“What in Nyx’s name are you talking about?”
“As if you do not know! They’re saying you’re the Sister’s favourite!”
Arii snorted a laugh. “You have got to be jesting, I have only been here for a few months – same as you! Whoever says that must be sleeping through our lessons.”
Behind her, the man groaned once more.
Arii’s violet eyes darted from their target, back to the ashen haired girl.
“I’m not sure what I have done to evoke your ire, but know that I only want to learn, to train, and to do as the Gods bid. I have no quarrel with you!”
Suddenly Nem was darted towards her, silver flashing so quickly that Arii did not have time to register the movement before pain was burning like starlit fire in her gut. The tip of Nem’s blade broke through the barriers of her leathers and sank into her lower abdomen, causing Arii to twist and slam her elbow into Nem’s face – before the girl could cause more damage.
Then the man was standing, his hands falling upon Nem’s shoulders and slamming her against a nearby wall, his eyes wide and dancing with a strange sort of mad desire.
“I’ve never had an assassin before, young too,” he hissed, his movements crazed as he threw Nem across the room like a doll.
Arii gasped as the man flew upon her, his hands at her chest - the smell of mead laced with dark liquorice battered against her senses. They dropped to the floor, her hands flying against his chest as she scrambled desperately into the pool of her magic, fingers groping the silver tendrils and clutching them in her fists. With a cry, she punched a burst of power into her palms, hitting the man square in the chest and sending him flying. He hit the hay, golden strands of dried grass dancing in the air.
Nem was back on her feet as the two young Furies stood side by side, both panting, both staring as the man struggled to his feet.
With a sideways glance, Arii shot a look of pleading Nem’s way. If they did not cast this ludicrous feud aside – then this mission was surely going to fail. Her eyes met blue, and Arii saw a very subtle change within their depths.
“I don’t want to fight with you any longer, Nem,” she whispered, seeing the twitch in the girl’s jaw as she swiped her sleeve along her bloody lips. “Look, I’ll even give you the killing blow – if that makes you feel better.”
Nem huffed, pausing as she slid her tongue over her teeth. After a few seconds, she finally ground out, “Fine.”
Feeling a tiny sense of triumph – mixed with the faint lingering of pain in her stomach from the girl’s blade - Arii offered her a grin. Nem’s eyes lightened at the look, before Arii turned and dashed at the man.
As he got to his feet, she flew upon his back, hooking her legs around his torso and locking her arms around his neck, jerking them back as Nem drew her dagger.
Face twisting, Nem plunged her dagger into the man’s chest, straight through his ribs and into his heart – just like they had been taught. The man jerked, eyes wide and mouth agape in shock.
Even with the steel in his heart, the man did not fall.
He moved forward, a low, unearthly sound leaking from his throat as his boots clapped against the dirt. Nem’s eyes widened, and Arii felt anger spear through her veins.
He did not deserve to live. Men like him, men who preyed upon the weak deserved no mercy.
She would not give mercy.
Her blade was as swift as silver, sliding through the flesh and muscle of his throat, raining the hay with a shower of crimson. The man gurgled as he fell to his knees, and Nem stepped back nimbly as he fell face first into the muck.
“Once your thread is spun and measured…” whispered Arii, her eyes meeting Nem’s as the girl lifted her chin.
“There is no escaping your final fate.” Nem finished, breath drifting into the night air as the two girls stared at one another for a few heartbeats, faces unreadable.
Arii was first to speak, her voice gentle as she said.
“Let’s go home, Nem.”
~~~
Nem sat with Arii within the golden castle in her new rooms, comfortably situated at the little table near the window as Arii’s mind drifted over distant memories. The view beyond the glass was of the castle gardens, which at that moment were as dark as pitch.
Nem lifted a goblet of water to her lips, her eyes fixed on Arii across the small space. How Nem had known of her change of lodging in the golden behemoth so quickly, she had no idea.
“Training with Master Wolfe, hmm?”
Arii’s eyes slid to her friend before narrowing. There was a strange tone in Nem’s voice that she could not quite put her finger on.
“Mhmm,” Arii hummed in confirmation, as if she could not bear to speak aloud.
Nem spoke, her voice nonchalant as she studied her friend. “There is something about that man that has shivers shooting down my spine.” A pause. “And they aren’t bad shivers,” she said, a sly grin forming.
Arii stared. Could Nem feel the same weighted, heated and charged air that lingered around the mysterious man like she could?
Clearing her throat, Arii swallowed before speaking.
“He definitely keeps things interesting,” she hedged.
Nem’s eyes shone with knowledge that Arii was not sure she was ready to discuss. Nemesis Rion knew her like no one else did. Their friendship spanned many years, the two only finding friendship after a complicated and heated beginning. It had taken time, but they had formed a tight bond during their training at the School of Fate. The only other person to know her better was Krepth.
She wondered what the sly fluff ball was up to.
Nem pulled her attention from her thoughts as she steered the conversation away from mysterious hooded figures.
“I have heard word of more sightings of carriages bearing the royal crests loading supplies in Amberbourne. A reliable source claims he saw Nexus Crystals inside one of the carriages.”
