by Amy Sumida
“What else could it be about?” I eased him over to the side.
“What else?” Torin gaped at me a second before he jerked me against him, and kissed me till my head spun.
I floundered at his shoulders as his passionate assault overwhelmed me. Torin's hands were clawing into me like he was afraid I'd escape. His mouth was demanding and bruising, slashing like a weapon. His body crowded, then enveloped me, so that I felt entirely surrounded by him. Torin's scent, his skin, his touch- I was wrapped in it all. Finally, he eased back, and we stared at each other as we caught our breaths.
“I am angry that someone thought to take you from me,” Torin whispered. “That they were able to get close enough to nearly be successful. I'm furious at Emmet and Galen, but especially at myself, for failing to protect you. You were given into my keeping, Elaria, and I nearly allowed my own knight to slaughter you. You, the hope of all the worlds.”
“Is that what I am to you?” I asked softly. “The hope of all the worlds?”
“No.” He closed his eyes briefly, and leaned his forehead to mine. “You know that you're more than that to me. But I must remind myself that you are precious to us all. Losing you would be the greatest tragedy my heart has ever suffered, but I wouldn't suffer it alone. Not for long.”
“I love you too.” I kissed him gently, and he groaned into it.
“Elaria,” Torin sighed. “I've been waiting for those words.”
“I know; I'm sorry.” I swallowed hard. “I wanted to be sure before I said them.”
“Then they mean even more to me.” He smiled.
“But I wasn't given to you.” I pushed at his chest. “And I can take care of myself.”
“I know you're powerful,” he sighed, “but I still feel protective of you. Is that really such a bad thing?”
“I suppose not.” I took his hand again, and we resumed our walk. “Now, let's go get ready for our hunt. I'd better let Cerberus know. He'll be disappointed if we don't include him.”
“I'm not sure if I'll be able to refrain from making hunting dog jokes,” Torin warned me in mock seriousness.
“And I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop Cer from making you his prey if you do,” I teased.
“Hmm.” Torin seemed to consider it. “A fight against the Hound of Hades. It would be a match to remember.”
“Wondering if you could win?”
“Wondering how mad you'd be at me if I were to cripple your friend.” He smirked.
“Arrogant.” I shook my head. “I have no idea what I find so attractive about you.”
“I could make you a list,” Torin offered smoothly. “There are a few things you say in bed that should be at the top somewhere.”
“Oh please.” I rolled my eyes.
“Yes, that would be one of them.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
I was getting ready to leave, slipping my feet into a pair of boots while Sara fussed with my hair, when something exploded in my room.
Sara shrieked, and I stared in shock at a corner table that had become a pile of sooty splinters.
“Was that a bomb?” I frowned and headed over to the wreckage.
“No,” Sara screamed and pulled me back. “Don't go near it!”
“Sara, it's fine.” I tried to calm her, rubbing her arms gently. “It's already detonated.”
“What if there's another one?”
“Doubtful.” I eased her back toward the bed as Torin and several knights came rushing in.
“What happened?” Torin scanned the room, and his eyes came to rest on the mess. “Something exploded?”
Torin started toward it.
“No, Your Majesty!” Sara screamed again. “Don't! It's not safe.”
“Sara, calm down.” I said gently to her, and then approached the corner with Torin. “It was a little bomb.” I bent down to inspect the pile of wood and ash.
“Damn that fucking bastard!” Torin pulled something out of the pile.
“What? Who?” I peered at the blackened thing. It was a ring. “Is that the ring Finbar gave me?”
“Yes”-Torin's jaw clenched-“and it's a good thing I pulled it off your finger that first night. He had a killing charm placed beneath the diplomatic one. Emmet must have been wearing some sort of charm as well, something that warned Finbar that his plan had failed and his rat was dead.”
“So he decided to just blast me to smithereens?” I glared at the ring.
“It was a slim chance, depending on your wearing the ring. He must have been desperate when his first attempt failed.” Torin smoothed the soot from the sapphire and showed me the cracks within the stone. “The spell is so fatal, it destroys the jewel upon activation. They're rare, due to the casting difficulty. It's basically suicide for the stone, so most gems reject the magic. I never would have thought to look for it.”
