Chapter 33
“Lay a single finger on her, and I’ll tear the hands right off your useless body.” Rydian’s voice is a low, vicious growl. Ren stiffens, steps halting as his eyes go wide.
Rydian strides out from beneath the shadows of the trees—not the trees, his shadows. My breathing stalls.
I always knew he was king of Aurelia, but I never truly grasped the extent of his power until now. It’s absolutely terrifying.
His cloak swirls around him, billowing like a storm with his hood drawn low over his brows, hiding all but the faintest trace of his features.
Every step he takes seems to make the ground tremble, as though he’s bending the realm to his will.
He strides forward and then smirks, the small curve of his scarred lip tipping up ever so slightly.
Chills snake down my spine.
If this is his power in Elderheim, it must be absolutely shattering in Aurelia. I shudder at the thought. But Ren makes a grave mistake and reaches for his blades, lowering his brow and widening his stance.
Good gods, he’s preparing to fight.
Before I can blink, Rydian thrusts out a palm and slowly curls his fingers, lifting Ren clear off the ground as if he’s a child’s doll and not like the six-foot-six male that he is. Rydian dangles him in the air from an invisible force by his neck.
The king of Aurelia has made his appearance.
Ren scrambles his hands across his throat—gasping for air—as he kicks his feet, looking for purchase. Yet for a reason I can’t quite explain, panic surges beneath my skin.
“Rydian, stop!” I shout.
My feet pull me to him, suddenly at his side with a hand clawing at his chest. Frantic eyes dart between the two of them as I shake his arm, attempting to gain his attention. He glances down, furrowing his brows.
“Are you hurt?” he asks.
“No. Now please, put him down. He knows something. I’m okay, I promise.” I beg him to stop.
“Say the word, and I will end him right here,” he vows. “No one lays a finger on the princess of Aurelia, mark my words.”
And I believe every word he says. If I told him to, he would kill Ren without a second thought. But I don’t want Ren to die, not today anyway.
“I don’t want you to. Please, Rydian. There’s a sleeping boy in the tent behind you.”
He holds my gaze a moment longer, then drops Ren to the ground with a hard thud. Wrapping an arm around my neck, Rydian pulls me to him, watching Ren collect himself all while he holds me, as if he’s claiming me as his. I suddenly can’t help the relief settling in my chest.
Ivy and Orin step out from the shadows, lifting Ren to his feet only to push him toward the fire, sitting him down as it roars to life. I begin to follow when Rydian gently tugs my hand back. He searches for any signs of injury, then cups my face, tilting it from side to side—inspecting me.
“I’m fine.” I meet his gaze, but I can’t help the sudden wave of exhaustion settling over me. Whatever I did to Ren, it took a lot of my energy.
“What happened?” he asks.
“We tracked our target to his home but when we got there, he was sleeping. A boy no older than ten. I don’t know why we’re bringing him back to the castle. We shouldn’t have taken him in the first place, and I fought Ren on the issue when we got back. Things got… heated.”
His expression darkens, his usual calculating demeanor cracking, revealing the raw anger forming behind his eyes before quickly masking it.
“How did you find me?” My brows pinch. He shouldn’t have been able to find my exact location without setting foot on this side of the realm first.
His gaze locks with mine, features softening as he studies me, then smirks.
“I told you that I would always find you, no matter where you are. But if you really want to know, I felt you first. Your power is growing rapidly. I assume it’s because you haven’t told anyone about the magic growing in you, but I can’t be sure.
I’m afraid others may have felt it too. It…
tugged at me, and I followed it. I brought Ivy and Orin with me. ”
I’m quickly reminded of the moment right before Rydian stepped through the Veil, when my hands glowed in a mix between light and dark shadows. My entire body hummed with it.
“Ren knows of my power now, so we need to figure out exactly what he knows and find a way to keep him quiet,” I say.
“I know one way to keep him quiet,” he mutters, and I throw him a scowl.
More snow falls, blanketing the clearing in a soft powder. I quickly peek my head inside the tent, checking on Theo, only to find him still snoozing from the sleeping draft. I close the flap, walking in Ren’s direction.
Ivy and Orin stand on either side of Ren as he sits near the fire on a large log.
We halt on the other side of the fire when Rydian finally tugs his hood down.
His hair barely touches the slight points of his ears, the auburn waves curling around the edge.
The hard line of his jaw flexes, arms crossed over his chest as he eyes Ren from over the fire.
Ren’s expression is close to what seeing a spirit would look like—the color draining from his face, eyes darting between the two of us. No doubt recalling the memory of what he saw at sixteen when Rydian came for me the first time, right outside the orphanage.
“It’s you.” Ren exhales, staring at Rydian with wide eyes. He attempts to stand but Orin pushes his shoulder down, preventing him from reaching his full height.
