Chapter 52 - The Last Sunrise
My heart pounded as I forced myself to sit up in bed. Strips of sunlight painted the mattress like the bars of a dungeon cell.
Alastar was near, ready to take my bargain in full.
Riyan took a deep breath and his beautiful eyes fluttered open. The weight of the fateful morning settled on our throats and silenced us. Even our bond was quiet.
He gave me a soft smile and a kiss between the eyes before he rose. I clutched the blankets and watched as he dressed—a simple shirt and pants with leather armor over his heart.
Very little protection, but that would not matter. Deathlessness would be my parting gift.
Riyan swept his crimson cape over his shoulders and I jumped off the mattress. His eyebrows raised as I rushed over and held out my hand. He gave me a knowing smile and placed the steel—not gold—Bloodstone pin in my palm.
I raised on my toes and poked the pin through the crimson wool. I was dressing him for a battle he had no idea he was going to lose.
I gritted my teeth behind closed lips. Riyan had sent men to Death to get justice for women he never even knew. “The Beast” would not let any man take his wife without spilling his blood.
My red ember flared in my chest but my mouth was dry as I spoke. “No matter what happens, do not hurt Derrick.”
His mouth formed a hard line, but I responded with an even harder look.
“Swear to me that no harm comes to Derrick,” I ordered.
He hissed out a breath. He was suspicious, but said nothing of it. “Fine, if nothing else but to keep Brietta safe.”
A gentle knock rapped on the door and Riyan swallowed.
“I’ll take that as my cue to head to the courtyard,” he said.
I gripped his cape, begging him not to leave if only for one more heartbeat.
He smiled and slipped the embroidered fabric into my stiff hand. “Find your flowers instead of your fear, sweetheart.”
His hand cupped my jaw and he kissed me one last time. The ice from my blue flame paralyzed me as I watched him walk to the door.
Riyan opened the door. “She is all yours.”
Brietta and Annalisa walked in. Brietta dressed in splendid Hyton Blue, wearing glittering jewels she must have found around the fortress.
“My aim is to be as visible as possible.” Brietta pushed her shoulders back and lifted her chin. “Once the people hear the truth of my escape, negotiations for my return shall begin. I will not surrender until we are all free.”
Well, not all of us would be free.
I nodded anyway, though the familiar numbing fog crept behind my eyes. My feet moved on their own until I realized I was at the wardrobe. I pulled open a drawer until my hand curled around a familiar hilt.
I gently held the blade of the Hyton dagger flat against my palm as I walked over to Brietta.
“Here,” I said, “hopefully you will find it as useful as I did.”
Brietta gently accepted the blade while Annalisa picked through my wardrobe and selected billowing white linen. Simple and comfortable, she explained.
I let her dress me, my arms feeling like they were full of sand as I slipped them into the sleeves.
Annalisa slid my pearl headband behind my ears and told me I looked like a faerie princess.
But I was never a faerie princess. I was always just going to be a slave.
Three knocks echoed through the door. Annalisa furrowed her brows, but answered. Erik was on the other side.
He looked at me and held out his arm. His sleeves fell almost to his knuckles, but I spied flashes of black markings on his hands.
My toes were full of lead as I dragged myself over. I wrapped my arm around my brother’s and he led me through the halls. Annalisa and Brietta followed solemnly behind.
As I leaned on Erik’s arm, I sensed a low energy pulsing through his blood. Magic still coursed through his veins, but darkness stuck to his muscles like thorns.
Only when Erik stopped did I look up. A couple of Bloodstone soldiers pulled the keep’s doors open and Endre bounded up the steps with a wide smile.
Brietta and Annalisa gasped softly behind me, and not just because Endre wore only his Ravenwood cape on his top half. He had black marks all over his skin that were shaped like feathers but pointed like blades. The feathers fanned out like a collar across his chest and decorated his arms like he still had wings.
“What are you doing?” Erik spat. “Cover those up!”