“That fucking bastard.” I echoed Torin's words.
“I'm going to kill him slowly,” Torin promised me.
“If I don't get to him first,” I stood and looked back at Sara. “It's okay, Sara. It was the ring Finbar gave me.”
“What?” Sara screeched as she shot up. “That slimy son of a sea-goat!”
“Yes, indeed.” Torin chuckled, then looked me over. “Are you ready to leave? I'm now extremely anxious to find these infiltrators.”
“Yeah, I'm ready,” I held my hand out him. “Let's go get-'em.”
We paused at the door so Torin could give the shattered ring to one of his knights. “Destroy this thoroughly.”
“Yes, sire.”
Then we made our way down to the courtyard, where we found a large group of men waiting for us. Cerberus and Banning had both wanted to come along to help find the groups of Sapphire supporters hiding in the Onyx Kingdom. Since there were four groups we needed to locate, Torin formed four units of knights to go out to the different locations all at once. He sent Banning with one, Cerberus with another, and he took charge of a third group. Torin wanted me to go with him, but I didn't like feeling as if I needed babysitting. He argued that I'd just nearly been blown up, which prompted explanations to Cerberus and Banning, who then agreed that I should accompany one of them. This brought out my special spellsinger death stare, which I used on all of them until Torin agreed to let me lead the fourth team.
So I rode out with fifteen knights, feeling confident and capable. I'm not a woman who normally relies on men for protection, and these assassination attempts had brought out a need in me to take action, and prove to myself that I was competent. I would handle this threat myself.
My unit found our designated group quite easily, thanks to Emmet's information. It turned out that Emmet had been using his influence to find them places to stay in Onyx. The group I went after had been hiding in a town called Evervale. The infiltrators were pretty surprised when we showed up on their doorstep and took them into custody. So surprised that they barely put up a fight. The spies were shackled and loaded into a wagon within thirty minutes.
Torin wanted them all brought back to the castle so they could be questioned. Then he would decide their fates. So the round up didn't involve any killing, just a bit of manhandling. I hung back after the initial foray had been finished, and let the knights gather the criminals. A few of my knights were inside the hideout, searching for weapons and information. I lounged against the wall outside, my eyes flitting around the area cautiously.
Evervale was around thirty miles across, sizable for a fairy town. There were several buildings in the center of it, businesses mostly, and then homes spread out around the hub. Most of the homes were actually farms. Which made sense; the food had to come from somewhere. I just hadn't thought to see Shining Ones out tending fields. Especially not with magic. They cut wheat with waves of their hands, pulled vegetables with barely a finger curl, and then directed their haul into waiting barrels with little more than a few gestures. I suppose hard labor was unnecessary when you had magical talent. It was fascinating to watch, and the sight dis
tracted me enough that I wasn't as cautious as I should have been. When I heard a strange sound coming from behind the cottage, I simply went to investigate.
And I was grabbed by three men.
I was gagged first, then lifted off my feet and drug away. I fought viciously, but there were multiple men restraining me, and they were able to subdue me quickly. Ropes wrapped viciously around my wrists and legs, and then I was thrown over the back of a horse. A rough hand held me down onto the bruising saddle as we galloped away. Branches slapped my face, and I sought shelter against the horse's hide. The smell of horse sweat and unwashed man stung my nose. Combined with the bumpy ride, I almost lost my lunch. Which would have resulted in me dying á la Janis Joplin, choked to death on my own vomit. Not a way I wanted to go. So I did my best to suppress the urge, hardening my abs against the torment.
As the world sped by beneath me, all I could think was that I had failed. When had I become so weak? When had I lost the ability to defend myself? Or perhaps I hadn't become weak, but stupid. Careless. I had taken risks I wouldn't have normally taken, all because I felt threatened by a man who wanted to protect me. Torin's words came back to haunt me; was it really so bad?
