“Diamond,” Hugo said softly, but his eyes flickered to her guards, who watched the couple through narrowed eyes. “Slow your breathing down.”
Sparks flicked across her darkening vision. He stepped forwards. Diamond instantly stepped away from him. Fear stole her reason. The Queen….
Hugo grabbed her shoulders, so close now his scent made her head swim. Without thinking she blinked, gasping in surprise when her magic flared and her vision changed. Soothing and calming, his silver serpents wrapped around her arms, sliding over her skin, stroking her reassuringly. One floated and touched her face. Tears burned her eyes. She had missed his touch so much. Hugo angled his body so the two elite guards could not see the compassion on his face.
“Diamond, shh…. It’s okay. Take some slow breaths. In through your nose…that’s it, out through your mouth…keep going…slowly. That’s it.” Large calloused fingers reached for hers, disentangling them from her hair. “Leave your hair,” he instructed gently, his touch lingering against her hands before he let go. “Do not let her do this to you. Do not let her break you. It is what she wants: to dominate and control you, to play mind games with you. Whatever she orders this afternoon, you do it. Do you understand? Then you will stay alive. You are strong enough to survive anything she throws at you, Diamond. You just have to believe you are.”
Shocked by his words, she could only stare as he took a step back from her. It was hard to think straight with him so close and touching her like that with his magic. A laugh almost escaped her. How wrong he was about her. She couldn’t even breathe through her anxiety. She was weak in mind and body, and the Queen knew it.
Unable to meet his eyes, she jumped when he lifted his gloved hand. He immediately dropped it when she flinched away. It was not that she feared him, quite the opposite. The memory of his hands against her bare skin, of his hips pushing against hers, made her cheeks flame. She studied his boots. Gods, how could she want someone so much it hurt to look at him?
Oblivious, Hugo stared at the strand of coiled silver resting against the side of her face. A frown etched his brow, his fingers twitching like he wanted to smooth the knot away. Then he pushed his wings out ready for flight.
“Come. I will take you back to your room,” he said firmly.
“No! Thank you,” she barked breathlessly.
“Why not?” Hugo asked, his face smoothing into its customary mask.
“Because you belong to her! Because you are my enemy. How many reasons do you want, Hugo?” she cried. “I just don’t want to be held by you,” she hissed, knowing that was completely untrue.
“Really? Because I seem to remember you begging to stay in my arms the last time we were together,” he reminded her.
Diamond’s cheeks heated as he took another step forwards and, a little hastily, she was forced to step back again.
Hugo raised his dark eyebrows. “Diamond?” he whispered, angling himself further from the two guards watching like hawks. They could not hear nor see his face now. “I am not your enemy. I know you feel your magic reacting to mine whenever we’re close to each other—I know because I can feel it too,” he said. His scar twisted ever so slightly and she saw a smile curl the edges of his mouth.
Mortified, Diamond covered her embarrassment with a scowl. “It isn’t that…I mean—I can feel it but…. I-I’ll walk back,” she stuttered, her cheeks on fire now.
“Of course,” he said, smiling widely as he studied her hot face. For a moment he didn’t say anything before adding, “Enjoy your walk to the wall with Rose. I will fetch you from your room this afternoon at three thirty. And remember what I said: You are strong enough to survive anything she throws at you.”
His words were like a bucket of cold water to her face. She paled. What is his mistress likely to throw at me? Not daring another look at him, frightened she may throw herself at his mercy and beg him to take her away from the palace, Diamond hastily turned on her heel and marched off along the track toward the rear towers of the palace.
Chapter 38
Rose donned a wool shawl and led Diamond by the hand. They walked through the manicured gardens and exited an ornately decorated metal gate that took them from the rear grounds into the large main courtyard.
Diamond’s jaw dropped open. The palace was impressive from the rear gardens, but the scale and grandeur of the whole thing from the front blew her away. Elegant granite buildings of various sizes rose above her. Tall spires, topped with green flags, reached for the blue sky. Turning on the spot, Diamond could see how the palace was built on a large plateau. On one side ornate bridges spanned mighty fissures that seemed to drop away between the rocky cliffs to an ocean—or perhaps even the city below. A long gravel road led to the distant palace gates.
