by Jayne Castel
Ryana tensed at this admission but held her tongue. She couldn’t blame the king for thinking the worst of her after she’d disappeared from The Royal City on the same night as Elias.
A few feet away Asher left Mira’s side and hunkered down next to Ryana. “Would you like me to take a look at Elias?” he asked quietly.
“He’s not dead?” The harsh edge to Nathan’s voice made Ryana tense.
Asher leaned forward and felt for Elias’s pulse before shaking his head. “No … but he needs healing or he will be shortly.”
“Let him die,” Nathan ordered.
Panic grasped Ryana by the throat. “No!”
Nathan shot Asher a warning look. “Step away from him.”
“How dare you condemn this man?” Ryana rounded on the king, fury turning her reckless.
Nathan scowled, his broad shoulders tensing. “Excuse me?”
“Elias could have killed Ninia back in Rithmar, but instead he saved her from one of his own men,” Ryana snarled. “The first thing he did upon arriving in Veldoras was try to convince his father to make peace with you. Reoul disowned him for it and put him in the front ranks. Elias went against his own people to aid us. He lies here injured …” Ryana’s voice’ caught, yet she forced herself on. “… because he attacked Gael.”
Silence fell. Ryana raised her chin, meeting the king’s eye. “He deserves our help … and your respect.”
Nathan stared at her, and as he did so, she saw something move in the depths of his dark eyes.
At that moment a noise behind the group drew their gazes.
A small red fox streaked in through the gates and bounded across the square, skidding to a halt before them.
And then, red fur gave way to smooth pale skin. A young woman with wild auburn hair rose to her feet in front of them.
Breathing hard, Lilia swept her gaze over the group. “Dain,” she gasped. “Have you seen him?”
All of those standing before her knew that Lilia was a shifter. Even so, seeing her change in front of them was a shock. Ryana gaped, taken aback by her friend’s sudden appearance. Lilia stood there stark-naked. The firelight on the walls burnished her smooth skin.
The king didn’t answer. He merely stared.
Lilia’s features tightened, her brown eyes glistening now. “Have any of you seen Dain?” she asked again, her voice rising. “I can’t find him anywhere.”
“He’s alive.” Asher was the first of the group to answer her. “He’s gone ahead with the rest of the king’s men … to make safe The Swallow Keep. You’ll find him there.”
Relief flared in Lilia’s eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered.
And with that, the young woman shifted again—shrinking in size, her face transforming into a long muzzle, fur sprouting—until the fox stood before them once more. Before any of them could say another word, the vixen turned and fled across the square toward The Spiral Way.
Asher cleared his throat and caught the king’s eye. “Your Highness … can I tend to the prince now?”
Nathan tore his gaze from where Lilia had disappeared, blinking. “Aye,” he said roughly. “Go ahead then.”
The night stretched out, eerily quiet after the turmoil of battle. The sky had cleared overhead, the storm clouds passing on, and for the first time all night the full moon sailed into view. Ninia stared up at it.
She stood in the midst of Veldoras’s Great Square, a woolen cloak wrapped around her. It wasn’t a cold night, but shock had settled over Ninia, making her feel chilled. Most folk were trying to get some rest after the battle, yet Ninia couldn’t sleep. She needed to be here, alone with her thoughts—and the dead.
Piles of corpses lay around her: enchanters and soldiers, their bodies twisted, charred, and broken. The sight made the chill that had settled over her drill into her bones.
I’m responsible for this.
And yet she knew that not all of the dead heaped around the square had fallen under the onslaught of shadow creatures. Gael and his enchanters had torn through the Rithmar ranks, and if it hadn’t been for Elias and Ryana’s intervention, they’d have finished Ninia too. After Gael had thrown her across the square, she’d collided with a stone wall and lain stunned for a while.
She owed Elias and Ryana her life.
Asher had tended to Elias, brought him back from the brink, before he’d been lifted onto the litter and carried up to The Swallow Keep. Ryana was with him now—she’d refused to leave his side.
