Chapter 23 Vada
Underhill
The moment that Adaela passed out, I broke down completely.
I screamed louder than I ever had in my entire life.
I held her limp body tightly in my arms, sobbing into her neck.
I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to let go.
This fucking idea had gone to shit faster than I could even process it, and I only had myself to blame for jumping through that fucking portal.
I wasn’t sure she was going to make it. Her heart was beating, but it was faint and stuttering.
Quickly, I got up, removing the tunic I borrowed from Yaga, and tore some strips from it.
Since Adaela’s shadows couldn’t help in time, I hastily began packing her wound with the fabric, hoping to staunch the bleeding until we could get her help.
I was so focused on my task that I forgot Adaela’s powers vanished when she passed out.
The sound of movement behind me was getting closer, and my stomach dropped.
Somehow, I was going to have to try to fight our way out of here before Adaela was gone for good.
I took one last look at my sweet girl, laying a gentle but lingering kiss to her cooling lips, and finished packing her wound as best as I could through the tears streaming down my face.
I laid her gently on the dais floor, grabbing the sword that might have killed my mate to protect the both of us to the best of my ability.
There were hundreds of people in this crowd, and I was going to be enemy number one with a dead king and a dying princess laying at my feet.
I stood up slowly as guards grabbed their weapons and began shouting at the same time, making it nearly impossible to decipher what was being said.
The alarm had been sounded, though. More guards would be here soon. I didn’t think either of us were going to make it out of here alive, but I made Adaela a promise that I would keep to my dying breath. I just had to hope that she could make it through this. It was the only hope I had left.
With despair and rage fueling me, I stepped down to join the fight—our best chance of getting out of here alive. My heart was shattering, and I was standing with the sole focus of someone ready to avenge her mate.
She will make it out of this.
I lifted my sword as the first guard moved my way.
She will make it out of this.
I stood with my borrowed sword in a fool’s guard, waiting to see how the first sentry would respond.
They came at me in an Ochs stance, ready to deliver a devastating blow.
They weren’t fucking around. They meant to kill me.
I shifted my feet as they maneuvered their sword, and I lifted mine, going on the defensive.
I stepped to the left, quickly circling out of their way, hand movements somehow steady as I went on the offensive, thrusting my sword toward the soft skin under their chin and helmet.
It connected, pushing through to their brain, and they fell to the ground.
She will make it out of this.
I raised my voice to be heard over all the yelling.
Citizens of the Autumn Court were trampling over one another to get out the doors while more guards piled into the room from the same door.
It was a nightmare situation. “I am not here to start a war. I will fight to defend myself and Queen Adaela óDubhlaoich. If you’re not with us, you’re against us.
We did not come here to kill King Cernunnos.
He delivered a death blow to Queen Adaela.
She is alive, but barely. Unless you want to start a civil war for the throne, I suggest you let us pass. ”
Yells broke out amongst the crowd. I could no longer hear Adaela’s heartbeat over the noise.
I glanced back, seeing that she was still breathing shallowly, and when I turned my head back around, there was a wall of guards battling a different set of guards on Adaela’s behalf.
It restored some hope in me that we might make it out of this alive.
She will make it out of this.
It gave me space to breathe, and time to figure out our next move.
I wouldn’t normally feed from my mate’s people without their consent, but I was severely depleted since the king was immune to my powers.
I used everything I had on him in a last-ditch effort to prevent what happened to my mate.
The lust for battle was heavy in the air, and so I fed with abandon.
Power began to hum through me, and I rushed back up the stairs of the dais toward Adaela.
Lifting her in my arms, I tried to find any way out of here.
A tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Ceridwyn, the fire sprite who Underhill sent to me all those years ago.
I remembered her well. She pointed in the direction of a door behind the dais I hadn’t seen, and we quickly made our way toward it.
Ceridwyn, even with her tiny stature, opened the door to let us in.
I checked my mate over again, confirming that she was still breathing, then to the wound in her abdomen to confirm that the bleeding had in fact slowed.
Adaela was deathly pale, and the pit in my stomach sank even further.
