64. Faylinn
Chapter 64
Faylinn
A n anguished scream tore from both the man on the stage and the girl with the magic so similar to Rohak’s.
“NO! ELLOWYN, NO!!” His voice cracked and broke from the ferocity of his scream as his lover turned to ash in front of his eyes. He crawled to where his lover once knelt, scooping the ash into his hands. “How COULD you? HOW COULD YOU, ELLOWYN?!”
“Peytor . . .” Ellowyn’s voice was small and broken, her magic now tucked away, her body shook as her eyes widened.
She was in shock.
I was well and personally acquainted with the symptoms, especially after Holt’s death and the rebel attack.
I moved to hold her, at least to keep her from collapsing. But Rohak beat me there. In two quick strides, he pulled the girl to his chest, one arm banded across the top, the other holding her stomach. At that moment, her legs gave out and she made a low keening sound.
Goosebumps erupted on my skin.
That wasn’t just a cry of pain, it was a cry of a soul shattering into a million tiny irreparable pieces.
My mind was instantly in “Healer mode,” cataloguing her injuries and the possible tonics I could use to ease her pain—it was a way for me to protect myself when something horrific happened, it helped me focus—but I doubted there was any way to heal this type of hurt.
Mages quickly made their way to the front of the stage where they forcibly dragged Peytor away from the pile of ashes.
“FINIAN! FINIAN!” he was still screaming, his words becoming more incoherent the farther he was taken from what remained of his lover. His eyes were crazed as they swiveled to his sister. “I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU! You didn’t listen to me! You were supposed to trust me!” he brokenly screamed repeatedly as he was dragged off the stage and into the temple at our backs, no doubt to be restrained until he could be sent to the mines.
I shuddered involuntarily at the thought.
The crowd was growing restless, the Pleasure Magic from earlier doing little to settle the growing hostility and frustrations that were compounded by fear from Ellowyn’s impressive display of magic.
I turned to gather my knife and journal, wanting to separate myself from the spectacle as soon as possible, but a cacophony of screams tore through the mutterings of the crowd.
“Death to the Warlord!” My head swiveled up to the sound of the shouts, just as screams rolled through the crowd. A fireball was hurtling toward the platform with a handful of us still stuck on it.
My eyes widened as it came closer, frozen to the stage in fear. Two Mages at the front of the crowd stepped up and created a wall of water, which eliminated the fireball in a cloud of steam as it passed through.
The crowd was silent for a moment before more screaming started in earnest.
“Long live the Keeper!” was shouted from what felt like every angle of the courtyard.
Rebels.
My blood ran cold, and I began to shake at the thought.
How did they get here?
All at once, sound and magic exploded around me, and I was knocked off my feet by a particularly strong blast of Earth Magic. I dropped my knife and book but quickly picked them up and tucked them into the belt at my waist.
If those got into the wrong hands . . . I shuddered at the thought. It was already bad enough that the Bonds felt . . . off when I performed them today. None of the Mages reacted the same way that Ben and Asha had when receiving the Bond—there was no elongated unconsciousness, Ben and Asha were still unconscious when we left for Hestin. And the Mages today . . . they didn’t even feel sick, not like Ben.
The thought that I was forcing this new type of Bond, one that we didn’t even know the full side effects of, on Vessels for Mages who weren’t even sick made my stomach roll.
“Faylinn!” I heard Rohak’s shout from near the staircase, jolting me out of my thoughts.
Not the time, Faylinn. Run now, think later .
I crawled along the platform toward the stairs, magic flying overhead in nearly every direction. There were screams of pain and fear coming from the crowd and I glanced a peek behind me to see the thousands of people gathered today in absolute disarray. There was practically a stampede as they tried to get out of the way of the battle.
Some were climbing the stage, even, but many were either kicked off by Lord d’Refan’s Mages or were struck down by errant magical blasts. My face paled as I saw what felt like hundreds of bodies lying on the ground, either trampled to death by the fearful crowd, or hit with calculated strikes.
The scene threatened to pull me back to the memories of Isrun. So many dead, the smells the same, the screams of terror identical . . .
A fireball whizzed over my head and shook me from my memories. I ducked my head and resumed crawling across the stage.
“Faylinn, we need to move now ,” Rohak said again as he pulled me down the stairs and under the platform. He was still clutching a now catatonic Ellowyn.
Shit .
He gently laid her body on the ground before crouching next to us both.
“Can you watch after her? I need to subdue this as best we can right now.” I nodded my head. “When it’s safe, go straight into the temple. There’s an exit in the basement, it will take you directly to a waiting carriage that will take you back to the manor. Right now, that’s the safest place in Hestin.”
I nodded again, already pulling Ellowyn’s limp and pale form up and over my shoulders. I was lithe, but I was strong. I could carry her the few hundred feet into the temple.
Rohak searched my face once before nodding and standing up. “Do not stop for anyone. I will meet you back at the manor later. Now, go!” he shouted as he stepped out of the cover of the platform, his magic already curling around his hands and arms.
I stepped out, too, intent on running immediately, but was caught in the beauty that was his magic.
I’d seen him use his powers back when the rebels attacked, but it was nothing like this. The ashes and embers seemed to be one with him. His magic shot from him, the tendrils of Destruction weaving through the air until they met their targets—a group of Mages aiming the fireballs at the platform—and disintegrated them into nothing.
I was simultaneously in awe and terrified.
And he didn’t have a Vessel. The power of his magic was incredible just with using limited crystals, and I shuddered at what it would look like when he inevitably found a Bond.
Briefly, Rohak whipped his head back, his eyes full of wrath.
