Chapter 53
As soon as we hit land, we push the boat up the beach and leave it by some rocks, just in case we end up back here again and find ourselves in need of a boat.
We’re in fairy territory, Rhydra informs us as she navigates her map. Kezra confirms the assessment.
We immediately begin to trek through a deep, dense jungle full of brown trees with dark green leaves. Several creatures, including a few snakes, are seen on the way. Nothing incredibly threatening, though.
It takes half the morning before we end up on the other side, and even longer before we reach an inn. This one is off a road that’s not often traveled.
“Is this going to be safe?” I ask, not bothering to mask my skepticism.
“Hopefully. We have no other choice. A bigger, busier town is easier to blend into, but we won’t make one by nightfall,” Raef responds.
We get to the shabby, quiet inn, and Rhydra goes to hide somewhere nearby as we make our way inside. Apparently, they’ve been spotting the king’s soldiers all over the continent. So today we’re just four young elves traveling, looking for a couple of rooms.
The ruse works. The innkeeper gives us an extra-long glance or two, but they’re probably just not used to many travelers here in general.
As we pay for four separate rooms, something Daegan said to me a long time ago resurfaces in my memory. That I would never be sleeping without him again if he had any say. The memory makes me overcome with sadness. Things ended up so, so different.
Before the tears begin to well in my eyes, I snatch a key and turn away, heading to one of the rooms for a bath. No one stops me.
~
A short while after I’ve bathed and I’m feeling refreshed, a knock sounds on my door, causing my heart to leap in my chest.
It’s not him.
Raef offers me a plate of food, and I open the door wider, inviting him in. He steps inside.
“We figured it’s best to lay low, so I brought you some food.”
“Thank you,” I say. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been better.”
There’s a sadness in his eyes, one that makes my heart ache. I don’t know the extent of his pain, but I feel some of it too.
“She should be here,” I whisper.
He agrees with the dipping of his chin, and that’s all that needs to be said. We sit in silence for a moment, side-by-side on the edge of the bed, both staring off at nothing as I take a few bites of food.
“He wanted to come for you the day he got free, you know…”
“I didn’t deserve it. I couldn’t save him. Everything is my fault.”
“Stop it.”
I look at Raef, whose stern voice startles me.
“No more self-pity, no more blaming yourself for everything awful that’s happened. More bad shit is probably going to happen, and none of it is on you. We’ve all chosen to be on this path. We all know what’s at stake. But the world is slowly dying.”
“Okay,” I say weakly.
He gives me a look.
“Okay,” I say louder and more clearly.
“We all need to catch up. Together.” He gives me a look. “Come to my room with me?
“Okay.”
Raef leads the way to his room, but on the way, he stops and knocks quietly on a door that’s right next door to mine.
Daegan answers, meeting my eyes almost instantly, even though I’m mostly shielded behind Raef’s large frame.
He’s in a black linen shirt with his biceps showing, and his shorter hair looks like he’s been running fingers through it.
“Come to my room,” he says, then walks off.
I take off after him, sensing Daegan closing his room behind me and following.
When Raef opens his door, I see Rhydra inside. We all shuffle in and close the door quickly. I scurry to the far corner, then stand and face the room with my arms crossed.
Rhydra eyes me for an extended time, but I’m not sure why.
“Okay, so the three of us are all caught up on everything since we’ve been traveling together for a couple months,” Raef starts.
His words twist a knife in my stomach. It’s so stupid and selfish to be jealous, but I am.
“But we all need to share what we know, what we’ve learned,” he finishes with a powerful authority I didn’t fully know he was capable of.
It hurts that they’ve all been together for months, even though I know they went through a lot of shit too. I fold my arms around myself a little more, avoiding all their eyes.
“I, unfortunately, have no new information at all to contribute,” I start, speaking softly. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Rhydra tells me. “We think we have a lead on the diadem, anyway.”
I whip my head up. “That’s right. What do you know?”
“Don’t forget me!” Everyone seems to jump as Kezra glides through the air in the middle of the room.
“Where did you even come from?” Raef asks with pure curiosity and wonder.
“I came in the door with you all, of course.”
“Of course,” Daegan mumbles.
“Anyways,” I say, my gaze lingering on him. “What’s the lead?”
“Well, we went to visit Maethrel again,” Raef starts.
“To ask him about the diadem again? Smart,” I say.
Raef glances at Daegan, lifting an eyebrow. “No, actually. It was Daegan’s idea to visit him again. To ask him if he knew anything about your whereabouts.”
I risk a glance at Daegan and find him staring at a wall with his face stoic and his arms crossed and knotted with tension.
“Anyways,” Rhydra cuts in, shooting Raef a look. “He did help lead us to you, but he also had more information for us.”
“The diadem?” I ask.
She confirms with a nod of her head. “He says that long ago, it was broken down and repurposed into a clunky, sparkling necklace.”
“Why didn’t he fucking tell us that the first time?” I blurt.
Everyone looks at me as if they had the same thought before too.
“And does he know where it is?”
My shoulders fall as she shakes her head.
“Any other details about it? Did he describe any colors? Any gems that stand out?”?
“He did say that it has a heart of crimson.”
My heart rate immediately begins pumping. “What?” I ask.
“She struggles to hear sometimes,” Kezra whispers loudly to Raef, who lifts an eyebrow in response.
“A heart of crimson,” Rhydra repeats.
