52. Chapter Fifty-Two
Ididn’t quite care anymore for this trap than I did for the limp in my step.
The mere thought of an innocent civilian with the likeness of Aurelie being used as a prop angered me enough. If it were Aurelie, though, I’d level this wretched kingdom. I’d ruin all of them—perhaps leave them alive so they spent their final days agonizing over how they wished to be dead.
But, deep down, I knew what this was.
As my sword clattered against the nearest armored shoulder, digging into the skin and earning a sick howl that harmonized with the cackling laughter I’d just deafened, I saw the jagged, rotten fingernails on the woman’s body. That wasn’t Aurelie—but the anger it caused would do.
I let the soldier’s body clatter onto the ground, earning the attention of the other men. They lunged at me in unison, and I reminded them just how the Winter Court trained. It was unlike the training my brother put them through—no. My men—and, in consequence, my blade—were trained to withstand giant beasts designed to survive the coldest winters. They could endure the harshest of blows and return with twice the damage, and this was proven in the way their armor crumbled when faced with a frozen blade.
They fell, one by one, and I relished the sight of each one collapsing. Their eyes glazed over, and their blood began to stain the ground around me. One soldier even dared to charge, but he didn”t make it very far before he was a mess of limbs on the grass. I was cocky, though—and when the pommel of a sword smashed into the back of my head, I fell forward. My eyes flashed with pain as my head spun, and my vision blurred.
I didn”t get a chance to look up as hands grabbed my arms and wrenched them behind my back. I growled, but it was cut off as I was thrown to the ground, my face smacking against the rough stone path. I blinked, feeling the warm trail of blood drip down the side of my cheek. The world seemed to tilt, and I closed my eyes, trying to block out the dizziness.
When I opened them again, the first thing I noticed was the woman in front of me, holding the hilt of the sword I had dropped. I felt the cold metal of cuffs linking my hands, and then the sharp tip of a blade against the nape of my neck. They waited patiently, and the woman with silver hair kneeled to stare at me.
Her smile widened, her eyes as black as hollowed night.
“Well, well,” she said in a hushed tone. “The great King Solvón. What an honor it is to have you in our midst.”
I glared at her, but she didn”t falter.
“I”ve been watching you for a long while. You know, I don”t appreciate your involvement in keeping me sealed away.”
I tried to lift my head, but the sword dug in further. I grimaced, lowering it. “I don”t know who the hell you are,” I hissed. “You”re nothing more to me than one of Sólkon”s little henchmen.”
“Sólkon is a child.” She shook her head, standing again. “I was already old when the gods were created. You”re a speck of dust in comparison to me, and yet, I”ve been locked away because you were able to play the role of a gentle king. Sólkon is a necessity today, but that will not be the case tomorrow, just like it is the case for you today.”
I howled when a boot drove into my back. “Myrthana?” I spat out, trying to catch my breath.
“You are smart.”
She turned to walk away, and I felt a boot smash into my side. I gasped, coughing.
“I”d love to see the look on your face when you find out what we”ve done,” Myrthana mused. “You”ll be so angry—it’s a shame you won”t have time to properly act upon it.”
I blinked, terror seizing me. Through the haze, I saw her approach the woman they”d strung up at the docks and removed the burlap bag covering her face. Darkness ebbed off Myrthana, and as she looked at me, shadows bounced between the place her eyes should be before slithering from her like a snake. It slid toward me, and when it touched my skin, pain unlike anything I”d ever felt adulterated my body. With the rush of adrenaline, clarity returned.
I saw Aurelie on that post, naked and abused, just as she had been when Sólkon poisoned her trust. The woman I saw from a distance was clothed, but this was so real. The burning smell of smoke invaded my nose, and the bitter taste of blood came as I bit into my tongue, the saltiness of tears that slipped between my thinly pursed lips.
“You’re lying,” I ground out as I clutched onto a brick in the pathway. “That’s not…that isn’t…”
“I would tell you her death was easy, Eero,” she said, my chosen name a taunt. “But the gods brought her back when she died at gentler hands than mine. I couldn”t allow her to leave my tomb—so I made her suffer. That way, if they are fools enough to cross my destiny once more, she”ll think twice about leaving that wretched place.”
I heard her, but all I could see was Aurelie hanging from the post.
My stomach flipped, and bile rose in the back of my throat.
“Kill him,” Myrthana commanded, and the sword that had been threatening my life moved to my neck. Time turned into a blur as rage blended with agony. My nails cracked as I broke the hard ground beneath me, ice splintering from the surface. It spread, and the men who surrounded me stepped back in horror.
And then, in one swift motion, a blade sliced through the air, and the soldier behind me fell. His soulless eyes stared at me, a flowing weapon sticking from his head.
My body froze, and I stared wide-eyed at the carnage before me. The blade was crafted of burning embers before fading into oblivion. I scrambled onto my feet and crafted my own icy blade as Myrthana spun around to face the chaos, pushing it through the open air with a rippling scream. Myrthana vanished before it pierced the skin between her eyebrows, and the frozen blade splintered the wooden post between Aurelie”s feet.
And with her, the shadowy viper that had burned my skin flitted away, getting lost in the smoke and fire. I collapsed onto my knees at the sight of Aurelie—
Only...it wasn”t Aurelie. The clothes were the first thing to fade back into existence, and then her face transformed into a bruised, unfamiliar expression. Myrthana had used her magic to make me think she”d been lost, and it had worked. It”d worked damn well, for I nearly let that bastard stab my spine just so I might get a chance at reuniting with my lost love.