“Move, now ,” he growled, his voice not sounding like his own as he sent another tendril of magic through the pulsating and terrified crowd.
My mouth was dry at the intensity of his stare, and I mentally shook myself for staring instead of moving. That mistake would not have happened in the village—I had people to protect there.
I have people to protect here .
I readjusted Ellowyn on my shoulders before taking off at a sprint toward the temple. My bare feet slapped the cobblestones, and I stumbled once when an Earth Mage sent a ripple of power through the ground, causing my path to undulate. I let out a cry, nearly dropping Ellowyn as I fought to regain my balance, my knees buckling from the sudden waves, but just as soon as the attack started, it stopped, the tinge of ash heavy in the air.
I didn’t need to look to see who had saved me, again.
Rohak .
I clutched Ellowyn’s arms and legs as I hobbled the last few feet, finally taking shelter in the doorway of the temple. I delicately set Ellowyn on the stone steps, careful not to cause any more physical damage than was necessary, and pushed open the heavy oak doors. The interior was completely abandoned and empty, the only light trickled through the open doorway and a few scattered windows at the very top of the temple walls. My gaze quickly tracked through the area, and I noted a small doorway at the complete opposite end of the space, my gut telling me it led to the basement Rohak described.
With our destination in mind, I grabbed Ellowyn’s boneless form and slung her over my back before making my way into the temple. I pushed the door closed with my foot, a resounding bang echoing through the space as we were encased in near darkness. Careful not to catch my bare feet in any cracks between stones, I started the walk through the temple.
Fuck, it was hot . And I wasn’t entirely positive if the sweat was from the heat of the day, the amount of magic I used while performing the Bondings, the stress of the attack just now, or the sprint while carrying Ellowyn. My breath came in gasps and pants, a stitch of pain wrapping around my ribcage, as sweat beaded down my forehead and back.
I need a drink .
But first, the basement. The heavy oak door and the solid stone walls of the temple masked most of the sounds of terror and battle outside, though the occasional shriek did make its way through. I stopped to readjust Ellowyn on my back again before closing the remaining few feet to the basement door and enclosed staircase.
“Ellowyn, if you can hear me, it’d be great if you woke up now. I know you’ve had a...day,” I mentally snorted at my description of the utter hell she’d gone through today. “But we’ve got a ways to travel and you’re starting to get a bit heavy.”
I waited a bit, slowly plodding to the doorway and then eventually hobbling awkwardly down the stairs, shifting her weight on my shoulders every so often, but no response came. The only confirmation I had that she was even alive was the steady beat of her heart against my shoulders.
Well, fuck .
The building grew unnaturally silent the further we descended, and I couldn’t help the shudder that made its way over me. The air was cool and damp, causing the sweat to dry to my body, sticking my tunic to me in odd places.
At the bottom of the stairs, I set Ellowyn down and rolled out the ache in my shoulders.
“There you are,” the voice was harsh. Spooked, I screamed, and it echoed off the empty stairway .
I whirled to face the threat, my knife already pulled from my belt. I relaxed marginally when I only saw Lord d’Refan.
“Oh,” I said, stashing my knife back in my waist belt. “It’s just you.”
He grumbled in irritation before pulling Ellowyn from the floor and carrying her in his arms, bridal style. He held her propped against the wall for a moment while he used his now-free hand to brush her loose curls from her face. The gesture was oddly gentle and tender, so different from his earlier demeanor toward her.
Lord d’Refan readjusted his grip on Ellowyn and turned to face me, his face masked once again. He must have noticed my curious expression, however, because he set his mouth in a grim line.
“It was necessary. What happened today. That’s all the explanation I’ll provide, but know it wasn’t done out of malice or hate toward her.” I nodded once, filing the information away for later examination, and Lord d’Refan spun on his heel to lead us through the basement doorway.
We made quick work of the basement hallways, only stopping once we reached a heavy wood door that led to a staircase built into the earth. It was quieter now, though I didn’t know if that was because the threat was subdued or because of our relative proximity to the square.
My limbs protested with exhaustion as I trudged up the stairs.
I pushed my hair out of my eyes as we made it to the top and noticed a black carriage waiting for us. There was no emblem on it, but I assumed that was to retain our anonymity, especially if the rebels were here.
I thought I’d be safe from them farther north .
A footman opened the carriage door and we collapsed inside, me on one padded bench, with Ellowyn draped across Lord d’Refan’s lap on the other. He gently pet her hair and shoulders as the carriage rocked and moved, holding her tight so her body wouldn’t jostle or fall.
She still stared at nothing, and I worried about what would happen when she eventually woke.
Lord d’Refan didn’t seem apt to carry, or start, a conversation while we rode through the back alleys of the city toward the d’Aelius manor, so I stared out the window and chewed my lip while I thought.
The events of today and what I felt while performing the Bonding Ceremony turned over in my mind as we continued our slow trek back outside the city .
Nothing made sense; not the sudden appearance of the rebels, not the way Ellowyn was forced to murder a close friend, and certainly not the way the Bonds felt different when I performed them. Not bad, not good, just different. There was no suck on my power, for one, and those who received the Bonds didn’t fall unconscious—apart from the Vessels.
Something wasn’t adding up, and I couldn’t puzzle out the missing piece. My mind was sluggish from the stress of today mixed with the excessive use of my Blood Magic, and I simply filed all the information away to think about later.
That list, unfortunately, was growing longer by the hour.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, content to rest the remainder of the journey, but I kept turning Lord d’Refan’s words over.
It was necessary .
What was necessary? And why?
The longer I thought about it, the more confused I became, until I eventually drifted into a restless sleep. One dominated by puzzles and unanswered questions.