Chapter 8
My heartbeat thrums in my neck. For a terrible moment, I forgot my mission. I was too distracted by his confession and the warnings about our future from…some version of me. But I meant what I said. We should go our separate ways.
I should get as far away from him as possible.
It’s just…I can’t, can I? Walking away from Taliesin Wynn means turning my back on Osian.
But if I stay and die, Osian dies. Now that I’ve resurrected him, his soul is bound to mine.
This is an impossible situation with no easy answer.
Or if there is one, I haven’t had the time to find it yet.
All I can do is go with my gut. The truth.
If that doesn’t make him run, I don’t know what will.
“The Order sent me to find you.” I lift my chin, silently daring him to challenge me, though I have no plan for what I’ll do if he does.
He doesn’t look surprised. “So you knew the warded veil is broken.”
“Unfortunately, no. The High Swynwragedd didn’t see fit to tell me.” I nod toward the dead man. “He knew, though.”
“And what will you do now that you’ve found me?” he asks coolly.
“Return to Caer Draen.” So I can live. And so Osian can live...somehow. I may have failed my mission, but I’ll have to find another way to get him out. I don’t know how yet, but I will.
It’s the only option I have.
Taliesin steps in close, and all my breath flees from my lungs. I watch the apple at his throat bob as he swallows, right where his traitor mark hides beneath magic unknown to me. What kind of spell does that? How does he command it? It’s not from the Order.
I lift my gaze to his, bracing myself. There’s a dark, ancient glow in his eyes that makes me tremble. Slowly, he reaches out, tucking a curved finger beneath my chin. The world around us stills. I stand frozen, horrified by the tug of desire in my chest.
“I thought you might say something like that,” he murmurs.
Cold metal bites my wrist. I gasp and jerk away, but he tugs me back, a slim chain in his hand linked to the manacle clamped around my arm. My pulse races. I throw out my hand, intending to grab the chain and wrench it free, but he pulls it so hard I crash into his chest.
He palms my back, holding me flush against him.
A traitorous warmth flames through me.
I shove at him, desperate, but it’s useless. He doesn’t even yield an inch.
“Stop fighting me,” he says, his voice a low rumble against me.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I hiss. “Let go of me. Now.”
“I won’t hurt you,” he says, “but I can’t let you go, Swynwraig.”
“You said you would point me in the right direction,” I counter. “That we would part at the fork in the road.”
“I just wanted to see how you’d react. Remember, the Order is waiting for me in those cliffs. Perhaps I’ll use you as a distraction.”
I stop struggling, though my ragged breath still shakes through me. “Then just…don’t go to the cliffs.”
“The only way to my tower is through them.” His tight grip on me loosens—just enough to let me breathe. “I’d abandon the place entirely, but there are some things I need. Things I can’t risk the Order finding.”
Curiosity pricks in the back of my mind, but frustration and fear quickly overwhelm it.
“That’s your problem. Not mine,” I snap, shoving at his chest again. My anger spikes as he barely flinches. The bastard is like a slab of stone.
“Calm down.” The metal stings my wrists again as he leans in and lowers his voice.
“This is for both our sakes. I’ll get past while you draw them out.
It won’t take long for them to realize who you are, and then they’ll escort you home safely.
We both get what we want, and we’ll never see each other again, avoiding whatever catastrophe you were trying to warn me about. ”
“It wasn’t me,” I say through clenched teeth. “I have no power over dreams.”
“Well, it was someone identical to you. And for that alone, I think we should listen to her, don’t you?”
I sigh, closing my eyes. A rock pounds at my temples. I can already tell a brutal headache is coming on. The last thing I want is to comply. I might have agreed if he hadn’t chained me without warning. Now, anger heats my veins, and my magic tingles at my fingertips, aching for release.
It would be so easy to kill him. If only it would get me what I need.
I force the anger down. “Fine. I’ll help you escape. But you have to swear something to me.”
He arches his brow.
“Hate the Order all you want,” I say, “but leave the innocents alone. Swear you won’t use your power against Caer Draen. Don’t bury the city in ice.”
His eyes darken. “They’re still parroting that lie, are they?” He shakes his head. I start to ask him to explain, but he continues before I can speak. “I swear I’ll never harm an innocent, whether in Caer Draen or the world beyond the sea. Happy?”
