25. Chapter Twenty Five Rhowyn
Chapter Twenty Five: Rhowyn
“You’re certain?” I asked even though I already knew the answer, my stomach sinking at this news. We’d known that we weren’t fighting Titania’s full forces when we’d only seen forty arrive in this village, so sure that we had the upper hand for once. However, now we had the answer to where the rest of those troops had gone. She’d purposefully reeled me in like a fish on a hook, and I had fallen for the trap. I couldn’t believe that I’d been so stupid.
My mind raced trying to determine what to do next. There was no way we’d get all of us to Carlisle in time to stop the one hundred soldiers marching in a different direction; their only goal was destruction and chaos. They were distracting our forces on purpose, but there was no way I could leave these villagers to face Titania’s wrath on their own. Somehow, I’d have to figure out what her end goal was. It was our only chance to beat her. We’d never win if we were constantly reacting. We needed to be proactive. The question was, though, how were we supposed to figure out Titania’s moves?
My hands flew to tuck the hair that had fallen free from battle back behind my ears, the motion getting my mind back on track and focused on the next immediate steps. There was really only one option if we wanted to get ahead of them. “Arryn, tell your men to finish cleaning up this mess.”
“What are you thinking, Rhowyn?” he asked me hesitantly, unsure of the obviously crazy plan that I was about to come up with.
Ignoring him, I turned to Brannoc. “Think you’re well enough to fight?” He still looked weak, and I sincerely doubted he had enough magic left to be of much use. However, he was an assassin who was skilled in more than just magic. He was still an asset that I would need for what I had in mind.
Arryn’s face fell as he caught on to what I wanted us to do next. “Rhowyn, no. This isn’t a good idea,” he tried to reason with me, but I was having none of it.
Turning to glare at him, I asked, “And do you have any better ideas?” I waited, but he couldn’t come up with anything, so I continued. “Didn’t think so. Brannoc, can you help fight? I know your magic is depleted, but your more than just power and a pretty face,” I said with a wicked smile, set on my course of action.
“My blade is always yours, my Queen. Whatever you need from me, you shall have,” Brannoc answered, pushing up to standing, prepared to do whatever I needed him to.
“Fuck!” Arryn cursed, throwing his hands up and storming out of the shop to do what I had initially requested of him.
“Good. Let’s get the others,” I told him with another smile, turning to stride out of the abandoned general store, Brannoc keeping pace with me. I found Lennox, Baer, and Callum at the bottom of the stairs. Arryn was already by the pile of dead soldiers giving his men instructions for cleanup.
“Shit. I know that look,” Callum said, catching the near maniacal grin on my face.
“What look?” I asked, false innocence in my tone. We both knew exactly what he meant.
“The look that means you’re about to cause trouble. The one that says I’m not going to like what you say next,” Callum explained with a sigh, wincing as he waited for me to prove him right.
I laughed. “I don’t know about all that, but I do want to chase after the rest of Titania’s troops, the ones that split off before this village. If I transport us via smoke form, then we should be able to head them off with enough time to warn Carlisle of the imminent attack.”
“Shit. Fuck,” Callum swore, his hands shoving through his short, auburn hair. While not happy exactly about this plan, he knew it was the right thing to do. We didn’t have time to go back to the stronghold and regroup. We needed to leave five minutes ago. As it was, we would be pushing it.
Lennox and Baer looked about the same as Callum, though Baer asked, “We’ll have our soldiers follow after cleanup with our horses.”
“Perfect. I want to leave as soon as possible. If we’re going to do this, we need to go now,” I told them, checking my weapons again.
The guys went about disseminating the information, following my orders while Brannoc and I waited on the porch of the building. I was livid with Titania’s tactics and her total disregard for her own people. Frustrated that despite my new powers, I was still constantly reacting to her moves. After this fight, we’d need to reevaluate our tactics, with me taking a more active role. Standing on the sidelines and letting Arryn form all the plans was no longer an option for me. If I was going to be the queen I wanted to be, I needed to start being more accountable. This was just a reminder that I was letting my people down and needed to step up my game.
When the men came back, I didn’t bother asking if they were ready. Instead, I strode down the steps with purpose, letting them all put a hand on me. Once I was sure everyone was touching me, I turned us into my smoke form, zipping away in the direction that the troops had diverted to. I pushed my magic to its limits because I knew that if we failed, another village would fall prey to Titania’s destruction.
Arryn directed me based on memory, and when we were a few miles out, I knew we were too late. Smoke filled the air, turning the bright day into night. The smell of burning debris had me wanting to choke on the stench, and I pushed myself even harder until, finally, we reached the edge of the village.
One look had me letting my magic go in shock, dropping us the last few feet to the ground, but none of us seemed to even notice. The devastation that greeted us could never have been prepared for. Everywhere I looked, small dying flames danced, the buildings turned to ash on the wind. Blood drenched the dirt street, but what had me truly aghast was the figures that were strung up at the end of the street, their bodies swaying in the breeze. Ash coated my sweat-streaked skin as I began to run to what I was seeing, unable to grasp the truth of what the soldiers had done.
In my peripheral vision, I caught sight of ash forms of bodies huddled as if hiding, blowing away into the soft breeze to fall into my hair like flakes of snow, to fill my nostrils as my breaths came in shallow pants. Other bodies littered the streets in various poses, proof that not everyone had burned. Some had been tortured and left to die as they watched everything they knew and loved go up in flames.
As I reached my destination, I fell to my knees, a gasp of horror falling from my lips. A couple hung from a post whose original purpose was now indiscernible, their faces and bodies mangled beyond recognition, but what truly left me in shock was the smaller forms hanging next to them. Children.
I screamed out in pain at the sight, unable to process what I was seeing. “NO! Why?!” My voice broke on a sob as I stared at the evidence of what Titania was willing to do to those that stood in her way. Just when I thought I had a grasp on her depravity, she proved me wrong. These innocents had died because of my need to stand up to Titania. These children had done nothing wrong, and yet they had been caught in the war between two queens.
How could she live with this on her conscience? Better yet, how could I?