Eternal Fire - Book 3 of The Ruby Ring Saga

by Chrissy Peebles

  Liz held out her hand and helped me up. “Come on, sis. They’re right behind us!”

  I sucked in a shuddering breath and nodded. A brilliant flash of lightning lit the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. I shielded my eyes as torrents of rain showered down upon us. With my dress glued to my back from the rain and my own perspiration, I sprang into the overgrowth and sped deeper into the forest with Immortal speed, leaping over giant logs and slippery rocks along the way. My frantic mind forced my feet into action, allowing me to ignore the burning sensation in my legs. Darting forward, I jumped over logs and zigzagged through the thinning trees, finally stopping where the soil turned into mud. Red balls of light illuminated the dark night in an eerie crimson hue, making me jump as they whizzed past my head and crashed into the unsuspecting trees. Dirt, twigs, and stones exploded all around me.

  “Sarah!” Ethano’s voice echoed through the howling wind and rain.

  I shuddered at his voice, adrenaline pumping through my body. I took off as fast as my legs would carry me, past tree limbs that hit my tired muscles and cut into my burning skin like a whip. My body ached from the thrashing, but I was thankful my mind stayed surprisingly clear. My panting was almost as loud as the crashing thunder above my head.

  Behind me, shouts rippled through the air. I sprinted through the creeping vines that draped from the trees like braided rope. My breath came in short, shallow rasps as I glanced over my shoulder. Branches snapped, and the ground shivered as Ethano’s men gave chase. I gasped for air, and my lungs burned. It was then that I realized it was time to employ a new strategy. Maybe we could outsmart them somehow.

  I made a left toward a thick cluster of trees, and my feet crashed through the giant ferns that dotted the landscape as wet branches slapped against my body. I had sprinted a few hundred feet when every step suddenly became a battle. My foot tangled in the thicket, and I tried to claw through the tangle of thick, unruly vegetation with my hands, desperately trying to break through. I let out an exasperated sigh. “Let’s try another way.”

  Closing her eyes, Liz spun in a slow circle.

  “What are you doing?” I asked between breaths. “We have to keep moving.”

  “Hold on. I’m feeling for their presence, their energy,” she said. “Maybe I can find us an escape route.”

  I gave Liz a moment to do her thing, hoping she’d find a breach or a gap so we could sneak through the perimeter. As I waited impatiently, the cool rain washed over me, and the night’s events flashed in my head. Tears rolled down my face. Ethano’s cruelty had cut me just as harshly as his blade had cut my lover, leaving me dumbfounded, numb, and in shock. All I could feel was plummeting heartache. The rain brought memories of the last time Victor and I had made love, in a rainstorm he’d created. It was a memory I would cherish forever.

  Liz gasped a trembling breath, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  “What?” I prodded, afraid to hear the answer.

  “It’s…Ethano called all his Immortal forces with his mind. I can feel them closing in on us from all sides! We’re practically surrounded.”

  I gripped her hand. “In that case, we need to think of Plan B…and fast.”

  Thunder cracked, and lightning bolts cast glowing webs across the sky. Rain dripped down my face and chin. Dark clouds stood high on the horizon as I halted to hide behind a monster-sized log that was covered in bright green moss. Giant ferns towered over us.

  Gathering my breath, I wiped my palms on my dress. I gazed around the forest and noticed an eight-legged insect busily at work, spinning a web that was almost complete, with all of its sticky, silky, intricate design. Then it hit me. “I’ve got it!” I shouted as the rain poured down and the thunder rumbled. I pushed the wet hair back from my eyes and pointed under a thick tree. “If we can squeeze inside that log—”

  “The spider web will hide us,” Liz said. “Perfect!”

