Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Theodon Wrenn crouched down, attempting to stay hidden within the dense brush.
He and his lieutenants had been stalking the caravan full of Kelesian soldiers since it had left Oakmire.
That path of pure, raw magic had traversed through the wind, leading him straight to that castle.
Just as it was leading him at this very moment.
Did the mortals even comprehend the cargo they carried? This power was a hidden treasure. Now that he had found it, he would make sure no one else would wield it.
When he had seen what had been causing these patternless casts of dark magic, his surprise was immeasurable.
It was a girl. Not just any girl—but a Kelesian royal, a family who had descended from Ures.
He knew of Prince Adriel, of course. He knew there had been one princess, a handful of years younger than the future heir, who had died years ago.
He had never heard of King Oren having a third child.
Theo was barely disguised by the thick shrubbery.
His massive frame peeked out the edges as he watched below.
He paid no mind to his lack of camouflage.
Mortals weren’t the most observant things.
He adjusted his thin leather cuirass as he repositioned himself again.
The soldiers had come to a halt, allowing him a perfect view of the scampering crowd.
He had felt death in the castle. He had sensed sorrow there.
He knew her prophecy well, what her intended use was predicted to be. She was meant to destroy.
Part of him had wanted to barge in and grab her the moment they arrived in Keles.
But he was no fool, he wasn’t taking his comrades anywhere near her until he got a better sense of what she could do first. So night and day, he had patrolled the grounds of that castle.
Someone had put a barrier there, a shield, much like the one marking his own lands.
He watched, and waited.
Nothing happened. There was no trill of power, no thrums of darkness. He had begun to question if his own powers were failing, if his intuition had been mistaken.
Theodon depended on his own magic to guide him toward mortals that could be most useful to him.
He was responsible for finding them all.
Every single mortal turned soldier was his choice, his decision.
It was one of his many gifts, the ability to feel a descendant’s true potential.
God-given magic was what made his army so strong.
It’s what made the Divine Allura the only militia capable of standing against the monsters constantly threatening to break through their wall.
But when he sensed her, the wrenching in his chest was unrelenting. Like an insatiable thirst yanking him toward an oasis. From the moment he found her, the thoughts wouldn’t stop.
What Theo saw and what he felt were such devastating contradictions.
He felt a strong invisible tug toward her that was different from any of his previous recruits.
But she was about as dangerous as a common pigeon from the looks of her.
She was nothing more than a privileged princess, and far too scrawny for his ranks.
Then, as divine fate would have it, the mortals made the decision to move her. When they readied her for travel with a brigade of soldiers at her back, Theo expected it was because she was dangerous. Why else would they need the shield? The protection?
Yet she barely left her carriage, never interacted with anyone in her camp. She was a hermit. No wonder no one had heard of her.
Helaina Ironblood.
Manos couldn’t perceive anyone’s thoughts while they were within the boundaries of Oakmire’s shield.
As soon as they began their journey west, they finally became accessible to the mind reader.
The girl should be set to inherit her father’s throne now.
So why were they sending her away? Theo hadn’t heard about Prince Adriel’s death, and there was no public documentation on how he died.
It did explain the immense misery he had felt upon the castle when he first arrived.
It also explained the burst of power that led him to Keles—the death of the prince had been reported the very same day.
He surmised from the frequent chatter that she was to marry at the western border.
Why so far? Why no public announcements of the union?
He knew exactly why. They had been hiding her.
Theo’s eyes lingered on the crimson carriage between the wagons. Such a large group was a beacon in these forests. It didn’t matter how many guards or weapons they carried. He had mapped the attacks west of the mountains, and this road was riddled with occurrences.
The caravan had started to collect wood for a fire.
The hammering of stakes into the ground sounded as they pitched their tents.
At least fifteen soldiers, maybe twenty, had been assigned to this patrol.
Along with a handful of servants and cooks.
Why bring so many to transport one insignificant princess?
A princess none of them had known existed until now.
The shield, the secrecy, the extra guard.
Oh yes. Someone in that castle knew exactly what she was. Maybe all of them knew.
He smoothed back some of his long hair, tying half of it back with a leather cord.
Countless assaults on the Lynorian people, and what had they done? Organized summits and treaties. Discussed plans with no signs of carrying them out. The mortals had always been so slow to react.
They were afraid, and they should be. For years the royals had been uniting for the possibility of war. For the day the barrier of Ash Cliff would not only falter but fail.