This had Arii’s brows rising.
That reliable source meaning Krepth.
“Nexus Crystals?” said Arii, brows furrowing.
“Hard to believe, I know.” said Nem, nibbling a honey biscuit, her face thoughtful.
“Those crystals have not been seen since… well I’d like to say over a hundred years ago,” mumbled Arii, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth in thought.
Nem nodded.
“Why now?”
With a shrug, her friend paused in her nibbling and her eyes met vivid purple. Arii had no need for her magical veil while sitting with Nem. Undulled, her skin was luminous in the moonlight, her purple eyes glimmering as half her face was bathed in golden candlelight, and the other lit with silver light. Nem read the slowly forming fire in Arii’s eyes, and she inclined the biscuit in her direction as she said. “You’re going to Amberbourne.”
It was not a question. Nem knew the train of Arii’s thoughts.
“Tonight.” Arii confirmed, standing and heading to her dresser to snatch up her daggers.
~~~
Nem offered to accompany her to Amberbourne, but Arii refused. She planned to slip into the town, break into one of the carriages and hopefully snatch a crystal for observation. Besides, she made quicker work on her own.
The moon hung high in the sky as Arii silently slipped from the castle, pulling the reins of a black gelding. She could have danced a jig through the castle gates unnoticed and felt a shiver of anger at how easy it was to slip through. Was Valdis posting blind men to the castle walls? Or were all available bodies being shipped to Bonemire?
She may have used a tiny dip of magic to aid her, but that was beside the point.
Swiftly and cloaked in shadows, her mount flew across the bridge heading east. With a little magic in the creature’s legs, she would be in Amberbourne in half the time it took to
get there with Commander Hawke’s group. She had to make sure she was back before sunrise, lest she incur the wrath of Elijah Wolfe.
Her lips pulled in a sly grin.
Perhaps he would give her a tongue lashing?
Her toes curled in her boots of their own accord and she laughed into the wind as it whistled past, flinging her cloak out like wings in her wake. Gods it felt good to be flying across the stones, through the wind, her gelding sprinting like wolves were upon their heels. The fresh air filled her lungs as she tilted her head back.
The golden castle of Viridya was a clean, impressive place – but she had begun to feel trapped. A Fae feeling trapped was a bad thing, normally resulting in a mindless flail to escape their confines. She was used to going where she wanted – whenever she wanted. Any boundaries were of her own making.
Cool fingers of night air caressed her neck and cheeks, and she urged the horse on with a nudge of her heels as the pavestones below turned to a dirt road. The night was unusually calm, hardly a cloud in the sky. She did not need to draw upon magic to enhance her night vision - the moonlight lit her way like silver torchlight.
Her mount’s hooves slammed the ground, dust rising in her wake as she entered the forest surrounding Amberbourne. Arii knew it would be wiser to not follow the road, and travel through the trees themselves instead. There could be thieves or bandits lying in wait. This would slow her down though, and she was limited for time.
She decided she would risk the road.
Her mount huffed as they sprinted, the trees thickening around them and bowing along the road as if to form an arch above her. It felt almost like the forest was warning her back, and a cloud began to drift across the moon.
It was at that moment an arrow whistled past her ear.
And then her mount was falling beneath her.
With a surprised animal scream, the gelding’s front and neck slammed into the dirt, throwing her over board. She rolled and skidded on her feet, before flipping backwards to narrowly avoid another arrow. It lodged in the ground before her as she swiftly drew her daggers.
Crouched in the dirt, her lips curled to bare bloody teeth. Her face had met with the ground, and her bottom lip had split. Shadows emerged from the trees, flashes of steel and glints of arrow tips, aimed at her heart.
Bandits.
With a snarl, she stood and felt the cool press of a blade at her neck.
Absolutely-fucking-brilliant.
She had been too consumed with her destination that she thought the gods may just give her a sprinkle of luck this night.
It seemed she was wrong.
“What do we have here?” said a man, his cloak pulled back, revealing a bald head as he clicked his tongue and studied his prey. “Lone traveller on the road?”
“Buzz off, flies. I have nothing of value on me. You would have been better to take my horse.” Her eyes slid to the motionless mass a few feet away. “Pity you have the brains of a sewer rat,” she spat, grinning through crimson lips.
The man did not look away, pressing closer and inspecting her face. “Don’t always need coins, girl. Sometimes we be needin’ entertainment. It’s lonely out on the road.”
She heard a smatter of laughter around her. At least a dozen men accompanied him.
Filthy bottom feeders. She would be sure to take off each of their manhoods while they watched.
“You’re going to regret it if you touch me…” Her voice was low, gentle and deadly.
“Oh my! Scary little woman! You’ll make for some interestin’ sport. Greyson, bring me those leather straps you love so mu-“
Suddenly his speech was cut short as a dagger protruded from his throat. The blade was speared from the back, straight through to the front, the tip glittering ruby in the moonlight. Eyes wide, mouth opening and closing like a fish, the man began to topple. Grabbing his body, Arii quickly pulled him in front of her like a shield as a volley of arrows were let loose upon her. The man’s body shuddered as the arrows made contact, and she shifted towards the trees.