  I crawled through the thick foliage and undergrowth, gasping for breath. Liz gently lifted up the web and squeezed into the log, and I quickly followed. Once we were inside, I placed a hand over my nose and mouth; the moldy, musty odor of decomposing wood overwhelmed me. I cringed as I wiggled in farther, staring at the spider above me who kept right on spinning its delicate threads. Droplets of water dotted the web here and there, and I hoped the thin tapestry wouldn’t collapse under the weight. We had inadvertently torn some of the web on our entry, but the spider busied itself to fix our damaging and cover the hole with a new thick, white web.

  The intricate design amazed me, and symbolism bounced around inside my head. The spider represented Ethano, an ensnaring, controlling force who wanted to trap me in his wicked web. I was an insect entangled in the silk threads, no match against a powerful opponent who wanted nothing more than to devour me. I decided right then and there that the fly was going to teach the spider a lesson. Nothing would give me greater joy than to squash him under my boot!

  Emotions consumed me as I thought about what had happened in that temple. The horrible scene played over and over again, that bejeweled knife piercing my Victor’s heart. A sob escaped from my throat, and Liz placed an arm around me.

  A horse neighed, and twigs crunched, startling me. Soldiers! My heart was beating so loudly that I feared they might hear my exaggerated pulse. I squeezed my eyes shut as Liz and I huddled close together. We didn’t move a muscle or whisper one word as I tried to calm my racing heart.

  “There’s nothing over here,” a soldier said.

  “I’m gonna kill those women the second I see them for making us trek through all this mud and rain,” another soldier said.

  “No,” one said. “Ethano wants them alive.”

  “I know he wants the queen alive, but the other one?”

  “He wants the princess as a bargaining chip.”

  My stomach turned over. He wants Liz alive so I’ll do whatever he wants, so he’ll have total and complete control over me. That manipulative bastard! I refused to be part of his sick, twisted fantasies. Ethano had been a thorn in my flesh since the second I’d met him. He’d tried to drag Liz and me off to Immortal Court to have us tried and executed, and then he’d tried to kill me again by poisoning Victor the first time. Then, when I thought he was safely behind bars, he showed up at my castle and tried to sacrifice me in an ancient ritual. When he realized he didn’t need me for the sacrifice, he threatened to rape me and kill my sister. Perhaps worst of all, he’d destroyed my special bond with my husband, then killed him in a ceremony that didn’t even work. I muttered a few curses in my head and swore revenge all over again.

  I heard the horses galloping off into the distance and let out a sigh of relief. We stayed inside the log for hours, cramped as it was, terrified to make a move. After a long while, I bit my lip and pondered whether to stay there or make a run for it, back to my castle. I started to crawl from our hiding place, but my sister grabbed my ankle.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We’ve been in here for hours. I’m going to see if it’s safe.”

  Liz pulled me back. “Sarah, wait just a little bit longer, huh?”

  “No, Liz. We need to get back so I can send my army after Ethano. They’ll make him pay.” With a sigh, I scampered out. The fresh smell of pine lingered in the air. I brushed the dirt off my clothing with a few quick strokes and glanced around cautiously, looking for any signs of danger. “Looks like the coast is clear,” I said, though my voice was trembling from my overwhelming grief. When my sister crawled out and our eyes met, I froze.

  “Sarah, I’m so sorry. I…” Her emotion-filled voice drifted off, and she embraced me tightly.

  “I just can’t believe…I can’t accept his death. Is he really gone forever? I saw it with my own eyes. I know he’s dead,” I said, sobbing, “but my heart refuses to accept what I saw.” I collapsed to my knees, and Liz fell with me. “It hurts so much. I-I can’t breathe.”

  “Calm down and take a deep breath,” she said, wiping the tears fro
m my eyes.

  “I feel like I’m drowning,” I cried out. “Why? Why!?” I shouted. My world was exploding around me. I couldn’t imagine a future without Victor. I loved him like crazy and was sure I couldn’t live without him. “I loved him, Liz! Now that he’s dead, so is a part of me.” I rested my head on Liz’s shoulder as emotions consumed me. “My world crumbled today. I will never…I won’t ever be the same,” I whispered. “How will I go on without him?”

