24. Emilia
Chapter 24
Emilia
S houts can be heard from outside the room. Running to the window, I look out but can’t see more than people just running from one side of the walkways to the other.
“Get reinforcements!” The guard in front of our door yells, and then it happens. The ground starts to shake, and vibrate throughout the entire space. Timas has found me. Turning back to find Alette, I see her eyes wide and her clutching the makeshift bed.
“What’s happening?” Her voice quivers with fear, but I can’t seem to keep the smile off my face.
“Timas, he’s here.” Her eyes snap to mine.
“He’s doing this?” Pride fills me because he is mine, and he can shake the very ground people walk on.
“Yes. I told you he was powerful.” She nods in response. The door to our room is pushed open, and Laila rushes in.
“Come, come, we have to move.” Laila says in a hurried voice. Alette rises to her feet, her legs unsteady. I wrap my arm around her waist to help hold her up .
“Where is the guard?” I ask Laila. She looks up and down the walkway and waves for us to follow her.
“He was called away to help fight. It seems you were right. Your spirit bond has come to rescue you, and he has brought our Queen.” Her happiness is evident, even though we are currently running down the swaying walkways. She takes a path to the left, and a ball of fire comes hurtling in our direction. I duck, pulling Alette down with me, and a screech leaves her mouth. Looking up, I see one of the Noble Guards spot me, and he heads in my direction. He weaves between fighting Fae, narrowly missing a projectile. I slow down, hoping that if he can get to me, he can bring me to Timas, and we will be safe, but I am wrong.
A blast of heat passes my head and hits him right in the chest. It knocks him back, hitting the railing of the walkway and the momentum pushes him over, falling to the ground. I rush over to see him fall and hit one of the lower platforms. He’s not moving, and his clothes are badly burned, as well as the skin on his chest. My heart is pumping adrenaline through my body, making me numb to the scene, but I know that I will forever have nightmares of it. I try looking around for the person who attacked him, but Laila keeps pulling my arm.
“We can’t stay here! Please come on!” We continue down the path, but then a sharp pain radiates from my wrist, stopping me in my tracks and forcing me to the ground. The current of energy that is coursing through my body is excruciating, each prick of pain seems to be amplified by the second. The pain suddenly stops. My breaths are coming in heavy pants, and sweat has covered my brow. I look for Alette, who is lying beside me motionless, which makes my heart race! I crawl over to her and check her pulse, still alive. Relief fills me, and I almost want to cry. Her body was already exhausted, but the fact that she hasn’t come around worries me.
“Trying to escape, little Human?” The voice drips with sadistic humour. Just behind us is a Night Court Fae, his hand lightly glowing yellow. He was the one who used the bracelet on us. I search around for Laila and spot her curled in on herself, whether in fear, pain, or both, I don’t know. The man grabs my arm roughly and pulls me to my feet. “The King has requested your appearance. Looks like your silly lover is making a mess of things. I guess this is the part where he gets to watch you die.” He cackles at his own joke.
“Pick her up, she can be useful.” He says to another man I hadn’t noticed. The other man picks up Alette with more care than I thought possible. Meanwhile, the twat who is dragging me digs his fingers farther into my arm. We head back toward the building they were holding us in.
Fighting between the Day Court and the Night Court is in full swing; swords are clashing, and sounds of magic fill the air. The King, Oberon, stands out in front of his precious little building, sneering at the sight. When he spots us walking towards him, he doesn’t wait. He storms over to us and grabs me, twisting me around, bringing my back to his front and placing an arm around my neck. And then I see him.
My Timas, flying through the air, a dark cloud swirling around him, his eyes black with streaks of lightning floating across them, showing the power that lives inside him.
“Finally a Human actually being useful. You’ll bring this so-called powerful King to his knees, you filthy parasite.” He whispers in my ear, spit flying from his mouth and sending a shiver down my back. Timas lands and then Oberon yells and draws Timas’ eyes directly to us.
“Call off your dogs, King Timas. “ Oberon sneers. Timas’ gaze darkens further.
“If you know what’s good for you I suggest you let her go.” There is no fear in his voice or his gaze. Pure, unadulterated power stands before us. The fighting dies down around us. Most of the Night Court has been subdued, lying either dead or unconscious.
“Let’s make a deal, you back off and abdicate the throne and I won’t kill this precious little thing.” He draws a finger down my cheek. I pull my face back to get away from his grimy hands. Thunder can be heard, and the ground shakes all around us as Timas' power builds.
“You are not in a position to strike a deal. But here is what I promise you: I promise that when I get to you, I will rip you apart. For every finger you have laid on my spirit bond, I will pay back tenfold. Your men have been conquered. You have nothing left, and no one will stand and fight for you. Do you think being a King is simply having a title and the power that comes with that? No, it’s about serving the people. The people are what give you the power, and you have lost it all. Besides, I’ve brought your replacement.”
Neeve steps forward, her steely gaze locked on Oberon.
“Hello, Brother. “ The arm around my neck grows tighter.
“No, it’s not possible, I watched you die!” Oberon is losing his grip on reality, his voice and posture falter.
“I’m afraid not, much like your inability to be King, your ability to ensure you killed every one of your family is severely lacking. It would appear you are inept in more than one area of your life.” The cold expression on her face is chilling, but it just antagonizes him further.
“I am a better King than our father ever was. I have brought chaos to the very Court that exiled us to this cursed forest! What you would have done was weaken our Court by allying with theirs!”