Diamond slowly raised her eyes. The Queen’s tower loomed over her, pink and glittering and resplendent in the sunlight. Inside sat that wicked woman. Diamond turned away trying to calm her fear of what was to happen later.
Queen’s elite guards stood at attention around the edge of the manicured lawn watching all new arrivals. Diamond wondered if she might see Hugo again. More guards, adorned in gleaming Silverbore and leather armour, lined the grand steps and stood to attention either side of the main door. Holy gods, Hugo was terrifying enough on his own, but all of these warriors together made a fearsome sight.
The courtyard was buzzing with carriages, horses and people; smartly dressed men, women and fae coming and going in a steady stream.
“Those gates you can see are about a mile away,” explained Rose. “They’re normally shut, but the Queen is holding court today. The rich and landed always attend her, especially since the Rift Valley is so full of refugees, not to mention Prince Jack’s army. Most of this lot look like the lords who own estates in the Rift Valley. They are all fae, all territorial and are all well and truly disgruntled with the amount of refugees on their land. There is often trouble out in the valley because of it.”
“How do you know so much?” asked Diamond curiously, never having been interested in the politics of her own home town.
“Oh. It pays to know people. You know? Maybe a gorgeous warrior….” She smiled and blushed, dropping her voice so the guards behind them couldn’t hear.
Diamond’s mouth dropped open.
Rose just grinned and hooked Diamond’s arm, walking briskly along the side of the gravel road towards the distant gates.
“Rose! Really? You mean you have a…friend who works for the Queen? Holy gods, how d’you get away with that?”
“Shhh! We’re careful, that’s how,” Rose said, eyeing the guards meaningfully.
Another thought struck Diamond, “Rose? Are you—you know—mated?” she asked, her cheeks warming. Not because she was embarrassed by the question but because she was thinking of someone else entirely.
Rose leaned in conspiratorially and grinned. “His name is Fedron, and he is twenty-four,” she grinned. “And no, we aren’t mated but,” she winked and smiled wickedly, “if he asked me I would do it, be his mate, I mean. It would be a huge commitment but I…well, I guess I love him enough.”
Not much of a declaration of undying love, reflected Diamond, but held her own counsel.
“He would need the Queen’s permission, and the cold-hearted bitch issued an order months ago. None of her soldiers are to mate until the war is over.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but couldn’t hide her disappointment. “Fedron says he agrees. He says it wouldn’t be fair to me to go through creating such a bond when he might be killed. It means sneaking around so his superiors don’t find out, but that’s okay—mostly. Kitty knows—and my friends outside the palace.” She shrugged. “They don’t really like him. They think he’s taking advantage of me—but he’s not.” Her mouth turned to a stubborn line as if she were convincing herself, not Diamond, of those words.
It didn’t sound okay to Diamond; if anything, sneaking around and trying not to get caught sounded dangerous. “Oh,” she responded, not sure
what else to say.
They walked in silence until Diamond turned back to get a view of the vast palace grounds from a distance. Towers, turreted walls and huge sprawling buildings with pointed spiked pinnacles stretched across the far breadth of the plateau. In front of the palace the impressive open grounds were dotted with groups of training soldiers and warriors. A large enclosure that looked like a barracks nestled up against the far outer walls.
“When we get to the palace walls, just behave like we’re supposed to be there. The palace guards have better things to do than worry about two harmless women taking in a view of the city,” advised Rose.
Diamond raised her eyebrows and glanced meaningfully at her guards.
“Oh them? They won’t stop us. Their orders are to stop you leaving the palace or using magic; they won’t give a rat’s ass what else you do,” she responded, grinning at Diamond’s shocked expression. “What? I’m not always quiet and respectable, you know. Come on! It’ll be a fantastic view of the valley today,” Rose said. “It’s so lovely and clear you can probably see the Rift Valley wall too.”