Yes, damn it! I didn't want to rely on anyone, especially not a lover. In a relationship, I needed to be on equal ground. Torin's romantic declaration had been sweet, but it had undermined my ability to reason. I'd been thrown by it, and had focused on my pride instead of my safety. I had to go and prove to myself that I was a big, strong spellsinger. Well, I'd forgotten one small fact. I was in Tír na nÓg, and in the Shining Ones's Realm, I wasn't a big, strong spellsinger. I was just another magic user, except I needed my voice to access that magic. And that made me vulnerable.
After what seemed like hours, we finally came to a halt, and I was yanked off the horse. I tumbled across the grass to awkwardly roll my way into a sitting position, difficult to do with my hands bound. I shook my hair out of my face, and finally got a good look at my assailants. Three Shining One males. I was pretty sure they were all from Sapphire since they were covered in the blue jewels. Perhaps I'd even met them while I was there, but I hadn't really been paying attention during that perverted party.
They didn't start a fire or unpack their supplies- normal things done when camp was set. Instead, they instantly began arguing. Over my life.
“You should have just killed her when you had the chance,” the blond one said to one of the dark haired men.
“She may be worth more to us alive.” The guy who I had rode with defended himself.
“Finbar already promised us fifty gold pieces each,” the final man said.
“And you think King Torin wouldn't give more?” My abductor scoffed. “They say he's in love with her.”
“In love with her powerful voice,” the blond sneered.
“She's beautiful.” The second brunette eyed me speculatively. “Unusual. Those eyes”-he shook his head-“they shift colors. I've only seen that once before, and it was on a man.”
“So what?” the blond huffed. “Beauty has nothing to do with her worth, and Torin is known to be shrewd. If he cares about her, it has nothing to do with her eyes.” He glanced down at the V of my tunic, which had fallen open a bit. “Or her tits, though those are nice too.”
I grimaced at him through my gag. Men.
“Whatever we decide”-the speculative brunette started to ease closer to me-“we shouldn't waste such an opportunity. It's not every day that you get handed a king's mistress to do with as you please.”
The blond started to smile.
Panic flooded my limbs, but more than that, I felt a rush of anger. I had this relic around my neck, this witch tool of such power that it was fated to save all the worlds. Yet I was still hindered by the same spellsinger weakness. Gag me, and I was vulnerable. It was so frustrating, and in that moment, it was horrifying. I had never been sexually assaulted, but the possibilities of it were enough to send tremors through my limbs. Panic turned to fear, and anger turned to rage. I screamed against the gag, all of my fury at my own limitations rising up to combine with my dread of what was about to happen. I felt so helpless, and for me, that was the worst part.
My magic lifted with my extreme emotions, crawling up my chest to burst out of the collar. The stones didn't glow softly, they flared to blinding brilliance, making me shut my eyes against the glare. I winced and fell back as the magic shot out of the relic. There was a brief wave of heat, the smell of cooking meat, and then strangling smoke. When I opened my eyes again, the men were gone. All that remained were three startled horses and three piles of ash. I stared at those piles, utterly transfixed, as the wind caught them, lifting them gently into the air. It was almost beautiful, the spiraling designs of delicate gray flakes twirling through the eddies of the cleansing breeze. My would-be rapists were nothing but dust in the wind.
The lyrics of that old song rose in my mind, and I laughed insanely against my gag. Kansas probably hadn't envisioned such a quick transition to dust when they wrote that song. Then my laughter failed me, and I began to cry. Sure, I'd been saved from unwanted attentions, but now I was bound and gagged in the middle of some Tír na nÓg forest, with no way of getting free. Just my fucking luck.
The relic!
I sat up straight, sniffled, and focused on it. If it had killed those men with only my rage to focus it, then surely it could undo my ropes. Right? Right! Wrong. I tried for hours, humming sounds against the tight fabric filling my mouth, as I visualized my ropes breaking. Please! I begged the relic, I bargained with it, reasoned with it. I did everything I could think of to get it to help me, but my magic stubbornly refused to rise. The relic remained dormant on my chest.
I fell back in exhaustion.
