She scrutinized him for another moment, seeing the sincerity on his face. “I’ll consider it, once this is over.” Her skin still tingled as she recalled the elements she held moments ago.
James took her hand, running his thumb over her fingers. “Let’s get this over with.”
They walked the rest of the way in companionable silence until they stood in front of the castle.
Chapter Eleven
The Final Battle
Gray stones stretched high enough they blocked out the sun. “Wow. It’s even bigger than I imagined it would be,” Adrian’s jaw dropped, nearly hitting his neck.
Speechless, James nodded in agreement.
Eric scratched his jaw. “If we’re this close to the castle, is it possible the king knows?”
Unsure, Rhea shrugged. “It’s possible, of course, but I wouldn’t bet on it. If he employs mages, though, I would say there’s a good chance his men at arms know.”
When they got close enough for her to realize the castle didn’t have a moat, Rhea frowned. Shrugging a shoulder, she wondered if the royal family considered themselves safe enough, because they lived on a large island. A moat would probably be redundant.
They didn’t want to use their power to find another way in, but they also didn’t want to walk through the main entrance. Talking over each other, the twins pondered the problem. “What do we do now?”
“Can we use Mirror?” Although comfortable with their own power, the boys didn’t know a considerable amount about the laws of magic.
Agreeing with James’s idea about using Mirror, she turned to Eric. “Let’s find somewhere a bit less conspicuous than directly in front of the castle gates. It wouldn’t surprise me to find we’re still being watched.”
He followed her direction and gestured for the twins to quickly move over into a small, bush lined alcove, surrounded on three sides by the castle wall. “Act like we belong here and know what we’re doing,” he instructed.
Adrian straightened his back, grasping Rhea’s hand in his own as he followed his big brother. His twin stood on Rhea’s other side.
“This should be safe enough.” Eric leaned against a towering tree at the edge of the forest.
Grass stood tall enough to tickle the tips of her fingers. She checked to see if the castle wall was visible from where they stood. Unable to see the upper walkways and satisfied the soldiers wouldn’t be able to catch sight of them from above, she turned back to the guys.
Mirror stretched out her wings at Rhea’s command, feathers flattening to create an easy surface to watch. A picture of the castle slowly came into view, almost as if catching sight of a mirage in a desert.
“Why is she moving so slowly?” Adrian touched the bird’s head as she struggled to pull up the image.
“Is she sick? Can she even get sick?” Shifting his weight, James moved closer to the bird.
Rhea focused on the mirrored surface, not wanting to miss a single thing. A white dotted line appeared, showing her a small side entrance meant for the servants. It stood a couple hundred feet from them. “She’s not sick. If I were to guess, I would say there’s some sort of magic wards covering the area. She needs to push past it to give us the answers we need, and she needs to do it without alerting anyone. It’s less likely to be noticed if she proceeds slowly.”
Startled, Adrian grabbed Mirror, shoving her in a pouch on his belt before she could react while shoving Rhea against Eric’s chest. “Here comes company, and they don’t seem happy we stepped out of their sight.”
They didn’t get considerable warning before light dawned in Eric’s eyes, and he turned, pushing her against the tree he’d been leaning against. His body pressed into hers, and he dropped his forehead to hers. “Is this okay?” His lips hovered, brushing against hers as he spoke.
“Yes, but what...” She trailed off as his lips grazed hers.
She found it difficult to articulate her ideas, especially when his hand dropped to her rear, pulling her flush against his body. She pulled back, lips throbbing, as an unfamiliar voice asked, “Can we help you?”
Panting for breath, Eric followed her to capture her lips once more.
One of the twins chuckled. “Please excuse the happy lovebirds. Her father finally gave his permission to wed. They hoped the king will grant them an audience.”
The man laughed softly. “I remember those days. Alright. Don’t loiter long.” His steps clanged loudly as he ambled off.