For the day he would fail.
The task of protecting the border had been entrusted to him long ago. It had been his life’s work. If Theo couldn’t get an upper hand on an enemy he had faced over a millennium, then mortals had no chance. It would only be a matter of time.
He needed to find out where the monsters were slipping through. He needed to find out how they were killing not only mortals but his own soldiers with ease and stop them before things got out of control.
He needed Helaina.
They had stayed close, following the travelers, attempting to get glimpses of the girl. The only time she emerged from the carriage was to walk directly into her tent.
Get her. Get her out now. That inner pull was raging at him. It was driving him absolutely insane.
“So . . . are we grabbing her or not?”
Theo turned to Callum, seated in the overgrown grass with his back against a tree, digging the tip of his knife beneath his fingernails, lifting a speck of mud and flinging it in the air.
Black leather covered him from wrist to ankle, his bare feet in full view as he had flung off his boots during their rest. His thick mahogany hair feathered past dark eyes that couldn’t look more disinterested in the task at hand.
Theo had known the moment he met Callum so many centuries ago that he would be in his Troika—his three.
That heart he possessed was loyal and savage, combined into one complicated mess.
A deranged killer sat underneath that cool, handsome grin.
A psychopath that had been let loose on countless creatures and betrayers since he became a member of the Divine Allura.
All who grew close to Callum knew he was steadfast, but if crossed, the result was fatal.
That’s exactly why Theo picked him. On the battlefield, Callum was the unpredictable lightning to Theo’s maniacal storm.
“You asked us to tag along, and so far, all we’ve done is sit around and people watch.” Callum’s tone was edged in annoyance.
The only response Theo gave him was an irritated grunt.
Manos walked between two tall brightbuck trees, their long, thin vines fanning over his blond hair as he paced back and forth.
His athletic build was nowhere near that of his bullish companions, and his light hair and eyes were a sharp contrast to their darker features.
Truly, Manos looked the most mortal out of the three.
“She’s decided . . . she’s going to do it tonight,” Manos said.
He was more than a mind reader; his power could find your truths, your deceptions, your deepest desires.
He could even hold minds in an eerie suspension if he wished, making his enemies still as statues.
Holding their thoughts and actions hostage, before swinging his sword through their guts.
It was a power anyone would covet in war.
It was why Manos was appointed to his position so long ago.
“She isn’t bluffing,” Manos added.
Theo gave a slight nod. There was that maddening pull again, yanking at his chest.
Go to her. Get her now.
“When exactly?” Theo asked.
“She plans to wait until the fires go out,” Manos replied.
This girl wanted to die, and she was no use to them dead. Not like this anyway.
“Callum, you’ll stop her. Manos and I will follow. I want her unharmed.”
Callum glanced up from his knife. “You’re no fun at all.” A haughty grin displayed above his angled jaw.
Theo didn’t understand why the joke irked him so. It was Callum, he always had an odd way of delivering humor.
“I mean it.” Theo’s tone changed, not exactly threatening but nowhere near friendly. “Not a scratch.”
Callum waved off his captain, unbothered by the severity in his voice. “I got it, relax.”
“I don’t know about this one.” Manos joined Callum in the grass, brushing some stray leaves from his smooth hair.
“I think her mind is gone. She might be a lost cause at this point. This despair . . . this anger she holds on to, it’s consumed her.
Are you sure we should intervene at all?
Maybe we should leave and just let her—”
“No,” Theo interjected sharply.
Manos looked at him in question. “If she is what you claim . . . wouldn’t death be more peaceful?”
Theo had pondered the same many times over. Still he felt a chance.
Manos must have perused his thoughts, because he chose to ask nothing further. He rose to tend to their horses, ensuring they were fed and watered for the journey home.
The captain sat down, massaging the divot between his pectorals, trying to ease this new insistent ache. His eyes found that carriage below, his gaze damn near burning into the material, willing the person on the other side to not go through with her plan.
“If you go through with it,” he said in a hushed tone, “I’ll find you in the six myself and pull you back out.”
That’s when the doubts started to infiltrate his mind again. He could never truly wield her if she wasn’t willing, if she wasn’t worthy. She would be as good as dead anyway.
“Tonight then?” Callum asked coolly, lying flat in the grass, closing his eyes. As if now would be a perfect time to catch up on some sleep.
“Tonight,” Theo replied.