Chapter 43 - Faolan
FORTY-THREE
FAOLAN
Caly came into being before my eyes, and I still couldn't believe it was real. She’d come. And if nothing else, I would get to hold her again before Arkyn finished me off.
“Are you okay?” she rushed to me. “What has he done to you?” She searched me for injuries, but they were all inside.
The supposedly small dose of Dragon's Bane I’d been given was still enough to make me wish for death.
It had left me weak and cut off from all that I was.
It was slowly coming back, but I was in no doubt there would be more coming if I couldn’t get out of this cell.
“I’m fine, just weak and chained. Can you free me?”
She inspected the shackles behind my back. “Not without a key.”
“Fuck.”
“What are we going to do?” She sounded like she was losing hope, and I couldn’t have that.
“Look at me,” I commanded.
She met my eyes.
“Good. Now kiss me.”
“Faolan, we don’t have time—”
“Exactly,” I all but shouted. “Kiss me like there is no time left.”
She grabbed me, pressing her mouth to mine and parting her lips for me. I pushed forward, unable to touch her with my hands shackled behind my back but determined to have this moment where she was mine as if it was our last. But it couldn’t be. I wouldn’t allow it.
We parted, and I fixed my eyes on hers. “Now take me the fuck with you. I know you can do it.”
“But Faolan, I—”
“No, listen. You can do it with Nova because she is your twin. You are halves of the same soul. Well, I am your mate, Caly. Do you understand what that means? We are one soul now, too. You can do it. I have faith in you.”
Caly studied me, then nodded. “I’ll try,”
“Hurry!” Nyx called from outside the cell. “The guard is coming, and I don’t want to have to use force against our own.”
“You’ve got this,” I whispered into her lips, giving her one last kiss.
Then I was being pulled into—nothing. Caly was with me, but otherwise, there was nothing.
As if we’d passed through a tear in the fabric of existence.
Time seemed to not exist either. I turned to her, only to find her flagging.
This jump had used the last of her reserves.
Could she get us through to the other side?
“Caly,” I shook her.
“Hmm?’ She rolled her head to look up at me with heavy-lidded eyes.
“Come on, I need you.”
“I—” she had nothing left.
I felt for my own power, weakened from Dragon's Bane, but it was there. A tiny reserve. Now that the shackles were gone, I could reach it. I took everything I had, keeping nothing back, and forced it into her.
Her eyes widened, and I knew it was working.
Suddenly, we were locked together, power flowing between us that hadn’t been there before. What was this? Had we found a source of power in this nothingness, or were we creating it together? Then it hit me, we were melding!
She gasped at the rush of power, her entire body tensing with it. I felt mine do the same. It was more than I’d ever had flowing through me.
With great effort, she fought to channel it and went to that place inside herself. Then, pulling on my power, she pushed us through to the other side.
We arrived to mayhem outside the cell. There was no time to process what had just happened, or that I felt as if I’d been dragged through a mangle. Jaxus and Nyx were holding off Arkyn’s special guards.
“Stand down at once,” Nyx barked.
The guards with their swords drawn looked torn.
“That is a direct order from your general,” growled Jaxus
“They are loyal to Arkyn,” I told them. “These were the guards he had capture me and drag me in here.”
“I see,” said Nyx. “Well, will see about where their loyalties lay once the King hears of this.
I caught one of the guards swallowing. He looked like he was regretting his life choices. The rest stood firm.
More guards burst in, led by their captain. They all skidded to a halt and took in the scene. “What is the issue, General?” the captain called to Nyx over the heads of the traitors.
“There seems to be an issue of loyalty in your ranks, Captain. These males were holding one of the King's flyers prisoner down here on the order of the prince. Take them to the cells like the traitors they are while I brief the King.”
“Yes, General.” The captain nodded, directing his guards to arrest their own, and we watched as they were dragged away.
“We will discuss this later, Captain,” Nyx said sternly. The captain nodded and followed his guards.
Then all eyes turned on me. Caly clung to my hand still. She hadn’t let go once since inside the cell.
“Are you well?” Kol asked with trepidation. Clearly, finding me in a cell was triggering for him.
“I’m well,” I confirmed.
Caly ran a hand over my hair and cupped my cheek, turning my eyes to her. She looked me over thoroughly. “You weren’t well. You were in an awful state,” she all but accused.
I smiled. “But then we melded. Did you not feel that rush of power between us?”
“I thought you told the King you’d melded already?” Nyx said to Caly.
“I lied,” she shot back, not looking even a little apologetic.
“So what happened?” Nyx demanded.
“Arkyn happened. I was surrounded by his guards and shackled with some kind of chains that cut off my power instantly, so I couldn’t fight them or shift. They hauled me down here and threw me in the dark.”
“And you’re sure Arkyn was behind it?” Nyx prompted.
I laughed mirthlessly. “Oh, I’m sure. He came down here himself. Let me know in no uncertain terms I was finished for daring to be his queen's bonded, and then he dosed me with some low-level Dragon's Bane.
Instinctively, they all backed away.
Kol paled.
“I think it’s out of my system now. The meld restored my power.
They were going to come back with more, I’m sure, probably every day for the rest of my miserable existence.
But it wasn’t supposed to be enough to kill me, just strip me of my powers and make me suffer.
” I met Kol’s eyes, and his demeanor confirmed that he had lived through months of such treatment. It made me understand him even better.
“He has to be stopped,” Nyx growled.
“What do you propose?” Jaxus asked.
“I’m taking this to the King—now.” Nyx was resolved.
“The King has no control over him,” Kol said, coming back to us from his darkness.
