CHAPTER 34 ALEK #2
I feel it with a certainty I’ve never known before. Not even the day I was attacked with Callyn. It gives my thoughts new clarity. Time slows. My breathing deepens. I shove the queen through the doorway and whirl to block, prepared to brace with my sword and dagger.
My eyes don’t see scravers anymore. Just wings and fangs and claws. Certain death for Tycho and Jax. For the Emberish soldiers. For me and Callyn.
But then one of the winged bodies jerks in the air. Not once, but twice. An arrow appears in the side of its chest, and it falls out of the sky. Then another one falls, two arrows piercing its chest, too. Then a third, arrows slicing into its wings from behind.
The other scravers begin to change course, realizing they’re under attack from behind, but there are too many archers— or too many arrows. Within seconds, the scraver bodies drop in front of the forge.
None of us even had a chance to swing a blade.
The sudden silence is louder than the thunder was. We’re all still braced, weapons ready. No more snow swirls, the air returning to midsummer warmth. It’s already melting in the lane.
And then, with absolutely no fanfare, a handful of Emberish soldiers slip out of the shadows between the trees on either side of the lane.
To my absolute shock, one of them is the king.
Beside me, Callyn gasps. Tycho says, “Grey,” and he sounds stunned.
And then the queen is shoving past me, dropping her weapons in the dirt, all but scrambling over the fallen trees and the bodies of scravers and charred debris to get to him.
The king strides forward, doing the same.
A sob breaks free of her throat, and then she throws her arms around his neck.
He catches her so tightly that I feel something in my chest clench, and my throat grows tight.
Callyn must feel it, too, because she gives my hand a squeeze.
“Don’t you feel it?” she whispers to me. “They shouldn’t be apart.”
“I do,” I murmur— and I hate myself, but it’s true.
The queen’s voice is nothing more than a hitching breath against the king’s neck, so we can’t hear what she’s saying. But it doesn’t matter. The king’s voice is low and sure and soothing, as if we’re not surrounded by the remains of a violent and bloody battle.
“You’re safe now,” he’s saying. “I’m here. I’m here.”
Tycho has sheathed his weapons, and he steps forward. His expression is full of wonder and shock— but no relief. Not yet. “You are here,” he says. He frowns. “You got my message?”
The king’s brow furrows. “I didn’t get a message from you. I got a message from Lia Mara.”
The queen draws back and looks up at him. “And you came back.”
“Of course I did.” The king touches a hand to her face.
“But . . .” Tycho’s frown hasn’t gone away. “But how? How did you know we were here?”
The king glances back at one of the soldiers with him— and I recognize the young man who’d been with Tycho’s soldiers this morning.
“Fate put Leo right in our path near the crossroads. So we had advance warning.” He looks at Tycho.
“Though I could feel the magic in the air from ten miles away. I knew we were headed for trouble.”
My own brow furrows. I glance from the king to the queen to the soldiers. “But Lady Karyl said the Truthbringers killed the queen’s courier.” I look to Tycho. “You said the queen’s courier was killed, too. You said you found the body.”
“We did,” says Malin.
“I saw it,” says Jax.
The king straightens, looking from soldier to soldier, then looks back at his wife. She holds his gaze for the longest time, and after a moment, he runs a hand along her jaw. It’s a gentle movement, as if he can’t help but touch her again. “Perhaps the queen can speak to that,” he says softly.
She puts a hand over his and takes a long breath, letting her eyes fall closed. But when she finally draws back and turns to face us all, her eyes lock on mine. “I’ve been betrayed too many times. You, of all people, know this, Alek. I told you I couldn’t trust anyone in the palace.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. And I swear to you, I was loyal—”
“I know that now. But at the time, I wasn’t entirely sure. Someone burned down Tycho’s safe house last spring, so I knew someone would try to kill a royal courier— especially if I sent a message begging the king to return.”
I frown. I still don’t understand, and I’m sure it’s obvious. “So it wasn’t a courier who was killed?”
“Oh, no. It was. It was likely more than one.” The queen’s eyes flash with vicious vengeance, reminding me that she might be clutching at the king, but moments ago she was fighting the scravers right alongside us.
“I considered your warnings, Alek. I considered how many times the Truthbringers had come close to destroying my family. I knew I would have to tread carefully, without fully revealing my actions. Not to you, not to Callyn, not to my advisers, not to my generals. Not even to my sister. So when I said I wrote a message and walked among the soldiers to choose a courier, I spoke true. But I didn’t just send one rider to Ironrose Castle. ”
My eyebrows go up. I remember our conversation in the nursery, when she told me about Lady Elisa Ruhl, how Nolla Verin spoke for her. I remember doubting the queen’s strength in that moment.
Lia Mara takes hold of her husband’s hand, and her gaze is as hard as steel, reminding me why she’s the queen. “Instead, I sent four.”