But she wasn”t there. She”d never been there.
A blast of magic illuminated the city in flames. I squeezed my eyes shut, lifting my hands to shield myself from the bright, blinding light. To my left, a man’s skin turned to burning cinder that melted from his bone. To my right, it was as if the blast was so hot, it turned him to ash instantly.
And when I turned behind me, I saw the vision of power: a woman who had divided our realms to end the war, who had given the most wicked, dark sorceress another chance at life. A woman who had lost her daughter and was probably just as enraged as I was at the sight of her likeness strung along that post.
Azalea lifted her hand again, and another flash of light blinded me. This time, it was directed at the docks. As I regained my vision, I saw the wooden beams begin to burn. It was careless, but I didn”t blame her in the slightest. We rarely had things in common, but today, we would be fighting for the same thing. It was not my crown, nor was it revenge. It was a rescue mission.
“I will burn this city to the ground,” Azalea”s voice carried. She didn”t speak loudly, but the volume of her voice was amplified through magic. “Where did that fucking monster go?”
The surviving enemy forces scattered, leaving us in the center of the road. Her voice caused the fire to burn even brighter, and her hands clenched, the wood of the docks shattering.
I stood and took a deep breath, the icy blade melting away from my grip.
Azalea approached, the fire behind us dwindling with her fading rage. I’d seen this warrior once—mere moments before Yenira had tried to take my life. Where Azalea had shown me mercy, her lover had shown me what sweat, blood, and magic truly tasted like. I could still see the distrust in her eyes, though. Just as she had two centuries prior...she doubted me.
“Together,” I said slowly. “Together, we can win this. We can get her back.”
Azalea licked her dry lips before nodding, and just as the fire dwindled, the sky darkened. I lifted my head and watched each and every star flicker before fading into midnight so endless, it swallowed the moon whole. The absence of light cooled my skin, and hairs rose along with gooseflesh. Azalea murmured to the gods above before grabbing me by the arm and tugging me ahead.
”We have to hide,” she muttered. I, for once, did not question her. I raced ahead and broke down the boarded-up door to a tavern. Nobody was in the dining room, yet the fire crackled with fresh firewood. She slammed the door shut behind us and rested her palms flat against the paneling. Blinding magic sealed the gaps, and then she backed away slowly. Just as she slowed, the ground started to quake.
“What is it?” I hissed at her as I approached the window. After wiping the dust away, I saw cackling groups of soldiers torching a nearby home. With the next tremor, I grabbed the wall and watched the stone paths split in half. Impossible starlight bloomed from the soil, and then glowing crimson eyes twinkled brighter than any sun or star I”d ever seen. Strangely enough, I did not fear the wrath behind their glare. It was impossible and otherworldly, and that was terrifying in its own way, but I did not tremble at the sight.
“The gods are restoring balance,” she muttered from behind me.
As if that was their cue, the soldiers turned to ash and glittering magic that flitted away in the breeze. I heard the clattering of plates and thudding of books long before I turned around, watching her scramble aimlessly. She had a few glasses in one arm, and then she lunged for the bar. After clearing it, she broke at least a dozen jars of spices before grabbing handfuls of herbs and a water flask.
After nearly shattering a bowl as she dropped it on the wooden countertop, she began frantically mixing the herbs together.
“What are you doing?”
“Myrthana has the support of her cult, Eero, but she has no army, and she has no home. The gods are not fond of her. The gods are not fond of us for allowing her resurrection. To them, we are no different than the cultists who tortured Calista for decades.”
I didn”t want to believe what she was insinuating.
“The gods will bring the ground out from under her feet,” she said, pointing toward the window. “With or without us. And I do not intend to let Aurelie exist in this madness while the gods rain down a reckoning on us.”
“So you plan on making magical paste,” I snapped at her after scoffing. Mortal sorceresses could do so much with potions and elixirs, but I doubted it would be enough. I doubted it would be fast enough. “Forget it. I”ll find her—it worked last time. I don”t have to rely on your ‘magic.’”
“By relying on magic you will never understand?” She chuckled just as I faced the door. “Whatever bond you think you share with her is futile tonight, Eero. The gods will not surrender just because some fallen king they care nothing about walks into the face of danger.”
My hand lingered over the door handle, the magical seal she”d used to bind us to the house glimmering. Part of me doubted she”d let me out willingly, but her logic hit me in the chest like the hooves of a war horse. “So what is it you suggest we do?”
“There is nothing we can do, Eero. They will wait and watch and tear apart our world until Myrthana has been found. What we can try, however, is to track Aurelie down. If you wish to use that bond of yours, Eero, then you will listen to me.”
I flinched as the ground shook once more, this time so hard that a bookshelf across the room shattered onto the ground. Wood clattered against wood, and I glanced up at the crimson eyes that had replaced the stars. They waited—and although it was impossible, I felt as if they were staring at me through the window.
A tiny speck to them.
I turned back to Azalea and rubbed my lips together. She scooped thick, green paste into her palm and stared at me.
She doubted our bond, but I never expected a mortal to understand—even one as wise and seemingly immortal as her. I believed in it, though. I believed in it. I believed in us. So, I approached the bar and rested my hands flat on the surface.
The metal scream of a blade hissed into the air. With her silent command, I turned my wrist, and she made it bleed red.
And when that paste, crafted of nothing more than kitchen herbs and warmed by her magical touch, molded to my skin, the stars turned my vision white, and I felt the world slip from my grasp within seconds.