  “You will…because he would have wanted you to,” Liz said, patting my knee and pulling me in for another hug.

  * * *

  When we got back to the castle, I was greeted by my soldiers. I tried to deliver the horrible news, but the horrible words would not go beyond the threshold of my lips, as if they were too awful to fall on human ears.

  When Liz explained the entire story, there were horrified looks on their faces that I’d never forget. They loved Victor just as much as I did.

  “I’ll go find King Taggert,” I said. “He’ll help me. He loves Victor like a son.”

  “No point in that, Highness. He’s missing too,” one of my soldiers said. “My guess is that Ethano’s supporters killed him.”

  I sucked in a trembling breath, devastated. King Taggert was one of the sweetest people I had ever met. He was wise and kind, and I couldn’t imagine how anyone could hurt him.

  “Maybe Charles can—” Liz began but was quickly cut off when the soldier met her gaze and sadly shook his head.

  “I am sorry to tell you this, but he is missing as well. We’ve seen no sign of either of them.”

  “Do you think Ethano was involved with his disappearance too?” she asked, her voice trembling.

  “We don’t know.”

  I wrapped a reassuring arm around Liz. “We’ll find him,” I said, trying to sound positive and reassuring, even though my heart was aching as much as hers was.

  “I’ve gotta get back to my castle,” she said.

  The soldier shook his head. “It isn’t safe, Highness.”

  “Why not?”

  “I am sorry to say it has been overrun by Ethano’s men. It’s best you stay with us for now, if that is all right with our queen, of course,” he said, arching a questioning eyebrow at me.

  “Of course she can stay,” I said, putting my arm around her.

  “But I need to figure out what happened,” Liz said desperately.

  “We will,” I said. “I’ll put every soldier on it, and I promise that we’ll get to the bottom of it. If he’s out there, we’ll find him.”

  “You can’t expect me to just sit around here and do nothing.” She gripped my hands. “I have to go find my husband. He needs me.”

  “It’s not safe out there,” I said. “Trust me, I understand. I want to go out there and avenge my husband’s death as well, but I know it’d be a suicide mission. We need to plan out our revenge first, and then I’ll crush Ethano.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let’s figure out where Charles might be before you go running into the hand of the enemy.”

  “Fine. I’ll go back with you and see if we can gather some intelligence.” Liz spun to face one of the soldiers. “Where are Della and William? Is there any news about them?”

  “For the moment, they are also missing, but William, Della, and Charles could’ve all gone into hiding, for all we know.”

  I knew there was no reason to be jealous, since she and Victor had broken up hundreds of years ago, but the mere mention of Della’s name had me turning green. I wondered if they’d been killed, needlessly murdered like my Victor. It would be unbearable to lose Charles, and Liz and Della. I couldn’t bear to see my sister go through any more pain.

  The soldier broke through my thoughts. “Highness, I do have some bad news to deliver.”

  “Go on.”

  “The Council has officially pardoned Ethano.”

  I let out a breath, my heart thundering in anger behind my ribs. “What!? Why would they even consider such a thing?”

  “Ethano has deep connections with the Court. It was only a matter of time before they released him. His arrest was more for public show than anything else.”

  The grief and anger were too much to take in at once, and I began to feel dizzy and swayed. Liz caught me, but everything seemed like a blur and began to spin. The next thing I knew, my sister was tucking me into my warm bed—alone.

  “I’m going to stay here at your side,” she said.

  “Charles is missing. I need to be there for you.”

  “Don’t be silly. Knowing him, he’s probably on some secret, undercover mission to find King Taggert.”

  “Maybe Victor’s murder was just some kind of illusion,” I said hopefully. “He did trick you and Mia into thinking Frank was really here and hurt.”

  “When you saw the temple all lit up with the priests, that meant he shut off the illusion.” She hugged me tightly. “I’m so sorry.”

