Chapter 53 #2
“They were never harmed, Riordan!” I shouted at him in frustration, but he was no longer looking at me.
“The powder worked on them. It will work on Rian,” he said to Ares who nodded in agreement. “Take him and his Seer to the tent. I will deal with them there when I go to retrieve Amira and Orion.”
Ares bowed deeply before gesturing at several of the Autumn fey. One of them formed a portal for him while he glared at Ciaran, and then Ares signalled three griffin warriors to join them before they departed.
I could only hope that Nuala would be able to warn Rian in time. Although as depleted as he was, I was not sure there was anything he could do against Riordan.
The Griffin King turned toward the female with dark hair who I noticed was staring at me pensively with her corded arms crossed over her shapely breastplate.
“Go to them. I want them to know that I am coming for them once I am done here,” Riordan instructed her.
The female nodded but did not move to do as she was told as eagerly as Ares had.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Amira might not forgive you for it,” she warned him seriously, and I saw Riordan’s jaw clench.
“It was a necessary trade to make her and Orion safe and to deal with Rian.”
The female tilted her head to eye him carefully before she nodded and bowed.
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” she yielded and stepped toward another fey who took her into another portal.
“Where did you get it? The chuka powder,” I clarified anxiously once Riordan had finished issuing orders.
But the Griffin King didn’t spare me another glance as he stepped back from us. The griffins who were holding Sage and Ciaran also stepped back along with everyone else remaining so there was a wide berth around us.
I was about to ask what the fuck they were all doing, but then I heard the unmistakable snapping sounds from someone Tree Walking.
My head whipped around in the hopes I was wrong, but I already knew better before their familiar forms emerged from the dark.
I felt sick as the torchlight flickered across brown skin faintly marked by white spots and stripes.
Their hair was elaborately braided around full antlers wreathed in beautiful Summer foliage.
And they were all clothed with the plant and animal parts that had been grown from their own skin.
Sage slowly rose to his knees to press closer to me in an effort to protect or comfort me, but I quickly shook my head at him. The last thing I wanted was for the Ruadhán to know that I had an anam or anyone else I loved.
I could not breathe as a dozen male dryads surrounded us in an austere silence.
I could tell from the calculated way they moved that they were not inexperienced like the ones who had attacked us in the Vale.
These males were a part of a warband for one of the more powerful Tiarnaí. Possibly even my father.
“You,” snarled Ciaran suddenly. And I turned to see he was glaring at a familiar dryad with white-blond hair and icy blue eyes. The one who escaped Prince Faolán.
Which meant this warband had been sent by Laisren. My husband according to dryad law.
The white-haired dryad gave Ciaran a bored glance before he turned to face Riordan.
“It was a pleasure doing business, Vale King. We are thankful to you for returning our wayward princess to us,” said the smug dryad. And then he handed Riordan a bag of what I assumed must be chuka powder.
“No!” I cried out when I was unable to suppress the horror and fear any longer. “Riordan, please!”
“Silence!” snarled the white-haired dryad at me over his shoulder before he turned back to Riordan.
Sage! I gasped down the bond. I would rather die.
Summer, just breathe. It’s alright, he promised calmly. He tried to move closer again, but a dryad kicked his leg out from under him, which sent him to the ground.
“No!” I snarled as another warrior immediately kicked him in the ribs. I tried to dive over my mate to shield him from them, but my shoulder and hair were grabbed.
I did the only thing I could and willed my armour onto Sage to protect him from assault. Then I turned and sank my teeth into the arm of the dryad holding me, which made him scream as I tore away a mouthful of flesh.
Everything happened too fast then as the white-haired dryad turned and smiled when he realized I’d just given him the opportunity to hurt me that he seemed to crave.
The others continued trying to hurt Sage, but my armour was keeping him safe, and it was all that mattered to me.
Even when the leader raised a hand toward me, and I saw a flash of green in his palm, which I already knew would probably stop my heart.
Only Ciaran’s back appeared in front of me so he took that shot of pure adrenaline straight to the chest instead. The blast hit him so hard it threw him into me, and his heavy body almost crushed me when he landed on me.