In the distance warriors ran along the battlements, launching into the sky. “I wonder what they’re so excited about, probably some training exercise,” Rose said dismissively. “It’s about six miles from the gates down to the sea on the east side of the island, and about three miles to the docks on the west,” she explained, her steps speeding up whilst she told Diamond about the city.
By the time Rose had finished talking they were within forty feet of the largest gates Diamond had ever seen. It also became obvious something was happening outside the walls. Loud commanding voices bellowed for the gates to be shut. Diamond’s ear drums rattled as a massive pulley system was activated to close the gates, which were clearly made for keeping invading armies out. She stared open-mouthed. In the shadows under the wall, eight huge beasts roared as whips snapped and men bellowed.
Ometons!
Heads down, their muscles bunching and straining under the thick covering of grey and white fur, the northern snow beasts dragged the massive gates shut. Diamond had only seen Ometon pelts when the Ice Witches came to trade at Berriesford market. Normally solitary animals, they were notoriously vicious if riled and had been known to hunt their unfortunate victims down over hundreds of miles, purely by blood scent when angered.
“You know, staying inside the palace walls might actually be a good thing. There have been terrible fights—and even riots—breaking out in the lower levels of the city. Maybe that’s what all the excitement is,” mused Rose, frowning up at the ramparts.
From the barracks and around the city, airborne troops streamed into the sky, bows at the ready.
Diamond gaped. This was surely too great a response for a riot. The two girls grasped each other, unsure what was happening; even their guards looked back toward the palace as if debating whether to grab Diamond and return to their Queen.
Diamond felt a strange prickle along her arms the moment before a deafening roar rocked the sky. Petrified screams rang out in the distance. Diamond’s body rocked with recognition, and she stared up at the huge shadow that glided high above their heads. A great horned head angled down. She could almost feel those red eyes searching for her.
Rose squealed and ducked as fire rained down from above. But the shield held. It crackled and glowed as bright and hot as the sun, but no flame pushed through its power. The dragon bellowed its fury and glided across the blue clear sky, turning on huge outstretched wings to make a second pass.
“What in the name of Chaos is that?!” Rose yelled, straightening up as more screams echoed from the city streets. Suddenly Rhodainian soldiers and Avalonian warriors alike burst into action. Some formed foot squadrons, others flew into formation, then headed out across the city.
“Quick! We need to get to the next section of wall. We’ll be able to see better from there!” shouted Rose, dragging Diamond behind her.
“Why? Can’t we just go up here?” countered Diamond, pointing at the nearest set of steps.
“No. Quickly. We must go this way,” she urged, her eyes flitting to Diamond’s two guards.
Another surge of dragon fire crackled against the shield. Rose began to run, holding tightly to Diamond’s hand. They reached the base of some narrow steps and Rose hoisted her skirts.
“This way. As fast as you can, Diamond,” she panted.
Diamond glanced over her shoulder. Her guards were only a couple of steps behind. The nearest looked as though he were about to grab her. Rose ran up the narrow steps first, then dragged Diamond up the top step past two burley soldiers who seemed to be guarding the stairwell. They eyed the two girls with a frown. Before Diamond knew what was happening, the two soldiers pushed in front of her guards and sliced a dagger across their throats. Diamond looked on horrified as blood spurted from the necks of her captors.
“Come on, this way,” hissed Rose and without a backward glance at the dead warriors, grabbed Diamond’s arm.
Then they ran through a throng of men who seemed to close together in the wake of the two fleeing girls, as if shrouding them. Soldiers and warriors alike, some with Jack’s sigil, some with a serpent adorning their chests, surged around the turreted wall. Rose’s hair came loose and fell down her back in a chestnut curtain. They were close enough to the edge of the wall for Diamond to see the twisted rooftops and chimneys of the sprawling city falling away to the ocean. Above them the ancient shield glowed faintly blue, forming a huge dome.
