Chapter 39
At my gasped words, Terym’s head snapped my way, a small crook at the corner of his lips and a glint in his eye. He stalked toward me, body vibrating, and I shuffled back, panicked.
“Release him.” The order had barely left his lips when I hit a wall of armor. I turned to find Gensen blocking my path and the escape I planned to make back up the stone steps.
“You don’t want to do this,” I said, my voice small as I made a pointless plea to an unyielding man. I had to try. Eleanor would want me to try.
“Actually, I do.” Terym bounced on the balls of his feet, not able to contain his excitement this close to everything he wanted.
He turned with awed eyes and greedily took in every inch of the illustration covering the walls.
“This is all I’ve been focused on, everything I’ve worked toward since I read these texts in my youth.
” I shook my head, though the king couldn’t see it, as his eyes were glued to the demons.
“The power they can yield. I’ll be unstoppable. ”
“You don’t know what they will do to your land or your people.” My voice cracked on the last word. So many innocent lives would be lost if they were released, the stories told on the steps to this chamber could attest to that.
So much hurt. So much death.
“Let me tell you a story, my dear Adelia,” Terym said coolly, just before wild blue eyes met mine again.
“When I was a young man, readying to take my throne, my father decided the Great Divide was a mistake, that our lands weren’t prospering under a severed rule.
So, he came to an agreement with Mortremon, with Siro.
” He spat the other king’s name with derision.
“They wanted to give up their rule, give it back to the Emyrdeis line. They thought together, our kingdoms would prosper as Galisordis.”
He spread his arms wide, as if encompassing the entire land while his face twisted in rage. Meanwhile, I felt as if I had been doused by a pale of cool water, my legs frozen in place. “They were going to give away my birthright!”
He paused a moment, chest heaving before his arms fell to his sides again.
“Siro found the heir, the last in the Emyrdeis line. They were going to announce it all—to both kingdoms. I couldn’t let that happen.
” That familiar maniacal grin spread across his lips.
“I killed him. My father. Snuck into his room while he slept and slit his throat. I planned to kill the heir next, but Siro knew and sent him into hiding.”
Each word slammed into me with extreme force, and buzzing filled my ears, my legs shaking uncontrollably.
The truth of his words suffocating. Terym’s voice turned deathly calm and the vibrating in his body stilled.
“It took a few years, but I found him in the end, and do you know where he was hiding? Where Siro sent his salvation? To my kingdom, some tiny border village where he worked as a wood carver.”
Hot tears stung my eyes, spilling over and burning my cheeks. The barely healed wound in my chest tore open. No. The smile tugging the king’s lips was feral. “I had him killed. Him and his whore wife.”
This couldn’t be happening.
It couldn’t be the truth.
I didn’t take my sister right into the hands of our parents’ killer.
No.
A sob escaped, and a stabbing pain pierced my chest like a knife over and over.
All this time, I suspected Mortremon was responsible. We were living in Torglea, why would we live here if the greatest danger laid in wait close by? Instead of running from the threat, I dragged my sister directly into the fire, and we were both burned beyond repair.
Shadows danced at the edges of my vision, the attack gripping my heart in iron fingers while I came to terms with the truth.
If Terym found out who Eleanor was, he would slaughter her immediately, whether he had his final wish or not. He wouldn’t allow her to live to challenge his throne.
The tightening in my chest eased. Thank Gods she wasn’t here, that she’d escaped.
I had to find her.
We needed to flee to Mortremon. We would be safe there. I was sure of that now. King Siro would offer us safety and shelter. He would help Eleanor ascend, and together, we could stop Terym from destroying us all.
My resolve banished the remnants of my panic attack, and I paid attention to Terym’s monologuing once more. “With this power, I can finally defeat him and take his kingdom as my own. My father was right about one thing, our kingdoms would be reunited, under my rule.”
His cold eyes turned back to me. “I’m too close now for you to get in my way. Release him!” Spittle flew from his mouth, spraying my skin.
