Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3)

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  But where else could the key lead? I pocketed both crystal keys and stood up. I took one more glance up at the prison box. It would forever be a reminder of what darkness could do to a man.

  I walked back through the frozen cave and out through the archway.

  18

  Ainsley

  “No matter how strong James’ love is for me, that doesn’t fix everything.” If love was the answer, I’d have stayed at James’ side instead of traveling half of Energo with a virtual stranger.

  “I never said it would fix it, but it will help. It is our only chance.” Adaline sounded so concerned and genuine, but I didn’t know her. It could have all been an act. Except it wasn’t. Maybe I was gullible, but she seemed so much like the real deal. Her eyes were open pools that made it appear impossible she was hiding anything.

  “He sent me away. He seemed pretty intent on me doing whatever I needed to do without him.”

  “But you readily admit that he loves you.” Adaline shifted in her seat.

  “He sent me away because he believed it was the only way.” I blinked back tears. I wasn’t allowed to cry. There was too much going on to waste time with being sentimental; I couldn’t use sentimentality.

  “Where is he?”

  “Elron should know. I hadn’t made it very far when he found me.”

  “I did not hear that part of the story yet.” Adaline kept her eyes on me.

  “I had a vision and went searching,” Elron explained.

  A knock on the door had us all frozen.

  “Who is it?” Adaline called. She hadn’t asked Elron that same question, so his rhythmic knock must have been some sort of code.

  “Arlo,” a male voice replied.

  I recognized the name of the Elf we met when we’d first stepped through the portal.

  “Come in,” Adaline turned to the door.

  The door opened and Arlo walked in. He bowed to both mother and son. He gave me another long look as if he didn’t know what to make of me.

  Arlo straightened. “I apologize for the intrusion, but Malton is demanding an audience with Elron. It has all been made worse since an intruder was found right where he opened the portal.”

  “An intruder?” Elron frowned.

  “Yes. He claims to have been following the girl.” Arlo pointed to me.

  “Where is the intruder?” Adaline asked calmly. “Is he near?”

  Arlo nodded. “He has been brought to the castle.”

  “Ainsley.” Adaline touched my arm gently. “I am afraid we will have to make a detour before we find James.”

  I shook my head. “We are out of time. Maybe I should go back alone.”

  “Do you think you could find James alone?” Elron pushed back his chair and stood. “Besides, we need to be there. You need our help.”

  “What if the king doesn’t let you help?” I asked a question I feared the answer to.

  Adaline laughed.

  “What? Did I say something wrong?”

  “No, but the king cannot stand in the way of what must be done.”

  “What must be done? This is just our plan.” I pushed back my chair.

  “It is a plan to rid the worlds of the greatest evil. No one could stand in the way of that.” Adaline spoke with finality.

  Elron held out his hand.

  “I hope you are right,” I mumbled accepting Elron’s hand to help me stand even though I didn’t need it at all.

  Elron grinned. “My mother is always right.”

  Arlo led the way toward the doorway, and Elron clasped my hand. “Remember not to look down.”

  “I’ll try not to this time.”

  “We are going to be climbing even higher.”

  “Higher?” I gasped. I couldn’t imagine climbing higher into the treetops.

  “Yes. Remember I told you to just wait until you saw the castle.”

  “She will be fine.” Adaline spoke as though there was no other possibility. “She has survived far worse than this.”

  “She has.” Elron smiled. “She is not quite as weak as I had expected.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I guess there is a plus to low expectations.”

  Arlo laughed, but then tried to cover it up with a cough.

  We didn’t retrace our steps. Instead Arlo led the way further down the wooden plank that served as the main walkway. As we walked, several groups of Elves stepped to the side to let us pass. They all bowed and curtseyed just as the others had.

  At first nothing was different. We passed at least a dozen more tree houses, before we reached another ladder. Elron suggested I follow Arlo, and he followed behind. I held onto the ropes as I tried counting the steps to help me focus and distract me from the faraway ground below. We climbed forty-eight steps before reaching another plank.

  I looked down, and my hand flew to my chest. My heart beat erratically.

  “I told you not to look down,” Elron scolded.

  “You make it sound easy. When someone tells you not to do something it makes you need to do it more.”

  “Come along, relax yourself.” Adaline pointed to another ladder. “We need to keep moving.”

  “Wait. There’s more? We are going even higher?” I’d thought I had survived the worst already.

  “Of course.” Elron nodded. “The castle is in the clouds.”

  “Holy sh—" I stopped myself before I let the curse slip out. Cursing in front of Adaline felt wrong.

  “Do not worry. Our air is not thin here. You will be able to breath,” Adaline reassured me.

  “I wasn’t worried about that part.” Although maybe I should have been. Breathing was clearly important.

  “Then what are you worried about?” Arlo asked.

  I went with my primary worry. “Falling to my death.”

  “You would only fall if you slipped, and you seem to have good balance.” Arlo started toward the next ladder.

  “That’s what you think.” I reluctantly followed him and began the next climb.

