Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
It took five days for me to recover from that poison, and I was scared.
I felt my heart beginning to stop; I felt that call of death I’ve heard people talk about.
I’ve nearly died a few times now, but this was the closest, I think, and it terrified me.
Five long days of sitting in bed didn’t make it better, and if it weren’t for the heirs and Zyran, I don’t know how I would have coped.
They never left me, never gave up helping me even when I told them it was too much.
It wasn’t until day three that I was able to stomach any food without throwing up, but never once did they judge me or not help.
Reed lifted me and took me for a shower to get the sick out of my hair.
He was more of a gentleman than I thought was possible—never looking once, only helping me into a seat in the shower and washing my hair before wrapping me in a towel.
I might have cried…just a little. Blackfire somehow warmed my bedroom up enough, without a fire, that I was dry in seconds, and Zy rebraided my hair with skills I didn’t know he had.
My nightmares were…bad. I never woke up alone though, and they always seemed to know I needed to talk, to be distracted.
Zyran is preparing the shadow portal as I stand with Illyia on the balcony.
Reed, Orion and Blackfire are watching Zyran’s every move, every dark shadow he casts into the ground that sends a smoke-like cloud into the air.
I glance at Illyia, in a different red gown that clings tightly to her body and a cloak hanging off her shoulders.
She agreed to come back to Void City with me after the poisoning.
I think it must have frightened her too.
I know people want me dead, but that was…
horrid. It burnt through my veins; it felt like I was burning all over again.
I get why the shifters would want me dead.
First, all human Champions have wound up dead, and their history is long gone.
No one even knows there was a human Champion before me.
The alphas have to know something, but asking them could prove dangerous for me.
I stand for things they don’t like—like a human winning the Folkland, being a princess of a land they don’t know.
But I never expected them to attack me in a ballroom full of people.
What’s worse is that none of the others have been able to figure out who did it.
They could attack me again, and what if I don’t survive next time?
Zyran comes back to me. “It’s ready.”
The heirs watch me as I take Zyran’s hand.
I’ve already said goodbye to them and promised to be back in three days.
Yet it feels odd to be leaving their side, and I don’t know what to do with this new feeling.
My hand is linked with Zyran’s as I walk away from the heirs, Illyia following behind us.
I look back at them one time—my heart clenching.
It doesn’t feel right to walk in the opposite direction.
My eyes linger on Reed for a long time before I force my legs to move forward, even if something in my chest is screaming at me to go to him.
I’ve always been drawn to Reed, but it’s worse since I woke up.
I don’t know why, maybe because he saved me, but at least holding his hand calms the fevered need to be near him.
I step through the swirling shadow of darkness and out the other end into Void City.
The portal comes out in front of the maze in the garden of the palace, the place from my memories that hasn’t changed all that much over the years.
The hedges look higher, and the flowers are still as dark as the night and sparkling like glitter has been wiped over their petals.
Illyia steps out beside me, and her eyes go up and up and up.
It’s the middle of the day, but the clouds are grey, and yet it has no impact on the impressiveness of the palace.
Snow drifts through the air lightly, covering everything in a soft white sheen.
The towers of the palace are huge, spreading high up into the sky and swallowed by the grey clouds.
“This is your palace?” She looks at me. “Holy Mother goddess. If you had told me it was this grand, I would have run here myself.” Illyia looks so different here—her red hair, her red dress, so much colour in a place that seems to thrive in darkness. Yet it suits her. “This is amazing.”
“I thought the same thing.” I glance up at the towers, clinging to the memory of the maze when my mother was here.
My father, the one I can vaguely remember now, would have been waiting for me to come in from playing, with a lecture on princesses needing to learn sewing instead of climbing trees.
I used to play out here a lot as a child, I know that now, and Dain was always with me.
“Come on, let’s go inside. I’m sure Dain is waiting,” Zyran suggests. He is tense again and I’m suspecting he doesn’t love Void City or its king. But that just shows how much he cares for me, that he’d come back here for my health and safety.
