Chapter 45
Elara
An icy wind swept across the valley like a whisper of warning.
War was coming.
In fact, it was already here. With thousands of Argonian soldiers camped out and ready to fight. One battle to end it all.
Frederick had been instructed to bind my hands behind my back before taking me to the caves. I nearly tripped over a rock trying to keep up with his brisk pace as he pulled me along.
“Apologies, Your Majesty, but we really mustn’t keep King Aries waiting.”
“You can tell your king—” I tried to blow a stray hair out of my face — “that if he wants me at a certain destination quickly, he will have to stop putting me in ridiculous shoes and clothes.”
Not only had Aries managed to kidnap me from the palace with relative ease, but he’d also had trunks of clothing and accessories brought from the nearest town.
I had no doubt they were stolen, and I didn’t want to consider what the Argonians had done to the people they had taken them from.
Most likely a noble family, if I had to guess by the quality of the dresses.
Of course, Aries took it as his opportunity to dress me in some of the finest clothes and jewellery, often placing me in the seat next to him as he made his plans, talked with his men and overlooked the camp.
I knew he wanted to keep an eye on me. But this dressing up and parading me next to him was to show me off as a trophy.
If I would not succumb and marry him, he would get every other possible use out of me.
Which was why Frederick and I were currently making our way to the Myrgonite mines.
When Aries had placed the map in front of me last night, I contemplated every possible way I could get out of it. But as we stood in Aries’ tent, Cordelia was still bound and watching as I held her life in my hands.
I tried to lie at first, hoping it might send Aries and his men on a wild goose chase until I could figure out a way to free Cordelia.
If only she managed to escape, that would be enough.
But I was not the first person who had tried lying to the King of Argon, though I suspected most of my predecessors didn’t live to see the light of day after that.
I didn’t know how he knew, if it was my eyes or the tone of my voice that gave me away. I used to be a good liar. But there was too much at stake this time, and when Aries threatened Cordelia’s life again, I finally showed him where the Myrgonite mines were.
The best I could hope for was that this would distract him and his men until Cai and the Norrandish armies arrived, whatever men Cai had managed to gather. We would probably still be outnumbered, but at the very least it gave us a fighting chance.
Frederick led me down the path that I had ridden with Cai several months ago. How different things had been then. Before we knew what the Myrgonite objects were, before Thatcher had betrayed us and Cai was exiled. What I would have given to be back there now. When did things become so dire?
I struggled on after Frederick until we reached the entrance of the cave.
Aries and a few of his men were already inside, torches lit, some of them gawking.
Cordelia was there too. One of the men held her bound figure.
Her eyes fell to mine. They were swollen from crying.
She looked so tired and weak. What had they been doing to her?
Where were they holding her? I wished I could knock Frederick out of the way, somehow free myself from the ropes that bound my own hands, and I would fight every one of those Argonian men if it meant I could set her free.
She didn’t deserve any of this. The love of her life had been murdered and now she was being held captive because of me.
Time. I needed more time.
“I knew you would be worth it somehow.” Aries’ silver eyes lingered on me, on my clothes, and I shuddered.
The cave loomed above us in all its glory, Myrgonite glinting in the light of their torches.
Aries ran his hand along one of the rocky walls, inspecting his new prize. This would make him richer than any of the other kings on the continent. And money had a power all of its own.
“This was more than I expected,” he admitted with glee.
Where are you, Cai? I needed him. Things were already bad before and they were becoming increasingly worse.
“We had a deal,” I reminded Aries. “I tell you where the caves are, you free Lady Cordelia.” If Cordelia was let go, she could make her way to Mistwood. She could tell the others what she saw of the camp and that Aries knew the location of the mines.
“Funny.” He scratched the stubble on his cheeks. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
My heart dropped.
No.
“You liar!” I called out, yanking myself away from Frederick, but his grip held firm. “You told me you’d let her go!”
Of course I shouldn’t have trusted him. Why did I for a second believe that he would actually free Cordelia? Nothing about Aries suggested he was a man of his word, unless, of course, it came to his love for violence.
“She serves no purpose here. She doesn’t have anything to do with this and you got what you wanted,” I said, with a voice full of panic. “Let her go.” And then I added, “Please.” I would beg for her life if it meant he didn’t hurt her.
Aries slowly walked over to Cordelia. I watched with disgust as he cupped her cheek, forcing her to look up at him. His thumb slowly brushed her jaw, soft whimpers escaping her.
“You’re right.”
I hadn’t seen him pull out the knife.
“She doesn’t serve a purpose anymore.”
Bright red blood spilled from her neck.
My screams echoed through the cave.
I watched Cordelia’s body drop to the ground, the life slowly slipping from her eyes.
Blood began to pool around her.
“I’ll kill you!”
Frederick’s grip tightened on me.
“I’ll kill you for this!”
“Now now.” Aries tried to hush me, wiping the bloody blade on the sleeve of a nearby guard. Her life and the lives of all those he took meant nothing to him. He truly was a monster. “There’s no need for that.”
He came to a standstill in front of me. Cordelia’s blood had spattered onto his face. I was going to be sick.
“I gave you the option, remember. I told you that I would kill everyone you loved, and you chose not to listen to me.” His tone was that of a parent lecturing a child.
Aries flinched only slightly when I spat in his face.
The world around us seemed to go quiet for a moment, anticipating what he would do next.
Pain erupted in my cheek as his hand collided with my face. The force of his strike was strong enough that it wrenched me out of Frederick’s grasp, and I fell onto the cave floor.
“I’m growing rather tired of your temper tantrums, Queen Elara,” Aries said in warning.
I tried to catch my breath, my ears practically ringing from the impact of his hand.
“It doesn’t matter if you know where the cave is. Cai and his army are coming for you and you will not live to see the end of the battle,” I said through deep breaths, thinking about all the ways I wanted to end his life.
Aries sank down to his haunches next to me. “Even if Cai is foolish enough to try and kill me, we both know he would never succeed. Nor would the Norrandish army.”
He brushed a tendril of hair out of my face like he hadn’t just hit me, and I flinched away.
“You will never find those Myrgonite objects, you know.”
My skin still stung. I didn’t want to turn my head to look at him. I found myself staring at his boots instead.
“I don’t need to find them.” Aries stood back up, dusted off his hands.
He gestured to Frederick to pull me back into a standing position.
My legs felt numb. My eyes went to Cordelia’s body lying only a few metres away.
I’d failed to save her. She died because of me.
My cheeks were wet but I didn’t remember crying.
“I only need to keep you alive until Cai gets here and he will lead me straight to them. He would never risk your life, not even if the fate of his kingdom depended upon it.”
His gaze became more sinister, if that was even possible. “And then nothing, or no one, will stand against me ever again.”