Chapter Six
Bellamy
A dbeel was staring.
I tried to feign ignorance as I chewed, opting for indifference when that failed. But in the end, I found myself looking up at him from across the table, our gazes colliding. As seemed the norm for this last week, I was looked at with both pity and fury.
“Say it,” I told him, casually grabbing my cup of wine and bringing it to my lap. No doubt he knew what I was doing, but I still pretended I was being sly as I slowly poured in the lavender liquid. Adbeel frowned, but did not speak like I hoped. With a deep sigh, I brought my hand up and pinched the bridge of my nose. What I would give to just sit in my chambers and burn. “Do not go quiet on me now. Not when you clearly have so much scolding to do.”
With that, I attempted to toss back the entire cup of wine, desperately needing to feel it further warm my already scalding body so I would not feel this aching torment of her absence. At least then I would be able to stomach whatever ridiculous venture Nicola Salvatore was sending us on. A blast of light hit the cup and knocked it from my hands, jarring me from my thoughts. I stared down at the red puddle with complete and utter devastation. Then a loud smack sounded from across the table, forcing my eyes to focus on Adbeel’s hand upon the table as he sneered my way.
“You will not do this, Bell! You will not lose yourself after so many decades of searching for who you are. I know what it is like to lose the love of your life, but you have an entire realm to think about right now. We are preparing for war. ” Each word seemed more strained than the last, as if he were choking on the truth of our world.
Yes, war would come, and if I did not follow through with Nicola’s plan then Asher might be on the opposite side of the chaos. That was not an option. Especially not as I heard the echoes of Ash’s mental voice.
You will win this war, even if that means facing off against me on the battlefield. Even if that means killing me.
Never.
“I know this, Adbeel. Asher’s magic reminds me of my duty every day. I wake up with my head swimming in a river of strategies and rage. Daily, I am swarmed with thoughts of death and battle. There is not a moment that goes by in which I am not completely overwhelmed by it all. Trust me when I say that losing this war is not an option.” I practically growled the words, my anger rising. If only I could go back to not caring about the wretched world, but apparently no one would allow me that kindness.
“Bellamy, I am concerned. You are…fading. I cannot bear to watch you disappear again—to say goodbye to another son as he falls victim to the darkness. Please, tell me what I can do for you. Let me help,” he pleaded, reaching both hands out towards me.
I froze, wondering how on Alemthian it had come to this. To Adbeel practically begging me to accept help. I thought back to when he forced me to join the military, when he had told me there was no other option and that I needed an outlet before I was lost forever. Now, here I was once more, seeking a map that had been burned away by Asher herself—the only path to her now nothing but dust.
Help. I could accept such a thing. There was nothing wrong with needing that, right? I had gotten help from my Trusted, from Adbeel, from so many. What was a little more in the face of the end of the world?
“Actually,” I conceded with a sigh, “I could use the assistance. You will not like it.”
“Anything, Bellamy. Anything.”
Nodding, I let loose another heavy breath and asked for the help I needed.
“Would you be able to remain in Pike for the day and watch over the training sessions? All soldiers are out there now sparring, but soon they will begin breaking out into groups. They could use a firm hand and I could use Damon during this meeting I must have.”
Adbeel went visibly rigid, annoyance momentarily flitting across his face and pinching his brow before he contained it. Rolling his neck, he ran a hand through his mahogany curls and straightened his black tunic.
“And where, pray tell, are you going?”
“I will not be long. Asher has made sure I am allowed to do very little other than win this war,” I remarked with an eyeroll. Not that the raging sea of agony within my chest was as simple and inconsequential as the action made it seem. Adbeel seemed to see that, and I watched with relief as he nodded silently before getting up.
“I am so sorry for what you have lost, Bellamy. Take the day, do what you must, and then come home.” With that, he walked away.
I thought about telling him then of the future Pino had shown me. So much time had been wasted this last year, time that Pino had warned me against taking. My selfishness, Asher’s fears, all of it had led us to this horrible fate. But how much worse would telling them separately make this? Instead of speaking, I let him leave, thinking all the while how terribly wrong I had been.
There was no such thing as a world for dreamers.
***
“Well you are pissing me off, Bellamy!” Noe shouted, shoving me backwards. I stumbled slightly but kept my ground, letting her come at me again. “You do not make choices for us. She is ours too. I refuse to stay behind this time!”
When the Moon attempted to swing her fist at my jaw, Damon grabbed her around the waist, lifting her slightly and pulling her away from me. I would have taken it, though I think Damon knew that and did not want to put more strain on Ranbir than he had already suffered through this last week.
