Chapter 36
Ellie
Our kiss stretches for an eternity but ends in a moment.
It melts away the weight I’ve been carrying, wrapping me in his tender embrace.
And as his lips leave mine, my heart aches as exhaustion sweeps through me.
It’s not quite the life-altering, void-filling moment I had imagined, ending far too soon, but I couldn’t kiss him any longer if I tried.
All I want is to curl up in his arms and sleep.
But Taran’s still bleeding, there are three dead bodies, and blood soaks the floors. He says he’ll take care of it, but he’s finally let me in. We’re in this together now.
By the light of those strange, flickering orbs hovering near the ceiling, he directs me to some cloth for bandaging his leg.
Apparently, this is one of his many homes throughout the realm, but one he only claimed a few years ago, so his mother wouldn’t know of it.
Or so he hopes. He doesn’t recognize our attackers, but doesn’t want to discuss what their ambush means. Not yet.
I understand. It’s obvious that whoever sent them knew we were coming, which can only mean one of his trusted allies betrayed him.
While I didn’t meet most of them, those I did both behaved rather suspiciously.
Who knows what the others were like? But the last thing I want is to bring Taran any more stress, so I bury my thoughts, hoping he’ll be in a better place to discuss things in the morning.
After bandaging his leg, we find extra blankets for the bed. I lay one next to the body of the tattooed fae who tried to strangle me, and together we roll him on top of it. Taran wraps the blanket around the corpse and grabs the side near his head. I take the feet. Together, we drag him outside.
It’s well past sunset by this point, with hardly anyone lingering outside.
We pull the corpse onto the rougher, sloping terrain beyond the path, where we struggle to keep it from rolling down the hill while Taran shapes the ground around it, as if swallowing the body whole.
Then we climb back up and repeat the process twice more, with Taran growing noticeably slower and wobblier in his movements each time.
Next, we have to clean up all the blood. Taran has no magical solution for that, so all we can do is haul buckets of water from a nearby stream and scrub at the stains with whatever we find.
A couple bells later, those glowing orbs have long since disappeared, and we collapse onto the bed with no blankets, having used them to soak up the mess. We fall asleep almost instantly.
A loud bang startles me awake.
Green eyes, framed with black. My chest constricts so fast my lungs seize.
Then a warm, steady hand lands on my shoulder.
Taran.
“It’s fine,” he says. “It’s only Emlyn and Reid.”
I blink, my breath coming back as I focus on his face. Those mesmerizing green eyes. Why did I expect gray?
He brushes his fingers along my cheek, and a cozy heat blooms within me, washing the lingering panic away. He kisses my forehead, then hauls himself out of bed and stumbles from the room.
There’s a thunk, then Emlyn’s voice carries through the small home.
“What happened here?”
“We were ambushed,” Taran replies.
I begrudgingly push myself up, rubbing my eyes—that was not enough sleep. But it’s a new day; an important one, with much to do. Starting with figuring out who attacked us.
“How could anyone sneak up on you?” Emlyn asks, disbelief tinting his words.
“I knew about the one inside, but the others were hiding among the pilgrims.” A pause. “It was nearly dawn by the time we got everything cleaned up.”
“Where’s Ellie?” Reid asks.
“I’m here,” I call, then drag myself to the other room. I yawn as I balance against the doorway.
Emlyn rubs at one of the bloodstains with the toe of his boot, Reid leaning against the dirt wall next to him, glamoured to look fae. “You’ll wanna put a rug here.”
Taran stands before him. His expression hardens, then he responds in the Tongue.
Emlyn goes stiff. “Why would you ask that?”
“It’s a yes or no,” Taran says firmly.
“It doesn’t feel like it is.”
“What’s going on?” I ask, a sinking feeling in my stomach. I step further into the room, but Taran holds his palm up, halting me.
He glares at Reid. “You incanted, didn’t you?”
The color drains from Reid’s face. He slowly nods. “I did.”
My throat tightens with a flash of that fae’s hand, pressing me into the wall, heart racing as if it were the end. Reid didn’t want to incant any more than I did.
“What happened?” I ask.
Before Reid can answer, Taran slams his fist into the wall, and my body jolts.
“I told you not to do that,” he shouts. “I forbade it. You agreed.”
Emlyn’s between them in a blink. “We were outnumbered.” He braces his hands against Taran’s shoulders. “Ystyrian soldiers. There was no chance of winning.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You’d rather we were dead?”
“I felt it!” Taran yells. “Like I was burning from the inside. I thought I was going to die.”
My hand covers my mouth. When he collapsed yesterday…
But that didn’t happen when I incanted back home. Is it because we’re in the faelands now?
