Chapter 51
Found You
ROHEN
Iran a hand down the front of the ballroom gown I’d stolen from the guest room Parran had dropped me in, relishing its silken texture.
Parren had the idea, finding it too eye-catching for me to show up to a formal event in nothing but pirate garb.
Yet the color of the garment they’d tossed my way from the armoire would certainly draw attention, considering it directly clashed with the royal hues expected of anyone privileged enough to set foot on palace grounds.
Billowing from shadow into crimson flame, the silk dress hung from me with a dark, regal aura, one that would challenge the king for power.
Layers rippling as I walked, it was almost as if the material were a living being.
But its movement only lived in the skirt.
The otherwise rigid bodice, a direct contrast to the extravagant fabrics, sculpted my torso to the point that I actually had, for once in my life, defined curves.
My waist was wound with black lace, its intricate patterns mirroring delicate thorns.
The material reappeared on the upper half of my body, looping around my neck in a high collar.
Sheer panels traced my chest and shoulders, crossed by fine thread-like details that made the embroidery appear as if it had been suspended in the air.
The sleeves extended down my arms, crafted out of sheer lace that concentrated perfectly against the gown’s darker shades.
It was a stunning piece, crafted for a woman of grandeur. Someone who would happily wear a crown and carry with it the responsibility of being a queen. Which was exactly why I despised it. I did not wish for a throne nor a grand life filled with gold and jewels.
Hair cascading to just below my ribcage, the natural wave it carried served as a benefit in a moment such as this.
My auburn locks painted the image of innocence, bathing me with a femininity I rarely cared to display.
But here? It was important because it suggested that I was innocent, a woman who belonged on the arm of a man and couldn’t stand on her own.
A woman they wouldn’t suspect capable of an annihilation so dark and so merciless—the decimation I planned to leave behind.
With Parran gone and hopefully safe on the ship once more, I wandered through the grand entrance and made my way toward the ballroom.
Since I elected to keep my feet bare rather than force them into a poorly fitting shoe, the dark marble felt cold against my feet.
I basked in its frigidity, and it helped level the nerves I couldn’t seem to define.
Sure, there was a lot at stake, and a high likelihood that I could find myself in cuffs and forced to my knees before the king.
But that wasn’t what I was feeling. That wasn’t what ignited my stomach with such a fluttering adamance or what peppered goosebumps over my arms with such a feeling of certainty.
“Are you starting to understand?” Ellira crooned, her usual motherly timbre containing a teasing edge. “The depth of my utterances?”
“Stop it,” I growled, brushing my fingers over my thigh to ensure my dagger was still strapped there. “You are distracting, and I have a task to focus on.”
“Oh, really? Why is your mind settled on a man—”
“Mother!” My cheeks flushed, and I loosened a scoff.
“The pirate is part of the plan, but so is the prince, in case you have forgotten. Both of them happen to be men, which may very well be the reason you find my thoughts wandering. Besides, Caspian Vayne is vile, and there is nothing about him that remains desirable.”
“Interesting…”
Trying to keep my face neutral, I crossed the threshold into the ballroom, dipping my chin at the two men stationed on either side of the massive doors. “What?”
A brief pause. “You assume I was speaking about the captain.”
“You said that my mind was settled on a… You know what, never mind.”
She laughed, the sound a soothing mirror of waves washing ashore. “Something you wish to admit, Daughter?”
“No.”
“You are a terrible liar.”
“And you are a terrible diversion.”
Slipping between two women, I snatched a flute of champagne from one of the servants.
The crystal met my lips, and I swallowed greedily, savoring the subtle carbonation alongside the warmth that immediately bloomed in my gut.
It tamed my mind just enough to keep me from spiraling or assuming the worst, which was exactly what I had been doing…
“Rohen?”
The utterance of my name halted my ability to finish the beverage I so anxiously wished to devour.
Hand shaking, I placed it on the table I landed beside before releasing a leveling exhale.
Jaw clenched and body tense, I braced myself for who I would be turning to face, my mangled thoughts unable to put together why the voice was so familiar.
