Chapter Forty-Three
Fallyn
They’d spotted us. On thundering hooves, they approached with flapping red cloaks and weapons drawn in an authoritative shift of steel.
Ash’s hand hovered over his own weapon, not drawing it yet.
The line of the kingsguard expanded outwards until they completely blocked our passage forward as they got closer.
I stumbled backwards, finding myself unmoored; adrift in a sea of panic.
This was it. The moment they found me and dragged me back for the fate I'd foolishly thought I'd outrun.
Outmaneuvered. The thudding of hoofbeats, the shouts on the air quieted, replaced by a ringing in my ears that reminded me of the day father told me of my betrothal.
Searching the bushes, attention swinging behind us the way we came, searching for escape but the tree line was woefully far away.
We'd never make it before they caught us. We were trapped.
Where our hands joined, Ash calmly pulled me closer to him. I expected his hand to disappear, but his hand stayed firmly, steadily on mine, anchoring me in the moment.
“Your hood, Fallyn." Ash whispered, "Put your hood up.”
It was probably too late for that, I wanted to say, but I did as he bade me, willing myself to disappear within my hood.
I glanced nervously between Ash and the approaching guards.
If Ash noticed the visible tension crackling around me, if he noticed the way they homed in on me, he didn’t let on.
His face stayed carefully calm at their approach.
“State your business and your identity,” the leader of the five said, the other four forming a semi circle around us—a means to cut us off.
When Ash refused to respond beyond the grinding of his jaw, that leader’s gaze slipped from Ash to me.
Gods above and below, despite the shadows that concealed me, I swear he knew exactly who I was. “I said speak!”
“We’re not dogs, you don’t command us.” Ash’s voice cut through the fear, the turmoil, and bade all eyes, including mine to him, but the leader came right back to me. Ignoring Ash, he dismounted, taking an authoritative step towards me—
—only for a feral growl to be heard, resonating and predatorial.
The leader’s wide-eyed attention was quick to return to Ash.
The air vibrated with a dark energy, the same energy that thrummed right before devastation struck.
The light darkened, and the shadows lengthened in response despite the sun’s position.
“Don’t look at her. You’re dealing with me.” Ash’s tone did not allow for arguing. Did not allow for anything other than his will.
“We’re looking for someone,” the leader said by way of explanation, as if that would placate Ash, and turned back to me, looking deep within my hood. “Remove your hood. Now.”
“There will be consequences for non-compliance!” warned one of the other mounted riders.
“Identify yourselves! In the name and authority of King Kodiak!” His command was the lash of a whip.
An insult. An offense. And of all things, Ash laughed.
His unamused laugh was a dark trill that could strike unease in someone at the best of times, but this?
I saw fear. Even the horses backed away as Ash summoned his power.
“I don’t answer to you.” The words rumbled from his chest, punctuated with a snarl. “And neither does she.”
“She’s Fallyn, isn’t she? The Prince’s missing betrothed.
” It wasn't a question so much as it was an accusation.
I could hear the derision dripping from his mouth with every syllable.
I risked a peek up to see the leader's face glaring down at me as though he could weigh my sins himself. The sigil of the Morningstar scrawled across his chest, a red shooting star on a field of black had always reminded me of my mother, of her burning. The charred remains, and the red-orange of the fire. Of the blood that had streamed from her wounds. Of the prayer the self appointed holy male had given to cleanse her of being a heretic. I glared back at him from within my cowl as fear took notice of a decades old rage simmering just beneath it. “You’re to accompany us immediately. The prince commands—”
I would never hear what the prince commanded.
Because the man was face down, choking on his own blood with Ash’s sword skewered through his throat.
I fought the urge to retch as I watched the light fade from his eyes.
The men bellowed, some with anger, some with horror, but all were shocked.
This wasn’t entirely self-defense anymore.
This was killing. I felt another spike of panic begin to rise, but Ash’s hand squeezed mine again, connecting us, grounding me.
“Fallyn, I want you to do me a favor and close your eyes.” Ash moved once more, placing himself intentionally further between me those who would capture take me to their king.
