Chapter Thirty-Nine
SHE AND MALACHI STOOD IN A FIELD THAT WAS ALMOST two miles away from the palace.
The army of one hundred thousand strong that Malachi had been preparing to invade Hyperion lands with was spread out behind them.
As Malachi had briefed her during the war council session, it consisted of void battalions whose members wielded shadows as their primary weapon and non-magical auxiliary regiments that consisted of archers, spearwielders, slingers, swordwielders, and cavalry atop massive black and gray mountain horses.
Each of the auxiliary soldiers held weapons forged of onyx and steel at the ready.
The archers had strung bows with arrows that glittered black from nock to arrowhead.
The deadly points of the spearwielders’ long, narrow weaponry were a luminescent black as well.
So were the various claymores, scimitars, battle axes, and swords held by the infantry.
Even the slingers hadn’t loaded their catapults with normal boulders.
Instead, they’d used black spheres that were thrice the size of Kadeesha’s head.
She hadn’t stopped gawking at the sheer size of the Apollyon army since they’d assembled in totality behind their king.
The Aether Court boasted about a hundred and fifty Kongamato Flyers and thirty thousand infantry, and it was widely considered the largest among the southern dominions, which had always kept her father in an advantageous position above his fellow vassal monarchs.
The Six Kingdoms’ armies combined, Rishaud’s included, maybe surpassed Malachi’s numbers by only fifteen or twenty thousand.
That difference meant squat when clashes between immortals imbued with magic came into play.
One exceptional magic user with a particularly deadly talent could take out thousands of enemy soldiers in less time it took to draw a full breath.
And that said nothing of runes being weaponized.
Still, the breadth of faekind that was about to embark on this chaos was staggering.
Especially considering none of the military reports she’d ever seen in regards to the Apollyon forces had cited a number that even came close to the true multitudes.
Malachi, and Nychelle before him, had done an exceptional job concealing the full might all these years.
The Apollyon royals hadn’t simply rebuilt their court to its former strength; they’d soared past it.
Malachi had, oh so arrogantly, tried to tell her.
Now she got why he’d had that level of confidence to pull the stunt that he had at her marriage ceremony with Rishaud: The Apollyon king truly was prepared for the fight he’d picked.
The knowledge made her feel a hell of a lot more confident about the coming battle when Rishaud’s army came into view on the horizon.
Leisha, Samira, and the rest of her squadron circling overhead kept Kadeesha calm too.
As did Zahzah, who stood at her back, her long neck protectively curved over Kadeesha and steam spewing from her snout.
When the squadron of Aether flyers Rishaud had brought with him dropped into view a heartbeat later, Kadeesha stiffened and Zahzah’s agitation hurtled down their bond.
The Hyperion king will die painfully! Zahzah thundered. Kadeesha’s chest ached at the anguish in her voice.
We don’t need to kill them, she projected to Zahzah. She made the decision right then and there. Disseminate the information to the rest of our squadron that the aim with any kongamato or flyer is to neutralize them as a threat. Only use lethal strikes when unavoidable.
Zahzah’s presence faded from her mind and Kadeesha knew her war serpent was doing as she requested.
It is done, Zahzah let her know a brief spell later.
Let’s hope we achieve what we aim. There was something in her voice that concerned Kadeesha; Zahzah sounded more remorseful than she ever had before.
Kadeesha could understand that contrition, because it echoed her own.
Rishaud’s army held back from breaking into an advancing offensive push, maintaining their steady march as they neared.
And at the fore was Rishaud. Kadeesha had no doubt that he was a king who’d lead his soldiers into war heading the charge.
But his presence at the front of the armies was about more than that—it was the same reason she and Malachi stood out front and center too.
Every aspect of fae society—even war—had been erected by their ancestors atop pillars of customs and etiquette and rules.
One of those ancient customs dictated that the monarchs of opposing forces needed to formally parley first before moving toward full-out battle.
Similar to Malachi, Rishaud was clothed in fighting leathers and ceremonial armor.
The latter consisted of a metal breastplate and shin and arm guards that blazed gold.
