Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Rydian
The sight of her nearly knocked the breath out of me.
I’d spent the entire journey telling myself I wouldn’t feel a damn thing when I saw her again.
That the secrets, the way she’d planned to run from Autumn without me, the betrayal she undoubtedly thought I’d dealt her would be enough to harden me.
My role in her life was too important to let my feelings get in the way.
So, I resolved to keep my distance. But the second her eyes met mine, all of it burned away like fog in sunlight.
Aurelia Valeen.
Furyfire in a mortal frame.
My heart taken a female form.
On the surface, she looked the same. Her blonde hair was braided, but strands had come loose, tangling around her face in the whipping wind.
The expensive gowns she’d worn at the Autumn Court had been replaced with fighting leathers and her Aine armor.
Her boots were caked in dirt, her shoulders squared like she’d been waiting for a fight since the moment she woke.
Or maybe she’d just finished one. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to drag her into my arms or let her throw that fire of hers at me just to feel something from her again.
Instead, I said the wrong thing.
“Hello, Furious. I’ve missed you.”
Her expression flashed as something dangerous tightened around her mouth. The others felt it too. Thorne shifted his weight, Daegel took a quiet step back, and Amanti didn’t move at all. She just watched me like she’d already figured out everything between me and the Summer heir.
Aurelia turned and walked straight into the cabin.
No words. No rage. Just dismissal.
The others followed her, as if they all knew it was best to get this over with, but I stood there for a few breaths longer, letting the cold scrape through me before I went in after them.
The house smelled of freshly baked bread, Thorne’s specialty. Aurelia stood near the hearth, arms folded, chin high. A tangle of hair had slipped free from behind her ear. Her pale blue eyes were cold enough to make me forget how to breathe.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
I didn’t answer right away, choosing carefully the reason I wanted to offer up. “Because I needed to see for myself that you were alive.”
Her laugh was humorless. “Alive? That’s rich. You drugged me, hauled me across the continent, locked me in a room, and call it rescue.”
“I didn’t like doing it,” I said evenly. “But it kept you breathing.”
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
The firelight caught her face, throwing her in gold and shadow—half fury, half heartbreak. I wanted to reach for her, but that would’ve been suicide.
“If you’d stayed in Autumn, you’d be dead. Or worse.”
“Don’t you dare pretend you care what happens to me.”
“I’m not pretending.”
The silence that followed had an edge to it. Keres was the one who broke it, dragging a chair to the table and sitting with deliberate noise. “If you two are going to kill each other, do it outside. I just cleaned up in here.”
That drew a strangled laugh out of Thorne, though he quickly smothered it when Aurelia shot him a look that could peel paint.
Amanti stepped between us, voice calm but firm. “We’re fighting on enough fronts; let’s not do it with each other. Now that you’re home, we need to talk about what comes next,” Amanti added.
“What comes next,” Aurelia told her with a pointed look at me, “is me leaving.”
“We’ve been over this,” Thorne said before Amanti could answer. “The Obsidians are all over the mountains.”
“I can’t stay here,” she said viciously. “Not with him.”
Her eyes met mine on that last word, and whatever air was left in the room vanished. Every line of her body said she was ready to bolt if someone so much as blinked.
Daegel shifted, uneasy. “No one’s keeping you prisoner, Aurelia. But Thorne’s right. You wouldn’t make it half a day’s walk.”
“I’ve made it farther on worse odds.”
Her voice was flat, and it wasn’t bravado. It was truth. That scared me more than her anger.
Before I could respond, hoofbeats thundered outside—fast, urgent. Everyone froze. Keres was already moving toward the door, hand on the dagger at her belt, when the bird call sounded.
Keres halted, releasing her grip on her blade.
The rest of us exhaled.
Thorne crossed the room in three strides, yanked the latch, and the door swung open to reveal a rider dismounting in a spray of mud.
Slade.
He’d stayed behind to tie up loose ends. I hadn’t expected him for another two days. He looked like he’d ridden through Hel to get here—cloak soaked, blood streaked down one arm, eyes wild with exhaustion.
“You’re supposed to be in Grey Oak,” I said.
“Plans changed.” His mouth was a grim, flat line.
“What happened?” I asked.
“A message from Heliconia was sent to Autumn. Meant for Duron.”
“What message?” I asked.
He glanced past me to Aurelia before handing over a folded piece of parchment. “Read for yourself.”
I scanned the words quickly, my gut tightening at the words meant for a dead king.
“What is it?” Keres asked impatiently.
