Chapter 43
Elara
I woke up to the smell of meat roasting over a fire. My eyes took a moment to adjust to the light.
I was in a tent. This much I could tell. Warm blankets of fur covered my body while a piercing ache erupted in my head.
I sat up, the blankets falling down and exposing me to the cold air. I still wore the dress I’d worn to dinner, but my crown and the necklace were gone. A sinking feeling went through me. Not the necklace.
I looked around the tent. There was the small cot I was lying on, a chest and a small table. Loud noises came from outside.
I stood up, which made my head spin and caused me to sway.
Focus, Elara. You need to get out of here.
My legs felt weak and shaky. How long had I been out?
I reached for the tent flap, pulling it back.
We were at the base of a mountain. A valley stretched out before me. I immediately recognised it from the time Cai had brought me here to show me the Myrgonite mines.
Almost the entire valley was filled with tents and campfires. Thousands upon thousands of Argonian soldiers were going about their business, preparing for battle. Some were training, while others prepared food or talked around the fires, laughing with each other.
It was as if my heart had stopped beating. I knew Aries’ army was large, but this was unlike anything I’d ever seen. My gaze shifted to the mountain where hundreds of Aries’ men were digging, searching for the Myrgonite stones.
This was so much worse than I’d imagined.
Aries was getting closer and closer to the old Myrgonite mines, and against an army of this size, our people would be slaughtered.
Our only potential advantage was using the high ground of the valley as Cai had planned, but with our lack of numbers, there was no guarantee that even that would work.
My chest ached at the thought of Cai. They’d probably discovered I was gone by now. He must be worried beyond his mind. Were they on their way? We’d been preparing for battle, but would everyone arrive before it was too late?
I looked back inside the tent. There was a pair of boots next to the bed.
They hadn’t tied me up or put a guard to watch over me. Did they not expect me to try to escape?
Mistwood was only a few hours’ ride away. But maybe Aries didn’t think I would be foolish enough to attempt it in this cold, with no supplies and no horse.
I put on the boots and stepped out of the tent, the cold air hitting my face once more. Goosebumps covered my skin. The evening gown wasn’t nearly warm enough.
I started to walk through the camp, not entirely sure where I was going but not willing to sit and wait around either. I had to find my necklace before Aries discovered what it was. Unless, of course, he already had.
I could feel the gaze of some of the soldiers as I passed, though I couldn’t blame them.
I was walking around an army camp in a dress that was hardly appropriate for the occasion.
I wished I’d been carrying a weapon of some kind.
I doubted it would make much of a difference but at the very least I would feel a little better.
“Your Majesty.”
I turned at the sound of a soldier’s voice. His attire was more formal than the others and he carried a spear in his hand. I’d seen him before when we were in Argon. He must have been one of Aries’ personal guards.
“Yes?”
“If you would allow me to escort you. His Majesty requires your presence.” The polite way he asked reassured me a little, but this was still Aries, and they had still brought me here against my will.
I squared my shoulders. “Very well.”
The guard led me through the tents along the base of the mountain. Aries’ tent was a little higher than the others and also significantly bigger, as could be expected. Two guards were stationed outside his tent, both with spears by their sides.
“Please inform His Majesty that Queen Elara has awakened.”
“You can let her in, Frederick.” A masculine voice came from inside the tent. I didn’t realise how afraid I was until I heard him speak.
Frederick held the tent flap open and I stepped out of the bright morning light.
The scent of grapefruit hit my nostrils, and my eyes fell to Aries, who was seated at a table, a plate of grapefruit in front of him, which he ate with a golden fork.
He wore no armour, lounging quite casually and not as if he was preparing for battle.
“Elara.” His cruel silver eyes looked up from his plate and I shuddered. “I’m glad to see you’re up and about again.”
“Me too. Considering how hard your goons knocked me on my head.”
“I must plead your forgiveness for my guards’ methods.” Aries dabbed the corners of his mouth with a cloth. “I feared if I’d merely sent an invitation, you wouldn’t come.”
He gestured to the chair across from him. “Please, have a seat.”
“No, thank you.” I needed to find a way to get out of there or at least some sort of weapon to protect myself with.
“There really isn’t a need for any hostility between us.” When I didn’t move, his eyes caught one of the guards behind me, who forced me into the chair.
“You and I want the same things, after all.”
“Oh, do we now?”