But I didn’t care, because Ciaran wasn’t moving…
“No, no, no,” I began to sob as I tried to get out from underneath him and help. But it was impossible with my arms tied behind my back and pinned. I could feel a weak pulse of my magic trying to flow into him, but the chuka powder repressed even that tiny trickle.
“NO!” I finally wailed because I could already feel that my friend was not fucking breathing.
“What a waste of a good slave,” muttered someone as they suddenly grabbed Ciaran and heaved him off me.
I turned over as his body rolled onto his back close to where Sage knelt in a horrified silence. I could not see his face beneath my helmet, but I did not need to. I could feel his devastation ripping my heart out of my chest.
Before I could do or say anything, I felt the horribly familiar bite of a collar being fastened around my throat. Its teeth and claws of obedience and control sank deep into me and suffocated the final vestiges of my freedom, but I was too numb to react.
“Bring the living elfkin with us. He may be useful for breaking her,” instructed the leader with a smirk.
The others all laughed as they dragged me and Sage to our feet and left Ciaran laying on the grass surrounded by solemn griffin warriors.
Amira
It was dark inside the tent when I jolted awake hours after Rian left us. The guards were not due until morning for another shift change, so I was surprised when two orcs that I’d never seen before suddenly entered the tent.
Mator sat up on the alert from where he sat at the table playing a card game with himself while we slept.
He was a young orc who had been assigned to us since we were first imprisoned.
He could be overly talkative and loud, which was why I knew his name and what tribe he had come from, and why he joined Rian’s army.
I hadn’t been able to stop myself from sharing an amused smile with Orion the night before as Mator boasted about the battle.
His first real fight, apparently. He told us how Rian faced the entire Fuath army on his own just to hold them off while the army got into formation.
He told us about the silver dragon that had apparently appeared from nowhere to help them.
And about how Rian crowned the new king so that he could heal their court.
I thought his obvious reverence for the Autumn Prince was rather sweet.
Mator was about to ask the newcomers if everything was alright, but one of the strangers abruptly slashed out his throat before he could get out a single word.
I gasped and covered my mouth in horror as I watched the youth collapse. His hands clasped uselessly around his opened throat as he bled out on the floor.
“Amira,” Orion hissed in alarm and yanked against his bindings with an animal snarl. “I will skin you alive if you touch her,” he threatened the two intruders.
“We mean you no harm!” the murderous orc assured us with his hands raised placatingly.
But all I could focus on was Mator’s final gasps and his green blood that rolled down the assailant’s raised knife.
The second orc stepped forward very slowly with another knife to free my wrists, but I stared at Mator as he grew still.
“King Riordan has come to retrieve you,” the first orc advised us as his companion went to release Orion next. His revelation jolted me out of my shock when my heart felt like it burst with a mixture of fear and excitement.
“Riordan is here? Where?” I asked and then scrambled to my feet when Orion was finally cut free of his tethers.
“He is coming, my lady. We were told to wait for him here with you,” the first orc informed me. But I was not really listening as Orion reached me and hugged me.
“You are alright,” he breathed into my hair, his scent like a balm for my harried mind as he squeezed me tight.
After two days sitting just out of reach from one another, it was a huge relief to feel his arms around me.
But it was even better when he kissed me, tasting of those minty chews that always came with our meals.
I tried to connect our minds so I could feel him fully, but although I could sense the bond again, it still felt horribly weak.
I heard a whir of air and felt the heat of a fire behind us, which made me whip around. I saw something similar to the portals the Wild Hunt created forming in the air and worried we had been found out. But then a missed face appeared in the portal as she stepped into the tent.
“Helena!” I cried without thinking and was very glad there was a silencing ward around us.
“You are both all right,” she gushed in utter relief as she rushed forward quickly to wrap her arms around the both of us together. “Thank the gods!”
“Where is Riordan?” asked Orion as she stepped back. Our bond was faint, but I could sense he was as nervous as I was about our king meeting Rian without us there to try and mediate between them.
“He is overseeing a… transaction,” she explained with a pensive look at me. “He will be here soon.”