Chapter 7
Darrow
Intense pain still pulsed through me as I achingly moved to crouch near the others.
We watched with growing dread as shadowy figures approached us from multiple directions through the woods.
Their footsteps were soft and light, but they occasionally snapped a twig or rustled a bush.
Those sounds had grown easier to distinguish over the last fifteen minutes.
None of us dared speak as we gathered near a large tree, with me settling to sit against it.
There was no point in hiding since we didn’t have a way to mask our signatures, and I hadn’t recovered enough to run.
Neither of the ladies had dressed for sprinting through a forest anyway, with their long skirts.
The thick foliage above blocked most of the sky, but clouds had been gathering when we left the castle, so visibility was low even for those with excellent night vision.
Usually, my senses would detect which sort of people or creatures came toward us, but I lacked the strength to do much more than breathe and sit upright at the moment.
It was taking even longer this time to regenerate my powers.
I’d gambled when I chose to teleport here, assuming it would be far enough away from Karganoth’s army.
Now, I was weak when I needed to be strong.
The royal guard met my gaze from where he stood a few feet away, and fear showed in his features. He was the only one among us at full strength, and he must have figured out who approached us. If he was worried, then it couldn’t be good.
“Well, well, well…look who we have here,” my uncle said, stepping into view less than thirty feet away.
I cursed under my breath. Pushing through the needles relentlessly stabbing my muscles, I slowly rose to my feet. If Radan killed me, he would have to do it while I stood upright. Still, I couldn’t help swaying a little. He’d caught me at the worst possible moment, and I couldn’t even hide it.
Studying him closely, I noted his pale skin. It had only been a handful of hours since we last saw each other, but he hadn’t fully recovered, either. I’d broken him rather well before he teleported away.
Interestingly, his eyes didn’t glow. Had the God of Wrath abandoned him? That would explain why he moved stiffly and didn’t rush to attack. Also, seeing him this soon meant he hadn’t paid the price for using deity magic yet, but he would. They never delayed it long.
“Back for more already?” I asked, balling my fists to help me hide the tremor in my hands. If only I’d had another twenty or thirty minutes.
Radan chuckled. “You don’t look very good, nephew. Since I don’t see any injuries, I must assume you managed to teleport all of these people here. One moment, I sensed nothing in the area, and the next, four of you. What a feat! I can only imagine how draining that must have been.”
He was an ass, but he wasn’t entirely stupid. His father wouldn’t have named him as an heir, otherwise. I wondered if I could keep him talking long enough to regain my strength. He usually loved to do that.
“It was manageable,” I said, shrugging. It was all I could do to hide a wince as my shoulders protested. “I see you found more soldiers to follow you since I killed your other ones.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised how many are in Zadrya at the moment,” he said with a pleased smile. “We’ve been planning this for some time, but the best part was knowing you couldn’t see it coming.”
Of course, Radan had to tell me now that the secret was out, and he no longer had to hide it. His ego pushed him to gloat, especially after I defeated him earlier. He wanted me to know their plan was working, and my resistance would fail—at least, in his mind.
“What was the point of invading Radoumar then?” I asked.
“Oh, that.” He ran a hand through his black hair that had come loose at some point.
It reached halfway down his large, armored chest. “Lord Morgunn informed us of his last-minute plans to attack. We already had our ships prepared for the main invasion, but we hadn’t planned to use them until today.
Still, who were we to miss an opportunity for a joint strike? ”
I snorted. “That went swimmingly, didn’t it?”
“Indeed, though only because we didn’t anticipate your wife.” He took a step closer to me. “You can be certain that the moment I find her, I will tear her apart.”
Fury swept through me, though not the kind that came with god magic. “You will never touch her.”
“Oh, Darrow,” Radan chuckled. “We both know you can hardly protect yourself right now, much less her.”
From behind me, I could hear my three companions sucking in a breath.
They were doing their best to avoid drawing attention by remaining quiet and still.
No one realized I had the princess with me yet.
Every moment I kept my uncle distracted, the more our chances of survival increased.
He had about a dozen dark elves with him, which we could handle if the God of Wrath lent me his power again soon.