Kissing Eric, a part of her wanted to panic, because, although she kissed James earlier, the other two didn’t witness it. She worried the twins would be upset they didn’t get a kiss to match. Pulling back and tucking her head against Eric’s chest, Rhea breathed a sigh of relief after the guard left.
When she finally worked up the nerve to lift her head and meet their eyes, neither seemed to be upset about the kiss. In fact, it didn’t seem they noticed it at all. Could this what being in a relationship with all of them would be like? She didn’t want to constantly be afraid of showing them affection. Perhaps if she gave both of the twins a kiss... Her ideas for kisses derailed as James gripped her arm, gently pulling her away from Eric. “I hate to cut this short, but we need to get going. I’m afraid the guard will come back.”
Eyes glazed over with lust, Eric shook his head to clear it.
Pulled away from him, she still gripped his hand, squeezing it gently. They needed to get going. As he pulled a perturbed bird from his pouch, Adrian gently soothed her by rubbing her neck. Mirror twisted her head against his skin. Clearly she would easily forgive him if he continued stroking the back of her neck.
“Time to go.” In a cajoling tone, Adrian pushed them to get going.
The coast appeared clear as they left the secluded area, heading for the narrow wooden door situated at the bottom of one of the towers.
Rhea kept glancing behind them, worried someone would notice them walk through the door. The spacious, circular room they stepped into appeared to be empty, aside from a couple chairs sitting by the fireplace. Against the far wall, a set of stairs curved upward and out of sight.
Mirror led them upwards, stopping only when they ran out of stairs to climb. A wooden door blocked them from the top floor. When Eric turned the knob, he gave them a puzzled glance as the door opened freely.
Their magical guide didn’t protest as they entered the room, leading him to believe the coast was clear. Like the vision Mirror showed them, a thick layer of dirt and hay covered the floor. In the center of the room, five women sat on the floor, chained like dogs. The pentagram etched underneath them still glowed faintly.
“This seemed too easy.” Wrinkling his nose at the stench of unwashed bodies, Adrian trailed off. The poor women stuck in place, forced to relieve themselves where they sat, making the smell even worse.
“How do we plan on unchaining them?” She didn’t relish the idea of getting any closer to where the women sat, but someone would need to unchain them.
“I’ll do it.” Adrian moved closer to the center of the room. The metal chains clinked together as the nearest woman scooted back, eyes wide with terror. Her stringy hair hung to her waist, and filth covered her face and arms. Covered in so much guck, Rhea couldn’t be sure of her natural skin tone.
He squatted down a few steps away from her. “We’re not here to hurt you, okay. I need to examine your chains to set you free.” He stretched one hand out in front of him, palm open, waiting for her to make the decision to come forward.
As she looked around, something occurred to her, and she held a hand up. “Wait. I have a hunch. Once you do the first one, you’ll sever them from the pentagram, so you’ll need to hurry with the others. I’m betting the king will notice the sudden decrease of his power.”
Adrian glanced at the metal tethering each woman to the floor. “Okay. Got it. I need to be quick.” Taking a deep breath, he nearly choked on the foul taste that invaded his throat.
Acting as the lookout by the door, Eric turned to
check on them. “After we free the five of them, I’ll take them to the next floor down. I assume someone will be dispatched to investigate up here. It would be best if we got the women out of here before then.”
He nodded to show he was listening and then reached for the first woman’s manacles. “Ready?”
Rhea’s heart sped up at his actions. Even though they needed to hurry, he spoke gently, trying to get them to trust him.
The woman he waited in front of hesitantly slid closer to him, holding her bound wrists up. He hummed softly to calm the women. In all the times Rhea watched Adrian, she never witnessed him manipulate metal like he prepared to do. “Here goes nothing.” He yanked on the links, pouring in his power to weaken the metal. He used excessive force, and the rusted metal nearly disintegrated in his grasp.
He took shallow breaths as he quickly moved on to the next woman. The glowing shape underneath them slowly faded. Now knowing how to free them, he could go faster. Rhea remained uncertain about what they needed to do with these women, but they couldn’t stay here.
