Chapter 41
Heliot
Cedar
I’d spent every moment since we’d gotten back to our chambers worshipping every inch of her body.
Kissing from the small raven marking on the back of her neck, to the slightest bump of her stomach, down to her ankles.
Everywhere was marked, kissed, and massaged before the sun began its disembark towards the horizon.
Her anxiety and uncertainty flowed through our bond and I wished with every fiber of my being I could push it away for her. Take it upon myself and hide it away.
“Tell me what’s on your mind,” I whispered as I kissed along her hip.
I was laying on my stomach between her thighs.
Her calves wrapped around my lower back as I ran my fingertips and lips along her stomach where our little girl was growing.
One of her hands had been buried in my hair for hours now, running through its length and massaging my scalp as she went while the other sat atop her rib cage.
“Are you angry with me? About the plan?” she whispered.
I thought about it. Angry? No. A little off kilter over it? Yes.
“You can’t expect me to be excited about using my pregnant mate as bait to keep the male we want to kill busy while we kill everyone else, Princess.”
She bit her bottom lip before releasing it and nodding. “You’ll be with me though.”
I couldn’t stop smiling at that. “You’re right. What else is on your mind?”
She sighed, the weight of it all clearly getting to her.
“I worry that someone will be hurt in this madness, Cedar. I worry that I’ve finally found my sister once more, only to lose her to this male all over again.
I worry that someone will betray us and it’ll all be a trap.
I worry that everything I’ve been handed recently is too good, and the Fates will realize it’s a mistake.
That they won’t be on our side and it’ll all be in vain.
I’m sure I sound paranoid and ridiculous to you, but that’s everything. ”
I chuckled at the absurdity. “You don’t sound anything but honest, Princess.
Those are all understandable concerns. But this has to be the end for him.
I can’t watch you grow this perfect little girl only to have the feeling within the back of my mind that he’ll try to take her once more.
I need to see the light leave this eyes. I need to know that you two are safe.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“So try to trust. Not just in us, but in the Fates. Eirdis herself came to you and told you just as much, did she not?”
Cora had whispered to me about the dream one night in the midst of our flowering field. About how she’d sought out a Fate and begged for clarity in a time when she felt she was losing her place within the world she’d come to know.
Eirdis had told her to trust those around her, and she’d been trying to do so.
Even though it went against every fiber of her being to do so.
Cora had spent so long isolated and alone, depending on no one but herself, that it was a wonder she’d turned out to be as loyal as she was.
But with that isolation came anxiety, and I feared what would happen to my mate if this plan didn’t work out the way we’d anticipated.
Cora let out a slow breath, something she did when she was attempting to control her emotions. I hadn’t told her it did little to control what I was able to feel through our bond, but if it made her feel better, I wasn’t going to stop it.
A soft knock sounded at the door and I knew by sound alone it was Silv.
“I’ll be right there,” I called out as I carefully crawled off Cora, pulling the sheet up over her body and sliding my pants on.
Pulling open the door, I looked down at my best friend, her eyes giving out all the emotion she so carefully hid from those unable to read her.
“I brought Cora some better clothes. I don’t want her running around in shit that doesn’t fit right when… well, I need her clothes to fit so I’m not so damn worried. That’s all.”
I chuckled, realizing how much the two sisters sounded alike when worried, and stepped to the side, letting her walk in the room with us and shutting the door.
Silvana stared across the small space at her sister and let out a breath she’d clearly been holding in preparation.
“She’s okay, Silv. Also,” I began, my eyes meeting Cora’s, a brow arched in question. The first genuine smile in hours lit up her face and she nodded.
“Just her though. No mate bond sharing. I don’t want everyone to know yet,” Cora explained.
Silv looked back at me and then to her sister once more. “Know what?”
“Promise, Silv. We’ll tell Raiden and the others when this is finished. But you, being my best friend and Cora’s sister, we wanted you to know,” I explained carefully.
Her eyes lit up as her head swiped back and forth between us.
“I swear! Tell me! Wait, good news, right? Cora is smiling and you seem happy, so?!”
Cora reached over, taking Silv’s hand and tugging her down on the side of the bed.
“You’re going to be an aunt,” Cora said quietly.
Silvana sat, mouth agape, stunned as she stared at her sister.
“Wait, do you promise?” she whispered as her head turned back to mine.