  My heart couldn’t take the horrible news. It had been the darkest day of my life, and even Liz’s words couldn’t comfort me. At that point, no one but Victor himself could have offered any relief to my aching, dying, dead heart. I begged her to leave and when she did, I wept for the rest of the night.

  Seconds stretched into minutes, then hours, then days. I didn’t eat, talk, or bathe. I didn’t care. If Victor was dead, I wanted to be dead too. Mia told me that Ethano’s men had tried to storm Tastia numerous times looking for me; there was a high bounty on my head. Since King Taggert was missing in action and Victor was dead, Ethano took charge of the Immortal Court. With his two biggest competitors out of the picture, he was very powerful—not to mention dangerous.

  Immortals from all over the country, Victor’s loyal supporters, came to protect me. I was thankful for that, and the castle was the safest place for me to be, but I knew those walls were not impenetrable. Ethano would eventually come for me, and when he did, it would be the end of one of us.

  Chapter 7

  I was lost in loneliness and grief as I lay in bed and sobbed loudly, mourning my husband. I relived every single memory I could conjure up, from the good to the bad. I could only feel the cruelest darkness and sadness inside my soul. My heart was dead. The thick, heavy curtains were drawn to block out any light, and the world around me was nothing but a silent darkness—a cruel place I no longer wanted any part of since I could not share my moments with Victor. I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was. I cried from dusk to dawn, day in and day out. I hadn’t eaten or slept in ages. Am I losing my grip on sanity? I wondered. I could see Victor’s smiling face and feel his warm embrace. Why is grief so painful?

  The door creaked, and I peeked out from under the covers.

  “It’s just me,” my mother said softly, handing me a silk handkerchief to catch some of my never-ending tears. “It’s okay to cry, darling.”

  “I feel so alone, Mom,” I said, knowing no one could ever feel the depth of pain that was ripping me to shreds.

  “You’re not alone in your pain and grief. I’m here for you, baby.”

  “I’m sorry I threw Dad and Liz out,” I said with a sniffle. “I just—”

  “Your father understands, dear, but Liz is heartbroken that you won’t let her in.”

  “Grief is personal. She can’t begin to comprehend what I’m feeling.”

  “Grief is individual, sweetheart, just like snowflakes and fingerprints. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you have to go through it entirely alone.”

  “Sure, Liz is upset over Victor’s loss, but she has absolutely no idea what it’s like to be broken. She still has her happy, fairytale life.” I wiped my eyes and sobbed. My mom touched my back and didn’t say anything, so I continued. “Liz says I should get up and go to the funeral, since that’s what a respectful queen should do.”

  My mom sat on the bed and cupped my cheek. “And you don’t plan on going?”

  “I don’t want to. We don’t even have his body…his ashes.” I tried to maintain my composure,
but the emotion just burst through. “My heart hurts so bad. The pain is excruciating. My heart and my soul are screaming, Mother. I want to die. I had everything I’d ever wanted, and then fate walked in and stole it from me. Why didn’t Ethano kill me too?”

  “Sarah! Don’t ever say that,” my mom admonished, her eyes welling with tears.

  “I keep looking back at the time leading up to his death and searching for clues that might have indicated what was to come, wondering if there was a way I could have stopped him before he—”

  “Don’t do that to yourself, honey.” She pushed a stray strand of hair from my face. “There was no way you could have predicted this. None of us could.”

  “I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye. He was snatched away without any warning. I wish I could have just one more brief moment with him, just long enough to tell him he was my eternal love, my soulmate…and that I will never forget him.”

  My mom stroked my back. “He knew that, Sarah. Anyone could see how much you loved him.”

  “I want to hear his voice one more time, Mom—just once more!” I gripped my mom’s hand. “Please, Mom! Please help me!” She squeezed my hand, and I continued, “It feels like I’m living in a dream, a fog, a nightmare. You have no idea how deep the pain still cuts, like a knife in my soul. Please explain to me why he had to leave me? Why!?” I sobbed, wondering how I would ever get over it and go on with my life.