Everything Terym had done—killing his own father, killing my parents—it was all to gain more power. My parents died to protect the truth, to protect my sister. And it worked, he didn’t know another heir lived, I wasn’t about to change that.
What I would do was honor my parents’ deaths. Honor my sister, who was the true Queen of Galisordis, and I wouldn’t fail her again.
I would release Shade, but by the Gods, I wouldn’t break the seal of the prison beneath our feet. With him at my side, together we could stop this. Fight Terym. I could make a wish of my own, and we would escape together. Free.
Despite my resolve, my hands still shook when I pulled the lamp from my pocket. Although it was scolding, it didn’t burn my skin. I cupped the smooth surface, my palm still wet from the most recent cut.
Smoke sailed from the spout faster than ever before. His unique scent covered me like a warm blanket. So distinctly different to the purloe flowers filling the clearing around the ruined castle.
It was him. He gave me comfort and strength—it had nothing to do with the flowers.
Shade’s silver eyes burned into mine, then he examined my body thoroughly.
Outrage filled those beautiful orbs when he took in my disheveled and bound state.
It was a look that would send grown men running for the hills.
Then he searched our surroundings, and his nostrils flared when he took in the men circling us, weapons drawn and trained in our direction.
Terym stared us down, arms crossed and tapping his foot. Shade’s expression turned downright murderous when he faced the king.
“What is this?” The menacing growl sent shivers running down my spine, not in fear but full of relief. I wasn’t alone. He would fight for me, with me.
Terym ignored him and watched me expectantly, waiting for the wish I would never make, to release an unspeakable evil upon this world.
“Wish for the seal to be broken, Adelia. Release them!”
I stood tall, bolstered with strength by the beautiful man at my side. Gone was the simpering girl who’d obeyed his every command.
“No.” My voice didn’t tremble in my defiance. It was strong, stronger than ever before in denying King Terym. I wouldn’t play his games anymore. He had taken so much from me. My parents. My sister.
No more.
I was ready to make my wish. One for myself.
The king must have seen the clear resolve on my face because a small smirk pulled at the corner of his lips and I hesitated.
He should be angry. Livid. Not smiling.
“So stubborn. There really is only one way to motivate you, isn’t there, my dear Adelia?” He raised his voice on the next words, and they echoed around us and slithered into my soul. “Why don’t you join us, Harkin?”
No.
He was lying. He had to be.
I spun toward the approaching footsteps. My heart stuttered in my chest, cool fear filling my veins. Harkin appeared in the doorway, dragging a struggling Eleanor who was supporting a nearly unconscious Wista.
Fire raged through me when I took in their combined state.
Eleanor was livid, her eyes burning a hole into Harkin’s head.
She couldn’t speak, a dirty rag filled her mouth and was tied around her messy curls, straining against her bruised face.
He’d hit her. Her hands were bound at her waist, her dress dirty and creased, though not covered in blood.
She supported Wista’s weight, but her back must still be in pain with the way she held it.
Wista …
My friend had been tortured far more than my sister, her face was swollen into a variety of colors.
Her clothes torn and bloody in some places.
The way she sagged against Eleanor’s side told me she would collapse to the ground if not for her.
It seemed only that kept my sister from attacking the young lord.
Harkin was a different man. Gone were his carefree smiles and exaggerated winks, in their place was a deep scowl and malevolent eyes.
A small cut split his lip, and there was a light array of bruises dusting his jaw.
Pride flickered in my chest. I was sure it had been Eleanor who inflicted those injuries.
That small flickering soured into regret.
I should have told her. Everything would be different if she knew the truth.
Hazel eyes darted around the room, widening when they locked onto me. She stepped forward, pulling Wista with her before Harkin gripped her. He pushed my friend to the ground, who fell with a muffled cry.
