43. Chapter 43
CHAPTER 43
D ynalya
With a wave of her hand, Dyna lifted Cassiel’s limp body horizontally into the air. She encased him a cocoon of her Essence and layered it with a shield. In case anyone else tried to attack him while he couldn’t defend himself. Standing, she gazed at her former love as he soundly slept.
Cassiel’s hair had grown. It floated around his handsome face, almost to his shoulders. Black wings cushioned his back. He looked like an innocent young man with the messy locks on his forehead and the perpetual soft glow to his skin. Like a being who had stepped out of the Heavens. Not like the creature of annihilation who had almost demolished this Realm with his power.
Her barrier was beginning to rebuild.
It was time to go and quickly.
Dyna dropped her shield on the Nazarian army as she turned to face them. “Forgive the king’s misconduct. He has a temper in need of minding.”
“You…” Lord Gadriel gaped at her with large, angry eyes. “You are supposed to be dead.” He caught himself. “I mean, I heard you had been assassinated during Hallel’s coup…”
She arched a brow. “Well, I am sorry to disappoint you.”
“Who is she, Father?” the bulky Celestial beside him asked.
Dyna didn’t have time for this. She searched among the shocked faces until she spotted Prince Asiel coming through with her Pegasus. “Excuse me. I will be on my way.”
“I don’t think so,” Lord Gadriel sneered.
His army drew out their swords and pointed their arrows at her. The Valkyrie dropped behind her and drew out their weapons.
“Stop!” Asiel came out of the crowd with Shira and stood between them. “It is treason to draw your weapons against her. You know who she is, Lord Gadriel.”
“It’s not her I draw them against.” Lord Gadriel’s hard eyes fell on Cassiel. “I cannot allow you to leave with him.”
Dyna narrowed her eyes and magic hummed on her skin. “You do not have a choice. Move .”
“Who is she to speak to us this way?” Nuriel appeared from the crowd beside his father. “I still don’t understand.”
“Don’t you?” Asiel faced the crowd. “You all bore witness to what occurred here today. She is the one who walks through Seraph flame, unburnt and unchallenged.” He turned to her, holding out an arm in display. “I present to you the wife and True Bonded mate of Cassiel Soaraway, the sovereigns of Hilos and the Four Celestial realms. Your Queen of Fire.”
He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. The Valkyrie beat against their chests three times, and they did the same. Dyna tried not to blush at the grand show. It was completely unnecessary.”
The Nazarians, however, did not bow. They still looked unsure of her. Afraid and cross.
“It’s her power that keeps the High King from decimating you all,” Asiel said. “It would not be wise to defy her.”
Dyna shrugged and began to lower Cassiel to the ground. “If Lord Gadriel would rather keep the High King’s company, I will happily wake him from his nap. I can’t say how well Nazar will survive it though.” She canted her head. Gadriel’s mouth thinned, and she lifted Cassiel back into the air. “I thought so. Now make way.”
Asiel held onto Shira’s reins as she mounted the saddle. Sowmya strapped her into the harness again.
“Then what of the charge against my son?” Lord Gadriel demanded.
Dyna looked up at where Akiel stood on the tallest balcony of the citadel. She did not recognize him, but she did recognize his expression. The one of hatred and amusement. It was a mirror of Zekiel’s.
“Keep him here under watch,” she said. “Until he can be summoned to a proper inquisition.”
“Is that your command ?”
“Do mind your tongue, Lord Gadriel.” Dyna smiled, allowing her eyes to glow. “Remember you speak too your High Queen. When a decision has been made regarding your son and Nazar’s defiance to the crown, you will be called on again.”
She held out her hand for the reins and Asiel placed them in her palm. He looked up at her hesitantly. “You have done more than enough, but …”
“What is it?”
“My father never returned since he left Hermon,” Asiel said. Dyna frowned. That couldn’t be right. Lord Jophiel had survived the coup. “I have no word of him. If you could…”
Dyna glanced down at Cassiel, now suspecting the true reason why she had found the water mirror.