A smile curved Ninia’s mouth. She’d done the right thing letting Elias go that evening in The Royal City. Nathan had been furious with her for following her instincts, yet she’d known it was the right thing to do.
A man could change the course of his life; even a man who’d grown up in the shadow of Reoul of Anthor.
Ninia’s gaze slid across the shadowy square. The fires on the walls still burned. The dead lay strewn there too—but all of them would be left till morning. It would take many days to clean up the city. And as Ninia took in her surroundings, her attention came to a rest on the Altar of Umbra.
It sat on the eastern edge of the Great Square, its obsidian surface, inscribed with ancient runes, gleaming in the firelight.
Ninia grew still as she gazed upon it, her breathing slowing. It didn’t surprise her that such carnage had taken place under its shadow. The Altar was a stain, an evil scar that left its imprint on every settlement in The Four Kingdoms.
After Valgarth’s fall, folk had tried to pull them down but to no avail. Enchanters had tried to destroy the altars too—but the Shadow King had cast a powerful enchantment upon them. And so, even centuries later, they remained.
A reminder of the darkness.
Ninia raised her hands and turned them over. The Stars of Darkness and Light winked up at her from her outstretched palms.
She was the only one since Valgarth to wield both the Light and the Dark. Maybe she could achieve what others couldn’t?
Moving across the square, she carefully picked her way through the sea of bodies till she stood around ten yards from the Altar of Umbra. And then she gathered both the Light and the Dark. Shadows rushed in around her, and the braziers atop the walls roared high into the sky. The guards nearby shifted, one or two of them exclaiming in surprise as enchantment shattered the stillness.
Ninia raised her hands high and then swept them in an arc, focusing both the Light and the Dark upon the huge black pillar before her.
Fire and shadow converged, hammering into the altar.
A hollow cracking sound echoed over the square, and then the Altar of Umbra groaned. Ninia had never heard stone make a noise like that—it almost sounded as if it was in pain.
A heartbeat later the obsidian pillar toppled, crashing down into the square.
37
Blood is Blood
ASHER DREW BACK from the bed and straightened up. His face was strained, his eyes hollowed with fatigue. On his palm, the bolus of lantern-light he’d been using to heal Elias faded. “That’s it,” he murmured. “The rest is up to him.”
Opposite Asher, Ryana cast him a weary smile. “You should get some rest … you look ready to drop.”
Asher cast her an arch look. “So do you.”
Ryana stifled a yawn and waved her friend away. “I’m fine … off you go.”
On the bed between them lay Elias. He was still unconscious; although there was some color to his cheeks now, his breathing had deepened, and his pulse was strong. The wound to his shoulder had been reasonably easy to deal with, but the one to his side—from the shadow pike Gael had driven into him—had caused some serious damage.
It had taken Asher hours to begin the mending process, before Ryana had wrapped a bandage around his torso.
Asher stretched his back and rubbed a hand over his face. “Shadows, I’m so tired I can barely think.”
“Go find Mira,” Ryana urged. “She didn’t look in a good way earlier.”
“She sustained a lot of cuts, shal
low flesh wounds mostly … but lost a lot of blood,” Asher replied, his features tightening. “She’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
“So will we all.”
Asher moved toward the door. Reaching for the handle, he glanced over his shoulder. “I was impressed by what you did back in the square … standing up to Nathan like that.”
Ryana huffed. “In hindsight it was a bit foolish.”
“Well it worked … he listened to you.”
“Thank you for helping Elias.”
Asher shrugged, his mouth curving. “Whatever our differences in the past, I was never going to let him die … not after he saved your life.”
The door clicked shut as Asher let himself out, and the room fell silent. It was a large chamber with a high vaulted ceiling, expensive rugs covering the floor, and an arched window that looked out over the city. Ryana had closed the shutters. A single lantern burned on a low table.