Two of the women, the last to be freed, bared their teeth at him, snapping. Both tried to bite him when he got close, but Eric tackled the first one, restraining her. The second one put up a fight, but the chains weighed her down. Leaving their chains intact, Adrian simply yanked them out of the floor after weakening the stones around them.
Her heart thundered, and her skin crawled as she worried this woman might harm him. Pushing all of her power into crafting a portal, the air in the room changed. Wind swept through the straw, pulling it into the portal. She no longer struggled to pull oxygen into her lungs, and her nose didn’t burn with the stench. Their clothing whipped in all directions, and Rhea spoke loudly over the noise. “Send them through. This will get them out of the way.”
Mirror guided the portals destination, and she trusted it would take these women somewhere safe.
Adrian calmly and swiftly explained to the most lucid woman the portal would take them to safety. The way the woman watched him, with hunger in her eyes, made her skin crawl. Rhea watched her grasp his wrist in both of her hands, murmuring something to him. He didn’t respond as he gently pushed her toward the portal.
Rhea turned to her bird, trying not to focus on the uncomfortable sensations flooding the pit of her stomach as the women went through. When the last of the women crossed through, the portal collapsed.
“Is anyone coming?”
Mirror unfolded her wings, showing the armed guards running up the stairs.
From behind her, Adrian gave a short laugh. “I’ve got this.” With no time to prepare, he picked up a stray bit of straw, muttering a word to enchant it. Then he placed it in the center of the room. In the last few days, either Adrian’s power or his confidence grew stronger, because he didn’t seem worried about how long the spell would last.
When the illusion took hold, they all moved to stand flush against the wall inside the door.
At last, a large group of armed men dashed into the room. The illusion moved to mimic the actions of them rescuing the women. Even the light of the illusion portal was bright. While the soldiers all rushed forward, trying to stop the illusion, their group found it easy to slip unnoticed out the door. Somehow, Adrian masked their presence as part of the illusion.
Even with powering the illusion, he managed to shut the door then, manipulating the lock with his magic, the men wouldn’t be able to follow them. “Now we search for the king?” he asked, beaming proudly at his work.
“Mirror?” The bird flitted to her hands, spreading her wings and waiting for a command. “Where do we find the king?”
The silver bird stood perfectly still for a moment before leaping back into the air and zooming down the stairs.
They followed her through the castle corridors. After some twists and turns, they passed a couple of maids. Realizing she drew attention to their group, Rhea grabbed her bird.
An empty storage room came up on the right side of the corridor, and Eric pulled Rhea in. The twins followed them.
“What now?” Adrian questioned.
“We need to memorize the route to the king. A magical bird will be a bit conspicuous flying through the halls.” Eric gently took the bird from Rhea.
She scowled at his manhandling of her familiar, but Mirror didn’t seem to protest. The bird unfolded her wings, laying her feathers flat without being asked. A map of the castle slowly appeared, with a faint red line guiding them to the throne room.
Smiling faintly, Eric traced the short red line to the throne room. The route would be easy to remember. He tucked Mirror into his pocket and led the way out of the room, back down the hall. A few more turns, and they found themselves in front of an ornate set of blue double doors. On each door, a dragon stood out in bas-relief, flowing from the top to the handles.
Before Eric could tug on one of them, its eyes started glowing red. One of the doors opened on its own, allowing them entrance.
“This is beyond creepy. It’s like they’re watching me,” Adrian murmured softly to his twin.
He silently agreed even as he bent forward to examine them. “I do wonder what the glowing means.”
Watching him inspect the dragons, Rhea twitched. “Probably nothing good. Let’s go inside before I lose my nerve.”
Grimacing, Eric touched the door handle to push it open farther. “I’m with Adrian. These things are freaking creepy.”
Power hummed through the dragon head, reverberating in Rhea’s mind.
The doors opened into a massive room. A couple of ivory pillars ran from the ceiling to the floor, with more dragons carved into each one. She shivered at the weight of all their eyes on her.