  We repeated the same process over and over. By the fifth time I was no longer counting steps. Instead I was worrying over how long it would take to get to James at this rate. I really hoped whoever had followed me was someone I wanted to see, but in Energo, people who fit that description were few and far between.

  Maybe it was James. The thought crossed my mind several times, but each time I realized it couldn’t be. They would have recognized him, and they wouldn’t have treated him as just any intruder.

  We continued up until I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. I stepped off a ladder and waited for someone to point out the next one to me.

  I took a moment to get used to the somewhat solid ground before looking around. And that’s when I saw the giant wooden castle. It was perched on the branches of the largest tree I had ever seen. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it from the ground, but all the trees had seemed so tall. As Elron had promised, it was in the clouds. We were in the clouds. “We made it.”

  Elron grinned. “We did.”

  “It’s beautiful.” Despite everything I had to admit that. The gorgeous castle, the clouds. If it wasn’t for how ridiculously high up we were, and everything else goes on, it would have been a dream experience.

  “I told you it would be.”

  “Do I have to go inside?”

  “You must be curious about the intruder.”

  “It can’t be him.” I admitted my disappointment out loud. I wanted to see James. I both missed and needed him.

  “James you mean?” Adaline asked.

  “Yes. Everyone would have known it was him.”

  “That is true. It will not be James, but it may be someone who can help us.”

  “Or someone who wants to hurt me.” My thoughts immediately went to Gregor, and I shivered.

  “No one will harm you here.” Adaline patted my back. “You are protected.”

  “Why?” I had to ask the question. “Because I may be a Winthrop’s daughter?”


  “Because you are my guest.” Elron linked his arm with mine. “Your lineage also helps.”

  “But what if your dad decides to listen to the intruder?”

  “Have you forgotten he is also Elven? He will be able to read the intruder’s heart as well as yours.”

  “And what if it’s the same?” Without knowing who the intruder was, it was impossible to guess anything about the type of person it was.

  “Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?”

  I looked at the castle. “I have plenty to worry about, but the biggest risk is wasting time, so we need to do this quickly.”

  Adaline nodded. “A very good attitude.”

  “A desperate attitude.”

  Elron led me toward the large double doors. He didn’t need to knock. The doors flew open as soon as we approached.

  The guards at the door bowed as we walked into the impossibly tall entryway,

  I struggled to take in all of my surroundings. The tall walls were etched with words in a language I assumed had to be Elven. Large chandeliers similar to the ones in Adaline’s cottage hung from the cathedral ceiling, only these consisted of a variety of different colors giving the effect of various types of gems.

  Elron continued forward, pulling me with him.

  “I want one of those for my room. That is if I ever get back there,” I muttered.

  Elron laughed. “We can try to arrange that. But let us get rid of the darkness first.”

  “Adaline!” A booming voice shouted from somewhere behind us.

  I spun around and watched a man with long brown hair walking down the steps. He was green white robes.

  “Hello, Malton.” Adaline walked toward the stairs.

  When Malton reached the bottom he took her hand and kissed it. He looked up and gazed into her eyes. “I did not expect your presence.”

  The intensity between them was palpable. I could feel it.

  Elron must have noticed my surprise. He leaned in to whisper, “Yes, they are always like that.”

  “Is this the girl causing all the fuss?” Malton still holding Adaline’s hand walked toward us.

  Elron bowed slightly to his father. “Her name is Ainsley, and she is a daughter of Belgard.”

  Malton nodded. “And has she been sent for an alliance?”

  Elron shook his head. “I am afraid not. She is the kindred of a Guardian.”

  Malton frowned. “I see. It seems our other visitor was speaking the truth.”

  “Which visitor?” I addressed Malton.

  He looked at me curiously.

  “Oh, was I supposed to curtsey?” I did my weak attempt at one again.

  “No. I was surprised by your voice.” Malton dropped Adaline’s hand and stepped toward me.

  “Is there something wrong with my voice?” It wasn’t something anyone had commented on before.

  “No. Nothing wrong, but I expected you to sound different. Meek. The way your friend spoke, you were completely defenseless and childlike.”

  “Do you have Talen here?” His name came immediately to my head when I heard the critiques.

  “Yes. “Malton watched me with amusement. “I take it that his criticism is not new.”

  “I barely know him, but he’s not a fan. I don’t take it personally because he was even ruder to my friend Rachel.” I’d barely thought of Rachel at all. I wondered how she was doing and whether she and Henry would rekindle their flame so to speak. Nothing about that would be easy. Being from different worlds was no little thing to get over. I was learning that first hand. Lucky for her Henry didn’t have the epitome of evil inside him.

  Malton stood perfectly straight. “He says you are in grave danger.”

  “Did he tell you anything else?” I looked down at the floor. I wasn’t ready to face Malton when he answered.

  “Please look at me when you address me.”

  “Sorry.” I looked up.

  “I expect respect from everyone, including royalty.” His eyes bore into mine.

  “It was not a lack of respect. It was out of embarrassment.”

  “Why would you be embarrassed? A royal should never be embarrassed.” Malton raised his chin.

  “Yeah well, I just found out I might be one, and that still needs to be proven. So I wasn’t raised that way.”

