Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
Laurent
Laurent watched Merrick apprehensively. Their time serving King Scottrell had made it to where Laurent knew Merrick as well as he knew himself.
While Laurent and Keerian preferred to deal with absolutes, Merrick never shied away from reveling in the grey areas of their duties.
Merrick balanced them out as a fighting unit, but Keerian always groused that Merrick’s temper would get him in trouble one day.
Esmeray’s presence confirmed for Laurent, at least, that they should hear Esmeray out before deciding their next steps.
Merrick looked ready to fight the Queen–yes, Esmeray was Queen on High after all, until his silent conversation with the great dragon and Esmeray. Now, he seemed too quiet, too subdued.
Seeing Resso had been a surprise since the dragons that lived below the Obsidian Palace typically avoided any interactions with the beings above them, and were prone to “eat first, ask questions later” when it came to beings stupid enough to venture into the treasure troves that tunneled through the caverns.
But Esmeray…
Laurent had seen both Adara and Esmeray in passing, though their words exchanged had been short and far between.
No more than flat greetings on days where Esmeray deigned to even acknowledge her father’s guard.
Princess Esmeray always came across as the troublemaker, actively skipping Council Meetings her father would demand she attend, wane out of the Palace on a whim, returning days or weeks later with no explanation for where she was.
She was cunning, aloof, larger than the box her parents begged her to fit into as Princess.
In comparison, Adara always sat prim and straight-backed in every Council Meeting, shaking hands with foreign nobility, giving small, approving smiles as laws were passed and new avenues of trade or other boring topics were presented.
Adara encapsulated the perfect Princess that was presented to the beings in Irridessen as their next Queen–once Carra gifted Adara the soul tie.
And now she had declared herself Queen Absolute.
Yet Carra had given the fateful soul tie to Esmeray, and now Laurent found himself in a very backwards situation.
“I’ll do it.” Lenna interrupted his thoughts, her bright red hair shimmering under the torchlight. “If it helps your um…mate. I can help. I want to help.” Lenna ducked her flushed face as Esmeray focused on her, though the Queen seemed to relax at the admission.
Esmeray gave Lenna a tight smile, “Thank you, Oracle.”
A feminine shout from the hall was their only warning before the throne room doors burst open. Esmeray whirled, her golden staff appearing out of thin air as Royal Guards flooded in, swords drawn and magic rallied around the fists of the fae fighters.
“Seems my warm welcome has officially run out,” Esmeray noted sarcastically.
“Fuck,” Merrick growled, his head pivoting from the Royal Guards to Esmeray, and Laurent watched the battle of the gargoyle’s own morals play across his face.
Fight against the Crown and find yourself labeled a traitor.
Fight against Esmeray–find yourself dead.
With a prayer sent to the gods above, Laurent made the decision for him. Blue flame ignited at his fingertips as he took up a position of defense between Lenna and the guards, siding with Esmeray. Merrick cursed as he drew his sword, taking up a position on Lenna’s other side.
“We’re so fucked,” Merrick commented as more fighters poured into the throne room.
“Laurent, can you wane?” Esmeray slashed her staff through the air, a gnarled mass of thorny vines appearing between them and the guards, the brambles thrashing on the ground like live snakes.
Laurent shook his head, directing a wall of fire to flank their sides, forcing the guards into a bottleneck against the thorns.
The Royal Guards fought viciously as the vines pounced, the sharp points of the brambles piercing their metal armor effortlessly, yet the sheer amount of foes soon became overwhelming.
“I’ll wane us,” Esmeray shouted, throwing her hand out as Laurent’s howling flames drowned out the yells of pain from the fighters ensnared by the magical plant, the bellows of those flying above them, hunting for a way to get closer.
Merrick gripped Lenna’s upper arm, propelling her towards Esmeray.
Lenna screamed Laurent’s name, fear strangling her voice, as she threw a hand out to him.
Laurent hurdled towards it, grabbing ahold just as Esmeray caught Merrick by the lapel of his vest. Her staff blazed with magic, a wisp of golden light arching gracefully over the wall of flame before crashing into the opal throne on the dais, blasting it to rubble.
Laurent blinked in surprise. Esmeray shot him a sneaky smile before twisting, waning them out of the Obsidian Palace.
The golden flash of Esmeray’s magic dissipated a moment later, depositing their group atop a grassy knoll.
Esmeray staggered slightly as Merrick, Lenna, and Laurent landed in a jumbled heap of wings and limbs.
Merrick groaned, heaving a ghost-white Lenna to her feet.
Laurent squeezed Lenna’s shoulder in reassurance, receiving flat glare in return.
The Oracle did not seem adept to speak anytime soon, as if she left her voice in the throne room of the Obsidian Palace and needed a moment for it to catch back up.
In the distance, Laurent could make out the mountain peaks surrounding the Obsidian Palace, massive points that shot through the horizon, spearing into the twilight clouds.
They were alone for miles in every direction under the night sky.
A few stars had begun to illuminate their field of vision, a far cry from the pitch black of the Pyritee Pass.
“You destroyed the throne,” Merrick directed at Esmeray, his bitter tone accusatory. “You blew the throne of the Obsidian Kingdom to bits. That is considered treason in itself.”
“And far down my list of crimes,” Esmeray spat back, rolling her slim shoulders as her wings flared.
“I hated that throne.” Esmeray sneered at Merrick, the budding comradery between gargoyles already crumbling.
Esmeray was half fae, but Laurent mused there may be some jockeying for position between the two, even though the stubbornness gargoyles seemed to inherit was outright preposterous given their current situation.
“The true throne of the Obsidian Palace was created for my mother, Queen Absolute Elera, crafted out of a piece of the mountain’s summit, accommodating to my mother’s gargoyle heritage.
The throne I destroyed was too narrow explicitly so my wings would not fit.
It was a symbol of my uncle’s reign that I was happy to destroy. ”
Laurent stepped between the two, hands raised to bring the tension back down. “Where are we?” he asked calmly, prompting Esmeray to huff.
“It’s a strain on my magic to wane you all so far.
We’ll need to wait for my magic to replenish and then we can go the rest of the way.
” Esmeray looked out to the horizon, and Laurent wondered where her mind went when her eyes became pin-pricked with tears for a moment.
Lenna stood silently at his side, still clutching the Prism tightly to her chest as she, too, stared out into the distance, a soft presence opposed to Merrick’s brooding.
The silence stretched, becoming thick with the weight of the treason they’d just openly declared against Queen Adara.
The temperature grew colder, matching the chill in Laurent’s bones that even his own fire couldn’t heat away.
Finally, Esmeray shook her head, blinking away from the dark landscape to glance over to them.
“Let’s go,” she muttered. Laurent raised his eyebrows as Lenna moved from her spot, firmly grasping Esmeray’s hand.
Esmeray’s guarded demeanor seemed to melt as she offered a tentative smile to the Oracle.
Merrick gripped Lenna’s other hand, averting his eyes altogether from the Queen.
Laurent gritted his teeth as he took Esmeray’s other hand and prayed that Merrick would keep his shit together long enough for them to get the answers they needed.