11. Chapter 11
“What did you do?” I roared at Sury, who stood where Ophelia had just seconds ago.
Quickly, I dropped to the ground and laid my ear upon her chest, confirming it was indeed her steady heart I heard beating.
The world around me stilled as I cradled her limp body to my chest and felt the light tickle of her shallow breathing against my skin.
“What happened?” Ora asked frantically as she knelt beside me.
“Ask your future king,” I growled, vaguely aware that Fyom and Sury had pinned the last guard to the ground.
Any other day, I would have been impressed that Fyom hadn’t balked from a fight and had actually pulled out his blade, but my thoughts were consumed by the woman who now lay unconscious at my knees.
“Naa’n le’ya. Can you hear me?” I lightly tapped on her soft cheek to help stir her awake.
Why wasn’t she waking? I could still feel the remnants of the power she’d evoked just moments ago.
The pull of it subsided like it was receding back within her, just like the faint shadows she’d Wielded on these guards.
I had never seen her Wield those before.
I looked to the ground and spotted dull browns and remnants of gray where she had stepped.
A pathway of death that she’d left in her wake.
Even during the times she’d practiced her power on the Ancient One, I had never seen the earth around her look void of life.
Her power was growing stronger than I realized.
Those bright silver eyes flashed in my mind. And that voice when she spoke? It was too familiar to the one I heard in my mind. Were the fables and myths true about those who Wielded this brand of magic? Was she succumbing to the whispers?
I should have been elated that the weight of the thing inside of me was now muted and pushed to the furthest reaches within my mind.
I should have been happy that I felt the unseen pressures lifted off of my shoulders and invisible claws retracted from my spine.
But seeing Ophelia unconscious stirred a deep monster of my own making.
Hands across from me reached for her. Instinctively I snarled and pulled her in tighter, refusing to let her go. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”
“Friend,” the deep yet soft voice said. “I need to check over her. Make sure she will be okay.” My eyes met the green ones that sparkled brightly much like those in my family line.
I blinked rapidly, forcing myself to breathe.
“Please, let me help.” Fyom softly held up his large hands, which rivaled my own, indicating that he meant no harm.
Reason dove back into me as I peered into Fyom’s cautious eyes. I relented my hold and nodded as I laid Ophelia back onto the ground. My body moved before my mind comprehended what I needed and I shifted back, allowing Fyom the space he required to work whatever magic was needed to help her.
A muffled cry echoed in the distance and caused me to snap my head toward the commotion. Sury had wrapped the last living guard’s hands in rope, binding their wrists to their ankles, leaving them stuck where they were. Good.
Uncontrollable rage moved my feet, leaving newfound reason behind as I made quick steps to where Sury now stood.
“Peiro? What are you doing?” Ora called after me.
Sury’s eyes widened in fear, stirring my delight, as he held up his hands in defense, trying to back away. “Peiro? Peiro! Listen to me.”
Listen? The only sound I wanted to listen to was my fist against his jaw, and the crack was every bit as satisfying.
“YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!” I roared in his face as I grabbed the collar of his tunic and hit him again.
Someone behind me screamed my name as they tugged against the tunic to pull me back. I should have laughed at how weak the fragile hands were, but instead I took the opportunity to strike my fist against Sury’s jaw once again.
The fragile touch was replaced by a much stronger one, and pulled me away at such a ferocity that it caused me to stumble.
Years of being a king’s captain had left me with training that let me regain my feet quicker than the typical man.
I lunged forward, back toward Sury to strike him again, only to be met with something hard hitting against my own chin.
My lip split, spilling blood into my mouth that I hastily spat onto the ground.
“This is not the time!” Fyom’s voice thundered at such a level I felt it absorb into my bones.
“That fucking fool could have killed her!” I belted, spit flying from my mouth.
“She was making everything worse!” Sury yelled as he was pushed back by Ora’s hand, bruises already blooming against his skin. “I didn’t know what else to do!”
“Worse? They fucking attacked! Unprovoked! She was defending those that she loves!” I shouted and tried to scramble toward Sury, but Fyom’s hands held me back.
“I panicked!” Sury yelled across the ground as Ora stood in front of him. “Her eyes turned and darkness was spilling out of her. I didn’t know what else to do!”
“How about not nearly fucking crushing her skull,” I roared.
“Will you both shut up!” Ora’s command made me blink in surprise.
For months I’d heard her only speak in a way that was familiar, like family—and occasionally in an irritated tone, when she and Ophelia bickered like the sisters they were.
She stepped away from Sury with her arms stretched out wide at her sides to hold Sury and I at bay. To emphasize her point, her hands instantly became encased in her Wielding, promising hurt if we disobeyed.
She and her sister were more alike than different.
“Now that I have your attention… We will deal with whatever that was with Phe—but first.” She huffed and turned her ire to the guard on the ground, and leaned down where he lay. “Why did your guards attack?”
The man’s trousers turned a darker shade at his inseam as Ora shifted her Wielding to look like a small dagger and angled it to his neck.
He quickly shook his head as he tried to inch away.
“L-l-lord Ivan,” he sputtered, “told us the queen was dead. We thought it was a trick set by another court to attack his lordship. We have been getting reports of attacks for months and thought this was a ploy.”
I crossed my arms and eyed the others at the news of more attacks spreading. We needed to gather the queen’s army, and fast, to stop Dokvalon before worse things crossed that border.
Ora shook her head in exasperation. “And who, by all means, told him I was dead?”
