by Bailey Dark
“You can’t kill me,” Sadal chuckles. “I’m a god.”
I step forward, anger and anxiety twisting my gut. The blade is slick in my hand, from sweat or rain, or maybe both. “Not for long,” I say stiffly.
I raise my blade, heart beating wildly as Sadal’s eyes slip towards me. But he sees the blade in my hand too late. I plunge it towards his neck, adrenaline pumping through my veins like a drug. From the corner of my eyes, I see Altair’s lips part in surprise. Triumph shatters my fear as the tip of the blade hovers just above Sadal’s skin. But then his hand is around my wrist, dragging it away from my target.
Sadal smiles coldly as I gasp in pain. He squeezes my wrist and I cry out as the dagger clatters to the ground. “Darling,” he purrs. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Sadal’s words are mild, but his eyes are cold and vicious. Fear lances through me as I realize that I’ve failed. I missed my only chance to strike down Sadal and save Altair and his kingdom. My chance to save myself. I quake in Sadal’s grip and Altair lunges for me.
“Verity,” he shouts, his sword hanging loosely at his side as if forgotten.
I stare at Altair, feeling cold and frightened. I lift a hand to reach for him but suddenly the world is black and nonexistent. All I can feel is Sadal’s cold, painful grip on my wrist.
Chapter 12
Altair
Lightning flashes outside, thunder roiling behind it. I stare out the windows, dripping with heavy rain. Since the battle with Sadal, it's been constant thunderstorms – as if to remind me of our heavy losses. Cold ocean waves crash against the cliffs below, foam spraying high enough to reach the low windows of the fort.
The retreat from the Castle was a mass of blood and screams and fear. The tunnels were packed with soldiers blood seeping from wounds swords gripped tightly in hand. Now, almost three hundred miles from Desmarais, the last of our forces are huddled inside the dark stone walls of an ancient, oceanside fortress. There are so few left, all of them can fit comfortably inside these walls.
My eyes follow a heavy drop of rain as it trails down the windowpane. I remember the hasty retreat from the carnage of the battle. As I followed the last of my soldiers into the dark tunnels, the remaining alchemists chose to stay behind. I know it wasn't bravery that possessed them, but rather their own curiosity. Alchemists, in their own, morbid way, have always lived one foot outside of this world. It’s why they’re so despised by the more practical Fae; it reads too much like Bloodbane magic than the science the alchemists claim.
Joana and her students had done as I asked and done it quickly. Before we had even escaped the monolith above, I felt the very air quake with power. Whatever the alchemists had cooked up, I knew there was nothing left for that dark god. And that’s enough for me.
I don’t pity the loss of the castle overlooking Desmarais. My lips pull back into a dark smile. Sadal deserves nothing of mine, even in conquest. I can picture him now, picking over the rubble. He won’t be bothered in the slightest, but it’s one of the few things that brings me comfort since I lost a third of Alnembra to him.
“Tell me again,” Moritz says over the crackling of the fire. “Tell me everything.”
My gaze slips towards him as lightning brightens the room. I draw the curtain against the gloomy weather. “Verity was with Sadal, she approached him from behind. I only saw her when she attacked him with this,” I say, drawing the long dagger from my belt.
I stare at the elegant blade. It shines smoothly in the light, all silver and sleek with a jeweled hilt. Delicate. The kind of blade a man would be satisfied to die on. I hand it carefully to Moritz and he studies the dagger. Moritz lifts it to eye level and turns it over in his pale hands. “Why this blade?” He asks softly.
“I don’t know.” I stare curiously at it. “She said he wouldn’t be a god for long.”
“Curious,” Moritz says thoughtfully. He sniffs it and recoils. “Blood.”
I arch a brow at him. “Surely you aren’t scared of a little gore.”
Moritz tosses the blade onto the warped wooden table between us with a look of disgust. “It smells like Bloodbane magic to me.”
I test the blade, a pungent scent filling my nose. I narrow my eyes at it. The smell of magic isn’t something easily described, but it’s not the kind of smell that’s ever easily forgotten. I smell it now – strong magic. And Verity’s own blood. I’ll never forget that smell, or the moment she lay dying in my throne room.