“I will look into it.” Then she noticed the chain left on the ground. “However, I may need your assistance with one more thing.”
Once Dyna had what she needed, she flew away with Cassiel. The Valkyrie had been ordered to linger behind in the sky to watch and assure no other attempted to follow. Only Sowmya and Yelrakel shadowed her.
She rode fast and hard through the clouds for the province of Sellav. Her magic was waning. Her veins began to cool, and the light of her Essence flickered around Cassiel.
“Come on,” Dyna grunted, trying to keep him in the air. But her magic winked out, and he plummeted through the clouds out of sight.
Choking on a cry, she dove after him. Her heart pounded wildly as she squinted through the cold mist. They broke through the clouds, and she saw him falling through the sky.
“Fly, Shira! Faster!”
The ground was coming in fast, and Dyna’s heart raced wildly. She called on her magic and it beat desperately against the reformed barrier on her power. Cassiel fell further away. He was going to drop to his death. Her heart cried out, and she felt it all the way to her soul.
Throwing out her hand, Dyna let out a scream fueled by her desperation. A splinter cracked in her barrier and her Essence caught him. Yanking back her fist, the green light hauled Cassiel back to her, and she lugged him onto Shira’s back. Dyna panted as she closed her eyes in relief.
The barrier fell back into place, locking all her magic away.
So many emotions wrangled through her. She wanted to punch him and embrace him at the same time. Instead, Dyna placed her shaking hand on Cassiel’s back between his wings, feeling the soft pulse of his heart. It made her vision burn.
“Stupid Celestial…” Dyna murmured. “Look at what you made me do.”
“Your Majesty!” Sowmya and Yelrakel flew down to her. “What happened? We saw him fall. Is he all right?”
She turned away. “He is now.”
Murmuring to Shira, the Pegasus flew for Sellav at her command. The cool breeze blew against Dyna, and she was grateful it dried her eyes. As they glided among the clouds her mind spun with what she had seen Cassiel do, and what he had almost done to his people.
The fire had taken over.
Sowmya told her it had, but to see him become a creature of pure flame with no thought or reason other than to destroy frightened her. Because she knew that wasn’t who he had been.
She was not the only one who had changed.
The estate appeared on the horizon. Tugging on the reins, Dyna led Shira to it. They flew past the streams and the town before they landed outside the courtyard gates of the Norrlen Estate. Her Guardians and Raiden were already waiting outside.
Yelrakel landed beside her. “Will you wake him now, Your Majesty? We are far enough away from Nazar. What are you doing?” she asked next when Dyna motioned for Lucenna to take Cassiel.
“He will sleep for a little more.” Dyna dismounted. “Join to the Valkyrie and take position in the Anduir Mountains. I will call upon you when I release him.”
“Release him?” Yelrakel’s eyes widened as Lucenna lifted Cassiel in a mist of purple Essence and carried him away. “But you cannot hold the High King captive. I am his guard?—”
Dyna held up a hand. “I am his High Queen .” The words felt false on her tongue, but she said them with every note of authority. “And this is my command. It is not up for discussion, General. Now go and keep watch. I will send Sowmya if you are needed.”
Clenching her jaw, Yelrakel stiffly bowed. Her angry eyes glanced at Sowmya accusingly, then she spread open her gray wings and leaped into the sky.
“You know why I am doing this,” Dyna said. Sowmya watched as Cassiel was taken away, her Guardians following. Only Raiden and Zev lingered behind to wait for her. “Stay near.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” With a bow of her head, Sowmya flew away for the roof of the estate.
Sighing, Dyna turned to Zev and Raiden. She couldn’t quite look at her cousin yet, so she addressed the young lord first. “I am sorry to bring my troubles to your door, Lord Raiden. With your permission, I will not keep here him long.”
He nodded with a furrowed brow. “Of course.”