Farther in a couple of steps led to a dais. In the middle sat a large chair, covered with blue fabric and edged in gold. Seated on the throne, a man watched their group with beady-eyed satisfaction.
“Finally, you made it. And evaded all of my men in the process.” He ran a hand thoughtfully through his thick, charcoal beard. “Impressive. Unfortunately, your journey ends here.” He narrowed his focus on Rhea. “You will be the first replacement for my draining room. The men,” he shifted his gaze to each of the brothers, “will join me or die.”
He stood and descended the stairs. His dark hair fell in scraggly clumps to the middle of his back. Advancing, he displayed his yellowed teeth in a furtive grin.
The stout king measured almost as wide as he did tall.
As he stepped in front of Rhea, Eric drew the king’s attention. “We came to petition for our lives. For the lives of all mages. It’s time you stop enslaving those with magic. Cease vilifying them. Let them, let us, be free.”
Chuckling, the king filled the room with the merciless sound. “Why? It grants me access to power unimagined! Even if you beg, I won’t give up the magic I’ve syphoned. I am the king, and my word is law.” Voice thunderous and cold, it filled the throne room. “Submit or die!”
“We will not submit. We would rather fight.”
James squeaked out agreement as he and Adrian stepped up beside their brother.
Oddly, Eric released Mirror from her confines. She flew up, landing on his shoulder.
The king took another step forward, entranced with the silver bird. “What manner of species is this?” Waving away the question, the king paused, still some distance from them. “No matter, I will take it by force.”
Feigning bravery, she stood straighter in defiance. “If anything happens to me, she’ll be useless.”
The sly twist of the king’s lips chilled her. “Ah, but nothing shall happen to you. You’ll spend out the rest of your natural life chained to the floor. Of course, this cannot be avoided, all to prevent unnecessary escape attempts, you understand.”
Engaging in his verbal sparring wouldn’t fix anything. She bit her tongue to stop from making a snappy comeback.
The king lifted his fingers, as light gathered on them. It continued to get bigger and brighter until he smirked at the
group, flinging a ball of flames at them.
Eric shoved Rhea back, where James caught her as he absorbed the energy from the blast, keeping the heat from hitting the others. He could withstand it, but the others wouldn’t be as lucky. His clothes weren’t fireproof and started to smoke as he struggled to contain the spell. Threads charred on his sleeves unraveling the stitches, turning his long-sleeved tunic into a sleeveless one. Flames leapt down his now bare arms as he turned his focus to the king, blasting the squat, older man with his own spell.
The king coughed, shaking his head with deranged amusement. “Too bad for you. I’m impervious to a flame spell.”
When he stepped up next to his brother, Adrian scowled at the king. He glanced around, and Rhea knew his gift wouldn’t be of use here. Not unless he could gather enough power to force a stalagmite through the flooring.
The king’s pupils disappeared, his eyes going completely white as he began casting a new spell. Eric pulled at the fiery power of the king’s spell, unraveling it before it could be fully cast.
The king growled in frustration at his plan being thwarted, and a spear of ice appeared out of nowhere, careening at Rhea. She gasped, flinching.
Easily, Eric easily cast a spell to dissipate the ice spear. Narrowing his eyes at the older man, Eric studied him. The king knew his magic centered on fire. Why use ice against a fire mage?
The king smirked as a small crack appeared in the floor underneath him. As if he already knew exactly what would happen next. Seconds before a stone jutted up out of the floor, a bright flash blinded Rhea and the boys.
Blinking to clear their eyes, Adrian recovered first, throwing himself at Eric and tumbling them to the ground, as a white dragon lunged at Eric from the place the king once stood.
“Where did the dragon come from?” James asked, covering Rhea’s head as a chunk of the ceiling came loose, dropping debris on them.
The room got colder, Eric struggled to heat the air around them. Their breath frosted in the air around them, untouched by his fires, Eric spun to face the dragon. It screeched loudly enough to shake the walls.
Falling For Them Volume 2: Reverse Harem Collection Page 94