“It’s Verity’s,” I say.
Moritz pulls up the cowl of his cloak over his nose and furrows his brows. “It appears your woman is dealing in magic now.”
I say nothing, simply tucking the dagger back into my belt. I haven’t told anyone besides Thal what I saw when I met Sadal on the battlefield for the first time. They don’t know Verity wears the cloak of the Bloodbane. They don’t know the warning Cleo gave me in the dungeons before the evacuation. If my allies were to find out, Verity would be in danger, just as if she were any Bloodbane.
Moritz sinks down into a plush chair. “Have your generals done the count?”
“They have,” I say, sitting down on a pouffe across from him. “Ten thousand left. Of yours and mine.”
“And Haru’s archers?” Moritz’s eyes are as hard as stones.
“Six hundred,” I say softly.
Moritz takes a long breath. I always admired the steeliness of him, the way his mind instantly jumps to strategy. I feel the loss of tens of thousands deep in my chest, so painful I want to claw it out.
“That’s not enough,” Moritz murmurs. “We’re losing.”
“We are,” I agree quietly.
Thunder shakes the small chamber and the pattering of rain increases as the storm develops. I know the grey ocean will be shaking from it, nothing like the peaceful blue waters of Desmarais. I glance towards the fire, watching a log burst with heat and sparks fly into the air.
“We need to cut the head off the snake,” I say.
“And how do you suggest we do that?” Moritz narrows his eyes at me. “More fairytales from the Bloodbane witch?”
“If what she says is true, we won’t have to lose anymore soldiers in this war. We can stop it before Sadal reaches past my borders,” I say fiercely, meeting his cold stare.
Moritz snorts. “Believe in your phantom witches and bedtime tales all you want, but that simply won’t do. Your capitol has fallen. Your people displaced. Hell, Altair, you’ve almost died attacking him head on. We can’t do this any longer. Something needs to change. We need more help.”
“Help?” I laugh mirthlessly. “Right now, every queen and king of the continent is watching ever so closely to see what the results would be. If they wanted to help, they would have.”
Moritz leans forward, his nails digging into the velvet chair. “Then make them,” he snaps. “Convince them like you convinced me, you moron.”
My lips pull back into a snarl as anger flares through me. “Careful Moritz,” I say softly. “I’m on the losing side of the greatest war the realms have ever seen, I have little patience.”
“I don’t care.” He sits back. “I joined you because I know when the Bloodbane and Sadal are done with Alnembra, they’ll turn to the surrounding lands next. Including mine. This has shown me that not even I can stop him. Now, everyone knows this. We have three choices: convince them to support us, let them watch us fall, or give them a reason to join Sadal.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You truly think they would do such a thing?”
“To protect their own skins?” Moritz scowls. “Yes.”
I stand, pacing in front of the fireplace. There are some rulers that I can see joining Sadal immediately after Alnembra falls. Others will be more reluctant. But in the end, it is about survival. And Moritz, Haru, and I, can no longer do it ourselves.
“I think Santaya may be our best ally at this point,” I say, turning to eye Moritz.
I see his nose wrinkle unhappily, but he ducks behind his co
wl again. “Perhaps.”
Santaya lies beyond the south-eastern border of Canes. A kingdom of sober grey rock that gives way to the red sands of the waste, it’s a harsh country with even harsher people. Queen Erzur is cold, calculating, and has had a long-running feud with Moritz on border lines. In any other circumstance, he would never agree to an alliance with her. But now, we may have no other choice.
“Santaya is close,” I continue, hope blooming in my chest. “A half-day’s flight for me. A day in this weather, perhaps. And you know Erzur’s sun soldiers are fierce.”
“Fierce enough to take on Sadal and win?” Moritz rolls his eyes.
“All the help we can get, remember?” I cock a brow.
Moritz sighs, and I know he won’t bicker any longer. I head to the window, strapping Verity’s mysterious dagger tightly to my waist so I don’t lose it in the shift. Moritz rises, bundling himself tightly in the cloak as I throw open the window. Despite the cold wind or the freezing rain in my face, I feel warmth blossoming in my chest. Twice now, Sadal has proven that we weren’t enough to defeat him. But perhaps, the combined strength of the Fae is. Santaya is the perfect place to start.
