Chapter 11
Of course the lamp required blood to open.
That’s how the cave opened, what the strange magic demanded.
I offered my already cut hand without prompt, and Terym pulled the handkerchief aside to reveal the congealed blood in the center of my palm.
He pressed the blade against the cut, the sting nothing compared to the anticipation pulsing through me as fresh blood pooled.
Before the red liquid could send my mind spiraling into the past, I palmed the warm metal. At my touch, the lamp’s vibration increased, humming loud enough several of the lords jumped to their feet in alarm.
Dark smoke floated from the spout, the scent of it filling my lungs. Floral and woodsy. Familiar.
Terym jolted back a few steps as more smoke fell from the lamp, pooling on the floor before it expanded up. It was captivating, tendrils danced and whirled, reflecting our surroundings in a rainbow of color. Flashes of blue and green, yellow and red and orange.
The smoke curled and rolled before settling into a shape, a silhouette of a man. Then it dissipated, and the silhouette became an iridescent body, shimmering for a moment, as if suspended in time, before solidifying to become a male as real as the ones watching on in awe.
I stared up at the man from my knees, transfixed. He was handsome, beautiful even. Not in a generic way, most would call his features harsh. Slashing.
Hair dark as night fell in soft waves to his shoulders, framing sharp cheekbones and a square jaw, his pale skin stark against the blackness.
His tunic mirrored drawings I’d once seen in a history tome, some kind of ancient dress long since gone out of fashion.
The color such a deep purple it appeared almost black.
His tight-fitted shirt cut across broad shoulders and tapered toward his waist, the sleeves short enough to expose muscular forearms covered in peculiar dark markings.
Though his pants weren’t particularly tight, I could tell the thighs underneath were muscled, given I was eye level with them.
His light-gray gaze darted around the room, his jaw clenched as he surveyed his surroundings, taking everything in. His blank expression had a severity to it—a harshness so intriguing I could barely focus on anything other than the way his features were reflected under the dancing candlelight.
Not the lords standing wide-eyed with mouths agape, nor the guard beside the entrance who stepped closer with his sword drawn.
Not even Captain Gensen, who moved to stand in front of the king, his own sword at the ready, until I noticed the tip of his blade was mere inches from the beautiful man’s bare throat.
My heart pumped furiously, and I had a sudden urge to tackle the captain to the ground.
Before I could even twitch, the beautiful man arched a single eyebrow.
Unfazed and maybe even a little amused by the threat to his life.
Then those gray eyes settled on me, and they blazed brightly, burning into a shimmering silver the longer I stared into them.
I rose slowly, the weakness in my legs forgotten, entranced by him. His eyes endless depths of silver I couldn’t break free from. Not that I wanted to. No, I wanted to get lost in them and never find my way out. To know everything they had seen and everything the man behind them had ever felt.
He was so tall I had to keep my head bent so I could keep eye contact, even standing to my full height. I couldn’t pull my eyes away, not when his returning gaze sparked with the same intensity. Then the strange man stunned everyone, me most of all.
He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. To. Me.
Oh, fuck.
I froze. This was it, my life was forfeit. Gods, I hoped Wista would get Eleanor out, because I wouldn’t survive this. Not when this man, this strange and beautiful man who emerged from the lamp, knelt before me.
Not King Terym. Me.
Everyone took a collective breath, all of us waiting for the king’s command to slay not only me but the man who defied his monarchy by bowing to another.
Then the man spoke, his voice so deep and gravelly it sent a slow sensuous shiver crawling over my skin.
“Life Provided on the sun’s longest day.
A true witness to the Taker of Death.
The one to Wield the utmost Strength.
She who has remained true to the Giver’s virtue.
On the twenty-fifth turn of the sun, bleed pure.
Under the rays of her truest form, thrice a wish you shall receive.”
The man raised his head, and those shimmering silver eyes held me captive once more.
The harsh silence following his words choked me.
I didn’t understand what they meant, couldn’t focus enough to try.
My heart was beating too fast, my breathing too shallow.
Darkness hovered on the edges of my mind, those silver eyes the only thing keeping it at bay.
The king would slaughter me. Slaughter us.
Slaughter him. Although I hadn’t spoken a word to the man before me, something in my chest told me I couldn’t let that happen.
