Chapter 35 Rhianelle
It’s been a month since Rainer died.
I still think about the funeral. Fifty-six days. That is how long my uncle lasted against a killing spell no one survives more than twenty-four hours. Rainer was stubborn, always had been.
He was ready to go. But he held on for Shade. I remember the conversation we had in the final weeks before he died.
“There’s something you need to know about Shade,” he’d said, then he told me.
Shade is my half-brother.
Reinhart Wiolant had an affair. My father fell in love with a woman in Tiamat. A master assassin from the Guild. They were going to elope. But before they could, my father was murdered along with my mother in the Archon that nearly destroyed our family.
When the Guild found out their assassin had a child and violated their rules, they imprisoned her. They put her in a crypt beneath the Guild headquarters in Tiamat.
The Guild promised her release once Shade completed one hundred missions for them. So he did. Mission after mission. Year after year.
His hundredth and last mission was to protect me and Uncle Rainer for one hundred days.
But the Guild kept changing the terms whenever Shade came close to completing it.
When the Ashmedai attacked me, they reset his hundred days to the beginning.
After Tavan, they did it again, claiming that because I had been harmed under his protection, none of the days before it counted.
The Guild never intended to release his mother. They only wanted to keep Shade bound to them for as long as possible.
Rainer had long known who Shade was and what he was trying to do. I learned the rest from his journals after his death.
My uncle had followed Shade into Tiamat years ago with every intention of killing him. He believed Shade might blame our family for what happened to his mother. Rainer wanted to remove the threat before Shade could come for me.
But he watched instead. The longer Rainer observed him, the more he began to recognize my father in Shade. By the time Rainer finally approached him, he no longer saw an assassin who might hurt me. He saw his brother’s son.
Rainer held on long enough to make sure Shade’s bond was complete.
He wrote a letter to the Guild of Assassins, sealed with his authority as a lord of Volundr, confirming Shade’s service.
Rainer vouched for him, making sure they couldn’t deny that the mission was complete.
He died the day after he sent the letter.
My brother. I have a brother.
The thought still feels strange. It is unfamiliar, yet somehow right, like a missing piece of my past has finally settled into place.
Shade is standing in front of me now. In the palace courtyard, preparing to leave with Lucien at his side.
Lucien remains trapped in the body of a large black wolf.
He sits beside Shade’s travel pack, his sapphire eyes following every movement around the courtyard while his tail rests curled over his paws.
“When will you be back?” I ask.
“As soon as I have my mother,” Shade says. “I’ll bring her here once she is safe.”
“They have to release her now,” I say. “The mission is complete. The debt is paid.”
Shade nods. Hope brightens his eyes, though I can still see the fear beneath it. After everything the Guild has done, neither of us trusts them to honor their word without a fight.
He looks at me. There’s something soft and vulnerable in his eyes.
“Thank you,” he says, his voice rough with emotion. “For everything. For not hating me when you found out.”
“Why would I hate you? You’re my brother,” I say, stepping forward and wrapping my arms around him. “You’re family. You kept Rainer and me safe.”
Shade stiffens in surprise. Then his arms close around me, holding me so tightly that my feet nearly leave the ground.
“I’ll come back,” he says into my hair. “When my mother is settled. I’ll come back.”
“You better,” I say, my voice muffled against his shoulder.
We pull apart and look at each other. I crouch beside Lucien and open the leather pouch at my waist. Five small glass vials rest inside, each filled with a pale silver liquid.
“I only managed to make five,” I tell him. “Drink one whenever you need to return to your elven form.”
Lucien lowers his nose toward the pouch and sniffs cautiously.
“They should each last several hours, but the potion may become less effective every time you use it. Your curse is too powerful for me to break completely.”
His ears lower.
“This will only suppress it,” I explain. “To end it permanently, you need to find the original warlock who placed the curse on you.”
Lucien gives one sharp bark. Whether it means he understands or simply dislikes the answer, I cannot tell.
A shadow moves across the courtyard. Svenn steps from it with Coinneach at his side, carrying a narrow wooden case beneath one arm.
Shade turns to him. “I was not leaving without saying farewell. I was merely afraid you would strike me for failing to finish my lessons.”
Svenn scoffs at his student and holds out the case. “Take this.”
Shade opens it. Inside are small wooden tiles, each carved with a letter of the alphabet, along with several common words and symbols.
