Chapter 48
Chapter
Forty-Eight
The king of Draemor looked different than I had expected. He was much younger than King Hawthorne, and was almost, dare I say, handsome.
He was tall. Very tall—more than Sebastian’s six and a half foot frame.
His hair was short, cut only an inch or so from his scalp and was auburn in color. He wore armor that matched his soldiers, but there was no mistaking him for a king.
Sebastian pulled me behind him, though trying to hide was pointless.
“Ah, Sebastian Hawthorne, Crown Prince of Caelestis. How lovely it is to see you again,” Cyprian hummed as he stepped towards us, a devious smirk splayed across the sharp edges of his cheeks.
Sebastian drew his sword, still holding me behind him.
The king of Draemor tapped a finger to his chin. “Last time I saw you…Hmm, let me think. Oh right. The last time I saw you was when I sliced your mother’s skull from her body.” He smirked at the release of his twisted comment.
Sebastian's grip tightened at the reminder of the worst day of his life, but he stood his ground, not giving in to the king's attempt at breaking him.
Beaumont took another few steps for us, the muscles of his arms flaring as he moved. He walked right by Sawyer, Kohen, and Pia, then stopped in front of Sebastian.
The dark king angled the tip of his sword into his neck. “Step aside,” he demanded.
Sebastian tilted his head back, giving him even more access.
“Do not test me, boy. I will not hesitate to deliver you the same fate as your bitch mother.”
“Don't you dare speak about her in that manner,” Sebastian growled, teeth bared.
My heart thumped in my chest. I knew how this would play out. Sebastian would do anything to protect me, even if it meant giving his life. I couldn't handle losing another person I loved.
I ripped my arm from his hold and stepped out from behind him, putting myself on display.
Beaumont beamed, though it was not a welcoming smile. He lowered his sword from Sebastian’s throat and directed his posture towards me. His gaze immediately dropped to the pearlescent markings on my arms and he followed them up until he met my face.
“Those must be new. Lucan never mentioned that you had such power.”
My eyebrow quirked. “You know what these are?” I asked, saying my first ever words to the powerhouse of a man before me.
“Of course I do. The mark of a god—” He cut himself off to correct himself, “Actually, by the design, I can only assume it's the mark of a goddess. Only those truly blessed will ever receive such a gift. Blythe must really cherish you, granting you such a rare jewel along with that mark.”
I noticed the tense of the word ‘cherish’ when he spoke of Blythe. He had no idea that the prophecy had already played out.
“What does it mean?” I asked—genuinely curious, but also trying to buy us some time.
“According to ancient history, those with a mark have even greater powers than those with just a jewel. In your case, though, I think it means more than that.” He inched closer to me, bending down into my neck.
“I would love to find out more about you, if you’ll allow me,” he purred, trailing a finger along my earlobe.
It was a risky move, but I jammed my elbow into the space between his armor, hitting him hard in the ribcage.
He jumped back and winked at me. “Feisty—just as I predicted.”
Beaumont took an additional few steps back to address my friends. “We have already gained control of most of the castle grounds. Soon the fortress in its entirety will be nothing more than a pile of wreckage, so I present you all with an opportunity that I'm sure you will not want to pass up.”
I glanced over at Sebastian. He shook his head in a subtle reminder to deny anything that the king of Draemor offered.
Beaumont cleared his throat, then directed his words at me.
“I know you have denied my offers in the past, but I'm feeling…
generous. So let's raise the stakes, shall we?” He peered over at Sebastian, smiling coldly before turning his gaze back to me.
“You come with me and become my wife, and in return I will allow you to bring your friends along. I will keep you all safe and fed. In the meantime, you and I will work together to discover the extent of your gift.”
“That's it? I thought you wanted to breed me?” I quoted one of his soldiers.
I heard Sebastian's gulp from behind me, confirming that the claim was one of the many he heard in Craterra.
“You are quite stunning I shall say, so yes, intimacy would be part of the arrangement. I would love to test the limits of the gods’ gifts.”
I pretended to gag, eliciting a scowl from Cyprian.
“Should you deny again, I will execute your friends while you watch.
Then, I will cut a slab of skin off of your face, thus removing your jewels before leaving you for my soldiers to do with whatever they please before they kill you.
And I should remind you that many of them haven't been near a woman in quite some time.”