A fiery sun, the central emblem in the coat of arms of the Hyperion Kingdom, was emblazoned in the center of his chest, all while golden flames that drew on the power of the sun blazed around him, limning his frame.
Sticking close to their liege, two males atop white steeds flanked Rishaud.
One was a soldier clad in the white-and-gold uniform of Rishaud’s court, holding a white-and-gold banner that bore the royal coat of arms. The other was the high cleric who’d stood as the officiant of their interrupted wedding and whom Rishaud would need to bear witness to the parley.
A generous portion of the remaining soldiers fanning out behind the two males wore white and gold, but Kadeesha spied many contingents whose uniforms were the colors of the vassal dominions.
So many were clad in purple and black that her stomach clenched.
The menacing shadows that clung to Malachi danced around Kadeesha as well by the time Rishaud was a mere few paces away to parley. Except for the banner holder and cleric, he’d left the rest of his army about twenty yards behind.
Malachi waved his own cleric who’d act as witness for the Apollyon side forward.
The female who’d presided over Kadeesha and Malachi’s ceremony the former night moved into place at the Apollyon king’s vacant side.
Malachi then wasted little energy sizing Rishaud up for a second time.
He simply raked a look down the length of the male that told the Hyperion king he was unimpressed.
“I am pleased you’ve finally stopped hiding behind projection runes like a coward and have presented yourself to die early,” Malachi said as casually as if chatting about the weather.
The Hyperion king sneered. “I wasn’t hiding, pup.
I was planning precisely how I’d destroy you and everyone you hold dear.
And then engulf your court into mine, while making the Apollyonfolk beg me to do so.
That is, after witnessing how utterly unfit you are to protect them against a real threat.
In the absence of your pathetic father, you have accrued an undeserved reputation.
However, Antoniyzaroth was a male so cowed and weak that your more forceful tactics have caused the courts to believe you are a baleful ruler who is to be feared.
Yet you and I know the truth, don’t we? On this day, I will personally bring the prophecy about you to fruition.
You will be the ruin of your court and wider kingdom, and I will be the agent who delivers your extermination. ”
“Do not speak of my father,” Malachi bit off.
Rishaud shrugged. “I suppose we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.
The great Celestials do not look kindly upon it.
And I do not wish to anger Nyaxia, who reigns over the dead.
The Celestials have, after all, blessed me with a beautiful wife and a child of portent.
I am eager to take them into my household and preside over the child’s early rule as he unites Nimani and finally brings the last independent fae court under the Hyperion banner. ”
The shadows swirling around Malachi thickened and grew ominously darker.
“The Six Kingdoms may believe the zealotry you spin that makes them your puppets, but the Apollyonfolk never will. You’ve obviously grown senile in your exceedingly old age.
Kadeesha is not your wife; you halted the ceremony.
She is mine; we performed completed marriage rites last night before a cleric, and I’ll tear your head from your body with my bare hands before I allow you to get your hands on her or our child. ”
A furious cry rang from Zahzah; it shook the ground beneath them. Terror leached the brown hue from Rishaud’s face a split second before his golden flames flared brighter and increased in intensity.
“Will your side violate this moment of parley, a rule as old as faekind, Apollyon King?” Rishaud called out loud enough for his voice to carry.
Kadeesha brushed the side of Zahzah’s slender neck. “Don’t attack him just yet,” she said softly. “There are customs we must follow.”
A snuff floated through her mind. I’m no fae. I’m not beholden to fae practices. And he threatens you.
Yes, but I’m your bonded flyer and I am beholden to fae customs. So is Malachi and there are clerics around.
He and I must begin this battle the right way if we are to rule over Nimani once it’s done, Kadeesha projected back.
Let me handle Rishaud. You can feast on Hyperion soldiers as they fall instead. Deal?
At once? Let this foolish meeting be done!
Give me a moment, Kadeesha answered back. First, she needed to ascertain something.
Kadeesha then asked Rishaud, “Where are the vassal monarchs?” According to custom, the lesser kings were supposed to march at Rishaud’s side against any enemy he formally declared war upon. Their armies were present, sure, but why weren’t they here before Malachi as well?