Chapter 12
As Rise slowly regained consciousness, he realized two things. He’d been attacked as he had come through the portal, and now there were chains around his hands and feet, making him seethe in anger at the idea of being someone’s captive once again.
He hadn’t even seen the attack until it had been too late, and he was mentally kicking himself for being caught so unaware. But who had attacked him? Who had known he was coming through the portal?
Had Liv found a way to message someone outside of his pocket dimension? Impossible!
His conclusion was confirmed as he heard the rustle of another body and the clank of a chain, followed by Liv’s muttered curse.
“What the hell happened?
“We were ambushed.”
“Ambushed? How? By my father?” She extended her arm, pushing to a sitting position. “We have to get out of here!”
Rise pulled himself to a sitting position with his back against a canvas tent wall.
He glanced around the dim interior, spotting a cot covered in animal skin, a pair of small, women’s boots, and a tiny table that looked like it had been quickly assembled out of forest debris.
This was not the domain of a psychopath.
“I don’t think Grawl is the one who chained us.”
She paused in her panicked motions to try to pull her wrists through the round, metal shackles. “How can it not be him?”
“Look at those boots.” Rise nodded toward the discarded footwear, and Liv followed his gaze.
“Those don’t belong to Grawl.” She let her attention roam around the small space. “Grawl wouldn’t be caught dead in this dilapidated hovel. Where are we?”
As if she’d been requested, a woman rushed through the tent flap and stopped at the sight of the two, now clearly conscious people staring at her.
For several heartbeats, Rise stared at the woman with his heart in his throat.
She was the spitting image of his mother, from her vibrant blue eyes and rosy cheeks to the pair of deep silver wing tips towering above her head.
She was stooped over, but her wings still looked silky and healthy as she moved past them to grab the boots that had held both their attention.
“Who are you?” Rise asked, his focus unwavering as he took in every inch of the likely owner of the boots.
She seemed to shake her self as she said, “When they told me they’d captured Riserion Sahale T’Arbol, I told them they had been fooled. Yet, here you are. How was the mighty Rise made to fall?”
Rise dropped his gaze to the dirt and grass just at the edge of the rug that covered the ground beneath them. He had been far too easily captured. What had made him lower his guard so much that others had snuck up on him and overtaken him before he had even heard them coming?
“I think you are mistaken. I’m not who you think I am. I am Riserion Ward.”
“No, I’m not mistaken. You know who you are. You were given that name after you were captured. Ward is not your name. It never has been.”
He tightened his jaw. She was right, but the men who raised him told him to never reveal his true name to anyone. He glanced over at Liv before searching the space for Atta. “Where’s the boy? What have you done with him?”
All horrors entered Rise’s mind as he recalled his own childhood nightmare.
“Don’t worry about Atta. He’s filling his belly, though I gave him quite the earful for trying to hide on his own instead of coming to us. I assume he found you in your pocket dimension?”
Rise’s head snapped back. She knew about his abilities? Wait! She knew his full name, his real name. “Who are you?” And this time, he really wanted to know.
With some effort, she knelt down in front of him, her age evident with each snap, crackle, and pop of her body.
Their gazes locked as Rise stared at her, as if the answer of her identity could be discovered in her eyes.
Maybe it could. She looked at him just as his mother had, from what he could remember of her.
“Are you…?”
“Your grandam. Your mother was my daughter.”
The air around Rise stilled, and his thoughts raced as he analyzed every wrinkle, every visible tooth in her crooked smile, every freckle on her face. Could it be true?
“I’m going to unchain you now. Do you think we can remain civil?”
Rise glanced down at the shackles on his arms and nodded as he raised them. She produced a key, and with a twist, they fell from his wrists.
She turned toward Liv and nodded. “Is she friend or foe?”
He turned to look at the woman he’d kidnapped and kept as his prisoner for the past week. Was she still his enemy?
“You can remove her restraints.”
Whether she meant him harm or not, he needed her to believe he was beginning to trust her. If he was being honest, he was.
As the shackles fell to her lap, Liv spoke as she said, “Thank you. I’m Liverity Strongwill, but believe me, I mean you no harm.”
“I knew who you were before you told me, child. I trust Rise’s judgment. He can see people from the inside out. It’s his blessing and his curse.”
With effort, his grandam stood back up and hobbled to the cot to sit. “You can call me Decelia or Grandam. I’ll answer to either. I’m sure you have questions.”
“Why were we attacked? Was that your people?” Rise still couldn’t quite relax under the circumstances.
She nodded. “There are few here on this plane who can portal walk. The sorceri like Grawl, Liverity, her sister Valentina, and their brother, Tavorious and our people. We couldn’t take the chance it was Grawl and his army.
” She shrugged. “Plus, you have a reputation of swinging first and thinking second, Rise.”
Rise acknowledged her statement about him with a dip of his chin. “But I can portal walk. To which one do I belong?”
“Riserion, you are finally back where you belong. You are one of us, one of the Volarchans.” She pulled in a heavy breath and released it toward the ground. “You are the king of the Volarchans, and the rightful ruler of Umbraland, this entire plane of existence as we know it.”