“It doesn’t normally glow like that,” panted Rose, glancing over her shoulder at Diamond. “It must be that monster’s fire. Look, you can see it…the valley wall…” She pointed, still weaving between warriors who were too preoccupied by the sight of a mythical beast gliding over their heads to pay any attention to the two girls, or the two soldiers hurrying along behind them.
They seemed to be miles up in the air here and could see for eternity. The ridiculously steep sides of the island dropped away into buildings of all shapes and sizes. Apprehensively, Diamond craned her neck to get a glimpse of the labyrinth of streets leading down through the sprawl. Warriors darted through the air, heading towards the ocean where a ship exploded, sending smoke billowing into the air. The dragon flew low over the white-crested waves, a long column of fire igniting more vessels. Even from this distance it was possible to see the flecks of people diving into the water to escape the flames, only to find themselves plucked from the waves by large claws, thrown into the air and cooked alive before the dragon caught them in his jaws.
“Good goddess above!” exclaimed Rose, coming to a sudden halt to stare in horror at the destruction. “It’s destroying ships and eating people….” her voice drifted away as she spun sideways to stare at the distant valley.
“Yeah, it’s roasting them first though,” confirmed a rough voice from behind Diamond.
“One of the others said he heard it was searching for her, or maybe the boy prince. What we need is a warrior like that bastard Casimir to fly this magic wielder thirty miles back to that damned forest and leave her there for it. In fact, sod that. The master’s son could do it…couldn’t he? You know, Rose, use those wings that makes you women lift your skirts so easy.” Rose threw him a dirty look and he grinned.
“Seriously. If we dump her in the ocean outside the shield, that bloody creature might leave this city be.”
Diamond stared at the soldier. Menace glinted in his eyes. She shuffled nearer Rose. Then it registered what he’d said. Hugo had flown her thirty miles, whilst he was injured himself…. How had he managed such a thing?
Rose glared, “Shut up, Ayk. Leave Diamond alone. Just do what you’re supposed to do and get her to the master. Come on,” she urged Diamond. “We need to get you out of here before those dead guards are noticed.”
Once again Diamond found herself propelled onward, this time toward a tower door. Too shocked to fight or question, she stumbled through the entrance into the dark interior, her chest tight
and panicky.
“Rose? Please. What’s happening?” she panted, unsure whether to be pleased they were running away from the palace or scared she was fleeing with men who could kill so easily.
“Don’t worry, they’re taking you somewhere safe,” said Rose, her face in shadow. Dust-filled sunbeams from four small arrow slits were the only source of light.
“Go on just do it. Hurry up! I need to get out of here,” Rose urged, clearly not talking to Diamond.
Large arms encircled Diamond, holding her fast as the other man slammed his fist into Rose’s jaw. Rose fell against the wall, her hands outstretched to save herself.
“Leave her alone!” Diamond yelled.
“Quiet,” growled Ayk, putting one hand over Diamond’s mouth. “Do you wanna bring the whole palace guard down on our heads?”
“Sorry, Rose,” muttered the other soldier, “That will bruise nicely. But I hope it doesn’t get my arse kicked by….”
“Dan! Shut up, you idiot!” hissed Ayk “Go, Rose. We’ve got her. She’ll be fine,” he tried his best to sound reassuring, but Diamond wasn’t convinced.
Holding her face, Rose glanced back anxiously at Diamond.
“Trust them, Diamond. They will help you. Goodbye,” she mumbled, then rather than going down the steps as Diamond expected, Rose ran back out through the door, disappearing into the clamouring soldiers.
Darkness fell again as the door slammed shut. A shadow stepped forward. Diamond wanted to fight. She was sick of being weak, of being pushed around and beaten like she was nothing, like her will didn’t matter.
She bucked and wriggled. Dan stepped forward and pressed a cloth tightly to her face. A bitter herbal smell filled her mouth and nose. This was not a rescue! Desperately Diamond fought and kicked out trying not to breathe in the foul tincture.
The Goddess and The Guardians Boxset: The Complete Romantic Fantasy Quartet Page 24
