Chapter 48
Forty-Eight
RONAN
ELLNESARI, PRESENT DAY
T he healer works on Telar for thirty minutes or so. When she leaves, the Aquila soldier is all patched up, but he isn’t sleeping. He’s awake, albeit not as agitated as he was when he arrived.
“You need to rest,” Castiel tells him.
“I can’t rest until the hybrid returns with Luna.”
“The hybrid has a name,” I grit out.
Castiel gives me an angry stare. “Watch it.”
“No, you watch it, the both of you. I’m done following whatever plan your lot has for Cheryl and me.”
“Oh yeah? And what are you planning to do, then? Travel all the way to Aquila on foot? If you manage to survive the trip, by the time you get there, a war will be raging, and your friends will most likely be long gone.”
I bristle, hating that I can’t rebuff his argument.
“Even if you found a faster way to travel…” Telar pauses, licking his dry lips. “You wouldn’t be able to breach the castle grounds. Going there would be a death sentence.”
“I’d rather die trying to save my friends than sit on my ass, waiting for Nightingale assistance.”
“You are a fool,” Castiel retorts with a sneer.
Telar touches his arm. “You need to look for Dukie, Ronwen’s cousin.”
Damn it. I didn’t even think about the healer’s son. He’s all alone.
“Did the message you received from him say where he was hiding?” I ask Castiel.
“He managed to cross the border into Hydra, but I don’t know where he is exactly.”
“He has no one now,” Telar adds. “We have to find him. I owe Ronwen that much.”
I run a hand through my hair and notice it’s shaking. How many more deaths will that bitch cause before this is over?
A sharp pain flares in my chest, making me gasp.
“What is it?” Castiel asks, alarmed.
“It’s Cheryl. She’s in distress.” I veer for the door, intent on finding her, when Queen Endaya appears in the room out of thin air, holding Cheryl’s hand.
“Ronan,” Cheryl cries out before she runs into my arms.
I pull her into a tight hug, crushing her to my chest. “I’m here, my love. I’m here.”
“It was awful,” she says between sobs.
“What happened?”
She steps back, her eyes wide with fear and her pupils dilated to the point they almost swallow her green irises. “Queen Maewe has captured Karl and Manu. Manu is in bad shape, and the queen tortured Karl, even after he told her everything about King Ruel’s plans.”
The air seems to vanish from my lungs. My stomach twists and coils like a nest of snakes, each one tightening its hold until my insides feel like a sailor’s knot pulled taut by desperate hands.
Castiel curses under his breath. “She knows we’re helping him.”
“It’s likely,” his mother replies. “Losing Lynx and Etheos as allies wasn’t something she was counting on. She is still the most powerful queen in Ellnesari, though.”
“How many allies do you have, and will they march against Aquila at a moment’s notice?” I ask.
“We can only count on Etheos’s support.” Castiel releases a loaded sigh. “The other kingdoms will most likely wait to make a decision.”
Anger bubbles up my throat. “So they can pick the side they feel is stronger.”
The muscles around Queen Endaya’s mouth tighten, and her eyes glimmer with what I hope is contempt for the other royal houses. “Unfortunately, yes.”
Cheryl turns to face the queen. “We can’t wait for an army. Karl and Manu won’t survive much longer in captivity.”
“Do you know where King Ruel is?” I ask.
“He didn’t say,” the queen replies. “But Cheryl speaks the truth. I’ve seen what Queen Maewe did through Luna’s eyes. We cannot wait for King Ruel.”
“Even if we bring them to Mistral, they’ll never make it inside the castle,” Castiel argues.
“There’s a way.” The queen lifts her chin, squaring her shoulders.
Castiel’s eyes widen. “Mother… you don’t mean…”
“We’ll use the shadow wolves,” she continues.
“There are more shadow wolves here in Lynx?” Cheryl’s pulse quickens.
“No, but they can be here at a moment’s notice. Luna already agreed to call for their aid.”
“But… we didn’t travel to Aquila physically. How can we rescue them?”
“There was no need to make the trip in your physical body because you were only gathering information. But shadow wolves can travel to any place and bring travelers with them.”
“For your plan to work, we can’t be detected,” Castiel chimes in. “Avoiding a direct confrontation with Queen Maewe is paramount to our success.”
“A small operation, then,” I say. “Search and rescue only.”
“We need to know where they’re being held,” Cheryl adds. Then we all look at Telar, who has been quiet this whole time. I wonder if he thinks our plan is foolish. The furrow of his brow tells me he’s not excited about it.
“The palace has a dungeon,” he replies. “But Queen Maewe has her own private prison.”
“Why would she…?” I shake my head. “Never mind.”
“My bet is she’s keeping them there. To know for sure, you’d have to spy on them again.”
Queen Endaya shakes her head. “We can’t. Luna needs to recover her strength to physically bring a passenger on the trip.”
Castiel begins to pace. “We’ll use King Ruel’s secret passageways, then. They can take us to most places in the palace.”
“Including that bitch’s prison?” Cheryl asks.
“No, but close enough.”
I trade a look with Cheryl and see the resolution burning in her eyes. “We’re in. When can we leave?”