I’d injured Malrik enough on Veilmar; there was no sensible reason that it would be him. It wasn’t plausible. But then again, it shouldn’t have been possible for Syoran to be up and moving, exploring Serevalen as if the Overseer of Assassins hadn’t nearly split his abdomen in two.
Did the king have a healer? Were the Others capable of such gentle magic?
A hand settled on my shoulder, and with one tug, spun me around. Breath stalling in my chest, I blinked once, and the seafoam irises that greeted me immediately brought forth a sense of relief.
“Kael?”
His brows furrowed, not in surprise but in disapproval. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
I mirrored his expression. “What the fuck do you mean? I came to rescue you, and to gather Cas—”
Fingers curled around my wrist, and he yanked me with him as he took a step forward. Stumbling over my own feet, I struggled to gather my bearings, but he kept hold of me. Whether with the adamance of tossing me out or the determination to keep me upright, I wasn’t certain.
Shoving me behind a pillar, he moved to join me out of sight of any potential onlookers. “You can’t be here, Rohen.”
My gaze darkened as I jutted two fingers into his sternum.
“Why? Because you’re still somehow wholly convinced that I’m unable to stand my ground?
The men tainting these lands are spineless fools whom I would have no issue gutting, and that includes your father.
Just because I am wearing a dress does not suddenly mean I am incapable of bathing in the blood of those I deem my enemy. ”
“I am not doubting your skills,” he whispered harshly, his palm settling against the stone to the left of my head. Dropping his forehead against his arm, he released a pained sigh. “They killed Percy, Rohen.”
My breath stalled, a deep pit settling in my stomach. “W-What?”
“That is why you cannot be here. Percy is dead. Caspian…” He lifted his chin, a watery sheen coating his eyes. “...the leader of the Others, Sorva, she… she commands him. He was the one who executed Percy per my father’s order, and now he walks alongside me in place of the man I once loved.”
A newfound rage flickered to life alongside Kael’s admittance.
Caspian had taken the one man he relied on away from him.
He had butchered him in cold blood as if he were nothing more than an animal up for slaughter.
He had snuffed out the light in Kael’s eyes, the happiness that once used to live there. He had harmed my friends.
Caspian killed Percy.
We were too fucking late.
“Rohen,” Kael breathed, the two syllables fracturing in two as a sob followed.
“Y-You can’t be here… They will kill you, too.
They will kill all of you. Sorva is already aware of your presence, and she promised to execute all of you one by one if I didn’t agree to a blood bind after the ceremony.
She wants one in place with me, just like she has with Caspian, so she… maintains control.”
“Absolutely the fuck not,” I hissed, grabbing his arm and yanking him toward me.
Only when his body came to rest flush against mine did I continue, “You cannot follow through with your word if you are simply not present. You cannot uphold your end of the bargain if you happen to be taken by a bloodthirsty crew of pirates who wish to use you as a bargaining chip with the king.”
“T-That’s not going to—”
Wrapping myself around him, I pressed my head against his chest and held him in an embrace I was certain he hadn’t received since Percy was murdered. “It is going to work because it has to. I am getting you out of here, you are not binding yourself to that cunt, and Caspian is coming with us.”
He hesitated for a moment before his frame swept around mine and he buried his face in my hair. A stifled cry rolled from the center of his chest, and he tightened his hold just slightly, as if he were afraid he’d lose me too.
After a few short moments, I slowly pulled back and gathered his face in my hands. “Listen to me, okay?”
He nodded, and I swept away the tears that stained his cheeks.
Exhaustion clung to his gaze, and that was something I knew wouldn’t simply go away.
Not when he’d lost his lifeline, his reason for living, his everything.
Percy had kept Kael’s head above water, and now that he walked with Elaros, Kael was drowning.
The darkness that flecked his now dulled stare hinted at all he hadn’t been able to shed, of the time he wasn’t given to mourn.
“You’re going to walk out of this palace and head for the docks.
As soon as you get there, I want you on Alastair’s ship, and I want you to tell the crew it is a direct order from the captain that they take you away from shore.
They’re well aware of what is happening, and you must inform them that Alastair demanded they listen to your request.”
It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either.