Too bad, I had really been looking forward to the pain.
“What she means,” Henry interjected, lifting his hands up in surrender, “is that we deserve to go with you. We have no idea how dangerous this will be. You, Damon, and Lian cannot go alone. Cyprus, Noe, Ranbir, and I want to come too. Let us be there at your side.”
“Our family has been so scattered this last year,” Lian added. “We are meant to stick together. It should be all of us or none of us.”
“Well you all know damn well that it cannot be none of us.” I reached out a hand, waiting with a scowl for them to come to me. When the six of them finally shuffled forward and huddled around me, I called to the poison in my veins and willed it to take us to my ship.
The second we landed I stormed away from them, clinging to what little sanity remained within me. I wanted so desperately to be alone. To wallow and beg the stars for a different ending to this gods forsaken story.
Yet, I also knew that if it were not for my family I would have already ended it all.
Because of that, I tried my hardest not to scream in outrage. We did not actually all need to be here. None of us knew what Nicola had in store, but I doubted that she was about to put us in danger when she likely knew what I meant to Asher. If only I could have convinced them that.
Furious footsteps stomped towards me, the sound of scuffing shoes a sign that it was Noe who was coming to finish me off. She had done that since she was five. Forever, really.
“You are our prince, our general, our leader, and our brother. What you are not is a dictator.” I scoffed at her words, turning to face her. Her long golden brown hair caught the wind as we set sail, her light brown skin practically glowing in the light of midday. Despite how pristine she was from the neck up, her training leathers were still worn and ragged from the last battle. We would not have Pino around to fix them now. He had drastically improved them after that day at Reader River, and now it felt wrong to consider having anyone else modify them again. “I need you to understand how different this all is now.”
“I do understand. You all want to find her. I do too.”
“It is not just that. Ash…she is our queen now. Perhaps not by right or by law, but in our hearts she is. Maybe fate was always dragging us towards her. Venturae could be up in the Above, wielding fate and forcing us to follow Asher as we are meant to.” Noe shrugged, picking at her nails as she leaned over the ledge beside me.
I sighed, turning to face the open sea as she did. Grabbing her hand, the two of us relaxed and summoned our shadows. I willed mine to coat the ship, and then I thought of the coordinates, the map I had been using tucked away in my pocket for now. But Noe and I knew where we were going, even if she was not supposed to come. Breathing heavily, I shoved the shadows further around us, widening the circle so that it covered the entirety of the wood beneath our feet. Noe’s shadows moved at double the speed, her strength an incredible thing to witness. When we had adequately coated the ship, the two of us closed our eyes and willed our shadows to take us where we wanted to go.
We landed somewhere west of Eoforhild, deep in the Ibidem Sea. The cold here bit into my skin like death itself, burrowing into my bones. Behind Noe and I, Damon and Lian began arguing.
“Lian, for once, can you just listen to what you are told?” Damon seethed, the tone of his voice telling me that Lian was doing what she did best: disobeying direct orders.
“You are telling me to do stupid things, so no, I cannot,” she paused, letting out a quiet cough before deepening her voice in a mock version of his, “do what I am told and be a boring little twat with no brains. So sorry old boy, cannot comply.”
A small laugh escaped my lips, enough for Noe to look over to me. Her form was radiant from my periphery, even with the daunting gray skies and matching seas as a backdrop. Despite how beautiful she looked, as she always did, I knew that Noe was hurting just as I was. I had known her almost my entire life, neither of us could hide sorrow from one another.
“I have been thinking about the dress.”
“What dress?” Turning fully towards her, I caught her gaze just in time to see a mischievous sparkle light her hazel eyes. Oh gods. When she did not immediately answer, my nerves lit into a fiery inferno. I would not like what she had to say, clearly. “Noe, tell me.”
“Well, before he…passed, Pino and I had been working on a dress for Asher. A wedding dress.” There it was. I knew it would be heartbreaking, but I had not realized how deeply it would tear me apart. I had seen glimpses of the dress that day at Reader River. Small white buttons had trailed up her spine, the train dragging behind her in a sea of silk. From the small view of her backside, I had realized she did not wear a veil, finally free of her need to hide.
Somehow, I had stolen my own future from myself. The best one I could have ever asked for, gone in the blink of an eye.
Noe let out an odd sound, almost like a hum. I blinked, staring at her in confusion. She only furrowed her brow, looking at me as if I were making the noise. The truth of what was happening hit us both at the same time, but it was too late.