Ryana settled back in the upholstered chair beside the bed, her gaze settling upon Elias once more. Anxiety quickened her breathing, puncturing the cloak of fatigue that hung over her. She’d seen that terrible wound to his side before Asher had begun his healing—such injuries were often fatal.
Leaning forward, Ryana placed a hand over Elias’s, squeezing firmly. In the flickering lantern-light his cheeks looked slightly flushed. She hoped he wasn’t getting a fever.
“Asher says that he’s done all he can,” she murmured. “You must fight now, Elias.” Her vision blurred. Exhaustion had rendered her more tearful than usual. “Don’t you dare die.”
Elias awoke to sunlight warming his face.
Eyelids flickering, he slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a soft, comfortable bed in a richly decorated chamber.
The Swallow Keep.
Elias closed his eyes, trying to remember how he’d gotten here.
He recalled the battle, seeing his father fall, and then spying Ryana in the midst of it all. He’d then fought his way across to her, just as Gael had been about to kill her. The struggle that had followed had been swift and brutal. He’d injured the enchanter, but the man had been fearsomely strong—stronger than any man Elias had ever fought—and he’d bested him.
Elias remembered then, the searing agony down his side as Gael stuck him with that pike. After that the world had gone dark.
“Finally … I was beginning to think you were going to sleep all day.” A woman’s voice greeted him.
Elias opened his eyes once more and turned his head, his gaze settling upon Ryana.
She sat in a big chair, her legs pulled up under her chin. Her blonde hair was a mess, there were dark smudges under her eyes, and her face looked drawn—yet Elias had never seen anything more beautiful.
“How long have I been asleep?” he asked. Shadows, his voice sounded feeble; like it didn’t even belong to him.
“Around a day and a half … Asher said your body needed that time to repair itself.”
Asher. It was an irony that a man who couldn’t stand him had saved his life. “Thank him for me.”
“You’ll be able to do that yourself,” she replied, amused. “He’ll be looking in on you later.” Ryana pushed herself up out of her chair and reached for a pitcher of water. “I imagine you’re thirsty?”
Elias nodded. That was an understatement. His mouth and throat were so dry he could barely swallow.
“Here.” Ryana poured water into a cup before gently raising it to Elias’s lips. She’d propped him up with a pillow, which made it easier to sip. After a couple of gulps, Elias sank back against the pillow. He felt sickly and was aware of a deep throb up his left side.
“The injury,” he murmured. “Is it bad?”
Ryana’s brows knitted together. “Aye … it was, but Asher says you’re over the worst. You won’t be doing much for the next few days though.”
Their gazes met then and held. Ryana’s grey-blue eyes softened. “I thought you were dead.”
“I’m surprised I’m not,” he replied. “How are any of us still alive?”
Ryana’s mouth curved. “Ninia called the shadow creatures to our aid.”
Elias inhaled sharply. “And I missed all this?”
“It was probably for the best … they slaughtered all the remaining Anthor and Thûn enchanters and most of your father’s army as well.”
Elias frowned. Ryana was right—that wasn’t something he’d have wanted to see. “And where are the shadow creatures now?” His throat tightened as he asked the question. His time in the Dim Hold still haunted his nightmares sometimes.
“Gone … sent back to the forests and hidden corners of The Four Kingdoms.” Ryana paused here. “And Ninia did something else too. She managed to bring down the city’s Altar of Umbra.”
Elias’s gaze widened. “That’s impossible.”
“Not for Ninia it seems.”
Inhaling deeply, Elias closed his eyes. He suddenly felt lightheaded. It felt difficult to concentrate, to take everything in. He was still coming to terms with being alive.
Eyes still closed, he reached out for Ryana’s hand. A moment later he felt her fingers interlace through his, squeezing tight.
“What you did,” she began softly, “for me … I’ll never forget it.”
Elias opened his eyes, turning his head so he could look on her once more. “You know that I never wanted you to face Gael alone.”
Ryana’s eyes glinted. “I killed him in the end,” she said softly. “I got the revenge I’ve been craving for years.”
“And how does it feel?”