I throw myself out the window, diving towards the spray of water below. I shift, stretching my wings out in the rain. Wind billows beneath my sleek, black feathers and buoys me up to soaring height. The cold and wet is already seeping into my bones, but I do my best to ignore it. As I fly over the fort, I see men in the courtyards, busy around cooking pits, talking by the fire, or sparring in the muddied pits. It’s not a hearty scene of victory, but of survival hard won.
I turn away, towards the eastern border of Canes and then further south. I fly for hours, battling strong gusts of wind that threaten to send me tumbling back into Alnembra, and rain that freezes me muscles and bones. I’m lucky enough to dodge each lightning strike, but electricity crackles in the air all the way to Santaya, and by the time I reach the border, I’m fighting not to fall out of the sky.
Santaya’s capitol, Nalat, is in the center of the barren kingdom, surrounded on all sides by tall cliffs. I push past the air currents that slither between the cliffs and drop into the relatively peaceful valley. The rain doesn’t fall here, it rarely does except in some seasons. But the air is cold with the sun gone and only the moon to warm my wet body.
I fly over the city, ignoring the city guards that shout threateningly. My eyes are half-closed as Erzur’s palace comes into view. Covered in pure gold that was mined from her kingdom eons ago, it shines even in the moonlight. Spires thrust into the starlit sky, gems twinkling along the rooftops. Tall and narrow, with slim bridges connecting the many towers, I wonder briefly just how many stairs I’ll be climbing tonight.
I drop down in front of the sapphire gates of her palace, breathing heavily. I make the shift slowly this time, feeling the weight of my muscles like sandbags have been tied to my body. A shiver wracks my body and my muscles tighten as the cold grows even sharper. I shake out my drenched hair, watching sun soldiers approach.
Their dark skin is almost silver in the moonlight, and they stare suspiciously at me through gilded helmets. “King Altair, of Alnembra,” I say through gritted teeth. “Here to see Queen Erzur.”
They lead me into the palace, and it feels as if they slow their pace purposefully to torment me further. My muscles tremble as I trail them up the long flight of stairs into the Queen’s throne room. I half expected them to deposit me in a bed chamber, half wished they would, in fact. But it seems Erzur is awake.
She sits on a tall dais, taller than me, in a golden throne. Her ebony skin gleams in the candlelight, her slim arms draped over the rests of her throne. Her hair is tightly coiled, framing her sharply boned face like a halo. She is beautiful, but I know the harshness beneath. Erzur doesn’t rise when I bow shallowly in front of her. She stares imperiously at me, full lips drawn back in a subtle frown.
“Altair,” she says. Her voice is loud and forceful, nothing like Verity’s delicate one or Haru’s natural hoarseness. “What brings you at such a late hour?”
I glance down at my sopping wet clothes and feel a flash of anger. Had it been my court, Erzur’s comforts would have been seen to immediately. “For aid,” I say, lifting my voice and my chin defiantly. “Alenmbra and Canes call for aid. Aid from all the Fae kingdoms.”
“And yet, you find yourself in my throne room,” Erzur says.
“Convenience.” I force a smile.
She inhales sharply through her nose, shoulders lifting with the breath. “I find it alarming that the individual responsible for this threat to the Fae now is in need of my help,” she muses.
“Excuse me?” My brows lift in surprise as she turns sullen brown eyes on me.
“Forgive me for being less than generous, but you should take the night to prepare your explanations to me,” she says, sounding bored. “I have little interest in your impending doom.”
“Little interest?” I echo, narrowing my eyes. “We’ll see how much more interested you become when its your palace Sadal’s army slithers over.”
She quirks a smile and waves a lazy hand. “I do enjoy it when you get irate, Altair. My servants will show you to your rooms. Be comfortable.”
“How can I not when you’ve been so welcoming?” I say, sarcasm dripping from my words.
“How kind.” Erzur smiles.