My teeth click as I shut my mouth. He’s done what I asked, though I still feel uneasy.
Maybe it’s that I’m chained to the infamous exile beneath a churning twilight sky, shivering as the wind tears across the hills like a horde of wild beasts.
I stare past him at the darkening horizon.
Not far from here, the Order waits, ready to ensnare him.
“If this is what you insist on doing, then so be it,” I mutter.
He leads me to the horses, the chain clinking and swinging between us.
I have no choice but to accept his help mounting, glaring his way as he positions my hands around the saddle horn.
Once he swings onto his own horse and secures the other end of the chain to his saddle, we take off down the narrowing road.
Neither of us speaks for the first mile. I’m sure he can tell I’ll snap off his words if he tries, like that seagull pecking at the man we’ve left behind. The poor bastard. The image of him, sagging against the gnarled tree, shudders through my mind. And suddenly, all the fight bleeds out of me.
This mission has gone spectacularly wrong. How will I ever face the High Swynwragedd again? I can already hear the whispers echoing through the halls. Not only am I a wild beast who needs to be chained, I’m a useless one.
A bitter laugh rises in my throat. Looks like I did end up chained, after all. Just as I always feared.
“Why are you carrying around chains?” I ask. “Where did you even get them?” Then I shake my head. “No, wait. Don’t tell me. You planned on taking me captive all along.”
“I’ve been carrying them for a while, as a precautionary measure.” He sighs heavily. “And no, I didn’t plan to take you captive at first. You just caught me off guard. The Twin Talons Inn was the last place I suspected to meet you.”
I frown. “Because a girl in your dreams told you to avoid Caer Draen.”
“It was you, Swynwraig,” he says, his voice rough. “Trust me. I know your face better than I know my own.”
I press my lips together, lost for words. No matter how much he tries to explain it, I find his story impossible to believe.
A deep navy glaze covers the sky, melting into the sea. We continue down the winding path that cuts toward the coast—and the cliffs, where the Order will be waiting. I fold in on myself, wishing the hours away. But the closer we get to the cliffs, the harsher the wind blows.
At the next rise, the northern tip of the island juts out before us and ends abruptly, like a blade has sliced off the land. Far below, the sea churns, spitting froth into the air. We slow as we approach it.
“Have you ever been to the shore?” Taliesin asks, finally putting an end to our strained silence.
“The northern one? No.” Like most elves, I’ve avoided it my whole life. The Order never patrols this stretch, and even the rebels dare not settle here. The southern ocean is safe, but the waters here will scour your flesh from your bones.
“It’s a lie,” he calls over the wind.
“What is?” I ask.
“The sea.” He shifts on his horse to face me. “The waters call to those on shore. From afar, they seem inviting, like a lover’s kiss. But then you realize your lover is your greatest enemy, waiting to stab you in the heart.”
A shiver goes through me. I’ve felt the sea’s pull. No matter how aware I am of its danger, my heart lifts whenever I look at it. How could something so beautiful be so deadly?
But I know why. Everything that plagues the elves of Gwalia began on Culling Day. Our gods died, the stars abandoned us, a quarter of the elves died, too. And the northern sea turned venomous. It all happened in a single night.
The sky rumbles then, like it’s voicing its displeasure at Taliesin’s words. The exile frowns up at the bulbous clouds. The air feels thin, like it always does just before a storm. I’m certain he can feel it, too.
Taliesin unhooks the chain and swings out of the saddle. “We’ll need to leave the horses here. The path ahead is too dangerous for them.”
My fingers tighten around the saddle horn. “Are you certain you want to do this?”
“I have no other choice. I must get back to the tower.”
“Why?” I press. “The Order knows you’re free now, Taliesin. They’ll stop at nothing to cage you again. You should run while you have the chance.”
Why am I saying this? I have no chance of completing my mission now. I might as well let someone else catch him. They might still allow me to attempt my death magic on him, if they can find a way to contain him first. This doesn’t have to be over. Not yet.
He gives me a measured look. “Everything I say to you will get back to the Order. I’m afraid my secrets will have to stay mine.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he steps in close, palming my waist on either side. Even through the cloak, his warmth seeps into me, and for a moment, I wonder how much of the stories about his power are true. Can he conjure ice from nothing? Can he freeze an entire city in a single moment?