Chapter 50
“You need to wake soon. There are draken here,” I told Tawny. “Actual draken.”
She didn’t awaken, but the blackness in her veins had stopped spreading. Whatever the Healer Willa had brought with her had given Tawny was working. It was also changing her.
Her golden bronze curls were now bone-white. Somehow, the snowy hair made her all the more stunning.
“The draken are beautiful.” I smoothed back a curl. “If a bit…temperamental. They have been asleep for a very long time, so I suppose they’re allowed to be grumpy.”
“Grumpy?” Kieran snorted, surprising me. I hadn’t heard him come in. He’d been with Vonetta, spending time with their parents and their new sister. If he was here, I knew what that meant. “More like bitey .”
“You deserved it,” I reminded him as I fixed the blanket around Tawny. “He got too close to one while he was resting. Almost lost a hand.”
“More like an arm,” he muttered.
I looked over my shoulder. “I don’t think bitey is a word, by the way.”
“It’s not?” Kieran murmured, looking past me, to where Tawny lay. “She looks better.”
“She does.” I faced her. “It’s time?”
“Yes.”
Giving her hand one last squeeze, I placed it on the bed. I rose and smoothed a hand over a similar outfit to the one I’d worn to Iliseeum. The bodice was of thicker fleece material, though. Colder weather had arrived in much of Solis.
“I’ll be back….” I leaned over, pressing my lips to her warm forehead. “I’ll just be back. I promise.”
It took less than half a day to travel to the northern-most point of Atlantia, to the wall which ran all the way to the Pillars of Atlantia outside of Saion’s Cove.
There, I was reunited with Setti. I stroked his nose and scratched his ear.
I hoped he took it easy with me. My horsemanship was seriously lacking, and he, well, there was a reason he was named after the God of War’s warhorse.
“Incoming,” Kieran murmured.
Over my shoulder, I saw Casteel’s father approaching, his chest and shoulders covered in gold and silver armor, a helmet tucked under his arm.
My stomach tightened. I had only seen him once since I initially returned to Evaemon, and that was brief, a passing in the halls.
He’d immediately returned to the northern part of the kingdom.
Wolven stirred from the grass, lifting their heads as he neared. Valyn bowed, and they went back to napping or daydreaming or whatever it was that they had been doing.
“You still plan to send your message?” Valyn asked, his gaze flickering to where the crown rested on my head. I didn’t know what made me decide to wear it, but it was there and it felt right.
I nodded. “It is what Casteel would do.” And I knew that was true.
Valyn made a sound of agreement, and several moments of silence passed. I took a deep breath. “I’ll get him back,” I promised. “We will get him back. I swear.”
Swallowing thickly, he nodded as he looked over at me. “I know you will.” He paused. “My son is a very lucky man to have found you and made himself yours.”
His words embraced my wounded heart, and the acceptance behind them choked me. It took me a moment to speak. “It is I who is lucky to have been found by your son and to have become his.”
Valyn reached over, cupping my cheek with his gloved hand. “And Eloana and I are even more lucky to have you as our daughter-in-law.”
Tears filled my eyes. I hadn’t cried, and I told myself I wouldn’t cry now. If I did, I wouldn’t stop. “Thank you.”
He nodded and then lowered his hand, his gaze fixed on the wall. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
I searched his profile as I opened my senses. I didn’t need to search long to feel the agony pounding through him. “What is it?”
Under the gold and steel armor, his shoulders tightened. “If you see my other son before I do, all that I ask is that you make his death as quick and painless as possible.”
I blew out a thin breath as the knot expanded in my throat. The two words I spoke hurt. “I will.”
“Thank you.” Valyn nodded as he shifted his helmet to his other hand. “We will await your return in the foothills of the Skotos, from the cusp of the Wastelands to the walls of Spessa’s End, Your Majesty.” He bowed and took his leave.
I watched him as he strode back to where his horse waited. I would see him after I sent my message.
“That took a lot for him to ask,” Kieran said, already mounted on his horse.
“I know.” Holding onto Setti’s reins, I swung myself up as Vonetta prowled forward in her wolven form beside Delano.
Several dozen wolven rose from where they rested in the plush grass and the warm rays of the afternoon sun as the gates of the northern wall opened, one after another.
Led by Valyn and the Guardians, they rode out in groups of several hundred, their gold and silver armor shining under the morning sun.