Aries looked at me with a devilish smirk and I remembered how Cai told me he’d killed his own father. He was enjoying this, toying with me.
“Of course,” he said after a moment. “We both want our kingdoms to thrive. And we want those we’d cared about avenged.
” Cai had killed Aries’ younger brother on the battlefield and Aries was never going to forgive him for it.
Although we both knew this was about so much more than avenging his brother.
This was about Aries’ unending greed for power.
“Which is why I would like you to reconsider my offer of marriage. Together we could rule Everness, Norrandale and Argon. You’d be one of the most powerful queens on the continent.”
The mere thought of being wed to a man like him sent shivers up my spine.
“Thank you for your proposal but I’d rather be impaled on a pike.”
That devilish smirk fell away. He didn’t take kindly to being insulted.
“That is not entirely out of the question.”
“Well, go on, then.” I placed my hands on the arms of the chair. “If that’s what you plan to do, then why don’t you just kill me now?”
It was a risk to call his bluff, but I figured if he wanted me dead, then Aries’ guards would have killed me. This served some other purpose.
“I don’t want to kill you, Elara.” Aries relaxed back into his chair, still eyeing me. “The way I see it, you have two choices.”
I had a bad feeling about where this was going.
“First, you align yourself and your kingdom with Argon and help me find the Myrgonite objects, and then you and I can rule together, and our kingdoms can flourish.”
That was what this was about. Aries rightfully suspected I knew where the Myrgonite mines were, along with the magical objects.
“And my second option?”
“Your second option is that you help me find the Myrgonite stones anyway and then you get to sit and watch as I kill everyone you love.”
I leaned forward, laying my arms on the table. “And why the hell would I help you find a single damn stone?”
“You wouldn’t,” he replied curtly. “Which is why I’ve taken measures to ensure your cooperation.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did you do?”
“Just a little bit of insurance is all.” He casually flicked his hand in a gesture to one of the guards, who bowed his head before disappearing out of the tent.
“What did you do?” I asked again, my voice laced with more panic this time. Whatever it was, Aries knew it would be enough to get me to cave and give up the biggest secret in the kingdom.
“Now, don’t think I take any pleasure in doing this. But seeing as you refuse to listen to reason, I’m afraid more drastic measures must be taken.”
My hands clenched the arms of the chair.
There was a sound behind me and I looked towards the opening of the tent.
No.
Not this.
Cordelia’s face was streaked with tears and a cloth had been tied around her mouth to prevent her from letting out anything but small cries. The Argonian guard held her firmly despite her hands being tied behind her back. Her expression was filled with terror.
I shot out of the chair.
Aries’ guards had their weapons ready and held out towards me.
“Don’t think about doing anything stupid,” Aries said, almost sounding bored.
He was right. I had nothing on me to defend myself, not to mention fighting off a group of his guards to free Cordelia.
“You monster,” I cried out.
Aries must have sent a group of his men to Everness to find her. He’d had this planned all along. His soldiers had been hiding in the catacombs of the palace just waiting for the right moment and I had walked right into his trap.
“As I understand, she is a close friend of yours.” Aries walked around the table, making his way to Cordelia. “It would be a terrible shame for her to get hurt.”
“If you so much as lay a hand on her.”
I didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how to get myself out of this or how I would save the both of us.
“If you don’t help me find the Myrgonite stones, then I’ll have no choice but to use your little friend here to convince you.”
He trailed a finger up her neck and to her jawline. Cordelia tried to pull away but the guard’s grip on her remained firm. It took everything in me not to launch myself at Aries.
“And what if I don’t know where the stones are?”
In a second, Aries was upon me, his hand wrapped around my throat.
“Do you take me for a fool?” he ground out. I clawed at his arm.
“You’re a smart girl. And we both know that you have all the answers I’m looking for.”
Air, I needed air. My nails dug into his wrist so hard I almost drew blood.
“So, it’s time to stop playing your childish little games and do your duty as queen.”
His calloused hand released my throat, and I gasped and coughed, not being able to fill my lungs up fast enough.
I was hunched forward, with my hands on my knees as I tried to return my breathing to normal.
“So, do we have a deal, Queen of Everness?”
He would kill Cordelia, and if I continued to refuse him, he would only keep finding more people I cared about, until I was surrounded by the corpses of my friends and family. This had to end. I had to find a way to stop him.
“Yes,” I said through ragged breaths, glaring up at him. “We have a deal.”