Chapter 12
‘I created this land for my lineage. For my House.
We are built from strength and cunning.’
— Testimony from Evyen Deyanira’s coronation (Post-Division)
Airess
The sound of rustling leaves whispered all around her like a comforting blanket, nature’s melody gracing her ears as trees swayed in the wind. Warm sunlight touched her face, soft blades of grass tickling her palms as she lay flat against the hard ground.
The sounds of chirping birds and rushing waters became more prominent as she gained consciousness, finally awakening from her dreamless slumber.
Wait!
Her eyes shot open, looking onto the canopy of trees, taking in the sunlight trickling through the leaves above.
Where am I?
Airess inhaled slowly and turned her head to her right, her muscles aching at the movement.
A body lay next to her. Her gaze trailed up a pair of long legs, a muscled, shirtless torso and finally— Taryn’s face, annoyingly more handsome asleep with his features at rest. She stifled a frustrated groan at the sight of him.
His black lashes framed his closed lids, disheveled brown hair curling perfectly around his face.
His earring dangled as the morning breeze caressed over him.
She allowed her eyes to trail lower, curiosity taking over.
From his wrist, up his arm and over his shoulder was a sleeve of tattoos inked in red.
Some were symbols she had never seen before intertwining together, creating a beautiful tapestry of art on his warmed skin.
It was the particular tattoo on his bicep that stood out: the red ink depicting art of a dragon.
Airess ripped her gaze away, willing herself back to reality.
Did they escape the guards? Is he still taking her to the Guild?
Her eyes darted towards his ankle. The chain connecting them still very much intact, though that green poison coating the chains in the prison was now gone.
Looking back at Taryn’s face, she noticed a golden dagger resting beside his head, ready to use at a moment's notice.
There was no doubt it had belonged to a Lucien soldier. Did he steal it to break them free?
Airess frowned. She supposed she should count herself lucky she wasn’t back at the capitol by now, however they wound up here, alone together in the woods.
But this was another problem entirely. Getting away from this Fae male would be difficult with his enhanced senses.
Airess wasn’t exactly equipped with a weapon and by no means was she trained in physical combat.
She stared at the dagger in contemplation.
Would she have to inflict violence to get away?
Could she be capable of such a thing?
The question brought up unwanted feelings. She had never killed before. Hells, she didn’t think she would ever have to hurt—much less kill—anyone. But life had surely taken an unexpected turn. Airess would be smart to adapt to her new reality as it changed.
Here goes nothing.
She sprang up quickly, grabbing the hilt of the blade and rushing on top of him, straddling his hips, the dagger now poised at his neck. Taryn’s eyes flew open in surprise, his glowing silver irises striking her. She hated that she found it beautiful.
“Unchain me,” Airess said, her voice low. “And I might think twice about shedding your blood.”
His gaze slid down her body, leaving heat in its wake, until it landed at the flush of their hips pressed against each other. Taryn’s lips curved, maddeningly slow. “Are you flirting with me? I must say, it’s working. I quite like when a female threatens to shed my blood.”
Airess flushed, his reaction not what she was expecting or intending. Then, he actually had the audacity to laugh. His arm moved beneath her, and a burst of water shot through the air. The water, shaped narrow, rushed into her hand.
The force of the water didn't hurt, but she felt the water grip the dagger from her. The water dragged it away, slinging the dagger several feet away from them.
Did he just wield water?
He thrust his hips upward, knocking her off balance. Strong hands gripped her sides as he flipped her onto her back, knocking the wind from her lungs. He pinned his knee between her legs, locking her into place. Taryn gripped her wrists on either side of her head and clicked his tongue.
“Now, that’s not a very nice way to say thank you.” His lips hovered over her, his deep vibrato raspy. “Considering I saved your ass.”
“What are you talking about? How did we get out here?” she ground out, fury in her chest at how easy it was for him to disarm her and flip their positions.
And with water Magick? Last she recalled, the male had used air Magick during their scuffle in the woods.
She thought he was a Windborne Fae. Was he… Waterborne too?
His dark brows arched in confusion. “You don’t remember?”
“I…” She thought back to everything leading up to this point.
They were in the jail, then escorted into the caravan.