I cleared my throat and read it aloud: “I have the last living Aine in my possession. If the Summer heir is not surrendered, she dies, and any hope of aid from the Fates dies with her.”
“Lesha,” Aurelia breathed.
She and Amanti shared a look before the princess whipped her gaze back to Slade’s.
“Where?” Aurelia asked sharply.
“A war camp. Somewhere along the northern border.”
“That still leaves miles of ground to cover,” I said.
“Our scouts are working on pinning down the location,” Slade said. “We’ll know more soon.”
Aurelia’s eyes brimmed with moisture that she blinked back. “Alive,” she whispered, and then louder, steadier, glancing to Amanti again, “We have to go get her.”
Slade shook his head. “The message is meant to draw you out.”
“But soon, she’ll know I’m not in Autumn,” Aurelia argued. “She’ll think I never got the message. We have an advantage right now.”
Slade’s expression only tightened. “When Heliconia finds out you’re no longer in Autumn, she’ll be even more on guard. Even if we find your friend, she’ll be heavily guarded. You wouldn’t make it in, much less out again.”
“Then we go together.” She looked around the room, wild determination sharpening her edges.
Thorne shook his head. “You’re talking about seven of us against hundreds. Maybe thousands.”
Aurelia’s hands curled into fists. “I’ll figure it out. Find allies. If we can rally a force—” She stopped abruptly and turned toward the others. Daegel. Keres. Amanti. “What about the Midnight Court? Will they fight?”
The air in the room changed. Thorne’s expression shuttered. Daegel’s gaze flicked to Keres, then to me. Even Amanti looked uneasy. No, guilty. We all looked guilty.
Aurelia caught it instantly. “What is it?” she asked, voice low. “What are you keeping from me?”
Keres stood slowly. “Now isn’t the time.”
“I think it’s exactly the time.” Aurelia took a step closer, furyfire sparking faintly at her fingertips. “For days, you’ve had me in this cabin on a mountain high above your precious court. Acting like I’m here for my safety when we all know it’s more than that.”
“I told you, you’re not a prisoner,” Keres said tightly.
“Prove it. Take me into the city. Let me meet with your queen and let her decide if her court will stand with me.”
I looked at Keres then, the truth twisting in my chest. She shook her head as if to say, “Not now.”
“Whatever secret you’re sitting on,” Aurelia continued, “Whatever reason you’ve stashed me in this cabin instead of taking me to the city, tell me now. Or I leave. Alone.”
Her voice didn’t waver. The heat from her magic rolled through the room in waves.
Amanti’s eyes met mine. “She deserves the truth, Rydian.”
My throat felt dry as dust. “Now’s not the time. The queen will explain—”
Keres’s jaw tightened. “The queen isn’t coming.”
Aurelia’s gaze snapped to the female warrior.
Keres ignored her, eyes fixed on me. “She said it would be safer this way. To keep her away from the city. Away from the court. Until it’s time.”
The words hit like a blow. The queen had refused to meet Aurelia, all over her own fear and resentment. I should’ve expected it, but the confirmation still cut deep.
“She knows what this will look like to our people,” I said, anger building. “The message it sends.”
Keres’s expression didn’t change. “I’m sure she did what she thought was necessary.”
Aurelia’s voice was ice. “You mean she abandoned us. Just like the Midnight Court abandoned Concordia when Heliconia invaded. Just like they abandoned my kingdom when we needed them most.”
“No,” I said, meeting her glare. “She’s protecting you. But she should’ve explained.”
The fury in her eyes was sharp enough to wound. “You did this,” she said. “You sent me here, and for what? To keep me from fighting for my kingdom? To make sure you remain in control of all the moves?”
“That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is it?” she demanded. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks a lot like another male deciding what’s best for me without giving me a choice.”
I didn’t look away. “Was I supposed to just leave you there with Callan—alone, hunted down for a king’s death?”
She stepped closer, so close the air between us hummed. “You did leave me.”
I felt the heat of her breath, saw the crack in her armor where grief and fury met. Gods, she was beautiful like this—angry, alive, unstoppable. And I was an idiot for noticing when I’d already lost the right to ever touch her again.
“I made a choice to keep you safe,” I said. “If that makes me the villain, fine. But you’re still standing.”
“I would rather have taken my chances with the Obsidians if it meant never seeing you again.”
Her voice shook. Just once. It was enough to remind me that, under all that steel, she had once looked at me like I was worth saving. And I’d broken that trust.
Slade cleared his throat, breaking the moment. “I’m going to ride out and wait for word from our scouts. See if we can get a location on the Aine.”