“We have to leave.” Sorrow clouded Caly’s her eyes as she spoke
“Are you sure?” I asked, knowing it was our best chance of surviving.
Beside Kol, Nova began to weep. He put his arm around her, offering her comfort, but no one denied the logic of us going.
“What other choice do we have?” Caly asked.
“Arkyn wants you dead or worse. And I know he will kill me too when he finds out we are mates. He told me all I am is a broodmare to him, but he will never get the heirs out of me he wants because my body will only create life with you now. Even the best healers in the realm can’t defy nature. ”
Uneasy silence surrounded us as the ways in which we were fucked just kept revealing themselves.
“There is no escaping him here. He will eventually have all authority,” she continued.
“Once he becomes King, he can do what he likes. And he knows my magic—what kind it is and how much more power I have than him. He won’t accept that he can’t have that for himself.
He will do whatever it takes to seize it.
” She clung to me, burying her face in my chest.
“He knows your magic?”
“I had to tell him. I knew he would be salivating over it, so I used it to bargain with him. I told him if I could train with you, it would only grow stronger. It was the only way to keep you alive. I thought he might go after you. I didn’t realize he already had.
” She held me tighter. “Thats why our only choice is to leave and get as far away from this realm as we can. We will never be safe in the Twelve Kingdoms once he wears the crown.”
She looked to Nova and held out a hand to her to draw her close without loosening her hold on me.
“What if you returned to our home?” Jaxus said meaningfully. “You’d never be found there.”
I shook my head. “I won’t trade one prison for another.”
“You should go,” Nova sniffed.
The thought of taking Caly away from her sister tore at my conscience. I couldn’t watch her go through that. She would never be the same. If it was easy to do, she would have run away long ago. But she knew she wouldn’t survive it—it’s why she’d come this far.
“We can’t,” I said, and all eyes turned on me.
Caly looked up at me, a frown creasing her brow.
“You have another suggestion?” Nyx ventured.
It was all clear.
There was only one solution to all of this.
“I have to kill Arkyn.”
Everyone spoke at once, but I couldn’t be swayed.
Even if it ended in my death it was the only way to keep everyone I loved safe. Caly had her bond with Nova to fall back on if I was executed for my crime. They’d healed Nyx from his severing with Kol, so they’d be able to heal Caly from losing me too.
“Enough!” Jaxus’ voice rose above the rest. He fixed his gaze on me, brother to brother. “Are you sure about this?”
He was the only one not trying to dissuade me.
“It’s the only way this ends.”
“You’ll be charged with treason and—”
“Not necessarily,” Nyx interrupted. We all looked to Nyx like he’d taken leave of his senses. “Not if I tell the King I witnessed Arkyn try to kill you, and you fought back.”
I shook my head. “It won’t matter to the King why. You shouldn’t put yourself in this. It only puts you in jeopardy,” I told Nyx. “The realm needs you, but I’m expendable. What matters is we stop Arkyn and put the better brother on the path to the throne.”
Caly opened her mouth to object.
“No, wait, Nyx is right,” Jaxus cut in. “The King was clear about the need for dragons being more important than his son’s feelings.
What if we all witnessed him trying to kill one of the King's most vital resources? What if it wasn’t just Nyx putting his neck on the line, but all of us?
If we all saw you defend yourself to the death and none of us stopped you, what will he do?
Charge us all with treason? Lose more dragons? ”
We stood still, all of us processing. I had no words for the loyalty on show by this group.
This family.
“What are we doing then?” Nyx asked, glancing around, knowing as well as I did that we didn’t have long before word got to Arkyn that I’d been freed.
I looked down at Caly, and she nodded, tears in her eyes, but resolve was there too.
“Let’s do it now,” I said before anyone lost their nerve.
I threw open the door to the prince’s suite while Nyx and Jaxus dealt with the guards. They were a necessary sacrifice. Dagger in hand, ready to fight Arkyn, I froze. The scene I found was not at all what I’d expected.
There was blood everywhere. In the middle stood one prince, his back to us, while the other laid at his feet—dead.
The prince lifted the drink to his lips and sipped like he wasn’t standing in the middle of a murder scene. I knew the heir was ruthless, but to kill his own twin? I’d thought perhaps Alaric’s was the only life he actually valued, but clearly, I was wrong.
Slowly it dawned on me. Maybe this was a trap. Maybe word had already reached him I was free, and he would frame me for his brother’s killing. That would give the King reason to let Arkyn kill me. How had I not seen it?
“All of you get out.” I barked, grabbing Calytrix to pull her back. “I will finish him and take responsibility for both deaths. You don’t have to be involved.”
Before I could move, I was grabbed from behind.
“No,” Kol said, releasing me as he shoved past me to enter the room. “It’s not what you think.”
“Are you kidding? He killed his own brother—he’ll kill the rest of us.” I lifted my blade, but Kol didn’t stop.
“Your eyes deceive you.” Kol crossed the room and stood before the prince, then pulled him into his arms. I blinked, not believing the sight before me.
Was Kol on the heir’s side all this time? Did he betray us?
I watched speechless, expecting to be surrounded by guards at any second, but they never came.
“He must die,” I said, astonished by the lack of resolve. Not even Calytrix moved. “Then we must leave,” I demanded.
No one moved to escape. Were they all too struck with horror to act? Surely, Nyx wasn’t the type to freeze in a moment like this?
“He’s not who you think he is,” Kol said softly.
“What do you mean?”
“This is Alaric.”
“Yes, I know who lays dead before me.” Frustration bled into my tone.
“No. You have it wrong,” Nyx said, voice strained. “Alaric killed Arkyn. Arkyn is dead.”
“What is the meaning of this?” the King's booming voice interrupted.