  “You need to work on your speech. It is unbecoming.”

  “Got it.” I was in no state of mind to argue with the king.

  “Malton, please. The girl has been through so much.” Adaline touched her husband’s arm. “What have you learned from, Talen, was it?”

  “He claimed she was a Guardian’s kindred, and that she was in danger. He also suggested the danger may affect our own people if we do not provide aid.”

  “I do believe that is true.” Elron shifted his weight from foot to foot. “We are talking about a darkness like no other.”

  “You are with that Guardian.” Malton scowled.

  “His name is James.” No matter what anyone thought of him, he had a name. He was his own person.

  “And he has gotten you into some serious trouble?” Malton’s eyes were icy.

  “He is in plenty of trouble himself.” Even more than I was, since he didn’t even have his own mind anymore.

  “Show him the mark,” Adaline coaxed.

  “What mark?” Malton turned to his wife.

  “I might as well get this over with.” Those words were becoming a mantra. I pulled down the fabric of my shirt enough to show him.

  Malton in took a sharp breath. “How did you get this?”

  “It showed up after she was intimate with James Mendel,” Elron explained, sparing me from having to go through that embarrassing explanation again. “He was surprised by it, and neither understood what it meant.”

  “And you believe him?” Malton narrowed his eyes.

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “Malton—we are short on time. Let me give you a briefing on what we have discussed.” Adaline nodded to her husband.

  “That would be helpful.”

  Adaline turned to me. “Forgive me but I am going to switch to our own language for this. I can speak it twice as fast.”

  “Ok.” I wasn’t sure what to think. Instead I stared as she started to talk in a language I couldn’t understand at all, but which seemed to be the same as the one Elron had been chanting. It had a beautiful, melodic sound to it, and even though the meaning was lost on me, I listened for the pure enjoyment of the sound.

  Malton looked over at me a few times as Adaline spoke. I heard my name once or twice. And James’. Finally she finished and Malton nodded. “I understand.”

  I waited nervously, wondering if he was going to help.

  He watched me for a moment. “Guards, please bring in the intruder.”

  “Talen?” I asked. “You are bringing him here?”

  “Do you fear him?” Malton asked.

  “No.” I shook his head.

  “Good. “He nodded. “I can save us all another lecture.”

  I watched the entryway like a hawk, waiting to see if it was really Talen they brought in. I idly wondered what form he would be in, but I assumed it would have to be a human.

  I was wrong. A white wolf was brought in with a muzzle and a harness over him. Something about seeing him treated so much like a dog upset me. Despite his rudeness, Talen deserved better treatment than that.

  “Remove that muzzle thing, please,” I pleaded. My opinion of the Elves had changed in the matter of moments. They knew he was a man yet treated him like an animal.

  Malton rubbed his chin. “I thought you were not a fan of this wolf.”

  Talen’s fur stood up at the remark.

  “I never said that. I merely said he was rude to me. You brought him here to talk to us I assume, so please allow him to talk.”

  Malton gestured to his guards. One removed the muzzle. “Talk, wolf.”

  Talen howled.

  “I can’t understand
him as a wolf. He needs to shift.” Then I thought of something. “But please have some clothes ready for him first.”

  Elron laughed.

  “What? I have no interest in seeing a naked man, and I would think your mother would feel the same way.”

  Elron smiled. “Humans and their feelings on nudity.”

  “As if Elves were different? I saw and heard your reaction to the stuff with James.”

  “Because I knew what human expectations were. That did not fit with the image I had.”

  “Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat.

  I turned from Elron and found Talen in his human form holding the muzzle in front of his lower region. “Sorry, Ainsley. This is all I had.”

  I moved my eyes up to his face and left them there. “What are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same thing.” His expression was unreadable, but his words were light.

  “Elron found me while I was trying to find you.”

  “Trying to find me?” Talen asked with surprise. “Why were you looking for me?”

  “James sent me to Icentris to get help finding Belgard.”

  “James did?” Talen furrowed his brow. “Do you? Do you know what has happened to him? I felt it, but I have not seen him yet.”

  “If you mean the Cipher stuff, yes.”

  “The Cipher stuff?” He tossed away the muzzle, giving me an eyeful as I looked down in surprise. “Nothing about the Cipher should be used with the word stuff.”

  “Ok, calm down.” My choice of words was getting me into trouble way too often. “I didn’t mean it that way. I was just trying to explain things. Maybe I need to build my vocabulary, but with everything else going on that doesn’t seem like all that pressing of an issue.”

  Elron moved to stand next to me. “Please explain why you are here. So far you have only upset her.”

  “What? You moving in on her now? Trying to steal her while James is helpless to do anything?” Talen puffed out his chest.

  “What?” Elron gasped. “Are you implying that I am making advances on Ainsley?”

  “Let me handle this.” I stepped toward Talen while trying to ignore his nakedness. “There is nothing going on with Elron and me. Ok? Got it? I need help. James is the one who sent me to get help. They know how to help me, so next we have to find James. Either you help us with that, or get out of my way.”