The guard frantically looked at us all before landing his eyes back on Ora. “High Priestess Ariadne visited a while ago. Shared the news of some sort of attack at a temple during Lord Beralt’s absence. He’s been on high alert ever since.”
My heart rate rose at the name Ophelia had mentioned from her past. The same witch who had whispered lies of Ophelia’s power to vanquish her potential for reasons unknown.
My fingers clenched into a fist as I vowed that Ariadne, along with anyone else who spewed lies, would pay for the crimes she committed against the woman my heart was falling for.
“Fucking coward,” Sury mumbled under his breath. I cut him a glance right when he directed one toward me, full of his own anger and loathing.
“Well, I am very much alive,” Ora stated as she fluttered her hands about, indicating she was indeed real. “Lord Sury Anmathios, whose land stretches to the Northern Woods, unbind this man and set him free.”
“Are you sure?” I heard Sury whisper in Ora’s ear.
To anyone else it would have looked like two people having a simple exchange, but I heard Ora’s heart skip a beat just enough to match the doubt in her eyes right before she nodded.
Without a second thought, Sury quickly followed her orders and undid the man’s bindings.
I wanted to lunge forward at the guard, direct my anger at this peon who called himself a soldier, but a strong grip on my shoulder held me in place. “She’s fine, but we need to get her to the infirmary. Keep your own calm. For her,” Fyom said quietly against my ear to hold me steady.
His patience was no family trait of mine…and I thanked the giants he took after Talia’s lineage.
Sury pulled the guard to his feet by the collar of his chest plate and snarled into his face, “You will tell Beralt that his queen is here and has summoned him, not the other way around. He will respect the order of things or he will have the northern court invading his doorstep. And you will speak nothing of what you saw happen here. Do you understand what I am saying?”
The guard nodded frantically. Before Sury let go, he looked to Ora, who nodded in agreement, and then he set the guard free to run back to where he came from.
The moment the man ran, I pivoted toward Ophelia’s still body and pulled her into me for protection.
Silent moments passed as we waited to be let into the city gates of Ventus Bluff.
The others stood off to the side, deliberating whatever they needed, as I stroked Ophelia’s black hair, hoping I was bringing her comfort.
Her alabaster skin was soft under my touch when I caressed her smooth cheek that held the fainted touch of pink. Her lips reminded me of the pale sunset orchids that grew in Elethia, and were even as soft as I planted my own upon hers.
“You will be okay,” I whispered against her ear. “You will find control of this thing. Together.” But the shadows? What wasn’t she telling me?
More moments passed before Sury slowly walked toward where I sat with Ophelia.
He crouched in front of me, the sun setting behind him causing the copper in his eyes to shine all the more.
I looked at him, daring him to move toward Ophelia.
I didn’t care that I was becoming more possessive—if it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be wondering if she would wake.
He inhaled deeply and sighed. “I’m sorry.” I blinked in surprise. “I didn’t mean to harm her, truly. She’s like a sister to me…” He stopped as his voice hitched slightly with emotion. “I saw her do something I didn’t think she could do—”
“You think she’s weak?” My voice was hoarse from the screams of earlier.
Sury quickly shook his head. “No. No, not at all.” He took another inhale before he continued.
“I’ve known Phe since we were children, and seeing her Wield at such an ability was…
amazing and absolutely terrifying.” His face grew somber.
“I was there when she felt she would never surmount the Endromeon name. If she had been in any other family, they might have treated her differently, but to be the eldest daughter to the Queen of Gria? I saw what it did to her—no matter what her sister or I said. All that to say, I will apologize when she wakes, but I will extend that to you as well. I didn’t know what else to do when she did what she did. ”
I felt my eyebrow rise in defiance. “You better hope she wakes, or your entrails will be decorated across those gates, Little Lord.”
Sury nodded and outstretched his hand for me to shake. “Old man, you have a deal,” I grumbled against his remark. He smirked then walked back over to Ora and wrapped her in his arms, visually subsiding the worry on her face as he whispered soft notions that made her laugh.
Fyom continued to stand at the far end with his hands clasped behind his back as he waited for the incoming carriage from Ventus Bluff, dust riding on their tails.
“Seems like they have remembered us after all. Remind me to never invite this man for tea if he is always this fashionably late.” He chuckled deeply.
The guard from earlier drove the ornate carriage of blues and whites, and stopped just far enough away to drive home their lord’s opinion on the queen.
I rose to my feet, still clinging to Ophelia, and moved to lay her on the carriage floor as softly as I could.
Everyone took a seat, situating themselves into comfortable positions.
I raised my foot onto the step, ready to lean into the carriage, before I stopped.
“Peiro? What’s the matter?” Ora asked from the other side of where Sury sat, seemingly shielding her.
“I need to settle something.” I pulled away and walked toward where the guard sat at the driver’s seat.
It took no time for me to climb on top and yank him by his collar to look into my eyes. “You lead us astray, boy, and you will scream to the giants that you wish for your death to be a painless one. Do I make myself clear?” The words rumbled out of my throat and deepened an octave toward the end.
The guard only nodded that he understood before I left him where he sat.
I climbed back into the carriage and pulled Ophelia back onto my lap, cradling her shoulders. Fyom helped prop and steady her legs as the wheels pulled us along the earthen path. He reached his hand toward my face, his magic swirling to Heal the scrapes and bruises there, but I pulled away.
“Save your energy for her.” I never took my eyes off of Ophelia’s face. “I need you to Heal her, Fyom.”
He sighed beside me. “I will do all that I know I can.”
I held onto her more tightly as we crossed the threshold of Ventus Bluff’s gates and moved into the mountain city beyond.