I slide my body down the wall and sit in the corner with my knees bent in front of me, placing my hands on my forehead.
“What is it?” It’s Daegan speaking this time. Daegan, with his low, velvety voice that I think could awaken me from death.
I rub at my temples a few more times, processing, and then I glance up and meet his eyes. Then everyone else’s. They’re all on edge, waiting with anticipation.
“In the castle, in my father’s private chambers, he has a large room that contains some of his most precious items. Not the heavily guarded treasure room that holds old stones and things passed down through generations, but a room that holds more sentimental items. Some of my mother’s things still lie there…
” I look at them, my heart still racing, and then continue, brushing past that.
This particular piece didn’t belong to her.
“I used to sneak in there and try on all the jewelry.”
Daegan meets my eyes and smirks.
I pause, my eyes dancing between all their stares. “I can still picture the gaudy, deep red gem that hung from the diamond chain.” I pause again. “It was in the shape of a heart.”
“You’re joking!” Raef exclaims.
Rhydra has a funny look on her face. Bitterness mixed with elation is the best way I can describe it.
Daegan’s eyes remain glued to me. There’s a subtle pull of his lips.
“That has to be it, right?” I say in disbelief. Could we really have found the last item?
As if reading my mind, Raef speaks. “It can’t be this easy, can it? The final relic?”
“Is it the final relic?” Rhydra asks. “I thought there were four?”
“The emberstone is the fourth,” Daegan explains, saying what I was about to.
“I thought that was just used to make the cut on the witch?” Rhydra asks, trying to understand.
“Cut by one born from ember, the witch’s blood must flow once more.
The diadem of the elves shall be set upon flame’s brow,
and the blade that drank the dragon’s heart shall rise again.
Yet not till the four are gathered and kindled in the fire of their foe shall the sky be freed of its shroud,” I repeat the lines from memory.
“The fourth item has to be the emberstone that makes the witch bleed,” Daegan reaffirms.
“I agree,” I say.
“Okay,” Rhydra says. “But whose foe are we talking about? The elves’ foe or the dragons’ foe? Whose fire do we need?”
“I think, since the original spell was cast in the dragon fires of Torrynth, it has to be dragon fire again,” I say.
“What if it has to be in the actual Eternal Pit though?” Rhydra asks.
“Hopefully our fire is enough, because that’s impossible,” Raef murmurs. “The eternal Pit was lost above the veil.”
“We’ll worry about that after we have the necklace,” I add.
“Which is not going to be easy, by the way.” Rhydra turns her attention to me. “Things have changed a lot since we were separated. Your father has upped the training and deployment of his armies exponentially. They patrol other cities, the inns along travel routes, and they surround the castle.”
“The only good thing is that a lot of them have been lost to the creatures of the darkness along the way,” Raef says darkly.
“Are you one of those creatures of the darkness?” I ask as an involuntary tug of my lip occurs.
“We may have taken out a group or two along the way. But we mostly tried to remain inconspicuous, not drawing any attention to ourselves.”
“And no one else is fighting back? Is there any kind of resistance?” I ask.
“We’ve heard rumblings,” Raef responds, rubbing his chin. “We had even met with a few small groups while we were hiding out. But no one has been brave enough to stand up to them. Yet.”
“They don’t have the numbers alone,” Daegan says.
“Maybe we can start rallying them. Somehow,” I offer.
“I think we should focus on the necklace first. Draw as little attention as possible.” Rhydra looks around, seeing who agrees with her.
I move my head in agreement. So does everyone else.
“We can still talk to people along the way. Plant the seed,” Daegan adds.
“Okay. But we need to be careful. He could have spies among these people,” I say.
“Not likely,” Daegan quips. “Absolutely everyone hates the king. And his armies.” He gives me a loaded look that I shy away from. I feel like I know even less about what’s going on in his head than I used to.
“So, what now?” Rhydra asks.
“We make a plan to sneak into my castle. He may be upping his armies and patrols, but he’s still who he is at his core.
Arrogant. We make our way for the castle over the next few days, and we devise a plan along the way.
I think the less of us the better.” I glance at Rhydra, flashing her a look of remorse.
“Got it,” she nods in acceptance. “I can still keep watch along the perimeter.”
“Okay,” I agree. “I think… just Kezra and I go in.”
“No.” Daegan looks pissed, his arms crossed with tension.
“Well I’m not letting you go back in there. Not after—"
“She’s right,” Raef interrupts. “The fewer of us who go in, the better. We can wait just outside. If anything goes wrong, we’ll be ready.”
“Or… you cause a distraction…” I say. “At least one of you.”
Daegan still doesn’t look pleased. “I’m going with Elysande,” he announces to the room. “We’re not sending her in there by herself.”
Raef sighs, holding his head in his hand.
“Excuse me,” Kezra chirps in with her melodic, echoing voice. “Alone, she will not be.”
“Right. Well, I guess it’s the three of us then,” he says with authority.
“I’m not sure how they all deal with such obstinance,” Kezra says to Daegan with a sigh of acceptance.
“Fine. It’s settled then,” I say as I rise from my seated position in the corner. My head is held high as I look at each of them. “Now I just need to think about how we’ll sneak in. No problem.”
This room seems so empty now. I glance around and realize… this is it. We’re all that’s left of the order. Two dragon shifters, a Skeldaryn, a sassy fairy, and me, the daughter of a tyrant.
It will have to be enough.