesitated, "Although, I suppose it's possible she is still hiding. Senka is a smart girl. If anyone has a chance to avoid the Dark Elf king and queen, it's her."
I smiled slightly as a memory came to mind. "One time, when she was in trouble with my mom for something ridiculous, Senka managed to avoid her for hours, and she'd only been eight at the time. It was pretty impressive."
"I'm positive she's fine then," Jace offered me a nod, looking a bit more hopeful. "We just need to get in there."
Yes, we did.
"Let's try to get closer," I nodded towards the group of what appeared to be team leaders gathering together and discussing something.
I let the shadows wrap over me as I slipped along the buildings towards the farther end, Jace following quietly.
I crouched down and tried to listen to their conversation, only picking up a few parts until I managed to fully focus on their words while reading their lips in part.
"Come dawn, the king wants us to march forward," one of the men stated.
"If we go to them, we lose all defense ability," another grunted.
"You think he cares about that?" a third muttered. "He just wants a win and could care less how it happens. You should know that by now."
"Then that's what we will give him," the final sighed. "We attack at dawn."
Moving back, I stood to full height in the shadows as Jace appeared next to me. I spoke quietly, "Instead of going to them, we will wait for them to come at least halfway towards us. Removes the ability for them to replenish as easily, and like they said, completely removes defense ability."
"It will be a slaughter of their forces," Jace stated, and he looked thrilled about it.
Part of my stomach twisted in resigned acceptance of the fact that we were at war and I couldn’t afford to feel bad for those we were killing. It could mean the death of those I cared about instead. I’d had to remind myself of that constantly since coming home to Pura.
"They decided who they stood behind, and now they will face the consequences," I ground out, hating the loss of life that was about to begin. While the commanders seemed to understand the risk, I could guarantee there were good people in this militia who were simply following orders.
War always had a price, and the people in charge were rarely the ones who paid it.
"Let's get back and inform the others," Jace said after nodding.
We began to travel back through the large expanse of land outside of the capital in comfortable silence.
I hadn't liked Jace when we’d first met him—hell, until recently I hadn't liked him at all—but it was very clear that he was going to be sticking around.
One of the biggest tells was his ability to accept that all of us would be in Ama's life because it proved to me that her wants and needs were far more important than his own.
That was how it should be when you loved someone.
It was something my own father had emphasized to me time and time again.
"Can we go?" I complained lightly, my arms crossed with frustration as I eyed the massive garden we were walking through. I had far more important things to do right now. Even schoolwork seemed better than this. Although I found schoolwork more entertaining than most things.
"No," my father responded patiently. "Your mother is enjoying herself. When she's done, we can leave."
"Why can't we head back now?" I responded, gritting my teeth. "She can enjoy herself and we can go do something fun."
My father stopped and looked down at me, although it wasn't much of a 'looking down' because, even at nine, I was far taller than the other boys my age.
"Do you know why it's important that we stay?" my father questioned before nodding towards my mom. "Why it's important that we show interest in what your mom loves, even if we don't love it as much?"
"Why?" I sighed in frustration, but I knew if he was taking the time to explain it to me, it was important.
"I know you're young, Adrien, but when you love someone, one of the best ways to show that is to take time out of your day and your interests to focus on theirs because it shows that your happiness doesn’t come before theirs," my father said softly.
"Your mother loves flowers, and while I don't love them as much, I love seeing her happy.
I would do anything to see her as happy and content as she is right now.
An hour of my time is absolutely incomparable to her happiness. "
Oh. Well, I did love my mom and want her to be happy. She always made sure we were.
I swallowed, "Alright, I think I get what you're saying."
He chuckled, his more serious mood disappearing, "I know the flowers don't seem like much, but when you fall in love one day, you will understand how valuable something like that is."
Ihadn’t fully understood what he’d meant until meeting Ama.
Until realizing that her desires, wants, and needs far surpassed mine and always would.
I knew in part it helped that I grew up around two parents who, despite being more reserved in public, never shied away from expressing how much they loved one another.
I had wondered for a long time if I would ever find something like they had...and then I'd found Ama and realized just how important 'flowers' were. If Ama wanted something, I would scale fucking mountains to bring it to her, no matter what it would mean sacrificing on my end.
I couldn't wait for this war to be over so I could show her just that.
When we finally got back to camp, Jace went off towards our large tent to find Ama, and I went to the tactical one, knowing that he needed to be by her immediately.
I would try to be patient as I did my best to explain to Commander Pandora how we should move forward, even if everything in me was telling me to return to Ama.
Except, when I walked into the tactile tent, I came to a full halt, finding Pandora and one of her lieutenants seemingly in an argument.
Their harsh, whispered words came to a complete stop as I looked at both of them, my eyebrows raised, and I considered taking a step back to leave them to whatever was going on.
"What?" Riftyn, if I remembered his name correctly, demanded.
"Stop it," Commander Pandora growled.
"We are not done with this conversation," Riftyn warned her before storming out past me, knocking my shoulder.
I considered taking out my anger at this entire war on him...
but then decided it really wasn't smart to injure one of our own people. At least not until the war was over. I’d remember this.
"Pandora, let it go for now. He'll be fine." Another voice came from the shadows as Lieutenant Collin appeared, and the commander seemed to deflate completely. Well, good to know we weren't the only ones with problems around here.
"What can I do for you, Prince Adrien?" Pandora switched tactics and kept her face void of emotion. I suddenly felt like I shouldn't have come here and interrupted their obvious domestic issue.
"Jace and I just returned from recon," I said, keeping it simple.
"The team leads, or who I assumed to be that, were talking about how King Roarke is insisting they attack at dawn and travel to us.
I would suggest that we allow them to meet us halfway and remove their defense abilities with the capital.
It will be a brutal fight, but it will allow us to push forward through their forces and then enter the capital without meeting line after line of defense. "
"Their king is an idiot," Collin shook his head, sighing heavily.
Commander Pandora nodded, "It's better than what we faced today. I agree with you. Let's have the troops ready themselves before dawn so we are prepared for when they march our way."
I nodded at both of them and left, knowing it wasn't best to linger right now. As I left, I stopped to look out towards the lights of the capital. On the way to the Summit, I’d seen a similar sight, but instead of this sensation of determination and anger, I'd been excited about the Summit and spending time with my family.
This time, it was a very different situation.
Tomorrow morning would change everything, and I found myself feeling far more confident that we would bring down the Dark Elves, save our families, and bring new order to the Kingdom of Pura.