His words were so harsh. So cruel, that they made me actually gag.
Cyprian noticed my weak stomach, and huffed a laugh.
“I know what you're thinking, Cyprian, that's absolutely horrific. How could you do such a thing?” he mocked, imitating a female voice.
His eyes narrowed as he stormed towards me, blade angled in my direction.
“Here's the thing, I've asked politely for what I want, and it has gotten me nowhere. I am done asking. Those are your options, choose wisely.”
“And how could I be sure that you would be honorable with your offer?”
“I suppose you just have to take my word for it.”
“Well you seem to have a history of being a liar, so your word doesn't mean much,” I shot back.
Cyprian chuckled. “Feisty and sarcastic. I like it.” He leaned in closer to me, his breath warming my neck. “I don't have all day, and neither do you. Make up your mind.”
My gaze flickered between my friends. If I said yes to the king's plea, I knew it would not turn out how he claimed it would. The king of Draemor was such a sadistic fuck that he made Aldous Hawthorne look like a saint.
I caught Sebastian's gaze, giving him the slightest nod, which he repeated back to me in understanding.
Looking up at the king, I met his dark, soulless expression with my own empty gaze.
Leaning closer to him, I pointed my lips at his ear.
“Such a considerate offer,” I whispered breathily into him, matching the flirtatious tone he used with me.
“But for the last fucking time, I’m not going with you.
” As soon as the words rolled off my tongue, I flicked my wrist, stabbing my dagger into his thigh.
The toxin had been cleaned out on my last opponent, but Beaumont still jumped back in pain, cursing as blood spurted from the gash in his leg. He growled at me, his eyebrows sinking into his forehead. Then, all hell broke loose.
The Draemornian soldiers drew their weapons and lunged at us. I jumped backwards a few feet, putting enough distance between the king and I so that he couldn't reach me as he drew his own sword.
Sebastian met me where I stood, putting his back to me as the Draemornians swarmed in. Sawyer took up residence by my front, their bodies blocking the soldiers from reaching me.
Sawyer made the first kill, slicing the arm of a Draemornian clean off. He pierced the man's neck while he grasped for his missing limb, crying out in agony.
I peered over at Kohen, who was responsible for the next execution. As an enemy took a swing at Pia, he kneed the soldier in the chest, knocking them back. Before they could rebound, Kohen put his blade through the top of their skull.
For each kill we made, three more Draemornians showed up to take the place of the deceased.
The sounds of metal meeting flesh circulated throughout the courtyard as we battled with an army that significantly outnumbered us.
King Beaumont stepped back from the chaos, still clutching his sword, but just a silent observer to the bodies falling.
A soldier lunged for me, and my skin prickled as I was met with a gush of cold air.
Sebastian used his magic on the man, freezing him into a block of ice mid-step.
I kicked the sole of my boot into his chest. His skin and bones shattered as they hit the concrete, breaking into frozen, meaty shards of human remains.
The Draemornians kept pouring in, and it was no question that it was going to take more of us to finish them off.
“Where the hell are the rest of our soldiers?” Sebastian shouted over my back to Sawyer.
“Wish the fuck I knew.”
Kohen and Pia inched their way towards us until we finally collided. Our weapons continued to swing as we discussed the best course of action.
“There's no chance of us stopping all of them, they just keep coming. You heard what Beaumont said—the castle is done for, anyways. Let's just try and get out of here,” Pia gasped, raising her sword to counter a swing from an incoming soldier. Metal clanged as she blocked a death kill.
“We can’t give up now,” I countered as Kohen finished the deed for Pia. My plans had changed when this asshole showed up.
Kohen turned his back towards the battle to shout out a few quick words. “She's right, let's make a break for the tunnel. We can—”
As if Sebastian had used his magic on me as well, my heart froze at the sound of hollow gasping.
The tip of a blade poked clean through Kohen's stomach, just a little to the left of his naval. Without a sound, he sank to his knees, eyes wide with adrenaline as the Draemornian yanked his sword back, twisting and pulling it from Kohen's abdomen.
Pia screamed the most heart wrenching wail I'd ever heard.
She fell to her own knees, dropping her sword so that she could hold her hands over Kohen's wound.
“You're okay. You're going to be okay, Kohen, I promise,” she cried and tried to heal the hole, but there was too much emotion and chaos surrounding us for her to relax enough to focus on it.