“He’s the king? Your brother? What does he look like?” Illyia runs questions off one by one as we climb the black stone steps to the doors.
“He’s like her,” Zyran quietly answers. “In looks, at least. The royal family tends to carry the same traits, no matter who they marry. You won’t find anyone else in this city who looks quite like a royal, other than these two. Meredith’s mother had gold hair and the same eyes.”
“Did you know her?” I look up at Zyran. “You told me how old you were before—you must have known them both.”
“I served your father for many years. Including from the moment he married into the royal family. He was a good man, and he was born in one of the poorer districts of Void City. Your mother met him, and for them it was instant. A true mate—there was no disagreement between them and they wore the marks.” Wow, my parents were true fated mates.
It’s so rare. “They had a good marriage, and they were good rulers, who improved the lives of the people here.” He is quiet for a moment.
“I remember hearing of Dain’s birth, and then I remember hearing of yours.
Then things changed. The reason I am like this.
” He waves a hand at himself—the wings, the grey skin.
I wonder what Zyran looked like before. He’s so strikingly handsome in a different way now—in an otherworldly way.
I can’t imagine him as anything other than what he is now.
“One day, can you tell me everything?” It’s half a request and more of a demand. I don’t like that the man who calls me his is someone who has so many secrets.
He nods once, his eyes tracing mine. “I will.”
Illyia is silent beside us, taking everything in. As we walk through the castle, I ask Zyran, “Do you know where he is?”
“Oblivion whispers,” Zyran quietly tells me. “This way. If you listen, it will tell you too. I know your control is not what it should be yet, but oblivion is always around you in your city. Waiting, wishing to help. You must tap into it and ask it.”
“Dain said I should ignore the whispers of oblivion and block it out,” I whisper back.
“He is scared of it, and he always has been. You never should be; it is part of you, far more than it is of him.” Zyran’s words linger in my mind. He is hiding something from me about my brother, and when we are alone, I’m asking.
I follow him slowly, and Illyia gives me a small smile.
We go down several corridors before we find a room.
Zyran knocks once before he opens the door, and we all walk in.
Dain is sitting on a sofa, papers spread across his lap, a pen in his hand, and a tumbler nearby.
He looks up, a smile crossing his face when he sees me, before he looks at Illyia and pauses. “Sister, have you brought a guest?”
“This is Illyia, a human friend of mine. Things have been unsafe within the districts, and I’m asking that she stays here where it’s safer for now, and perhaps she can be trained to defend herself.
” I smile at him. It’s still strange to see him so much older than my memory, but yet, he looks so much the same.
The only difference is the childhood innocence he once had in his eyes is gone, and I wonder if he looks at me and sees the same thing.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Illyia, and you are welcome.
Any friend of my sister is a friend of mine.
” He looks away from her after she nods her head to him, silent.
He nods at the spare sofa. “Come and sit. Tell me about the districts. I could do with a distraction.” We all sit down, Zyran at my side and Illyia taking the spare chair.
“I wasn’t expecting you to come back so soon after my request was sent. I expected a week at least.”
I look at Zyran with my eyebrow raised—I was needed urgently, he’d said. He smirks and shrugs before I answer Dain. “I was in the Mother Pack, but someone poisoned me. I’m feeling much better now.” His eyes tighten. “The heirs are investigating, and while they do, it’s safer here for a few days.”
“Invading and killing them all is still an option,” he offers so easily. Illyia chokes on thin air.
“No. No.” I shake my head. “It’s complicated. I don’t think it was their court that attacked me at all. We’ll figure it out.” Quickly trying to change the subject, I ask, “Why did you call me back?”
“I’ll take you in and show you if you’re up to it.” I nod. He turns to Illyia. “What I’m about to show you—if you speak of it to anyone, you’ll be in grave danger.”
