Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
Nienna
We stopped after what felt like an eternity.
Motion snapped away without warning. My body kept fighting long after it ceased to matter.
Scratching. Biting. Twisting in his grip until my muscles burned.
The world lagged behind us in a sickening blur, stone walls flashing past while we moved with unnatural speed.
His shoulder rammed into my gut with every stride, grinding breath from my lungs.
Bile surged.
I spewed the remains of my meager lunch down his back, the sour taste burning my throat.
Egath dropped me. The impact jarred through bone, and my head cracked against the stone. White stars burst across my vision, bright and dizzying. Cold seeped through my palms as I tried to gather myself, fingers slipping on damp rock.
“She stabbed my foot!” Tallon’s voice broke beside me.
He sat with his back to the wall, propping up his injured leg. Greaves’ dagger still jutted from the top of his boot, the hilt slick with blood.
Weary satisfaction uncoiled through my chest. A small, vicious ember.
Egath crouched and seized Tallon’s ankle. He bent close, studying the blade as if it were a puzzle. “Don’t shout,” he ordered.
Tallon gave a tight nod, jaw clenched, and the Velli yanked the dagger free.
I seized the moment and screamed.
A rough palm clamped over my mouth, skin calloused and hot, cutting the sound short. The cry had already ricocheted through the tunnel, bouncing off narrow walls. Egath’s face hardened in the faint light, shadows carving deep lines around his mouth.
“I can run,” Tallon said through clenched teeth. Sweat beaded along his temple. “We will get her there.”
“I know that blade, boy. That’s tainted.” The Velli’s gaze shifted to me.
Not with hatred.
Confusion.
As if I were something inconvenient he hadn’t planned for. His hand curved carefully over my mouth, fingers arced away from my teeth. “That’s from the Nightmare. He coats his blades in Drowning poison.”
The name struck cold against my spine.
“What does it do?” Tallon’s voice lost its arrogance. Youth bled through, thin and frightened. More like a boy than the bratty prince I knew. “Am I gonna lose my foot?”
“Your life if we don’t move fast.” Egath scanned the empty hall, nostrils flaring as though he could scent pursuit. Damp earth and iron hung thick in the air. “I can’t trust another with her, and the poison will slow you down. You won’t be able to run with me.”
“Then leave her!” Tallon shrieked.
His good leg lashed out and caught my ribs. Pain flared sharp along my side. My nails dug deeper into Egath’s forearm.
If he left me, I would bolt. Escape. I wouldn’t sit here and wait for chains. The promise must have burned in my eyes.
The Velli saw it. His lip curled, teeth bared in a low snarl. “I’ll return for you, Tallon.”
His fist twisted into my hair, and he hauled me upright, scalp screaming as strands tore free.
“No! Leave her! We can come back for her!” The prince shoved against the wall, struggling to stand, breath hitching as blood soaked into his boot.
Egath’s shoulder drove into my belly.
Air vanished.
Pain exploded low and deep.
My babe.
The thought cut through everything. My clawing fingers stilled. Terror flooded my limbs, thick and paralyzing. He would kill our child without hesitation. Kallias’ heir meant nothing to them but leverage.
“Stay here. Do not make a sound.” Egath’s tone shifted, tight with urgency. “I’ll send someone with the antidote. For blood’s sake, don’t move, Tallon.”
He did not wait for agreement.
The world lurched again as he lifted me. Stone blurred into streaks of gray. Wind tore at my ears inside the narrow passage.
Darkness swallowed the edges of my sight.
This time, I could not hold onto consciousness.
It was silent.
Warm, too.
Heat pressed into my skin from the thick furs cocooning my body, heavy and unfamiliar. No birds called beyond the walls. No wind threaded through open windows. The absence pricked at me. Even in Sol’s stone keeps there had always been sound. Wings. Voices. Life.
I frowned and dragged the furs to my chin, rolling onto my side. My hand drifted across the mattress, searching.
Empty.
Cold linen met my palm.
Air punched from my lungs as I jerked upright. Blankets slid down, pooling at my waist. I caught them against my bare chest and scanned the room.
Bright.
Large.
Plush red and gold draped the space in decadent excess.
An overstuffed chair lounged near a tall window.
A vanity gleamed with polished glass. A broad dresser stood against the far wall, carved with intricate spirals.
The canopy bed beneath me rose high, its posts wrapped in embroidered fabric fit for royalty.
I did not recognize any of it.
Memory rushed back in fractured flashes. Tunnel. Blood. Egath’s shoulder crushing my belly.