My own magic would need a couple of more hours, so I had to hope for the former.
I changed the topic. “What is your plan for Zadrya?”
“To conquer it. Well, except for Hisgar, since it’s a frozen wasteland and not worth the effort. The ice giants can have it.”
I gave him an incredulous look. “Even you can’t be that crazy or ambitious, uncle. This realm is too vast, and the people will resist.”
Amusement lit in his gray eyes. “Not to worry, nephew. The king and I devised a plan that includes a way to ensure the people's cooperation. Most of them, anyway. We anticipate certain elements to give us trouble—such as your Veronna—but we’ll quell your resistance soon enough.”
I clenched my fists, noting the lingering weakness there as well. Curse the nameless ones, I wanted to kill Radan right now. Nothing would have felt better than to end his life in the most painful possible way, along with his little group. It might stop whatever they plotted next.
But before I could even muster a small sliver of magic, my uncle lifted his hand toward me and twisted his wrist. My body went flying into a nearby tree.
I crashed into it hard enough that a crack sounded and loose limbs fell.
A shout escaped me as fresh waves of sharp pain shot through my back and head.
Stars filled my vision as I slumped to the ground.
The princess cried out. She, her daughter, and the guard rushed to my side, and then a shield formed over us.
She’d only had about forty minutes to regain some strength, but perhaps she would hold up long enough for me to recover.
Even as I thought it, my uncle and the other dark elves began attacking the barrier.
Their strikes were hard and fast. Lillian gripped her head, wincing in pain.
She must have been near her limit when I’d stopped her at the castle.
A new presence suddenly appeared about twenty feet to my right. I swore under my breath at the man I saw and wondered if our situation just got a whole lot worse.
“Oh, uncle. You aren’t going to kill my brother in some nameless forest while he’s at his weakest, are you?
” Vas said, striding forward. “He deserves a more honorable death than that. Even I only fight him when he’s at his strongest because I want to know I bested him fairly.
” We’d only ever tied against each other, but there was no sense in arguing the point.
The strikes on the shield stopped as the dark elves turned to face the newcomer. Several of them stiffened with recognition on their faces, while the rest appeared confused.
Radan appeared disgruntled. “What are you doing here, Vaslav?”
“Ensuring you don’t ruin my plans,” he said, pitch-black shadows swirling around his feet. My Unseelie half-brother—we shared the same mother but had different fathers—always had a flair for dramatics that surpassed our uncle’s. Even his dark silver hair seemed to be moving of its own accord.
I struggled through excruciating pain to rise to my feet, bracing myself on the tree.
“What plans?” Radan asked.
Vas snorted. “As if I’d tell you. We don’t have that sort of relationship, do we? Not after you tried to kill me all those years ago.”
I stilled, having not heard about this before.
“You’re lucky your mother intervened,” our uncle said, sneering. “If she were a good girl, she’d appreciate me culling her weak children from the herd.”
My half-brother made a tsking sound. “More like you tried finishing me before I grew stronger than you, but that isn’t a problem anymore.
Darrow proved it a matter of hours ago, when you ran like the coward you are, and you still haven’t fully recovered, have you?
I imagine the only reason you’re attacking now is that you know he’s close to burnout. ”
How did Vas know all this? Had he been lurking in the shadows, watching me today? He’d done it in the past, I knew, but why now? More importantly, whose side was he on?
“You can’t kill me,” Radan said, glaring at his nephew. “The consequences of defying your father would be too great, and you wouldn’t want that. He’d hang your head on a spike.”
Last I’d heard, Vas’ father, Karvac, had become king of the largest Unseelie court.
He’d taken over after the previous monarch passed a few months ago.
We didn’t receive much news from Faelaria—our original homeworld, before the Seelie had to flee about two millennia ago—but news of a new ruler had still made it here.
One of my spies had informed me. Since I had never gotten along with my brother, I had no idea about his relationship with his father.
It sounded as complicated as the one I had with mine, possibly more.
Vas gave him a shrewd look. “Maybe I can’t kill you, but I have a better idea.”
“What is that?” Radan asked, stiffening.