The sound of a thousand hooves clacked off stone and echoed around us as banners were lifted all the way down the line.
My breath caught as I saw the Atlantian Crest. The arrow and sword now crossed over the center.
I inhaled sharply, eyes stinging as the banners rippled in the Atlantian sun. I closed my eyes, telling myself that Casteel would see them.
A low rumble came, a sound similar to thunder.
Another higher-pitched, keening call followed.
I opened my eyes as the wolven stopped, lifting their heads to the sky.
Their ears perked. My one-handed grip on the reins tightened as Setti pranced nervously beneath me as I reached down, placing my hand over the small pouch at my hip.
The ridges of the small toy horse pressed against my palm.
I stared at the banners, at the crest that represented Casteel and I, as large, winged shadows fell over the armies of Atlantia as they rode west.
Four days later, we waited in the forest outside of Oak Ambler, among the bowed trees. When the last of the sun reached us, and stars came to life in the night sky, I slipped the horse into the pouch and rose from where I’d been sitting on the raised, flat surface of a rock.
“You should’ve slept some,” Delano murmured as he came over to me.
“I did.”
Concern seeped from every one of his pores. I hadn’t lied. Not really. I had slept for an hour or so, and then I was awake and spent those hours like I spent all the hours when we took breaks to rest or eat.
I practiced fighting like a god.
Picking up the short sword, I sheathed it as I looked around with a slight frown. “Where are…?”
“The draken?” Delano’s eyes glimmered with amusement as he nodded to where the cluster of trees still stood straight and proud. “Reaver is over there, currently engaged in an epic stare down with Kieran.”
A faint grin tugged at my lips as I squinted.
I could just make out the form of Kieran, lying low on his belly.
Several feet from him, a relatively large-sized draken, idly picked at its front teeth with its claws.
The draken wasn’t as big as Nektas, but he was the length of five Settis and about three times the width.
Reaver was the one who’d almost bitten Kieran.
I arched a brow. I hadn’t even seen Reaver in his mortal form.
Nektas, who’d remained behind in Iliseeum, was the only one I’d seen for any length of time in their mortal form.
I’d only learned Reaver’s name because another, a female draken called Aurelia who’d been in her mortal form briefly, had given me their names.
She and another were the only two females who’d awakened. Apparently, female draken were rare.
“It’s time,” I called out, securing the hook on my cloak. “Remember the plan.”
A huffing sound came from Reaver as he rose, stretching his large, purplish-black body as he lifted his wings. That made me a wee bit concerned that he would not follow said plan. Kieran rose, and I half-expected him to flounce away from the draken, but he managed a rather sedate prance over to me.
I turned to where Vonetta and the remaining wolven waited with Naill and Emil. “Be safe.”
Steely determination rose from them as I turned and began walking toward the city with Delano at my side, in his mortal form.
If things went the way I hoped, there would be no risk to most of the wolven.
The crunch of dried leaves alerted me to the progress Kieran made and the rattle of branches above told me that Reaver had taken flight.
Traces of moonlight cut through the bent trees as I glanced down at my left palm. The marriage imprint glowed softly. Closing my hand, I lifted the hood on the cloak just enough that the crown was hidden. I slid my right hand inside my cloak as I saw a row of torches through the bowed limbs.
“I see them,” Delano said quietly. “There’s about a dozen.”
Less than I thought there would be, which was kind of offensive.
Kieran hung back as Delano and I neared the edges of the trees.
I could see a line of guards, their mantles blending into the night, even in the moonlight.
Knights. My opened senses confirmed as much, but there was another—one who stood off to the side, dressed in black.
A younger male with dark hair. I sensed…
nothing from him, but it wasn’t the utter emptiness of an Ascended.
The one with his arms crossed was not a vampry, and I was willing to bet it was a Revenant.
The knights moved in unison before Delano and I stepped out of the trees, lifting shields with the Royal Crest carved into the metal.
Swords were held at their sides. I stared at the crest—a circle with an arrow piercing the center.
It symbolized infinity and power, but I realized that I was the arrow on the Atlantian Crest. Not the sword.
I now saw the Royal Crest in a whole new light. I smiled.
“I don’t know why you’re smiling,” the Revenant spoke. “I don’t believe things went well for you the last time you were here.”