The horses had long since calmed and taken to grazing on the thick grass, but I began to panic more and more. I couldn't even get to my feet; those bastards had bound me around the knees as well as my ankles. Maybe I could crawl, squirm along the ground like an inchworm. But my hands were tied behind my back, and that meant I either had to butt shimmy or squirm on my face. I knew I'd end up caught hopelessly on something or perhaps drown in a puddle. Wouldn't that be a glorious end? Oh hell, I needed to calm myself and think.
Think, Elaria!
It had to be the emotions behind my intent that had powered the relic, but what emotion should I use to free myself? Rage had killed those men. But I didn't want to accidentally kill the horses while I was trying to destroy my bonds. So what then? Fear? I tried to fuel the relic with my panic, but nothing happened. I tried the feeling of being trapped. No go. Nothing worked. Finally I gave into my exhaustion, and just laid my cheek to the cool grass and wept more. At least there was some release in that.
I don't know how long I lay there, but my hands began to go numb, my shoulders screamed with pain, and my jaw started to ache from the strain of the makeshift gag. The fabric was wet and disgusting from my spit and tears. My hair was ragged around me, full of leaves and dirt, which was doubtless streaked across my face along with my tears. I must have looked a horrible mess when Banning found me.
I heard Banning's horse approaching before I saw him, and I tensed. Company could have gone either way. It could be more Sapphire supporters, roaming the woods for their friends, or it could be someone on my side. In the brief moments before his horse broke through the foliage, I tried to prepare myself for some kind of defense. But then I saw Banning, and I gave a wrenching sob of relief. He spotted me, and gaped at me for a second, taking in the empty clearing, my bound state, and the happily munching horses, before he jumped down, and rushed over to me.
“Elaria!” Banning's hands went to my gag first, trying to untie it. He finally cursed with frustration, pulled his dagger, and simply cut the thing loose. “Are you all right?”
I worked my jaw loose, and wet my lips before answering, “Now I am,” and then I fell forward into his arms, wailing in the most embarrassing way.
I'm not a crier. Really. But it
had been hours of waiting like that, wondering if I had managed to save myself from rape only to die of exposure. Hours of lying there helpless and in pain while those damn horses had their dinner. The aches in my limbs didn't even bother me anymore, now that Banning was there. I just needed to vent, let all that anxiety out.
“Shh now, you're safe,” Banning cooed to me as he worked at the ropes with his dagger. “Elaria, shh, it's all right now. Let me untie you. Please, darling, stop crying. I've got you now. You're okay.”
“Yeah, okay.” I leaned over his lap so he could get at my wrists, and I felt him sawing at the rope. My hands came free, but my numb arms ended up just swinging limply forward. “Oh sweet gods, thank you, Banning,” I moaned into his thighs, and ended up pressing my cheek to them. I couldn't move yet; the tingles of life were spreading through my arms with painful jolts. “Thank you.”
“You're welcome, sweetheart.” He brushed my hair back from my face, and then went to work on the ropes around my legs. “Here; I need to unwind this. Can you roll over, or do you want me to help you?”
“Just push me,” I moaned. “I can't move yet.”
“All right.” He ended up pulling me farther across his lap.
“Thank you,” I said again, and looked up, realizing I was lying in his arms like a child.
“You're welcome.” Banning's lips pressed together, his eyes filling with some kind of strong emotion. “Your team searched Evervale, and then sent word to the rest of us of your disappearance. I don't know what the others are doing, but I'm sure they're all out looking for you. We're supposed to meet back at Evervale in an hour.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “I don't think I've been so scared since the moment Cosmina first grabbed Fortune around her throat. Elaria”-Banning shook his head-“I thought I'd lost you again.”
He pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to my lips. It was too much tenderness for my vulnerable state. I kissed him back. Nothing sexual really, just a stronger pressure between us. I held his face in my hands and leaned my forehead to his, trying to silently convey the depth of my gratitude to him. I suppose I was still in shock, but a shivering took hold of me, and I couldn't stop it. Banning pulled me into his chest and rocked me, murmuring sweet things to me as he rubbed warmth back into my arms. At one point, he scooped up my legs so that he was holding all of me, pressed tight to his chest, and we just sat there, clinging to each other.