“I wanted to bring our people out of this wretched place. All you’ve done is break our people down for your own power and delusions. Don’t expect me to stop him when he tears you apart. You were foolish to take a Fae’s spirit bond. You deserve the punishment that is coming your way.” No remorse for her half-brother, just pure anger and hatred. Timas seems to grow larger as his power swells within him.
“I will not ask again, release my spirit bond.” With his arm around my throat, I know he won’t let me go, but what happens next, Oberon did not expect.
“Never! If I die, so does she! As long as I am holding her, you can not use your powers against me without harming her. ”
“Wrong answer! If you don’t want to take your hands off my Queen, I will remove them for you.” Milori shows up. Out of nowhere, he whips out his hand, an arc of fire flying, lighting up the air, and cracking down on the arm that isn’t holding me to the King’s body. Stunned, Oberon turns to look at Milori. The fire barely caused him to flinch, but he just told Timas whatever happens to him happens to me. So I reach over to start fiddling with the bracelet, and just like before, it zaps me and, consequently, Oberon, causing him to drop me to the ground. I scramble away from him as quickly as possible, just as Timas lunges forward, reaching out to grab Oberon. My back hits the wall of the building, stabilizing me. Looking around frantically, I try to find Alette. Finally, I find her on the ground. She’s holding her head as Garrick lands a punch on the man who used to be holding her. She looks confused, but I don’t have much time to think about that.
The building my back rests on shakes as Timas throws Oberon into a wall, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. I have to cover my face to protect myself from the flying pieces of wood. After one final crack of thunder, everything goes deathly silent. Timas comes rushing out of the building he has just destroyed and races to me. For the first time, I feel like I can really let go and feel the emotions that I have been keeping at bay. So when his strong arms circle around me, I weep into him. He lifts me off the ground, and I wrap my legs around him as he clings to me.
“I’m ok, I’m ok.” I keep saying this to him because I can feel his body shaking.
“I’m so sorry, my flower. I’m so sorry. I should have protected you better. I’m sorry.” I push my hands in his hair and look into those beautiful blue eyes. He is everything. He rescued my father, fought for our love against the council, and fought the Night Court King to get me back. I don’ t think I will ever be able to show him how much I love him but I decide I don’t need to tell him, I’ll just show him.
I lean in and press my lips against his. His hands tighten on my back and hip where he is holding me up. His lips feel so familiar, with each press of our lips, our connection flares to life. My hands tangle in his hair, pulling slightly, which makes Timas growl. He explores my mouth like I have been missing for years, and the longing that has been building in me finally feels satiated with him this close to me. Our breaths intermingle, becoming one as we float in this place that we both want to stay in but can’t. Timas is the one to pull away, resting his forehead on mine.
“I am never letting you go again.” He says, which makes me laugh.
“I think it would look weird if you carried me everywhere.” He huffs.
“I don’t care.” I kiss his forehead as he gently lowers me to the ground. A cough sounds behind us, and Timas tucks me into his chest, squishing my face in the process, and glares at our newest guest.
“Let the woman breathe, Timas.” Milori stands with his arms folded across his chest, an expression of profound relief covering his face. “I’m glad to see you’re ok, though I suspect that bruise is going to hurt for a while.” I wince at the reminder of the hits I took to the face. Timas is now anxiously looking at my face and calling for a healer .
“Thanks, Milori.” I glare at him, but he just smiles. I turn back to Timas. “I’ll be fine, my love, I promise. You’re here. It’ll be ok.” Timas doesn’t seem to believe me.
Neeve walks up to us with a couple of people from the Night Court. For the first time, it looks like she might have some strong emotions. Her hand is intertwined with a man’s; he looks thin, but his bright smile tells me that Neeve is not just his Queen. This makes me wonder about what she truly was willing to sacrifice to save her people. Just like she was asking Timas to do, and that breaks my heart.
“Thank you for all you have done here. I will never be able to fully repay you. I hope we can continue to work together.” Timas reluctantly releases me, but his hands find mine, holding tightly.
“As agreed, Neeve, I will allocate several islands for you to re-inhabit. Your Court is no longer exiled to these woods. I hope we can come together and discuss how our Courts can work together and not allow the past to repeat itself.” She lets go of the man’s hand and stands in front of us. She dips her head low and looks up with watery eyes.
“Thank you.” Emotion overwhelms me, so I rush over and give her a hug. She is stiff for a moment, but she relents and hugs me back.
“Your strength for your people is admirable. I am grateful to have met you.” Stepping back, she gives me a smile, turns, and heads back to her people.
“Alette!” I was so consumed by seeing Timas that I forgot all about Alette. Turning I find her still sitting on the ground, a healer crouched beside her checking her injuries. With help the healer is able to remove the bracelet she was wearing. I’ll be happy to get mine off as well. A shiver courses through me. Milori stands beside the healer with an offended expression on his face.
“Is no one going to check on me? I have a cut right here.” He holds up his hand to show a tiny cut. Garrick comes flying around and puts himself in between Milori and the healer.
“She needs more help than you. You Fae wimp.” Milori looks at Garrick just as he looks down at Alette. Garrick and Alette stare at each other, a spark of something ignites there. Milori notices too.
“Well, well,” Milori sing-songs.
“Don’t.” Garrick shoots his hand out and covers Milori’s mouth. Garrick grunts and pulls his hand back. “Ouch! What was that for?”
“I bite,” Milori says.
Looking up at Timas, I feel the exhaustion coming over me.
“Can we go home yet?” Timas leans down and picks me up.
“Yes my flower, we can go home.”
“I should walk on my own.” My head hits his shoulder, and my eyes become heavy.
“Sleep, my darling.” Darkness takes me just for a moment.