“Hold on for me, sweet girl. We’re almost to safety,” I told her, choking back on the tears again.
She will make it out of this.
Ceridwyn was hovering nearby, wringing the hem of her skirts. “How did you know to find us?”
“Underhill felt the energy of the king leave this land and directed me to find out what happened. Underhill has never liked King Cernunnos, but what little power he had helped sustain the realm—especially since Adaela left. It needs someone in this seat to prevent the collapse of this land,” she said.
I didn’t have time to think this over. Adaela was once again left in an impossible situation.
She was the head of the Unseelie Fae already for the Pax, and now, due to her bloodline, was the Queen of the Autumn Court—if she could survive this wound.
I’d have more certainty if it hadn’t been an iron blade.
“Is there anything Underhill can do for Adaela while we find a healer?” I asked.
Ceridwyn, likely speaking directly with Underhill, flew to the other side of the room.
“Underhill cannot heal the Queen, however, it will feed some of its powers to her to get her where she needs to go. Underhill is suggesting your next stop be Alfhame. They have the most complex healers and are the closest in magic to the Fae. With their neutrality, it may also be the safest place for the Queen to heal,” she replied.
“Right, that makes sense. How do you recommend we get there?” We were in a circular room, likely at the base of one of the castle towers.
Windows led out to an elaborate arboretum with trees in their fall foliage.
Between the trees was a stone walkway with various benches and hammocks designed to make the place appear ethereal and inviting, and standing at the edge of the tree line was a beautiful stag with the largest antlers I’d ever seen.
I breathed a sigh of relief that Underhill’s physical manifestation was watching over one of its favored.
We were not out of the woods. I shifted Adaela in my arms as gently as I could, and she stirred a little bit.
“We’re going to make it out of here. Don’t you worry.
I need you to rest for now and save your strength, if you can hear me,” I breathed, pulling her body up a little so I could nuzzle my face with hers.
She stirred again, whimpering in pain, and I found the seat nearest to me, sitting down to stop jostling so that she could rest. Keeping my voice quiet, I asked Ceridwyn, “How do we make it out of this room?”
“There’s a passageway out for emergencies to the crown. Underhill has summoned the young portal weaver to come and take you to Alfhame. Baba Yaga has been made aware that Cernunnos is dead. The portal weaver has taken her to the Pax and is making his way back here to get you and Adaela to Alfhame.”
“When Adaela is well enough, we will come back here and make everything right. I’m not sure what that timeline will be like yet,” I said, bending over to place a soft kiss against Adaela’s clammy forehead.
I placed my forehead against hers for a few seconds, breathing in her scent, but all I could smell was the coppery scent of her blood.
She will make it out of this.
“For what it’s worth, our queen is the strongest being I’ve ever met. She’s been through so much in her lifetime already. I don’t think it’s her time yet,” Ceridwyn said quietly.
“I hope you’re right, Ceridwyn. I hope for all our sakes that you’re right. I failed her.” A silent tear streaked down my cheek. I didn’t know how much longer I’d be able to hold it together.
Ceridwyn’s unyielding sprite side made itself known, hands on her hips. “None of this is your fault, Vada. If it were, Underhill would have done everything in its powers to remove you from this land.”
“If I hadn’t jumped through this portal, Adaela—” I choked back a sob.
“Adaela would have wound up here again eventually, Vada, and the outcome would have been the same. We must trust that the Fates know what they’re doing,” she replied sternly. “Your focus right now should be on getting Adaela to safety. Ah, yes, I think help has arrived.”
A portal opened, and Galdrane stepped through it.
He rubbed his hands together, eyes frantically searching for us.
Just as we were walking toward the meeting point, the door we came through blasted open, and I sprinted toward the exit that Ceridwyn was pointing toward, trying not to jostle Adaela too much.
“Open the fucking portal!” I screamed at Galdrane as we ran through the door.
I shut the door, hoping it gave us a few more seconds.
Galdrane ripped open the portal and I hopped through it without a second thought, balling myself around Adaela in case the landing was as rough as it was entering this one.