“It’s best to just sit there,” Orin says.
“What do you know?” I ask Ren, his attention suddenly shifting to me.
“Where do I begin?” he asks.
“Maybe the orphanage when we were children? What happened that day?”
“You remember that?” His eyes grow wider.
“No, that’s why I’m asking. Have you known about my stolen memories this whole time?” I say.
A lingering silence falls over us as he processes my question, brows knitting close together before he clenches his jaw. His eyes dart back and forth, as if he’s piecing together information I’m unaware of, tightening the tension in his face.
The only sounds around us are the soft crackles from the fire as the wood burns. Small sparks gather in the air as the smoke travels up, hiding his hardened features behind the haze.
“Answer her,” Rydian warns after a moment.
Ren sighs, shaking his head, tone even. “I know nothing of your memories. I don’t even know what that means.
What I do know is that I saw him at the orphanage when we were children.
He was attempting to take you, and you were upset over it.
That, I remember. But after you came running back—with me being your instructor at the time—both of us were taken to the king to explain to him what happened.
You were my responsibility. I never lied when I told you that we used to be close, Isa.
I instructed you when we were younger, yes, but we were also very close friends…
” He knits his brows and looks off to the side as if calculating his words.
“When they took us to the king and you came back, you acted as if I hardly knew you. You stopped talking to me. You were cold, distant, and were convinced that we hated each other. Ezra was assigned as your training partner after that, and I kept my distance. After a while, I realized that whatever happened, you didn’t recall anything—not our friendship, not even when he showed up.
” He gestures toward Rydian, his voice flat.
For a moment, the words hang heavily in the air before they fully register. My pacing halts as the anger simmering beneath my skin ignites into a full-blown storm. I glare, the weight of his admission hitting me like a slap to the face.
“You knew they did something to me?” My tone is sharp, cutting through the silence. “And you said nothing.”
His eyes widen slightly before his voice drops, disbelief in his tone.
“What was I supposed to do? You acted as if it never happened. I didn’t understand, but as time passed, I realized that something was wrong.
That the king was involved in something far beyond what I could understand.
I was worried they would continue to do whatever they did, so I chose to stay silent for fear of them doing it again.
I only did it to protect you. You never would have believed me anyway. ”
Rydian glances at me, entering my mind. “Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know.” I stare at Ren, processing his words.
“What of the boy?” Rydian asks. “Can you tell us anything about why you’re bringing him back to the castle?”
“We were only given a location, workplace, and a name. Nothing of his age or why we were to bring him back, just that we were to bring him back alive and unharmed,” Ren says, and Rydian’s eyes flick to me. I nod, confirming what Ren says to be true. We know very little about our target.
“I’d like to help,” Ren offers, causing both of us to snap our gaze to him.
Rydian’s lips curl into a snarl. “We can’t trust you. Why would we even consider it? You could betray us the moment it benefits you and Elion would know everything, including Isa’s power. You’re a liability.”
Ren stiffens, but his voice remains steady. “I won’t. I’m captain now. I can help with whatever you need. Whatever they did to Isa, I don’t want to be a part of it. My loyalty has always been with her, anyway, more so now than ever.” His eyes flick toward me. “Let me help.”
His confession hangs between us as I study him, wondering when he has ever vowed loyalty to me. Then I realize that if there were a time that he did, I probably wouldn’t have known about it.
Rydian sneers. “Loyalty. How convenient for you to suddenly remember where your loyalties lie, so forgive me if I’m not easily convinced. I don’t trust you.”
“You’re forgiven.” Ren smirks, but his gaze never leaves mine as we stare at each other.
Rydian turns to me. “What do you think? Can we trust him? You know him far better than we do,” he asks, and I scoff at the question, not knowing how to answer it.
Because can I?
All this time, I believed Ren was against me, but now I’m wondering if I was wrong.
If what he says is true, that we were both taken to the king, then perhaps there’s a small chance that his memories were also stolen.
But he remembers Rydian, so I’m unsure. We could make this work.
Using him would allow us access into parts of the castle we wouldn’t typically have without him.
“I don’t know. I know him, but not as well as you think,” I mumble. Ren’s brows furrow at my response to a question that wasn’t spoken out loud. But I’ve made my decision.
I walk around the fire to stand in front of Ren, gesturing for Ivy and Orin to lift him to his feet. The point of my dagger slowly trails from his chest to his chin when I lean forward. A knowing smirk plays on my lips as my head tilts back, my voice lowering.
“If we allow you to help us and you betray my trust, I will gut you in front of the entire city,” I mutter.
Ren’s dark hair falls over his brow as he smirks down at me, scanning my face with his eyes. “I would expect nothing less from you. Kill me however you wish. My life is yours.”