Chapter 9
Sebastian
I burst through the tree line. Behind me, shouts echo through the night, growing closer with every passing second.
Curse the gods! They are onto me.
I pick up the pace; the ground is uneven beneath my bare feet. I have to jump over roots and rocks as I push myself harder, faster. The old trading road should be just ahead.
I push. Then I push some more, forcing my legs to go faster.
My lungs start to burn, but I ignore the discomfort. I need to be free.
The bells have stopped ringing.
The trumpets have stopped their insistent blaring.
Why?
I don’t like the answer that comes to mind.
They are tracking me. I know it. Using every one of their senses to do it. If I’m not quick and quiet enough, I will be caught.
The forest opens up ahead of me, and just on the other side is the road. I heave a sigh of relief, but it is short-lived when several guards emerge from the trees up ahead.
Kakara help me.
There are six of them, and they’re all heavily armed.
I skid to a stop, turning on my heel, but five more are headed this way along the path I just used.
I look up at the sky, gritting my teeth.
God’s teeth, why can’t I catch a break?
“Stop right there!” one of them shouts as I start to backtrack. He’s tall and broad, his sword already drawn.
I raise my hands slowly, trying to appear non-threatening. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“Then come quietly.” Another guard steps forward, his hand on the hilt of his blade. “Make this easy on yourself.”
Except nothing about this is easy.
These are my people. Fae who have suffered under Snow’s rule, just like everyone else. They’re not my enemies. They’re prisoners themselves, forced to do her bidding.
But I can’t go back. I can’t let them take me.
I won’t!
“I’m sorry,” I tell them. “But I can’t do that. You need to let me go. I’m the king…I’m your king. I command you.”
The first one barks out a laugh. “Like hell you are. You might have been a king once, but not anymore.”
The others laugh. “You’re nothing.”
“We only answer to the Queen. It’s that or death,” one of the males at the back says in a solemn voice.
“You left us a long time ago, and now you want us to go down on one knee?” another one says. A female this time. “It’s not going to happen. Give up. You belong in the dungeon.”
I shake my head. “I can’t do that. I didn’t leave by choice.”
The first guard’s eyes narrow. “Lies.”
They come at me all at once.
I duck under the first sword swing, feeling the blade whistle past my ear. My body moves on pure instinct.
I grab the guard’s wrist as he overextends, twisting hard. He grunts, and his sword falls from his grip. I catch it before it hits the ground, the familiar weight settling in my palm.
Kakara’s cat, but it feels good to hold a blade again.
I spin, using the flat of the sword to block another strike. I don’t want to kill them. I just need to get away.
“Please,” I grunt. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I practically beg.
The closest one kicks me in my side. I stagger sideways, pain lancing through me. Another fist catches me in the jaw, snapping my head back.
I taste blood.
They’re strong and well-trained. And there are too many of them.
I slash out with the sword, not aiming to kill but to create distance. The blade catches one guard’s armor, screeching across the metal. He jumps back, giving me the opening I need.
I kick another guard in the knee. He goes down hard, cursing. I use his falling body as a shield, putting him between me and the others for just a moment.
It’s working. I’m holding them off.
Then I hear the thunder of boots as more arrive. It sounds like more than the four I counted earlier. There are too many.
I turn just as more guards pour onto the road, surrounding me on all sides.
My heart sinks.
“Look at him,” one of the new arrivals says, sneering. “The great Lost King.” He spits on the ground. “You’re no king. You’re a deserter.”
“A coward,” another adds. “You left us to her. Left us to suffer while you hid.”
Their words cut deeper than any blade.
“I didn’t leave by choice,” I tell them. “She cursed me. She took everything from me. My life. My memories…all of it.”
“All lies,” the first guard growls. “You ran. You abandoned us. And now you’ll pay for it.”
They close in, their weapons raised.
“Wait,” I say, backing up. “Please. You don’t understand—”
“We understand perfectly.” A blade flashes toward my throat.
I pull back, the tip almost grazing my flesh.
They mean to kill me.
I have no choice, so I reach for my magic. It’s there, coiled in my chest, hot and powerful and waiting to be unleashed. I pull at it, trying to draw it forth.
For a second, nothing happens.
Another guard slices his blade at me. I twist away, feeling it graze my shoulder. Blood blooms hot and wet.
I try again, pulling harder at the magic. Demanding it to obey.
Still nothing.
Panic rises in my throat. The magic is there. I can feel it. But it’s like trying to grab smoke. It slips through my mental grasp, refusing to answer my call.
It’s been dormant for too long. I don’t know how to use it anymore.
I need to calm my mind. But how?
Another guard punches me in the jaw. I double over, gasping. Another blow lands on my back, driving me to my knees.
The sword is kicked from my hand. It slides across the road, out of reach.
“Not so powerful now, are you?” One of the guards grabs my hair, yanking my head back. His face looms over mine, twisted with rage. “You deserve to die for what you’ve done. For abandoning us.” He holds his sword up high.
“Please,” I choke out. “I’m trying to make it right. I’m trying to—”
“It’s too late for that.” His blade catches the moonlight.
“You left us to her. We suffer under her rule,” the female says.
I close my eyes and my magic surges. It erupts from my chest like a dam breaking. It’s raw power that I quickly realize I have no control over. It explodes outward in every direction, a wave of pure shadow that knocks everyone back.
Guards fly through the air, their bodies ragdoll-limp. They hit the ground and the nearby trees with sickening thuds.
The shadows keep coming, pouring from me like a flood. They writhe and twist, lashing out at everything around me, intent on destroying or killing everything in their reach.
