Chapter 12 #2
Hel flicked his fingers and Aldrich sucked in a sharp pained breath. “Alright, I killed anyone else in line of succession with poison.”
The guards murmured amongst each other.
“You’re one of those cowards. Not that I’d really care or bother myself with your pitiful affairs, but,” Hel lifted her hand with the black diamond ring, “Wife. And I don’t allow anyone to hurt her and live to talk about it.”
“I—I didn’t—hurt her,” he wheezed. “I swear.”
Valeen let out a short laugh. “You’re going to deny it?”
“I was following the order of my father. We were doing it for,” he slowly uncurled a finger to point at Hel, “ him . We did it for you, Lord. To wake you. You are awake because of me. I will swear my allegiance to you here and now.”
Just when she thought he couldn’t sink any lower. “He is awake because of me, not you.”
He turned to Mathekis. “Bite him.”
“What?” Valeen balked.
Without hesitation, Mathekis sunk his teeth into Aldrich’s forearm and a scream tore from his throat. “NO!”
It was a fate worse than death. Valeen’s heart clenched in her chest. “You were supposed to kill him,” she hissed through her teeth.
“I thought you wanted to use him in this war? What does it matter if he is dead or a pale one loyal to me—to us?”
His head thrashed back and forth, and a low belly roar echoed through the manor’s high walls. The guards all slowly backed away. Two of them dropped to their knees and set down their weapons.
Her stomach rolled as Aldrich fell to the ground.
His back arched and his arms jerked. The rage that ripped through her, the coldness that seeped into her bones when she was bitten came rushing back to her.
Her heart pounded. The hysteria had been uncontrollable, the rage overwhelming.
It started to make her sweat even now. If Hel hadn’t intervened for her, she’d have suffered this same fate.
The monstrous things she would have been capable of as one of those things scared her.
She gulped and inched back until Hel’s hand against her spine stopped her. “We agreed you wouldn’t change any more elves. He will tear through Calladira.”
“I said the elves of Palenor were safe. We’re not in Palenor.”
Oh, she hated his trickery sometimes.
Aldrich shook uncontrollably and screamed again. His roar echoed through the high ceiling and halls, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose. His golden-blond hair was already fading and his skin shined with a sickly pallor.
The tattoo on her thigh that kept her from changing began to tingle. “I can’t watch this,” she whispered and whirled to leave. Hel caught her wrist and turned her back.
“This needs to happen. He betrayed you once. He’d do it again. Traitors can never be trusted, but as a pale one he will be loyal to me.”
“It’s what you’re forcing him to become,” she breathed. “Cut off his head, I don’t care, but this?”
“Listen, love, it’s going to happen on the battlefield, and you need to be indifferent about it. I know you hate them, but we need them against the council.”
A tear slid down her cheek. It wasn’t just that he was turning, it was that Hel was the reason.
Hel was the reason there were pale ones at all.
She couldn’t seem to tear away from watching the horror.
Aldrich slammed the back of his head against the ground and bucked and screeched so loud she pressed her hands to her ears.
Hel released her and his eyes softened . Go outside.
She didn’t care for Aldrich. She would even kill him herself without a second thought but watching anyone turn into this made her sick. When Aldrich’s lips and eyes changed to the color of ink, she had to look away.
She’d somehow separated Hel from the pale ones because she hadn’t truly seen him with them. She’d almost forgotten this was who he was here in Adalon, the wicked villain feared by all.
A crease formed between his brows when she looked up at him. She had to find her husband in his eyes, the male she’d loved through the ages and fell for again. She needed to see he wasn’t just as much of a monster as the thing Aldrich was changing into.
The harshness in his expression fell and shifted into something close to sadness. You don’t have to see this. It’s alright. Go.
That was her husband. The Hel she knew, the one with his soul still intact. The Black Mage was a persona… but the pale ones were very real.
Valeen, go outside, he said more forcefully.
The fresh air made it easier to breathe.
The doors shut behind her, muffling the terrible sounds.
Her gaze swept around the town. The children who’d been playing were gone.
The people walking and talking had run. Not even guards or soldiers came out into the open.
The quiet emptiness was so unnatural for a city.
She sank onto the steps and hugged her knees.
She didn’t know how long she sat there before Hel settled beside her.
You’re angry with me . He stared ahead with the tips of his fingers drumming together. Why did you cry for him? He kept you locked up. He treated you in a way you know I’d never tolerate.
“It wasn’t him I was crying for,” she whispered, staring at her hands.
He pulled his hood back and looked at her, but her gaze was fixed on the toes of her boots now.
His fingers slid along her jaw, closed around her chin, and turned her face. “Then who?” His brows pinched and his lips parted slightly.
“You.”
