Chapter 17
Lessia
She couldn’t stop staring at the shimmering castle as it towered over them, throwing the beautiful path—with flowers in all colors she could think of weaving around it—in shade, although given how high the sun stood in the sky, it was a welcome relief.
The gold and red stones that made up the castle glistened under the rays of the sun, though, and Lessia had to squint to continue taking in the several towers shooting up toward the sky where sparkling glass windows were open to let the breeze in.
She’d heard of this place growing up—it was where her father had been raised, after all. It’s where every Rantzier had lived since it was built. But it was another thing seeing it.
It was magnificent. She’d thought the white castle in Ellow had been as well, but… it paled in comparison to this massive structure.
A wooden drawbridge with thick chains was already down, and based on how the soldiers posted along it, and down the entire rest of their path, stood with their heads lowered, not a word slipping past their lips, she guessed Merrick’s warning had already been spread.
Glancing up at the Death Whisperer, she couldn’t help but smile again when he immediately turned his head her way, his eyes flying over her face to ensure she was all right.
She’d seen in his gait and his tense shoulders how much he hated stepping into the role he’d now been forced to, and although she wasn’t as sure he regretted killing that commander, she couldn’t fault him.
He’d done it for her.
Like he would do anything for her.
Like she would do anything for him.
That’s just how it was. She knew that now. They would live or die or fight or flee together. There was no other option. She and Merrick… they weren’t just soulbound. There was something else.
Maybe fate… but she didn’t think that was it. Not only fate, at least.
Merrick’s eyes sparked with promise. She continued staring at him even when they reached two heavy wooden doors that the guards—after hesitating only for a second—opened for them, revealing an arched entryway with deep red polished stone glittering as bright as Merrick’s silver hair in the sunlight.
She knew he could feel the emotions coursing within her, so instead of fanning the ember of worry that refused to leave her gut when she thought about what they might find out, she allowed herself to burrow down in the love she had for him.
In the gratefulness that they were together.
In the belief that whatever happened, they had each other.
In the excitement for a night together in a comfortable room, one where rain didn’t leak through the ceiling to soak their makeshift bed.
One side of Merrick’s mouth quirked up, and when he reached for her, she lifted onto her toes to peck his lips. He wasn’t having that, of course, capturing her instead in such a passionate kiss that Kerym cleared his throat behind them.
“We have a half-dead man here,” the Siphon Twin reminded them.
Lessia pulled back, but she could tell Merrick was about to hiss Let him just die, so she gave him a sharp look, even if it softened when he couldn’t hide the twitch of disappointment pulling his lips downward.
Merrick still scowled when he turned to a soldier standing straight-backed, looking ahead down the hallway where a thick crimson carpet with black serpents embroidered into it snaked its way over the polished stone.
“Get us a healer. The king’s,” he barked. “We’ll be in the guest quarters.”
Jerking his head for the group to follow, Merrick led the way down the corridor, and Lessia was glad he held on to her hand because her lips parted as she gawked at the massive gilded chandeliers glittering above them, and she nearly stumbled when she glimpsed ballroom after ballroom with the most beautiful tapestries hanging down the walls, where instruments were spread out and table after table stood with silver and gold cups and plates and cutlery.
“Your family didn’t spare any expense.” Kerym appeared amused when Lessia continued to whip her head back and forth. “I guess this is all yours now. Yours and little Frelina, of course.”
Lessia scoffed. “This belongs to the ruler, so that would be Iviry, wouldn’t it?”
Kerym didn’t respond as Merrick nudged a glass door open, revealing another hallway with doors every few feet on either side standing half open. When Merrick led them to the closest one, Lessia realized this must be the sleeping quarters.
The room was as beautiful as the rest of the castle.
A massive bed with more blankets than she’d ever seen stood against the wall to her right, double glass doors led out to a stone balcony, and a massive closet and bathing chamber stood beside each other to the left.
Judging from a quick peek into the room opposite this one, every door must have opened to similar spaces.
“Put him on the bed.” Merrick went up to the double doors, opening them and letting in the gentle, flowery breeze, along with the birdsong, which seemed far too kind for a place her uncle had called home.
As Kerym set down the moaning half-witch, Soria and Pellie assisting him while Cedar helped Kalia into a plush chair to the side of the bed, Lessia followed Merrick out onto the balcony.
He stood with his back to the room, tense and ready as always, but Lessia could see something bothered him—something that had his broad shoulders slump and his face harden more than usual.
Sneaking under his outstretched arms, his hands resting against the stone railing, she leaned into his chest as she followed his gaze, looking out over the green garden beneath them. Lush bushes and trees stood in perfect rows, and a large maze spread out as far as she could see.
“What is it?” Lessia whispered when Merrick released a shuddering breath, his arms moving to hold her closer.