I need to stop this, but I don’t know how.
The power is too much. Too wild. It’s been caged for so long that now it’s broken free, it doesn’t want to be contained again.
I’m on the verge of panic because there is so much more inside me.
I tamp down the emotion, gritting my teeth, focusing everything I have on pulling it back.
On forcing it to obey. I reach for every lesson I was ever taught, and apply them now, trying hard not to panic, which will only make it worse.
I growl low.
You are mine, I think fiercely. You’re my power. You answer to me.
I push harder, imagining the shadows as extensions of myself. As limbs I can control. I picture them retreating, flowing back into me where they belong.
The shadows slowly coil back, shrinking in on themselves. They flow toward me. There’s resistance, but I hold firm.
Sweat pours down my face. My body trembles with the effort. My chest burns where the marking sits, hot enough that I’m sure it must be glowing.
I growl again, gritting my teeth as the last of the shadows disappear into my skin.
I stand there, gasping, looking at the destruction around me. Bodies lie scattered across the road and in the surrounding trees. Some of the guards are groaning. Others are struggling to stand. But most aren’t moving at all.
Goddess! What have I done?
Horror washes over me. No! I didn’t mean to.
A guard staggers to his feet a few paces away. His armor is dented, his face bloody. He looks at me with pure horror in his eyes.
“Killer,” he spits. “You’re no king. You’re a monster.”
More of the fallen guards stagger to their feet. Their faces are white with fear. They look at me like I’m the enemy. Like I’m the thing they need to destroy.
I don’t blame them.
Most stay right where they are, unmoving.
“Kill him,” one of them says. “Kill him before he hurts anyone else.”
I stand tall, pulling my shoulders back, facing them head-on.
“Stand down!” a voice cuts through the tension, and everyone freezes.
A fae male strides onto the road. He’s wearing the uniform of a major. His face is as hard as his eyes are cold as he surveys the scene.
“Major Kellan,” one of the guards says, relief flooding his voice. “He attacked us. He killed—”
“I said stand down.” The major’s voice is steel. “All of you. Lower your weapons now!”
The guards pause, looking at each other. They’re frowning. One looks down at his boots.
Another lifts his sword, pulling in a breath to speak.
“That’s an order,” Major Kellan snaps. “Queen Snow wants this prisoner taken alive. If any of you disobey her direct command, you’ll be the ones in the dungeons.”
That gets their attention. Slowly, reluctantly, they lower their weapons.
The major turns to me, his expression unreadable. “You will come with us. Back to the castle. Do not say a word. Do not use magic or you will be cut down.”
I want to refuse. Want to fight; instead, I nod once. If I unleash my magic again, I will not be able to contain it.
Major Kellan gestures to his men. “Form up. You lot, escort the prisoner. The five of you can get any injured to the infirmary. I want you to return to take care of our dead. The rest of you, return to your posts immediately. The situation is now under control.”
The guards move to obey, though many of them shoot me dark looks as they pass.
The major regards me for another moment, then turns and starts walking back toward the castle. At least eight guards close ranks around me, their hands on their weapons. More guards follow us, and I can see even more in the surrounding area, watching.
I can’t use my magic again. For now, I have to accept my fate.
So I walk, surrounded by guards, toward the looming shadow of the castle.
We reach the courtyard, and the metal gates of the castle are just ahead. I hope Tryfon got away unscathed. Belen won’t be able to risk helping me again.
I’m on my own.
I’ll think of something.
I won’t give up this easily.
We’re three steps from the gates when something wraps around my chest. It’s soft.
Before I can process what’s happening, I’m yanked off my feet.
The ground falls away beneath me. I’m pulled upward so fast my stomach lurches.
Wind rushes past my face. The guards below me shout in alarm, their voices growing distant.
Up and up I go.
I grab at whatever is wrapped around me, feeling smooth silk beneath my fingers. It’s crimson, the same deep red as—
I twist my head, looking up. A figure crouches on one of the castle’s tower roofs, silhouetted against the gray sky. Small, slender, and, from the curves, most definitely female.
She has to be using magic to wield the silks because she pulls me up with such ease for someone so small. I reach the roof and scramble for purchase on the stone.
Once I find my balance, she unwraps the silk from around me using magic. Then she lowers her arms.
It’s the woman who somehow broke the spell that held me. The performer with the angelic voice. Her sequined costume catches what little light there is. Her blond hair is pulled back from her face, revealing high cheekbones and blue eyes that remind me of a deep ocean.
There is a smattering of light freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her lips are full, and her cheeks are flushed. She’s breathing heavily, and her costume strains over breasts too full to be on someone so small.
She’s beautiful. The thought hits me hard because it comes as a surprise. Even covered in sweat and breathing heavily from the effort, she’s stunning in a way that makes my breath catch.
Why is she here?
Why did the Ruler General free her?
For a moment, we just stare at each other. Her eyes are wide, searching my face like she’s trying to figure me out. Like she can’t quite believe she just rescued me.
I can’t quite believe it either.
“Who are you?” I ask.
Shouts erupt from below us, pulling my attention away and onto the situation at hand.
I look down. Guards are running toward the tower, pointing up at us. Arrows fly past, clattering against the stone.
“Up there! On the tower!”
“Shoot them down!”
“The prisoner is escaping!”
Arrows whistle through the air. One embeds itself in the stone inches from my foot. Another flies by the female’s head, just missing her.
“Now is not the time. We need to go!” she growls at me.
She’s right. I nod once.