Somewhere in the distance, a siren began to sing.
“Henry, do not listen!” I screamed, running towards his place at the helm. But Henry’s eyes were glazing over, the green dulling as he stared off to our right. I portaled to him, appearing on his left just as he violently turned the ship to the right. My feet flew out from beneath me, and then my face was smashing into the wood below, my nose letting out a loud crunch that had me dizzy. I thought of Asher, her fist connecting with my face and the fire returning to her eyes.
We could not get sucked in by a siren. We could not die. We needed to follow through with Nicola’s plans.
But all I could do was wince and listen as words began to form from the eerie voice.
“Come to me, heed my song.
Raise your sails, follow along.
Lay your heads, upon my chest.
Come to me, seek your rest.
Upon my shore, your joy shall reign.
Here in my arms, you will feel no pain.”
With a furious scream, I pushed myself up and shoved Henry to the side, willing my mental shields to burn away the song. But the moment I had Henry down, Noe appeared beside me in a burst of shadows. She gripped the helm tightly, continuing to steer us towards the creature who wished to rip us apart with their fucking teeth.
Henry grabbed me from behind, wrapping his arms around me and willing me to submit. My shouts were loud, the sound of them a violent echo against the harsh sea. I felt the moment Lian began using her Air power to propel us forward, the whip of Noe’s hair a sharp sound. I fought harder against Henry, breaking free momentarily and then being forced back down when Damon came at me. The back of my head hit something hard, my nose still pouring blood. Dizziness seemed to overcome me, and my shields blew out like a candle in a windstorm.
All of the fight in me stopped as the siren continued to sing to us, begging us to come to them. They promised us such safety, such beautiful comfort. Perhaps that was where we needed to be. Maybe they could find Asher and keep my family safe. They seemed so lovely, the siren with the voice of an enchantress. Yes, I could feel the truth there in their song. Whoever they were, I now thought it impossible for them to do anything other than help me.
I was so lucky they found me. They were going to fix everything.
With a smile, I shuffled away from Damon and Henry, leaning my head against the wood in wait.
The wait turned out to be quite short. Soon we approached an island, a ship bobbing in the water nearby. The sea was calmer here at the edge of oblivion, so much nothingness in the distance that it felt like perhaps the world never existed at all. Each of us bore bright smiles and straight backs. We eagerly readied for our fate.
In the back of my head, a fierce throbbing began, as if I were being punished somehow. No one else seemed to flinch as I did. What was happening? I gripped my temples as the pain intensified, my head swimming in the agony. A new voice sounded, drowning out that of the siren beyond.
I am choosing you, Bell. For once, I am. Do not let them win this. Live.
I bent over, gasping at the sound of Asher’s voice as her magic fought off the siren.
You will win this war.
My submission to death was breaking her rules. I was disobeying orders just as Lian had.
Asher’s magic was about to save us all.
Ducking down, I quickly shuffled across the deck, swiping up Lian’s wooden bow and her leather quiver of arrows before ducking behind a barrel. Asher’s voice grew louder, the pain piercing now. Her words became new, not from memory, but as if The Manipulator herself existed within my mind somehow.
Kill them. Kill them all.
A burst of shadows popped into existence before my family, and from them walked a female. She was around Noe’s height, her deep bronze skin and equally brown curls making her teeth look so white they almost hurt my eyes. She wore a billowing cream top, the laces undone so that the low cut of the collar exposed the top of her breasts. Her pants looked leather, matching the quiver at my side. Her boots were a soft brown, sticking to her like a second skin all the way up to her knee.
She did not speak, instead moving her hands and fingers, her whole body really.
Sign, she was using sign. So then she likely was not the siren. Maybe their captain? But wait. Fuck. I did not know sign.
The female sighed as if her life was far harder than it should be, and I watched with bewilderment as shadows surrounded her. Then, from within them, walked five more beings. She looked at them with unabashed glee, like what they were about to do to us made her happy. It must have, because why else would she be using a siren to call ships to her?
I watched as she quickly signed something to who I assumed were her crew before walking over to the edge and letting shadows seep from her fingers. She reached them down into the sea below before tugging them like a rope. As she did, another female emerged. She was soaked completely, her dress the color of clear waters as it dripped and clung to her. Her hair was long and black, cascading down her body. A smile curved her lips, cutting open her face to reveal the beast beneath.