I flash her one last ice-cold glare before tromping after one of her servants. He leads me up several flights of stairs to a suite with magnificent views of the desert valley and cliff faces. The door closes softly behind him and I lock it quickly. The hope I felt when I set out a full day ago means nothing to me now. I close my eyes, picturing Erzur’s smirk. I should have known the Fae rulers would be difficult to convince. Thousands of years of power have not left us kind to one another.
But now is the time we need it most of all. I stare longingly at the plush bed with crisp white, cotton sheets. Erzur is young for a Fae queen, there’s much she hasn’t seen yet. A massive war is one of them. Battles and skirmishes, yes, but all-out war is something else entirely. I can only pray I make her see that in the morning.
Chapter 13
Verity
The silence is overwhelming, as if my ears have been stuffed with cotton. I fight to open my eyes, blinking back a sleepy fog. It’s dark here, except in this little circle of light that I’m lying in. The floor, whatever it is, is smooth and black as pitch – cold to the touch. I take a shaky breath as I slowly come back to myself. I feel like I’ve woken up from a deep sleep, a nap gone on too long.
There’s a twitch of pain in my wrist and I gasp softly in surprise. A ring of purple bruising around my wrist is the only indication of a wound. I study my pale skin and the blossoming bruises. Sadal. I glance around, panic clenching tight in my chest as I try to pierce the heavy shadows all around me in search of him.
“Sleep well, love?” Sadal asks from behind me.
I whirl around, scooting backwards as he comes into view. He stalks out of the darkness, shoulders bent with anger. His eyes flash as they rove over me and his lips twist into a scowl. I reach towards my thigh for the dagger, but I feel only my soft skin and an empty sheath. I inhale sharply, realizing I have nothing to ward off the furious god.
I remember my failed assassination attempt and the look in Altair’s eyes when our gazes met. Shock. Relief. And then fear. Fear for me. I feel the cold touch of the shadows on my back and shoulders as I flinch away from Sadal. I coil away from the darkness, shuddering at the sensation; like fingernails on a chalkboard.
“What is this place?” I ask, eyes wide with fear.
“The ether,” Sadal says. “My realm.”
My face pales at his words and my eyes dart around the shadows swirling around us. I read about the ether in the Bloodbane text. There are few who see it and live to tell others. The army of foul beasts Sadal commands once made their home here. A shiver trails up my spine as I wonder if there are some who remained. Time is still
here, and yet passes quickly. Who knows how long we’ve been here, the war could be over by now. I gulp audibly, thinking of the horrors that await me in the dark. I’ve never been scared of the dark, not since I was young anyway, but this dark is different. This place is menacing.
Sadal watches me knowingly. “You know of it, then.” I nod. Sadal looses a sigh and pins me with a furious stare. “Do you know what you almost did?”
“I almost made you mortal.” I take a shaky breath.
He narrows his eyes. “You could have doomed the entire continent; the world even. Stupid fool.”
“Doomed the world?” I scoff. “I would have saved it from your scourging.”
“Kill me and the entire demon army that I control is loosed on the land,” Sadal snarls, stalking towards me. “Do you know why they haven’t left Alnembra, empty as it is now, to find more prey?” He pauses, waiting for my answer. “Because I keep them on a tight fucking leash,” he roars.
I shrink away instinctively as shadows loom over him and his black eyes flash. Sadal crouches in front of me and grabs my hair in his fist. He jerks my face towards him, and I bite down on a yelp. His lips are an inch from mine, his fragrant breath wafting over my skin. I shudder. “Is that what you want?” He purrs. “To see the world drenched in blood? It would have been your fault. Your doing.”
I wrench away from him, breathing fast. “I hate you,” I spit out. “I wish I had never met you.”
“You didn’t hate me so when you thought I was a simple gardener,” Sadal says, his cold eyes gleaming with a light that sends a shiver down my spine.
My mind flashes to the stolen kisses and heated moments we shared. To the way my body ached for him. I still feel it sometimes, when I glance at him in passing or when his fingers play innocently against my skin. It makes me sick.
“Get away from me,” I say soberly, tucking my knees beneath me so I can launch into a sprint if I need to.