“Ah.” He dropped his hand and the lines in his face smoothed out. He rubbed his thumb over the runes along his knuckles. “Ryvengaard was our sanctuary, and you forgot who I’ve become.”
It was because she knew who he really was before the betrayal and the wars and execution. Before he was ever the Black Mage.
He went silent for a few beats.
“I just want this all to be over.” She cupped his face. “I just want peace. I want to lay in bed with you all day and not worry that someone will sneak in to kill us. I want to hear you really laugh again and never have to be… cold and cruel.”
“If all of Adalon passed away into darkness, if every realm was burned to ash, I would still love you. If I had to become something so little as cold and cruel to save you, Valeen, it’s worth it.
” This is only the beginning. W hen the chaos becomes too much, when you doubt everything, and you think the darkness has taken me, remember I’m still your Zaurahel, and I always will be.
He took her hands and kissed them one at a time.
“One last fight, love, and when it’s over I’ll be your peace.
” With his thumb, he swiped another tear off her cheek.
“But you don’t have to fight. I will do it for you.
You can go back with your sister and never see a battlefield again. ”
“You know I won’t let you fight this war alone.”
He smiled, dimpling his cheek. “It was worth a shot.”
The door creaked open and Mathekis peeked out. “He’s ready, Lord.”
Shiny black eyes followed her steps as she crossed through the Manor’s entrance and into the foyer.
Aldrich bared little resemblance to who he was before.
The only reason she knew it was him was because of the clothes he wore, and his facial structure was the same, but he was as pale as the moon and his golden hair was white and straight.
There was nothing about him that would make her call him Sunshine anymore.
Deep down she knew he deserved to die a traitor’s death, but this fate was worse than being buried six feet under.
Aldrich bowed his head to Hel. “Master.” His voice was rougher than before like he’d breathed in smoke for too long. His black gaze flicked to Valeen. “You belong to him now?”
“You know who I am?”
“Layala Lightbringer. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time but I’m sorry for what I did to you and Thane. I’m sorry for,” he glanced at Hel, “for my part in this.”
She turned to Hel. How is he so… normal?
It may be because Mathekis is the one who turned him. Or because he’s still in transition. “What is your name?” Hel asked.
“Aldrich.”
He nodded and placed his hands behind his back. “And you are loyal to who?”
“You, Master.”
“Good.” Hel smiled cruelly. “You will not bite anyone unless I tell you to. You will remain the Lord of Calladira and come with your army when I call. If anyone refuses to follow your command, kill them.”
Valeen blew out a slow breath. The elves wouldn’t want him to be their ruler now. He was setting Aldrich up to die or fail. Then again, the woodland elves might fear him enough to fall in line.
“Yes, Master. I will come when you call.”
“Now get on your knees in front of my wife.”
He dropped immediately and stared up at Valeen. Her skin itched the longer he kept those black eyes on her. They used to be… blue, didn’t they?
“Beg for her forgiveness.”
“Please, Layala, forgive me. I’m truly sorry.
I should have never betrayed you and Thane.
I wish I never shot you with that arrow.
I’m truly sorry I almost killed you. That day in the woods I left you to bleed out…
It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. I regret joining Tenebris.
I do. I should have helped you get free.
” He probably meant what he said but it didn’t change anything.
She didn’t hate him for it anymore. It seemed so long ago.
Hel cut a glare her way. Fury rippled through the room in an icy chill.
“He almost killed you? What else have you and Thane kept from me?” He vanished and reappeared behind Aldrich.
The bottom of Hel’s boot smashed into Aldrich’s spine.
With a groan, he fell flat to the ground at Valeen’s feet.
Hel stomped on his fingers and ground them into the wood floor.
Then he bent down and grabbed Aldrich by the hair and jerked his head up. “Slit your throat.”
Hel put a knife in his hand. Aldrich brought the blade across the center of his neck.
Black blood cascaded down his white skin.
He stared up at Valeen almost… relieved.
He mouthed “I’m sorry” once more. Maybe he was sorry because he thought she was forced to be with the Black Mage.
He regretted helping his father and Varlett take her to wake him.
Aldrich didn’t know who he truly was. He wouldn’t know any different than any outsider.
Blood seeped out, pooling near her toes. Her boots scraped against the ground as she took a half step back. Hel dropped his hold and Aldrich’s head fell with a thud.
In some ways, it was a mercy. She should have felt remorse, but she only breathed easier with him gone rather than a flesh-eating monster.
The guards still hadn’t dared to move. They watched everything happen without even a sound. No protests or gasps as their lord changed or as he bled out and died. For the second time she was present as the Lord of Calladira died.
Hel stepped over Aldrich, took her hand and marched for the open doors. “If I were the woodland elves, I wouldn’t even think about retaliation,” he said over his shoulder. “Consider this a warning of what happens to those who touch my wife, and a favor that his is the only life taken today.”