Who had thrown the dagger?
Her question was soon answered. A dark figure leaped from the back of a thundering dark stallion, rolling across the dirt and arms spearing out to toss knives at the men surrounding her.
Thwack
A dagger hit one man between the eyes.
Thwack
A second buried in another’s chest.
Arii knew exactly who her shadowed saviour was instantly. He moved like death on the wind, his sword a blur as he met the steel blade of one of the bandits.
Elijah.
Her eyes darted to a bandit as he drew an arrow from his quiver, shouts and grunts sounding all around them as he aimed his weapon at the new arrival. Unsure of how many bandits there were exactly, she decided best to fight until nothing moved. She sprinted at the bowman closing the space between them in the blink of an eye. Willing magic to coat her daggers, she spun and sheared her blade through the man’s wrist, carving through bone and wood like soft butter.
Twisting, she threw the dagger at a man who was charging towards her, a battle cry erupting from his lips. Thump. The dagger embedded the man square in the ribs. Shooting forward, Arii placed her hand upon the man’s back as he flew by, pushing herself to flip over his careening body. Eyes tracking the scene before her, Arii sprinted back towards her hooded saviour, adrenaline causing a sizzle to dance along her skin.
Elijah was carving through men like they were dummies in a training ring. To the backdrop of winking stars and a full moon, the bodyguard felled men with grace and fluidity unlike anything she had witnessed before. His cloak billowed out as he swirled, and she found the sight hauntingly beautiful.
Soon they were back to back, panting lightly.
“What the fu-”
“Where in the name of the gods were you going tonight?” He cut her off, his voice a snarl as Elijah kicked a man who charged at them - square in the chest. Arii slashed another man across his face with her dagger.
“None of your godsdamned business!”
Elijah drew his sword across one man’s chest, ruby droplets glittering in the moonlight as he growled, “It is my business; you answer to me now!”
Their bodies danced around each other, two dark forms flashing with silver as they dipped and twisted, their movements fluid as lives ended all around them. When Elijah dipped, Arii’s blade sliced the air where he had just been – gliding through leather and flesh.
Arii’s head snapped back to Elijah as another man charged them, and as if they were of one mind, Elijah ducked and Arii pressed her back to his, using his solid mass to roll across him and strike the man down with an enchanted dagger to his face and chest, the blade sliding from chin to belly as easily as carving a turkey.
Arii panted and realised suddenly that there were no bandits left.
Reluctantly, she straightened, and her eyes met Elijah.
He stood, his breath clouding before the opening of his hood.
The cold air sizzled between them, and his voice was a low growl as he said, “Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“A woman never tells.”
“I do not believe you to be a simple maidservant, you kill without hesitation or remorse!”
Behind her, a groan sounded as one of the bandits who had managed to survive the carnage began to rise. Arii’s dagger twisted through her fingers, her body dipping - and her blade was suddenly lodged through the man’s eye.
“Bad men who prey upon the weak do not deserve remorse,” she hissed into the air.
The thump of the man’s body hitting the dirt was the only sound in that moment. Elijah seemed to be staring, clouds drifting from his mouth.
“Keep your hooded nose out of my business!” Arii snarled.
Teeth sli
ghtly bared, Elijah was suddenly in her face. Just out of reach of seeing beneath his hood. “We are going back to the castle, now!”
“Fuck off!”
“You have the bloody temper of a Kryvern!” he bellowed at her.
“Oh yeah? Well, maybe under that hood you have the face of one!”
Elijah snarled and turned from her, dipping to retrieve his knives.
“Gods you are juvenile.”
“And you’re a fucking son of a-”
“Miss Clearwater, women do not speak that way.”
“Shove it up your arse, Wolfe!”
With a dark chuckle, Elijah shoved past her to approach his stallion.
Arii hated to admit it, but for just a few minutes, they had made a formidable team. Where he moved, she moved in unison. Where their blades travelled, men fell as if breathing acid on the wind. Naught an opening was left undefended.
The bandits had not stood a chance.
Shooting a glance in the direction of Amberbourne, Arii knew there was no way she could slip away now, and there was no chance that Elijah would agree to come with her.
With a long, theatrically drawn-out sigh, Arii began to retrieve her weapons from the cooling corpses strewn around road.
Elijah was waiting by his horse, as still as stone, although she almost expecting the man to be tapping his foot expectantly.
“The bodies?” she gestured to the dark shadows around them.
“I’ll send for a crew as soon as we return to the castle,” he said dismissively.
Slowly they began to head back to Viridya in silence.
After a few moments, he spoke. “What were you doing out here, Arii?”
She wiped the blood from her dagger on her cloak as they walked. Her name on his lips caused heat to slither down her spine. Gods, she was glad he was human and could not smell what it did to her body. Again, she was wondering how this mysterious man who made her blood boil with anger somehow managed to cause fire to coil in her belly. She dabbed at her split lip with the back of her sleeve and remained silent for a long moment.
Then she threw caution to the wind and decided to take another reckless chance this night. “I heard rumour of Nexus Crystals aboard supply wagons in Amberbourne. I wanted to see it for myself.”
Love, Blood & Fury Page 17