“I hate this place.” Merrick’s breath flew through her hair, making her own exhale deepen. “I’ve always hated it, but…”
Lessia waited a couple of heartbeats for him to finish, but when he didn’t, she ripped her eyes from all the greenery and turned to face him.
Torment. It was raw torment that stormed in his dark eyes, those silver swirls angrily shifting over her as his gaze roved across her face, almost… almost as if it were the first—
“This is where you saw me the first time,” she said, her words barely a whisper.
Another shiver racked Merrick’s body.
“I can never forget it. Seeing you in that fucking cellar… I…” Merrick seemed to fight with himself as his next words came out harsh and jumbled, but she could tell how much he loved her from how he tried to soften his voice.
“Kerym is right. Iviry gave this to me as well before we left.” He gave her a letter. “You and Frelina have the right to this castle and the one Rioner gave your father, including the staff employed here. They were both funded with Rantzier gold and so belong to those with Rantzier blood.”
Lessia frowned at the letter when Merrick tipped her chin up. “I’ll stay here with you. I just… It might take me some time to get used to it.”
Lessia started laughing. A slightly manic laugh that quieted the room behind them, but she couldn’t stop when Merrick appeared truly confused.
“You…” She had to fight to get air into her lungs. “You think…”
Lessia giggled again, loosely wrapping her arms around his waist. “You stupid, beautiful idiot.”
Merrick just stared at her, and she shook her head as she quashed the last of the bubbling laughter warming her insides.
“If we even survive this war, I am most definitely not staying here.” She pressed her hands against his chest until he leaned his forehead on her own.
“I have given up the Rantzier name, and I am certainly not taking anything that my uncle might have touched. Well, apart from this.” She nodded toward the dagger her father had given her—the one that had taken both his life and hers.
She knew others thought it strange she still carried it, but… it called to her somehow.
She couldn’t let it go.
The door squealed behind them, and a female with a blanched face—the healer, evidently—slipped into the room.
Her eyes flew across the strange mixture of Fae, half-Fae, and witches before landing on the dying man in the bed, and her entire being shifted, shoulders lowering and gaze sharpening as she quickly made her way over.
Kerym and the sisters rose from their squats around the bed and joined them on the balcony, leaving the female with the half-witch.
“What are you going to do then? You know… if you survive.” Kerym didn’t even pretend to be the slightest bit ashamed for having eavesdropped, but Lessia couldn’t fault him when he grinned at her, taking the edge off the last part of his question.
If she survived…
She hadn’t even thought that far ahead. But now? Being here?
War, dead souls, and the threats that came with them somehow felt faraway in the summer heat, with the forest scents enveloping her and smiling faces surrounding her, even as the half-witch mumbled soft curses while the Fae worked on him.
She glanced up again at Merrick, who’d moved a step backward not to crowd her, although he still stood so close she could almost see his stubble growing in the bright light.
“I want to travel,” she whispered, an icy hand wrapping around her heart as she dared speak one of those wishes out loud. “I would like to see more of Havlands, and maybe other realms as well.”
Merrick’s eyes moved across her face, and she knew he was registering every word.
She didn’t need to say what she wished for the most. He knew.
Time and freedom.
Two things she’d almost never dared think, even to herself.
“Well, all this wealth would come quite handy, then,” Kerym teased. “You could be the richest traveler known to any realm.”
Lessia’s eyes moved over the side of the castle—over the gilded accents on the railings, over the statues jutting out between crystal windows, over heavy draperies and curtains that were probably worth more than the home she’d grown up in.
All the lavishness made bile rise in her throat.
“No,” she said. “None of this will be mine.”
The air shifted as she turned around again, looking out over the vast land belonging to what used to be her family.
“There are no more Rantziers here,” she continued.
She could feel it. Not just because her parents hadn’t been anywhere to be seen when those souls materialized. But somehow she knew. Her parents had moved on. Like they should have. Together.
Her eyes followed a small blue bird whipping its wings as it hovered by the castle wall.
“For too long, these lands have been divided. Half-Fae, Fae, nobles, royals…” She continued watching the bird’s wings churning the air.
“We’re all the same, in the end. I will ask the staff here and in the other castle to divide the wealth and then share it with the people, taking apart every last piece until no memory of these buildings remains.
I will not see more children in the street looking up at these buildings, wondering what they did wrong, when the only thing they did was to be born without luck. ”
She turned back to the group, fixing her eyes on Merrick’s. “Can you spare a few soldiers to make sure it happens peacefully? That no one takes what they haven’t earned?”
Merrick nodded.
Something sounded behind her, and Lessia whirled around just in time to catch the massive black snake winding its way from another balcony to close its jaw around the bird, before whipping its head their way and hissing with such ferocity Lessia stumbled right back into Merrick’s chest.