“Is there a …” She paused. “Holding room … I can place him in until he and I have a word? Preferably away from others. I want to assure he is not a danger first.”
Raiden glanced at his home. “Well, he can stay in the old wine cellar. It’s in the back of the estate away from the main quarters and fortified well. I will see to it.”
“Thank you.”
It was far more than she could ask of him. But Dyna had nowhere else to take Cassiel. They had a couple things to sort through before she could finally move on.
Dyna expelled heavy sigh. “Was there any word from King Leif?”
“It seems he had already been notified,” Zev said, crossing his arms.
She frowned at that. “He knew of Rawn’s capture? Since when?”
Raiden dragged a hand down his face, and she saw the weight there. “He had already received the word from Red Highland three days ago. He didn’t wish to alarm my mother.”
Dyna clenched her fists, her stomach turning with anger for the poor woman. “What else did they say? Is he…?”
Raiden’s throat bobbed a bit, and she braced for the bad news she didn’t want to hear. “The King only mentioned that he has dispatched an armed escort to bring us to the palace in Avandia, Greenwoods Capitol. It will arrive in five days.”
“Five days?” She shook her head. “There is no time to waste! When we reach the palace, it may be too late to save Rawn. I say we leave tomorrow. I can sort my business with Cassiel tonight, and we will be on our way.”
Zev put a gently hand on her shoulder, a gesture of calm she didn’t feel. “That is what I said as well, but we have to wait.”
“Why?” Her throat tightened. Time was passing them by. The night breeze swept over the land, making the dynalya fields dance beneath the coming moonlight. “Every hour hastens Rawn’s death. What could be so important to delay us?”
“My mother,” Raiden said, and he took a breath as if coming to a decision. “She is the youngest sister of King Leif.”
The news struck Dyna silent. Lady Aerina was a princess . Her mind spun as things now started to make sense. Why Rawn had kept silent about his past and his status as a Duke.
“Twenty years ago, my father had been assigned to my mother’s protection detail. His mission was to take her away to safety, for she was a very valuable pawn when my uncle’s hold on the throne was weak. Red Highland made plans to force her hand in marriage so they may bring the Vale of the Elves under one rule again. Theirs . My father thwarted their plans, of course. I will spare you the details, but in the end they were wed instead. This has protected her, but recently suitors from every province far and wide have been coming our door to bid for her hand in marriage. And they are becoming … insistent.”
Dyna’s mouth fell open. “But she is married to Rawn.”
“Lord Norrlen has been absent for twenty years,” Zev said. “Most have assumed him dead and once the news of his capture spreads…”
“My mother will be in danger again,” Raiden said, looking out at the land of Sellav. She noticed the Norrlen guards on duty had doubled on the fortifications of the estate and on the road.
Lady Aerina was a prize.
With her hand, her next husband would gain a dukedom, wealth, this province, and a line to the throne of Greenwood.
They had to wait for the escort.
Rawn would want his family safe first.
Raiden crossed his arms as the wind tousled his long hair. In the moonlight, he resembled Rawn so much it gave Dyna goosebumps. “The Red King will keep my father alive.”
“How do you know?”
“It stands to reason for Red Highland to notify Greenwood of who they hold, then it’s for a purpose. They seek to exchange an elf of great value for something of equal value, if not more.” Turning away, Raiden marched for the estate. “I intend to find out what it is.”
Dyna and Zev watched him go.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her softly.
She closed her eyes. “I don’t know if I can put it into words yet.”
Her body was tense. A ball of emotion writhed in her chest, tangled with the strands of her frayed bond that had not stopped pulsing since she confronted Cassiel.
“I assume there is a reason why you didn’t permit them to reclaim Cassiel.”
Dyna looked up at the moon as it rose above the clouds in the starry sky. The Valkyrie circled above, awaiting their king’s return, and they would not wait long.
“I must do something, Zev. I am not going to like it, and neither are you.”