Eleanor released a screech of fury and attacked him, but it was clear she was weak, her attempted hit on him sluggish, and he quickly subdued her before pushing her to splay on the floor at Terym’s feet.
“Feisty little thing. If you don’t kill her, I’ll take great pleasure in breaking her in.” Those green eyes filled with the darkest kind of evil, something he hid so effectively I had fallen headfirst into his trap. All of us had.
Terym’s menacing chuckle drew my attention. “I knew from the moment we met, you were the one who would release the magic. All those other useless girls met every condition, bar one. They hadn’t seen death.” He paused, baring his teeth while I stood frozen in horror.
“No matter how many we killed in front of them, none of the girls could open the door. Bleeding on the stone sent them into madness.” Shade’s chest brushed my back as Terym set gleaming blue eyes on me.
“Not you though. I knew I would need to keep a close eye on you and Harkin graciously volunteered.”
It was all a ruse. Inserting himself into Eleanor’s life as a way into our inner circle to gain our confidence. Our trust. They played us from the very beginning, and I stupidly trusted him. I’d begged him to take Eleanor and Wista.
He’d hurt them because of my mistake.
I’d failed, yet again.
“Not that it was a hardship, especially once she invited me into her bed.” Harkin sneered and I saw red. Fire consumed my entire being and I exploded, but before I could move, Pierce barreled forward.
He took the young lord to the ground, snarling in his face, “You. Son. Of. A. Bitch.” Each word was accompanied by a vicious strike, his body vibrating.
Everyone seemed to be in just as much shock as me, then Gensen jumped into action, ordering his men, and together, they pulled a thrashing Pierce from Harkin’s limp body.
The small rise and fall of his chest indicated he was still breathing, but he was clearly unconscious, his bloody face unrecognizable. No one moved to check on him.
At my feet, Shade’s smoke was subtly inching outward, so slowly no one else noticed. They were too distracted by Pierce, who struggled against the men holding him down. His eyes were locked on Eleanor, and what I saw there was both unbelievable and unmistakable.
Terym tsked. “Pierce, Pierce. So much hope I had for you.” He nodded at Gensen, who slammed a fist into Pierce’s face, knocking him out cold.
Then those icy-blue eyes landed on me again. “You know what I want, Adelia.”
Eleanor pushed herself upright, hazel eyes filled with determination when she shook her head at me. The same way she had just before Lenek had taken the whip to her back a second time. Icy tendrils of fear wrapped me in a chokehold. I couldn’t do it again; I couldn’t witness her hurt or worse.
I searched the room for an out, but Terym’s men surrounded us, and any move to escape would result in death. Mine and hers.
My breaths shortened, and my chest constricted.
She wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to be safe.
I had a wish to make. One wish.
My heart tore in two, each half pulled me in opposite directions.
How could I protect Eleanor and make the wish I knew in my heart I needed to. For him.
I loved him, more than anything in this world, and I couldn’t use my last wish for anything but to free him from the confines of that stupid lamp.
How would we all survive if I did?
Terym’s impatience grew, so on a huff, he grabbed Eleanor and pulled her to stand in front of him, with the jeweled knife held against her abdomen and tearing at the fabric of her dirty dress.
“Do it, or I’ll kill little Eleanor.”
No. Anything but that. I couldn’t let him do it. She needed to live.
The world needed her to live.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I stared into those hazel eyes.
I’d failed again. Failed to protect her. Failed to save him.
I couldn’t let her die, but I couldn’t make that wish. Every fiber of my being screamed at me not to. I opened my mouth, not really sure what I was going to say—when several things happened at once.
Terym smiled in triumphant glee.
Smoke curled around the king’s ankles.
And Eleanor moved.
She gripped Terym’s knife with bound hands and used the momentum of her body to impale the knife into her side, her scream muffled by the dirty rag filling her mouth.
Everything slowed as the blade disappeared into my sister’s body.
Terym stepped away, hands wide, and staring at Eleanor in clear shock.
I ran as she fell.