The lords shuffled and twitched, and the slight creaking of the soldiers’ armor spoke to their own unease.
Still, Terym said nothing. Did nothing.
“Please stand up,” I breathed when I couldn’t take it anymore. Perhaps if he stopped, the king could be persuaded not to kill me.
The beautiful man’s gaze remained on me, and he slowly rose to his feet, the expression slashed across his harsh features unreadable. A blank mask I couldn’t pull away from, not when those silver eyes swirled with such intensity.
“Well, now that’s out of the way.” Terym spoke in that monotone way of his, giving no insight into his feelings.
“Let us test that theory. Adelia, my dear, you must make my first wish.” He pushed past Gensen, despite the captain’s protests, to stand beside me, far too close.
His arm brushed mine, and I recoiled, unable to help my body’s reaction.
It hadn’t been like this before. I had been wary of him, but I could stop my reaction most of the time.
Now, there was something very wrong with his proximity.
The beautiful man’s nostrils flared slightly, but he didn’t move. Didn’t speak. His gaze never straying from mine.
The humming vibration no longer came from the lamp in my hand but from the man before me, a quiver disturbing the air.
My heart still raced in echo to it, as if desperately trying to synchronize with the strange beat.
My hand twitched with the sudden urge to reach out and feel that beat beneath my palm. Feel his chest. His heart.
I inhaled deeply, trying to curb the desire to touch him, but all it did was fill my nose and lungs with that heady scent. Floral and woodsy. It grounded me, and the fog taking over my mind cleared a little.
I blinked, coming back to myself. I was so lost in the man’s eyes I hadn’t responded to the king, couldn’t even recall what he’d asked.
Terym made a noise deep in his throat, one of impatience, and my attention darted to him. His jaw was clenched, and he ground his teeth, fists balled at his side. He was angry. No—furious.
I audibly gulped, immediately dipping into a low curtsy and bowing my head in supplication. I hoped it would be enough to appease his ire. “M-my deepest apologies, my king. What is it you would like me to do?”
“Make my first wish. I wish for an army, one that never tires, that’s unbeatable!” Terym’s demand was a vise across my chest, squeezing so tight I struggled to draw breath. His first wish. He wanted me to make his first wish.
The beautiful man’s words echoed in my mind. Under the rays of her truest form, thrice a wish you shall receive.
That’s what he said when he knelt before me. The strange man, who had been held inside the lamp, would give me three wishes. Three wishes the king demanded for himself.
And his first one …
Everything clicked into place.
Foolish. I had been utterly foolish.
He hadn’t asked me to wish for a curse to be broken.
He wanted an army, an unbeatable one at that.
I had no choice at the time, but I had agreed to help the king, thinking I would help innocent people.
Save lives. Instead, I would condemn them by handing Terym a weapon of untold proportion.
He could wish for anything. Three times over.
“There isn’t a curse, is there?” I whispered, voicing my realization to the entire tent and everyone within it. A few chuckles sounded from the lords, but I didn’t take my eyes from the king. His expression didn’t deter from the unreadable calm he always portrayed.
“This is war, my dear Adelia. That is the truth.”
Bile rose, burning my throat, but I forced it back down. I couldn’t believe a word he said. He manipulated me the way only a king could, and I bowed to him as was demanded of me because I had no choice, lest I risk his wrath on my sister and me.
Eleanor.
She was here and on his radar.
If he lied about this, how could I trust he would stay true to his word and protect her.
I glanced around the tent as if I could see the camp beyond the canvas walls.
I had to get her out.
She wasn’t safe. She needed to be safe.
Something brushed my hand. A wispy warmth. Not solid or liquid, something … ethereal. It calmed my racing thoughts enough for me to focus on my next breath, and the oddly familiar scent filled my lungs, clearing my mind enough to focus.
The king barked my name again. “My patience wears thin. Make my wish!” Terym demanded, gesturing to the man who still stood before me, his head now tilted to the side as silver eyes drilled into me.
Still, I hesitated. The king had lied to me, demanded I wish for what would surely end in hundreds of deaths. I couldn’t be the cause of that.
I glanced around the tent, every man’s gaze intent on me, some expecting, others eager.