She remembered Taryn putting up a fight—how she admired his blatant defiance.
Airess had mirrored it, finally speaking her mind, but the action cost her when the guard struck her in the face.
Then, it all happened so fast. As irrational and confusing as it was, panic had drowned her as she saw the blade heading straight towards Taryn’s neck…
And then… nothing.
“I remember they struck me and then—” Airess drawled a blank, “I must have passed out. Next thing I know, I’m here, still chained to you.” She glared at him.
There was a brief pause. His expression shifted from amused to calculating. He cocked his head to the side.
“Fascinating.”
What?
“I’ll let you go if you promise not to try and kill me again,” he joked with a half smile. “Besides, we are stuck together.” He cut his eyes to the shackles connecting them.
Airess uncovered her Sight, revealing his aura. To her surprise, it burned brighter. He was telling the truth. Even in this position—a totally undesirable position, his body pressed onto hers, his lips inches from—
Get it together, Air.
“Fine,” Airess gritted out.
Taryn let go of her wrists and backed off of her. Airess inhaled a shaky breath, finally released from his weight.
He sat a few feet away, as much as the chain would allow, knees propped on his elbows. She slowly sat up and placed a hand to her forehead, a slight pounding present.
“What are you?” Taryn asked boldly.
She bit back a scoff at his directness. “A halfling. Half Elven, half Human, if you couldn’t surmise.
And before you say it, spare me from the diluted blood comments.
” It wouldn’t be the first time she was called names because of her parentage.
Cross breeding between Fae, Elven and Humans was strictly forbidden, and those who had what was considered to be diluted blood always remained in the lower class, for life.
Airess had been the only exception.
He shook his head. “I don’t care about that. I’m talking about your powers. It’s Light Magick, isn’t it?”
“Is that what your Guildmaster told you?” she retorted, remembering that he was here on orders to take her captive. She held onto that fact, not wanting to let her thoughts wonder about him again.
“Yes, but no one has ever actually seen a Light Wielder in hundreds, if not thousands of years. What you did back in the caravan is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. You seriously don’t remember what you did?”
Airess frowned at the hole in her memory. Has something… happened?
“I don’t remember anything at all.” She looked up to him. “Tell me.”
So he did. Taryn recounted the events in the caravan, how her pale locks and eyes turned a glowing gold. How she spoke with a thousand voices and laughed at her enemies.
“Your strength was heightened. You threw a two-hundred-pound male across the caravan and dented the metal bars. Your power melted anything in its path, as if it's hotter than fyre. I don’t know how you did it in the donstenyte chains, but we escaped because of you.”
Her stomach twisted. He sounded grateful, but Airess felt horrified.
“I did that?” she whispered, suddenly feeling small.
No way that could be true. She had never been able to produce more than an apple-sized orb of Magick from her palm.
Well, besides yesterday evening when she blasted Taryn across the woods.
Airess couldn’t describe it with words, but she felt something churning within her, aching to be unleashed, yearning for transformation.
“And did I…kill those people?” She finally had the courage to ask, but knew deep in her heart the answer he was to give.
Taryn’s intrigued expression fell. He sat up straight and looked her dead in the eyes, “Yes. All of them.”
All of them.
The weight of those words sank into her chest. Airess looked away. There had to have been at least a dozen guards total escorting them to the capitol. Her throat tightened and her stomach plummeted. Airess fought the tears beginning to well in her eyes.
She had never taken a life, and now she was being told she had multiple?
It simply didn’t feel real, as if all of this was some sick joke the Gods were playing on her. Perhaps she deserved whatever punishment Taryn’s Guild had in store for her. She no longer felt deserving of her freedom or her autonomy. She was a danger to herself and others. She killed.
Airess had killed.
It was too overwhelming to accept, too jarring to wrap her head around. Her vision blurred as tears threatened to spill, but she forced them back, fists clenched at her sides.
“And now you will finally take me to your Guildmaster?” she said, her voice cracking from emotion, expecting and welcoming her captivity. Confinement is all she’s ever known.
A beat of silence caused her to look at him. When he finally answered, his voice was low. “No.”
“What?”
Taryn shook his head in emphasis, “I can’t do it.”
“Why? I thought you were compelled to capture me.”