Nodding, I confirmed as tears started rolling down her face and she wrapped her arms around Cora.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. “Wait, you can’t go back there while pregnant. What if something goes wrong? You’re letting her do this?” she questioned as she finally pulled away and wiped her face off, blowing out a breath.
Silv turned back to look at me, waiting for confirmation I didn’t plan on giving. Pulling up a chair, I sat down beside the bed, my eyes on Cora when I spoke.
“I have no intention on governing what Cora will and won’t do.” My eyes turned back to Silv. “I trust her implicitly to do what’s best for our family, Silv. She’ll keep our little girl safe no matter the cost.”
The gratitude and love that flowed from Cora right now was enough to choke down any negative emotion she’d been feeling all day.
“Wait!! A girl?!” Silv squealed.
“We don’t know for sure yet,” Cora corrected. “It’s just Cedar’s gut feeling.”
Silv raised a knowing brow at me. “Well, Cora can shift. Maybe Cedar has some witchy intuition now. It’s not as if you two have had the opportunity to test out the features of your bond yet.”
I shrugged. “Something fun to look forward to. Thankfully, the two of us don’t have any insanely deadly or active magic the way you and Raiden do.” Standing, I looked over at my mate. “Now, let’s get you dressed and ready to get out of here. One step closer to being out of this frozen tundra.”
Silvana eyed me warily and I knew what was on her mind, but I shrugged her off. Not something that needed to be decided or discussed here and now.
It had taken longer than we’d anticipated getting through The Broken Ruins Pass. A snowstorm had blown through during the daylight hours, causing the path to be even deeper than it typically was.
Cora, Paine, and I had flown above the convoy, figuring four horses were slightly less conspicuous than seven coming into town together. It felt safer to assume that not every single guard on patrol was working with Zima.
The darkening night sky of the Court of Ice was fully settling in when we crested the hill and came into the town of Whitbourne. Clouds filling it, saying more snow was on its way.
I circled down, landing on Bastian’s shoulder as he led the group, Zima beside him. Silvana and Raiden were tucked towards the end of the group since they were more easily recognized.
Zima tilted her head forward, casually pointing towards a home two doors down from the front gate of Keres’s castle.
She wasn’t joking about it being close to the castle.
Bastian and Zima lowered themselves off their horses, strolling towards the front door.
My talons clutched Bastian’s shoulder as Zima knocked softly on the wooden door.
It swung open, revealing a short man with a graying beard. He had a round belly and a kind smile.
“Zima! I’m glad you made it, and you brought friends? Good, good. I made plenty of food, come inside. Your horses can be wrangled over on the side of the house. Please, please, come in,” he rambled.
“Of course, Heliot! Thank you so much. I’m sorry it’s a bit late for you,” Zima exclaimed as she brushed off her boots and walked into the man’s home, Bastian behind her.
I glanced back in time to see Cora land on Silv’s shoulder and Paine on Raiden’s. The seven of us in the small home, and the door shut behind us without any fuss.
“You three can shift now,” Zima explained. “It’s safe.”
Paine and I shifted, but I sent a sense of unease to Cora, hoping she wouldn’t yet. She glided over to me, staying within her white feathers. A sense of gratitude filled me.
Heliot’s home was crafted of wood and brick. A large fireplace on one wall, a sizable couch on the opposite wall. I could smell smoke and ember throughout the place though.
“Heliot is a master blacksmith,” Zima explained.
“He’s able to craft shadow stone weapons.
Not the magic portion, but the craftsmanship itself.
Not an easy feat to be sure. Keres has his daughter within the castle and has for nearly ten winters now.
He’s been with me for nearly all of that time. We can trust him.”
“Is she still alive? Your daughter?” Raiden asked.
Heliot’s gaze dropped to the floor. “I’m unsure, but I have hope.”
I wanted to point out if she was alive, it was unlikely she’d be returning as the human he once knew, but I wouldn’t be the one to dash this man’s hopes when he was risking his life for us.
“I’m sure you need your privacy to plan. I’ll be out in my workshop. There isn’t much space beyond what you see, but you’re welcome to it all the same.”
Zima reached out, her hand resting on his arm, the gratitude clear in her eyes.
“Thank you, Heliot.”
The rest of us returned the sentiment and the man left us out his back door.
Cora shifted closer, her head burying in the crook of my neck. “I know, Princess.”
“Well, the sun will rise soon. Everyone do what you need to, to prepare. This time tomorrow, this will be over,” Raiden stated.