Ryana’s mouth lifted at the corners. “Not as fulfilling as I’d imagined … but I’m relieved nonetheless. The world’s a safer place without him in it.”
They stared at each other then, and Elias tightened his grip on her hand. There was so much he wanted to say, needed to say, and yet his head felt so heavy. He couldn’t get the words out.
As if sensing his frustration, Ryana leaned across, her lips softly grazing his. “Welcome back.”
Elias was sitting, propped up on a mountain of pillows, finishing a bowl of mutton broth and boiled vegetables, when someone knocked on the door. Ryana had left his side to bathe and have a nap. Before departing, she’d opened the shutters wide, letting in the afternoon sun and a warm breeze.
The meal had revived Elias. The throbbing in his side had lessened to a dull ache, and his head had cleared. However, he still felt as if he’d been trampled by a herd of stampeding goats.
“Come in,” he called out.
Asher stuck his head in. “Ryana told me my patient was awake and demanding food.”
Elias pulled a face and motioned to the bowl on his lap. “You call this food?”
Asher smiled. “Are you up to visitors? Nathan and Ninia would like to see you.”
Elias tensed. He’d hoped to avoid Nathan for a few days yet. However, it was probably best to get this meeting out of the way. “Send them in,” he grunted.
Asher nodded before retreating. Meanwhile, Elias set aside the remains of his meal.
A few moments later Nathan of Rithmar strode into the chamber, Ninia at his heels.
They were both dressed finely. Nathan wore a magnificent black sable cloak around his shoulders, and Ninia was dressed in a blue woolen gown that trailed on the ground as she walked.
Ninia hurried past Nathan and, all decorum cast aside, threw her arms around Elias. The princess smelled wonderful—of lilac soap and rosemary. When she pulled back, her eyes were bright. “I’m glad you’re finally awake,” she murmured, suddenly embarrassed by her behavior.
Nathan cast the princess a reproachful look as she stepped back to his side. “Don’t expect such a welcome from me,” he rumbled.
Elias snorted.
“You’re still weak, so we’ll keep this brief,” Nathan continued. He wore a stern, guarded expression that warned Elias the king had not forgotten, or forgiven, what had happened in The Royal City. “Ryana told me what you did �
� that’s the only reason you’re still alive.”
Elias nodded. He’d guessed that much.
“You should also know that I killed your father during the battle.”
Elias let out a slow exhale. “I know,” he said after a pause. “I saw you run him through.”
The men’s gazes met.
“Do you want reckoning?” Nathan asked finally.
Elias shook his head. “You bested him fairly, in battle. It ends there.”
Nathan watched him, surprise flaring in his dark eyes. He hadn’t expected such a response. Eventually, the edges of his mouth lifted. “Of course … you’re the only surviving heir to the Anthor throne.”
Elias favored the Rithmar king with a tight smile. The man didn’t mince words. “Not anymore … my father disowned me.”
“That doesn’t matter … blood is blood.”
Elias frowned. “You wouldn’t oppose it?”
A beat of silence followed, and then Nathan shook his head.
“I wouldn’t either,” Ninia said firmly. “The surviving Anthor soldiers are under house arrest, but are free to leave when you do.”
“You haven’t had them executed?” Elias asked, surprised.
Ninia huffed. “They were only doing as their king bid.”
Stiffening, Elias shifted his gaze to Nathan. “About that …”
“The less said about the incident the better,” Nathan growled. “This doesn’t make up for what you did. However, Ryana managed to convince me that a man can rethink his loyalties.” He paused here, gaze narrowing. “I take it, all the things we agreed upon during our negotiations still stand?”
“Aye,” Elias replied without hesitation before glancing over at Ninia. “Although there are now three of us who need to agree upon them.”
A smile spread across Ninia’s face. “Once you’re well enough, we will … although I think we should contact the King of Farras so that everyone gets a say.” She flicked a look at Nathan, before her smile turned into a grin. “You need to get out of bed soon though … my coronation is in three days’ time.”