“I’m not going to talk to anyone about this place.” Illyia lifts her chin. “One, I don’t think anyone from the human district would believe me. Two, most of them are dead. And three, I owe your princess my life, therefore my loyalty too. It’s automatic.”
He stares at her for a long beat before he nods. “Come on, then. Do tell me all about the Mother Pack that’s meant to be dark and gloomy. Our records know little of it.”
“It’s not gloomy at all.” As we walk down corridor after corridor—which seems endless, really—I tell him all about the earth pack.
He’s quite surprised to hear that it’s beautiful and different from what he’d expected.
Eventually we come out into a series of locked dungeons, and in one of them is a creature that makes me stop.
My mouth dries as I look at it. It’s dripping wet but exactly as the book described.
It looks human in part, but its eyes are empty sockets; it has no hair or markable features below its neck.
All of its skin is smooth, except for a series of cuts that are leaking a black liquid.
It has long, rotten nails and matching teeth sticking out from its top lip.
The Wrath stands completely still—void and empty, staring. I can’t move as I stare back at it.
“A Wrath,” I whisper.
“Yes. The very things we’re trying to stop.” Dain doesn’t take his eyes off it.
Zyran steps forward as I move towards it, and he touches my stomach. “No closer.” I really don’t want to go anywhere near that thing, and I don’t know why I moved forward. It smells like rotten fruit.
“What happens to the body? Why is it wet?” I ask.
“It appeared on our shores.” Dain’s tone says everything about that.
The sea is our only protection from the Wrath.
“I think our time is running out. If one can appear on the shores, then many can. I have a team working on this, trying to figure out if it’s more intelligent and how it managed to get there.
A series of guards are roaming the entire coast in case any more appear. None have, but we need to be prepared.”
“I’ll get the heirs to come. They’re probably the best ones to convince their families.” I straighten my back.
“Can they be trusted?” Dain asks.
“I’m not sure. But I think so,” I murmur.
“They can be trusted to be loyal to her.” It’s all Zyran says. I look up at him and nod once.
The Wrath makes a clicking noise, taking a step forward. We all turn to look at it.
“It awaits the crown,” comes a hollow, scratchy voice from somewhere deep within it. “Awaits the crown.” It repeats the same sentence, over and over until it echoes around us. Dain has gone pale and Zyran is frowning.
“I think it’s time we leave.” Illyia is holding her stomach.
We walk out together quickly, and I know without looking that it is watching us go.
Not following. Just watching, still repeating those three words.
None of us say a word until we are back in the room we met in, and Dain downs a whiskey before turning our way.
“I wanted you to see why we need to hurry. Why you need to.”
I give him a shaky nod. It seems like enough.
He pours himself another whiskey, turning to Illyia.
“Please stay here for a moment. I will go and inform the housekeeper that there’s a new guest who needs a room and that the princess has returned with her bodyguard.
We can talk properly about next steps then.
” He looks at me. “We need to talk about announcing you to the city, sooner rather than later. You still cannot have him at your side.”
I don’t answer as he walks out, only looking at Zyran, who is stoic.
“I hope I can sleep here knowing that thing is down there,” Illyia jokes, cutting through the tension.
“Dain has shadow guards everywhere. You can’t see them, but they would never let anything get to you.” Zyran looks at me. “It’s why it’s safe here.”
“How much of the city have you seen?” Illyia asks next, looking out of the window, over the city.
“Nothing more than this.” I wave around. “I was only here a month, and it was all training.”
“What?” She looks genuinely appalled, and she looks at Zyran next. “Tell me they have a good nightlife here.”
“They do.” His voice deepens, and he touches my arm. “It would be my pleasure to take you out for the night. A date.”
“With a plus one!” Illyia adds. “I promise I won’t be annoying.”
I look over the city, knowing damn well Tannith would scream yes at me, before I turn back to Zyran. “It’s a date.”