Chapter Rage
Rage
Kai
He had tried to have me killed. His men ambushed me last night and tried to finish me off, but I managed to escape. Vaan is the one who has been adding fuel to the fire ever since I stepped into Varindor.
All of this is a well-thought-out plan of his. He’s been watching and waiting, but it’s going to be his undoing tonight.
The air is filled with hatred and rage. I don’t know where his begins or mine ends, but seeing Siralaine hurt has unleashed my fury. My wings are spread wide, the wind whipping around me.
Vaan stands across the room, frost crawling up his arms as he raises them, shards of ice glitter before he throws them my way. His eyes glint with hatred, but not one touches me as I deflect them with ease.
I draw in a breath, becoming one with the wind and storm, letting it feed on my rage. The wind howls, slicing the air, dancing along the stone walls, cutting deep wedges into it.
Vaan sneers, lifting a hand, and his ice forms into a wave of deadly spears, sharper and longer than the previous shards. The first shard shoots toward me, and I move to the side, letting it zoom past me. The chill bites my skin as it passes me.
“Sky scum,” he hisses, his voice full of malice. “I’ll impale you on my ice before you can even touch me.”
I smirk coldly. “Then you’ll have to try harder than that.”
Another dozen spears of ice rain down. I twist, kick off the ground, and the air around me sings as I move quickly. I send a force of wind across the room, shattering the spears of ice, sending splinters flying everywhere.
I dart around his rain of ice daggers, the wind whipping faster around me, slashing through anything that gets close to me like invisible swords.
Vaan snarls, moving faster than I expect.
Frost spikes shoot from the floor, walls, and even the ceiling.
I dodge, whipping the air into spirals that surround him.
He roars in rage, but I feel it push against him, cutting through the ice he’s got wrapped around his arms, and I’m satisfied when I see the blood drip from his arms.
He strikes next. His hands whirl, and the temperature drops. Frost creeps along my feathers. I twist and ride the currents, cutting through the icy air, my wings beating as I fly up to the roof, as jagged ice covers the ground where I stood. I glance at Siralaine, but she’s safe. For now.
Lightning crackles across the stone, illuminating the large room with brief, blinding light.
I can hear shouting from outside now, and even though I have jammed the door, soon enough, they’ll be able to open it.
Vaan roars as he hurls a wall of frost at me, but it’s too high to dodge entirely. The wind bites, lashing against me, slamming me against the far wall. My shoulder aches, but my wings adjust, slicing through the currents.
The hammering at the door is getting louder, and my power is split, half reinforcing the door, half on Vaan. I can’t defeat him like this.
I push harder, concentrating. The wind bends around my fists, and I bunch it in a motion towards him, the sheer power ripping open the ground. Lightning crackles as it rips through the window, striking the walls near Vaan as a reminder that I won’t lose, but he will.
Vaan’s eyes widen as he tries to counter with his ice, but he’s too slow. I circle him, letting the air grow stronger. It cuts and lashes at him, cutting through flesh and ice and painting the floor in red.
He lunges, small shards of ice aimed at my chest. I duck as I slide under, ignoring the ice that cuts into my hands before my foot connects with his chest, and I knock him back.
“Kai!” I hear Siralaine. I spot her getting up from the corner of my eye, but I don’t have time as Vaan is lunging at me. My eyes blaze as I let out a roar, wind and lightning both crash down in a cyclone of pure force, and they slam down on Vaan.
This is it. I have to end it now, but I’m going to have to pull my power to me.
Darling, shield yourself. And with those words, I focus everything I have at Vaan.
Siralaine
I raise a shield of water, feeling blood drip down my back as I strain myself. The hall trembles, and it feels like the ceiling is going to come down. The door is shaking as people try to get in, but Kai has created a wall of pure force, refusing to let it budge.
Suddenly, Vaan changes tactics, and dozens of ice daggers are rushing straight towards me.
I duck behind a large slab of ice, my barrier still up, heart hammering, and the smell of blood strong in my nose. Kai’s wings slice through the air before he lands in front of me. Wind whipping into lethal spirals that cut down the daggers before they even touch my barrier.
The air hums with his aura – alive, dangerous, unstoppable.
Vaan snarls, but he’s lost his strength. He raises his barrier as Kai brings down his attack. The ice crashes with a deafening roar, splintering as the wind rips through flesh and bone.
“And I thought you were going to kill me,” Kai says, his voice cold and dangerous. I barely breathe, watching him move. Each gust, each flicker of lightning, each vicious arc of wind, and the way he moves is terrifying, yet beautiful.
His attacks don’t stop, not even when the doors behind us burst open, the crowd pressing against the whipping ice.
I raise my hand, focusing on the door, creating a barrier and refusing to let them interfere.
“Siralaine! Enough of this!” Father snarls.
“Enough! You weren’t here to protect me, so why do you think I should listen to you?” I hiss, my rage fuelling my powers.
But those who are trying aren’t able to get closer. The tornado Kai has created is destroying everything it touches. Vaan is simply a bundle of blood and flesh. I’m not even sure if he’s breathing anymore.
No one can get close.
Then Kai strikes. Lightning flashes through the open window and strikes Vaan’s body, and then everything stills.
It’s over.