Endre’s mossy eyes glimmered. “I am not ashamed of our past.” He spread his arms and looked up at Annalisa. “Just little mementos from our time as ravens.”
Erik’s lip curled as he released my arm. “Try not to get yourself killed.”
Endre shot him a look. “Go brew some tea and let a real swordsman handle things.” He glanced at me. “Come along, ladies. We have a battle to win.”
Brietta and I descended the steps with Endre’s escort. I looked over my shoulder. Erik offered Annalisa his arm, but she blew past him to join us.
Sparkles of pink and gold light broke through the wispy clouds. Morning mist crawled over the grass. The magical tears in the heavy air tickled my cheeks.
Some rain would quell any weaponized fire.
I stopped in the center of the courtyard and spread my hands, forcing my magic to reach out for miles as I awakened thousands of tears in the air.
“What is she doing?” Annalisa hissed.
The tears trembled, ready to listen. I closed my fists and pulled inward.
“Look up!” Brietta cried.
I pulled and pulled, straining under a massive yet invisible weight. All the tears in the sky followed my command, moving over the fortress and pressing together to form heavy clouds.
The clouds were filling with tears, but I needed more. I reached out further, lower in the sky, grabbing every sparkle of magical moisture I could…
“ I feel you, sorceress. ”
Alastar found me, even through my magic. My stomach dropped, but I gritted my teeth and kept my hold over my power, dragging the tears to the fortress.
“ You are almost mine, ” he said with a growl. “ I can smell you. I can taste you. ”
I dropped my power with a gasp and fell into the grass. I looked up and the grey clouds above me were ready to burst open. Rain would fall with just a snap of my fingers.
“Sera!” Riyan rushed over and knelt beside me in the grass. “Are you all right?”
“She is brilliant!” Brietta said with a wide smile. “She just nullified Derrick’s greatest weapon.”
Riyan helped me up. He kissed me on the forehead, his hand lingering over the pearls on top of my head. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
I could not help but smile, even as my fate approached.
“Archers, to your places!” Evereon ordered.
Footsteps scrambled to the wall. The rolling of the cavalry’s hooves echoed up the mountainside.
The Lycaster army had arrived. Derrick was mere paces away.
The pull of my bargain flared through my blood. I could not run from my obligation any longer.
I broke out of Riyan’s grip. My heart ached as he called for me, but I climbed the gate’s steps, winding up and up until my face hit the heavy air.
Legions of cavalry lined up in front of the fortress gates. Grigory Thornebow with fresh burns on his neck led the rows of archers. Carts full of dry hay were positioned near the gate along with soldiers holding torches. The six Barons mounted their horses beneath their House banners. General Hyton wore gleaming brass atop his white horse, positioned right in front of the Barons. Fraleigh stood beside the General’s horse, her golden eyes finding mine as a magical tether connected us.
“ I’m sorry, Serafina, ” she whispered. “ I tried to stop Daigen. I tried to stop them all. ”
My eyes traced the gleaming band around her neck that was about to be mine. She tried to defy the will of the Man of the Mountain and let herself suffer just to save me.
No one deserved a collar, but Fraleigh deserved rest.
A slow wave of calm washed through me as I sent a message back: “ I am a Ravenwood regardless of what color I wear. I will survive this too. ”
Fraleigh’s mouth formed a tight line and suddenly that calmness in my body dissolved.
The moment my eyes found the glint of the golden Lycaster crown, I stopped breathing. He wore his Hyton Blue cape over Alastar the Conqueror’s steel armor. The Taurus shield was on his arm and the Conqueror’s spear was in his hand.
The Duke of Lycaster had come to conquer Nordingaard…and I found nothing recognizable in those beautiful Hyton Blue eyes.
Heartbreak had hardened him, from the harsh cut of his jaw to disdain burning on his brow.
And it was all my fault.
Then Alastar’s voice invaded my mind, shredding at any sense of peace I had left.
“ Mine. Mine. Mine. ”