Page 5
Story: The Realm That Falls to Her
But he’s alive. That much I can feel. Not emptiness or absence, but a raw, vivid presence on the other end of the link.
I’m coming to find you, I promise him, trying to send some sense of reassurance through the bond. I don’t know if he receives it, but it can’t hurt. I send my magic too, sharing a portion of it with him in the hope it will bring him strength…but I can’t help but feel it’s like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it into the vast sea. Who knows if it will reach him? Or if it will be enough to help.
I open my eyes, the pain of the connection dulling a little, but still making my body ache. I refuse to pull back from it, though. I’ll keep it here, in the background, no matter how uncomfortable it is. As long as I can still feel Ruskin through it, I don’t care.
I see Destan’s concerned face staring back at me.
“He’s alive,” I breathe. “I can feel it, but he’s running out of time.”
The concerned expression deepens.
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh,” I say. “Ruskin and I, we’re naminai.”
He blinks like I’ve just sprouted a second head.
“B-but that’s not possible,” he stutters. “You’re human and…”
“And I have a true name.”
Destan’s eyes narrow. “That’s why you were asking me about naminai a few weeks ago, wasn’t it? You sneaky?—”
“Des,” I say, jerking my head towards Hadeus. “We need to find out what he knows. Right now.”
He looks like he’s going to argue, then just shakes his head. “Fine. But we are so talking about this later.”
He goes to shove Hadeus off the back of the horse so he hits the ground with a thud, then with one hand he seizes Hadeus’s shirt and drags him over to me, propping him up against the tree trunk. I search around for my sword, but Destan holds up a hand.
“Allow me.”
He pulls a delicate knife from his belt, spinning it around the back of his palm and catching the blade. The movement is so smooth I barely catch it.
He notices my stare.
“Halima isn’t—” His breath catches for a second, but then he continues, his voice so smooth that I barely hear the break in it. “—wasn’t the only one who knew her way around a blade. I just prefer something with a little more finesse.”
We both stop for a moment, remembering our friend. I see her strong, powerful frame brought low, lying before me in the depths of the Seelie palace, her face pale as she begs for my forgiveness, makes me promise to watch Ruskin’s back… I blink several times, fighting back a tear. There’ll be time to mourn her, but not now. Now I have to fulfill my vow to her and keep Ruskin alive.
Destan’s eyes fall on Hadeus, his face going tight with anger.
“You,” he says, roughly pulling the gag down from Hadeus’s mouth, and slicing open his shirt. He pulls off the chainmail protection Hadeus is wearing underneath and rests the tip of his knife on the ridge of Hadeus’s clavicle.
“Where did Evanthe take Prince Ruskin?” Destan says. All trace of the playful, lighthearted Destan I know is gone.
“That’s High Queen Evanthe to you, you pathetic whelp,” Hadeus snarls.
“Sorry, not the answer I was looking for,” Destan says mildly, and presses the tip of the knife into Hadeus’s flesh, drawing a thin line down across the ridge of his bone.
The fae lord screams loud enough to startle the birds from the trees.
I’m staring at Destan again. He glances over to meet my eye, just for a second—checking to see if I’m going to stop him.
I don’t.
He turns back to Hadeus as the fae starts to speak.
“Do you think we’ll let that treacherous family of yours live after you’ve betrayed the crown?” Hadeus spits at Destan through gasping breaths. “I’ll personally make sure they’re executed, one by one. And as the light fades from their eyes and their blood spills across the palace floor, they’ll know it’s you who killed them. The runt who never amounted to anything but treason and an ugly end.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5 (Reading here)
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119