“Lucien can arrange them whenever he needs to communicate,” Svenn explains.
Shade studies the tiles suspiciously. “Is this more homework?”
Lucien barks excitedly and nudges the case with his nose, his tail thumping against the ground with gratitude.
Svenn looks at Shade. “Find your mother. Break Lucien’s curse. Come home alive.”
Shade nods once.
They leave through the palace gates a short while later. Shade carries his pack over one shoulder while Lucien walks beside him, the wooden case secured among their supplies. Svenn and I remain in the courtyard, watching them follow the road out of Volundr.
“I’m worried they’ll have trouble communicating,” I say.
“Lucien will manage perfectly well with the tiles.” Svenn folds his arms. “It is Shade I’m concerned about. He’s the idiot who can barely read.”
I elbow him lightly, though I cannot stop myself from smiling. My gaze returns to the wooden case strapped to Shade’s pack.
“Those carvings… the craftsmanship looks familiar,” I murmur.
“Garrett made it.”
I turn toward Svenn. “Garrett?” I glance back at the case.
“He is following them too.”
My smile disappears. “He is doing what?”
“From a distance,” Svenn assures me. “Shade and Lucien will not know he is there.”
“That makes me even more worried.” I remember asking Lucien about Garrett while he was briefly in his elven form. His answer still frightens me.
Garrett Clayborne is the person he hates most in this world. If Garrett ever stood before him again, Lucien said he would not hesitate to bury a dagger in his heart or tear out his throat, depending on which form he happened to be wearing.
I had been too shocked to ask what Garrett had done to deserve such hatred. Even Shade does not know the whole story. All he could tell me was that Lucien once accepted a contract involving House Clayborne.
Whatever happened between them, Lucien has not forgiven it.
“Coinneach marked both of them before they left. If either is in danger, I will know,” my husband assures me.
I watch until Shade and Lucien disappear beyond the city walls. I hope Shade finds his mother. I hope the Guild honors its promise, and I hope Lucien finds the warlock who cursed him.
Most of all, I hope they all return safely. Garrett included.
I turn to Svenn. “I’m going to visit Aelfric,” I say, then kiss him goodbye.
“Give him my regards.”
I squeeze his hand once, then leave him in the courtyard and make my way toward the healing wing alone.
I have been visiting my knight every day to help with his therapy. The war took so much from him, but he refuses to stay broken. He is claiming his strength back one painful step at a time.
When I arrive, Taryn is supporting Aelfric beneath one arm while he stands between two wooden rails. Sweat darkens his golden hair at the temples, and his hands clamp around the bars, trembling with effort.
“One more,” the healer says, bracing herself beneath his weight as he attempts to lift his injured leg. “Just one more. You can do it.”
Aelfric grits his teeth. His face goes red with effort, and his leg trembles, but it lifts. Only a few inches.
Taryn notices me in the doorway and gives Aelfric one final encouraging smile.
“Her Highness can help you finish for today,” she says. “Try not to overwork yourself.”
Aelfric grunts something beneath his breath as she bows and excuses herself from the room.
“That was good,” I say. “Better than yesterday.”
I move to his side and slide one arm around his waist. His hand settles over my shoulder, and I feel him fighting not to lean too hard. We make it to the chair in small, unsteady steps. I ease him down, but his hands still find the armrests before he drops the last few inches with a sharp exhale.
“I still can’t walk,” Aelfric mutters, frustration heavy in his voice.
“You will,” I promise. “The matron said it would take another week. You’re getting stronger every day.”
“Not fast enough,” he mutters.
I almost smile at that.
“Come on,” I say, tucking the blanket across his lap. “There’s somewhere I want to take you. If you’re up for it.”
“Where?” he asks.
“The memorial gardens,” I say quietly. “To visit Siofra and Darstan.”
Aelfric’s expression turns sombre. His hands tighten around the arms of the chair before slowly relaxing. Grief passes across his face, followed by something quieter.
“Yes,” he says. “I’d like that.”
The memorial gardens are on the western edge of the palace grounds, a place to remember our fallen warriors.
Markers fill the grounds in long, uneven rows.
Some are carved from stone while others are made from wood.
A few are elaborate, covered in family crests and inscriptions, but most are simple.
Each one represents a life lost in the war.
There are far too many.