Her song seemed to soften, but within my head Asher’s magic still valiantly beat the shit out of me. The others still seemed dazed as they watched the siren approach, still transfixed by her voice.
“Can we make this quick? I am starving and I want to be gone before Dima starts gnawing on their bones so I do not lose my appetite,” the one with blonde hair said just as she sent a beam of light from her fingertips, allowing it to wrap around my Trusted like a rope. It was an impressive bit of magic.
With a final breath, I lit an arrow and prepared to end them.
But then a raven swooped down, circling me once before dropping a piece of rolled paper. The note hit my forehead, bounding down to the ground and slightly rolling after. I snatched it up, hastily unrolling it.
Dear Idiot Prince,
Gods, she was kind of rude.
I told you, take your bags of gold and pay for their trust. This pirate captain is not one to be messed with, but she is also your only hope of rescuing Asher. Heed my warning when I say that the future is not set in stone. As of now, it is not only your death that I see. Asher will not survive what is to come if you do not succeed.
Nicola Salvatore
P.S. Captain Perdita Harligold just might find your beheading of a cockless male atop a snowy mountainside interesting.
A cockless—what?
Harligold. Where had I heard that name?
“Well, well. What is a sexy thing like you doing hiding over here?” I flinched at the sound of the blonde female’s voice above me, realizing I had allowed myself to be distracted. Pirates, I fucking hated them.
Wait.
Pirates. Harligold. The demons that attacked us last winter! Asher said they were practically pirates, looting and trading mortal lives. Was…was their captain related to this captain? How would us having killed him help?
The female whistled above me, reaching down a hand to push a loose strand of black hair out of my face. Her fingers grazed my temple, and it took everything in me not to break it. She smiled down at me, her teeth slightly crooked and her eyes as black as the darkness that lurked in the depths of the sea below.
Sighing, I stood, holding the magic and power within me at bay. That was when I realized that the knife that was Asher’s magic had stopped stabbing me in the brain. A part of me missed it, that small piece of her. Another part of me raged at the fact that she had stolen my choice from me. Shaking off that bitter thought, I pasted on my smirk, willing the once rakish prince to resurface.
“Hey now, beautiful. I was not hiding, I was waiting to be found. Two very different things.” She scoffed, but I saw the way she leaned closer to me, how she seemed to draw in a deeper breath. Just as she reached out her finger and dragged it down my chest, another sharp whistle rang from behind her. My eyes flicked to the source, watching as who I assumed was Captain Harligold approached. She looked less than amused, her lip lifted in a sneer and her glare flicking between the female and me.
Good, that meant two of us were really fucking mad.
Before she made it to us I lifted my hand, summoning my shadows and calling to the two bags of coin I had laced with my essence earlier. The sky-blue velvet sacks were heavy, weighing down my hand and making it bob. But my face remained cocky—unbothered.
“Hello, Captain Harligold. It is so very lovely to meet you,” I said, smirking at her narrowed gaze. The female before me lifted a brow and turned to her captain. Intrigue consumed me momentarily as I watched the blonde’s hands fly through signs, moving so quickly that I wondered how the Captain could possibly understand. But understand she did.
Her head whipped back my way, suspicion flooding her face and briefly washing away the animosity. I had forgotten how much I loved surprising people.
“I am here with a proposition for you,” I offered, my eyes flicking to the blonde as she once more translated for me. Captain Harligold watched as well, responding with even quicker movements.
“She says you look like an idiot and she does not particularly like what few things stupid people have to offer.” Harligold snapped at her crew member, signing something again before pointing at me. “She also says she likes cunt and that even a face as pretty as yours would not fool her into wanting to be within ten feet of the worm that hangs between your legs.”
A laugh escaped me, sending air up my nose and causing me to snort. Asher would like this female.
The conclusion came involuntarily, but it did what all thoughts of her did, burned me from the inside out. Of course, I did what I did best, I reveled in the pain.
“Well, seeing as my rather large cock is already spoken for, I think we will be fine. What I offer is gold.” I held up the two sacks, letting them both stare in bafflement before willing them to disappear in a puff of black.
The captain looked from my hand, to my face, and then honed in on my ears. Ah, this would be interesting. Her next few signs were a bit slower, almost smug in their execution. The blonde cackled loudly as her head flew back, gaining the attention of everyone aboard the ship. My Trusted remained calmly tied up, the six of them waiting for orders for once. Within my veins, foreign Moon magic thrummed to a war beat that did not exist, as if eager for blood to be shed.
“She wants to know what she can do for The Elemental.”