“The prince is in love with you, Lady Fallyn!” the one guard shrieked pleadingly at me. “Just come willingly with us. He wants to make you our queen! A life of luxury. Of splendor. Why are you running from it?”
“You lie. Because why the bounty posters?” I argued, speaking at last. “Why hunt me down like a criminal? You know the chasms have nothing to do with me.”
“Fallyn, your eyes. Close them,” Ash's imploring rose above whatever nonsensical retort they had to give me. He turned to look at me, his eyes blazing with a single plea, “Trust me.”
I looked from Ash to the leader of the guards where he still glared down at me, his orders falling on deaf ears. My only moment of hesitation before I did as Ash bade. I covered my eyes.
If the air had rattled before, it was a tempest now, not of movement but of density. Like the reverberations of a gong or the echo of thunder booming overhead. The hair on the nape of my neck stood erect and nervous, gooseflesh arose over my arms, and a sense of dread came over me like a hush.
“What manner of beast are you?” One of the guard’s fractured whispers reached me, so snarled in panic I nearly opened my eyes when Ash’s eerily calm voice sounded.
“I have good news for you, gentlemen; one of you gets to live. And that lucky duck gets to send a message to your king." Every word from Ash sent a shiver that was equal parts thrill and fear down my spine. Each word methodically chosen, calculated. But it was the smirk I heard on his lips that laid a dare between our side and theirs. "That if anyone from his employ comes after Fallyn again, not only will their end be merciless, but his will be too. He will not know the kingdom of the Morningstar he prays to, nor will the Underworld accept or even recognize him when I’m through with him. Fallyn. Is. Mine.” Ash’s reply was unyielding, like the rocks the waves crashed down upon.
Like that of a mountainside and carrying with it the distinct pulse pumping.
And then the first horror-fueled scream. Like the paralyzing fear of the moment you realized you weren’t alone in the darkness.
And another.
And another.
The moment became a symphony of wrath. Of ruin.
Of leather boots skidding, scrambling for purchase on the stone path, steel clattering uselessly to the ground, the wet slice of blade tearing into flesh, and frightened men choking on the prayers to the new god they thought could save them.
The bloody crack of violence and the kind of screams that left me with a cold understanding of why Ash didn't want me to witness.
Why my head was buried in my hands at his behest. Some things should not be seen.
I knew better than most how some visuals make the good things inside a person die screaming.
Uncertainty slithered between my ribs, not from the guards, but the male causing them to cry out in agony.
Of whatever horror could reduce five men armed to the hilt to weeping panic in a matter of heartbeats.
The screams stopped as they began; abruptly.
Hoofbeats of a single horse thundered away, the only sound that faded with a matter of seconds.
The remaining silence nagged me, descended over me.
As soothing as a shadow, Ash's arms crested around me, one hand threading fingers softly through my hair, as if he could brush the fear away.
“Open your eyes, Fallyn. You’re safe now. And if that guard does his job, we don’t have anything to worry about again.”
I blinked up at him in time to see him wipe a smear of blood off his cheek.
It unnerved me to see him do it so casually, how numb he was to death and violence, leaving me with a persistent shiver that had nothing to do with the cool air.
“What makes you think a simple threat would be enough to keep him away?”
“I gave a thrilling presentation," He grinned widely, wickedly pleased with himself, "and that guard will either deliver the message or be the message. Either way, if he comes after you, it will be the end of him. I swear it, little shadow. I told you before I protect what’s mine.”
She’s mine.
That’s what he’d said. And now he was telling me that he’d meant it.
“Thank you.” My words were a whisper, barely there over my emotion.
Ash stilled, only a moment before holding me tighter.
"For," I struggled for the best phrase as I stared over the bloody carnage for the first time, "taking care of them.
" Three bloody corpses were proof that to challenge Ash was to tempt a reckoning.
I teetered on a razor thin line between safety and ruin, and Ash, still casually wiping flecks of blood from himself, was both.
He had the potential to be my punishment or my salvation, and I can't for the life of me understand which he was.
“I have a gift for you.” He gestured to the four remaining horses standing uneasily behind him. “We can ride the rest of the way to the city.
“An unexpected bonus to slaughter, admittedly.”
"Did you just make a joke?" Ash guffawed.