Captain Gensen stood closest, gripping his unsheathed sword. It wasn’t just the man who emerged from the lamp he eyed carefully but me as well. The warning in his piercing stare clear.
I had to do it. Had to make the wish the king demanded of me.
My stomach churned. I didn’t want to. I despised the choice I was forced to make, but I couldn’t defy the king, not now. Not when it would risk Eleanor’s life. He couldn’t doubt my loyalty; it was the only way to keep her safe. Safe and hidden.
For now.
“How?” My quiet question was aimed at the beautiful man, not the king.
He blinked once, then murmured, “Only under the Goddess’s rays may you wish for it.”
His voice sent me back to another time, another place. One I didn’t recognize but knew in the marrow of my bones. Another shiver rolled through me, settling in a way I refused to acknowledge. Not now. Not ever.
I dug my fingers into my palm, willing the sharp pain to bring me back from distraction. I couldn’t get lost in him and this strange feeling, not with what I was about to do.
Instead, I focused on his words. He must mean Vanimalis, Goddess of the Sun.
I glanced to the king again. “I need to stand in the sun.”
Terym made a small noise of impatience and gestured to the tent’s entrance. I shuffled past him and into the sunlight, a procession of lords following me.
Clear of the shadows created by the sea of tents, I found a small space that encompassed my entire body with the sun’s rays.
“Like this?” I asked the man.
He stared up at the sun, which was at its highest peak in the sky, then returned his gaze to me, nodding once.
The man didn’t specify whether there were any restrictions on the wish. Could I wish for a way out?
Lords and soldiers surrounded me, trapping me in a circle of dangerous men.
No. I couldn’t risk it when I didn’t know for sure. At least, not right now.
I swallowed past the tightness in my throat. “I wish … I wish for an army that never tires, that is … unbeatable.” My words were shaky, and hunger soured in my stomach as nausea gripped me tightly.
Wishing for an army was wishing for death. A wish for everything I despised. War. Violence. Death. Pain.
So. Much. Pain.
I chose my sister over hundreds. Maybe thousands. Although my mother would be proud, I’m not sure I would be able to forgive myself for the loss of their lives.
The beautiful man stilled, then his form softened, edges blurring as smoke billowed until all I could see was an opaque silhouette and his startlingly silver eyes boring into my own. It was like he could see through me, see how much this cost me and the stain it left on my already charred soul.
The humming vibration accelerated and increased in volume until it was all I could feel. In my ears. In my skin. In my bones. Everywhere. Static energy filled me, and loose strands of hair rose to float around my face.
That floral woodsy scent intensified as well, thickening enough to cause a few of the lords to cough. I relished it, filling my lungs with each expanding breath. It was deliciously potent.
The humming built to a high-pitched ring, like the buzz from the tomb. So loud several of the lords covered their ears, wincing, with eyes squeezed shut.
I felt it then. The magic. Falling over me like an invisible blanket, a suffocating weight constricting my chest. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything but stare into those silvery orbs amidst dark swirling smoke. His eyes kept me present. Grounded.
Just as it all became too much, the magic gentled. The blanket fading slowly until everything stopped and the man from the lamp solidified once more.
Only my own heartbeat could be heard in the absolute stillness that followed, just me and the beautiful man staring intently at each other. Then frenzied shouts rang out, accompanied by hurried footsteps which grew in frequency and pitch.
A soldier burst through our group, gaining everyone’s attention. “King Terym, my apologies for the intrusion.”
“We’re busy.” The soldier flinched at the king’s clipped response. I didn’t blame him.
“It’s the field. I don’t—You need to see—I think we’re under attack.” The soldier fled before anyone could fully register his words, let alone respond.
“Come.” Terym gripped my arm and pulled me after the flustered soldier. I had no choice but to follow along while the lords trailed behind us.
It was chaos, everyone running to the edge of the encampment, to the ancient burial grounds where thousands of fallen soldiers lay to rest. The beautiful field of everlasting flowers.
We pushed through frantic soldiers and servants alike. Past the last line of tents, a sea of deep blue gathered, shining armor reflecting the last of the day’s light. The king’s men parted on our approach, allowing us to see into the field beyond.
There, among flowers of blue and white, stood a sprawling army.