The wind calms, and Kai folds his wings as he turns, but my moment of relief disappears when I feel his pain through the bond.
He’s hurt. He’s trying to act like he’s fine, but there’s a slight stagger to his steps.
His movements are slower as he strides over to me and pulls me closer, burying his nose in my hair.
I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner; he had me ambushed. You were right, he wanted to marry one of you, and then kill Morcant.
“You came just in time, I’m just glad you’re ok,” I whisper, caressing his jaw.
“Keiran Kaldor! We finally have the chance to meet. But alas, you’ll be dead soon,” Father says, his voice full of venom. “After all, you have fallen to her curse.”
Kai looks up at Father, his eyes hard before he moves me behind him and steps towards Father, his eyes glinting. “No curse can end me. You should be worried about your own life.” He glances at Vaan’s dead body and then smirks. “You’ll be joining him soon.”
A ripple of shock dances through the crowd.
“She bears the curse her mother carried. There is only one way to end it. Do you really think your feelings or whatever you have for one another are going to protect you? You overexerted yourself and, in doing so, sped up the curse. Can’t you see it, Siralaine?”
I frown, looking at Kai, and then I spot them – the black veins running through his back, past his tattoos and down his spine. He steps forward towards Father, and I see his balance falter. This battle has cost him far too much.
I step toward him, fear and love crashing together in my chest. “Kai,” I whisper in horror.
He’s dying because of me. He can’t die! I won’t let him die!
“You die here, Morcant,” Kai says, unfazed.
No! He’s going to use the last of what he has to kill Morcant! Horror at the thought fills me, and I shake my head.
“Kai, you’re weakened,” I whisper.
“I have enough in me to defeat him,” Kai answers.
“Zeran! Where are your men?!” Father snarls.
“I don’t know… maybe it is time for a new ruler. If his heart is in the right place.” Lord Zeran looks at me, and I nod.
“Kai’s is,” I say.
“And I will rule with my queen. It’s time for a new ruler to lead Varindor, not Varkhazan, and certainly not you, Morcant. Varindor needs someone just, someone who will divide the land equally so the rich and the poor can all live comfortably,” Kai says.
“And you think you are that man?” Father sneers.
“I might not be the best, but I’m better than you, and with Sira by my side, I’m sure she’ll make up for the compassion I lack!
” Kai says, and with that, he dives for one of the ice shards on the floor, and swinging it with full force, he releases it.
It zooms towards Father in a blur, who raises a shield of water, but Kai’s throw is infused with wind, and it cuts through the water.
I gasp when it lodges in my father’s throat, his crown falling from his head, hitting the ground with a loud clang.
My stepmother screams as everyone watches in horror as Father falls to the ground dead.
“Pledge your allegiance to me, and you will live,” Kai says, as he steps forward to face the fae. I touch the side of my leg, now reaching for the dagger my father had given me to kill Kai, but I will never use it on him.
“What guarantee is there that you will protect the sea sirens? We all know you hate our kind,” Gideon says.
“Not all of you, my queen is Siralaine, and the sea sirens are her people, and hence my people. I believe in a just world,” Kai clarifies. “Things need to change here.”
“And Varkhazan?” someone else asks.
“I will deal with him. Even he knows the kind of person I am,” Kai answers.
Varindor will be in good hands.
My eyes prickle. Victory is here. The future was so close… but…
“I agree to accept you as King,” Lord Gideon says, “And my niece as Queen.” He lowers his head to Kai as others hesitate.
My stepmother is crying over my father’s dead body, but no one else is really bothered. It just shows he was not a loved ruler.
I stare down at the dagger. The curse feeds on selfishness, greed, and rage.
I smile sadly at Kai’s back, knowing he’ll take care of our people.
I know what I need to do.
Everyone, one by one, begins to bend their knee to Kai, pledging their allegiance to him.
I smile, proud of him.
Take care of our people, my love.
“You got this… I love you,” I whisper as I raise the dagger, taking a deep breath and plunge the dagger into my chest just as Kai turns, horror plastered on his face, as pain explodes inside of me.
“SIRA!” he roars as he closes the short distance in a second, just as my body gives way, and he catches me before falling to his knees. “Why?!” he snarls, holding me to his chest.
“It’s the only way for you to live, My King,” I whimper, my legs giving way to my tail as I take on my true form and darkness begins to pull me away from him. The pain is unbearable.
“No, no! Sira, you have to stay with me! Fuck, I can’t do this without you. You’re mine, you can’t leave me, dammit!”
I’ve hurt him, I can hear the anguish, the betrayal, the pain in his voice.
Sea sirens are selfish.
We are taught to put ourselves first no matter what, but the truth is, putting someone else first is far more fulfilling.
It makes me happy…
He kisses me, and I gasp, something inside of me breaking, and I feel a lightness overcome me.
“I feel it… Our bond… it feels… beautiful,” I whisper weakly.
“Fuck, no, we have yet to experience it all. Fuck, darling, come on, don’t die on me! Someone heal her!” Kai thunders, but even as the fae surround me, trying to heal me, I know it won’t work.
The dagger was poisoned.
“Kai… live on, for me. Be the king you were destined to be.”
“No. No!” His voice breaks, his teeth bared, but I’m unable to comfort him further. My eyes flutter shut, and the world goes dark.