His bond with the Land is stronger than anyone else’s.
“He already paid for it,” Emlyn says, his knuckles turning white as he holds Taran back.
“He needs to go.”
“He already paid for it!”
Taran’s voice crashes against my eardrums as he pushes toward Reid. “Get out—”
Emlyn lunges forward, pressing his hand over Taran’s mouth, cutting off his words. The door swings as Reid’s body jerks, pulling him outside.
My breath catches. That was a willbending.
This is bad. I have to do something, but my limbs won’t move. Lungs won’t breathe. Taran’s face—veins bulging, twisting with fury—he shouldn’t be able to look so terrifying.
He shoves Emlyn away. Forcing myself to move, I rush over, taking his hand before he opens his mouth again.
“Taran, stop! You need to calm down.” I turn his face to me. “Listen to them, please. Let them explain.”
His eyes meet mine. After a sharp inhale, his shoulders sag. He nods. I glance at Emlyn, who scowls at us before throwing the door open. Reid’s standing there, looking confused.
Emlyn pulls him back inside, slamming the door behind him. Reid’s gaze lands on Taran and me, and his expression hardens.
I meet his eyes, chin up. I made my choice, and I won’t let him make me feel guilty about it. If anything, he should appreciate that I’ve managed to calm things down.
But uncertainty peeks through.
“Explain,” Taran says, his voice tight.
Reid straightens, still clutching Emlyn’s hand. “We would’ve died. We were losing.”
“I gave my permission,” Emlyn cuts in. “I’m just as guilty.” He pauses as Taran closes his eyes. “He apologized. The Land did something to him. She hurt him to heal Herself.”
“He’s already paid for it,” I whisper. “Let it go. Please.” He has to see… we already have one traitor; he can’t afford to push away Reid and Emlyn.
Taran’s eyes open, exhaustion bleeding out of them. He drops my hand and sinks to the ground, his back sliding down the wall.
I join him, resting my hand on his leg, hoping to show my support. He rubs his thumb against my fingers, and my heartbeat slowly returns to normal. This side of Taran… it’s frightening, if I’m being honest with myself. But I know it’s not who he is, deep down.
“It was Ystyr?” he asks, not looking at anyone.
Emlyn’s eyes narrow. “Yes.”
Taran sighs. “The ones here weren’t. They can’t be connected.”
“It wasn’t—I upset someone, and they reported me. They didn’t know I was coming here.”
“Then we still have a traitor to deal with.” Taran rubs his face with his free hand. “Someone we invited, who had time to send people. We need to figure out who. Today.”
I’m working out the most tactful way to voice my suspicions when Reid speaks up.
“Can’t you just ask everyone?” he asks, drawing stares from both Taran and Emlyn. “What? They can’t lie, right?”
“I’d like to pretend you didn’t just say that,” Emlyn mumbles, flipping his hair away from his neck as he turns to Reid. “Have you paid any attention to what I’ve been telling you?”
“He literally just did the same thing to you, and it worked.”
That is true.
Emlyn leans against the wall. “That was a rare instance of me trapping myself thanks to a promise I made you. Most of the time it won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Ellie, ask me if I’ve fucked Reid. Let’s see how long it takes you to get a real answer.”
My mouth goes slack, my eyes shooting back and forth between the two of them.
“Uh…”
Reid’s face burns bright red. “We don’t need to do that.”
“No, we don’t.” Taran shifts his position, letting go of my hand.
Emlyn turns back to him. “Just bend them.”
Taran stiffens. “I’m not doing that.”
“It’s the best option.”
“No.”
Emlyn crosses his arms. “Forgive me, Your Highness, but I’m beginning to question your judgment on what’s best.” His gaze flicks to me.
“What are you implying?” Why are him and Reid so incessant on making me feel like I’ve done something wrong?
Emlyn purses his lips, as if debating the risk of answering.
Taran shoots him a glare, then pushes to his feet. “Just keep watch for the others.” He peeks out the window.
“There are other things we should discuss,” Emlyn says, peeling away from the wall. “Information about the wedding—”
“We can talk about it when everyone’s here.” Taran lowers the curtain and retreats to the bedroom, ending the conversation.
Emlyn curses under his breath, then storms out, the door slamming behind him.
I thought they were supposed to be friends.
I take a deep breath and look up at Reid, who’s rubbing his brow again.
“So… has he?” I ask, hoping to lighten the mood. “Like, you and him?”
Reid’s hand freezes, then lowers. “Seems like I should ask you that.” He gestures toward the bedroom.
My mouth tightens. “That’s not your business.”
“You’re right. It’s not.” He yanks the door open and follows Emlyn. I flinch as it slams shut.