I swung my feet over the bedside. The floor met my soles, smooth and warm. I ran for the single door.
It opened before I reached it.
A woman stepped inside carrying a silver tray. Egath followed close at her heels.
My heart slammed hard enough to ache. Breath stalled in my lungs. I wrapped my arms across my breasts and retreated toward the bed, refusing to turn my back on him despite my nakedness.
“Where am I?” My voice scraped dry, thick with sleep and disuse.
His gaze traveled down my exposed skin, unhurried. A smirk curved his mouth when he noted my discomfort.
“Why, you’ve made it to Vellos, dear Nienna. Quite traveled, aren’t you?” He laughed and settled into the chair, spreading his legs wide as if claiming not just the seat but the room. “So far from your lowly island nation.”
I snatched a fur from the bed and wrapped it tight around myself. The servant moved aside, head bowed, eyes fixed on the floorboards.
Vellos.
“How?” I pushed my hair from my face and sealed panic behind a mental door. A queen did not tremble in front of enemies. “You couldn’t have crossed the Craggs without my dragons seeing.”
“Correct.” He tilted his head. “Observant as always. While Kallias fought, certain we would cross over the Craggs, we chose to go through them. The Sols met us halfway. We wouldn’t have managed without their assistance.”
Through.
The word chilled me.
“I find it difficult to believe you were never caught.” I offered him a conversational smile.
“Too many mining collapses, I’m afraid.” He shrugged. “And sometimes Radaan forgets how quickly Vellos can move when she desires.”
Kallias would know. He had to suspect hidden paths carved through stone. He would not sit idle.
My husband, my king, would come for me.
I just needed to buy him time.
“I would love to continue this discussion,” I said, gesturing to the fur clutched at my throat, “but as you see, I am indisposed. Is it not improper in Vellos to openly ogle another man’s wife?”
Egath leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees. “The Velli take no wives.” His grin revealed sharpened teeth. “If a man cannot control and defend his woman, he loses her to the more dominant male. Such is your case.”
Fear skittered across my skin, raising the fine hairs at my nape. My fingers tightened in the fur. “You intend to take me?”
A scoff left him. He reclined, stretching his long limbs.
“Not I. You are far too much trouble, and I have nothing to gain from you beyond what I already have. No, you’re meant for another.
My duty ended with securing you, and I’ve earned my reward.
I’m quite happy with my lot—a mere servant, if you will. ”
“The king of Vellos?” My pulse hammered, though I kept my expression cool. “My father won’t stand for it. Once he learns–”
“What can he do, Nienna?” Egath’s head tipped again, birdlike and unsettling.
“We heard his dragon’s wing was shredded, bound to sand for the rest of its days.
After your own dragon turned on your people, I doubt anyone will fly over the Craggs anytime soon.
Kallias always feared crossing those mountains.
This will be no different. Draconia and Radaan won’t invade Vellos. ”
“No different?” I scoffed, heat rising in my cheeks. “I am Queen of Radaan. Kallias shall come for me—with a fleet of dragons. Vellos has much to fear.”
His lips curved, and he shook his head with a touch of pity.
“You are so young. It goes to show that no matter the amount of schooling or court training you have, living a sheltered existence without struggle breeds immature, na?ve royals.” He picked at something on his sleeve, indifferent, bored.
“Countless men have died in Kallias’ name.
He spent his entire life avoiding this side of the Craggs.
He’s too old to change his ways. One cannot simply throw away a lifetime of habit and principle, just for a woman. ”
“You forget, dear Egath.” I smiled sweetly, twirling a strand of my hair around my finger, letting the silk of it coil and slide against my skin.
“You might’ve once faced a king bound by loyalty and honor, but Kallias fights for more than his kingdom now.
You took something of his, and in doing so, you’ve riled a king who holds something far more precious—love. ”
His jaw ticked to the side, a tight pulse beneath pale skin, green eyes glittering with sharp amusement that never reached his mouth.
“We will see. But for now, I’d settle in if I were you.
You’re not only here at the behest of Vellos’ king—but also as someone’s guest. It’s only appropriate that you play your part.
” He rose from his chair, untangling his long limbs with lazy grace.
“You haven’t completely forgotten your noble roots, have you?
Or should we expect you to act as one of your beasts?
Please assure me a leash won’t be in order. ”
There was a promise in his voice, low and iron-bound. He would leash me, muzzle me, treat me like an animal if I didn’t do as he wished. Sea beneath, I could almost feel the phantom weight of leather at my throat.