Page 57

Chapter 57

Saelyn

A few more days passed in the same rhythm. Runners trained with their swords and Wieldwryns trained with their magic. I fit somewhere in between, often finding myself taking my breaks in Thevin’s tent where we kissed, and touched, and held each other until duty forced us to leave, our lips puffy and red, an obvious tale to tell for anyone who cared to look.

My mother noticed, but never said a word. And Figuerah , whom I was starting to really like, lifted my left wrist just once, checking for the curved l inked there after I’d been gone a particularly long time, only to come back more disheveled than usual.

But Thevin and I hadn’t ventured down that path yet, and though my thoughts often wandered to what it would be like, we had agreed to wait until the Dimming was over, and we could focus on the growing passion between us.

For now, we had dreams of our future set, ready to begin our lives together as soon as all of this was over.

I had told him about the Blightress moving back in time with me, and he had agreed that meant we should not underestimate my connection to her. We agreed that I should not respond if she tried to speak through my mind again.

Commander Ashton’s forces arrived by the fifth day, a few days ahead of schedule, and he brought his sister, Commander Allyanna , with him.

Where my mother had been met with cold anger from Ashton and Allyanna , it was Commander Geyrand’s widow who greeted her with warmth and friendship. I had been at the dinner when she arrived, dressed in the palest pink and ruffled skirts I’d ever seen. She had a full curvy figure and a friendliness that radiated around her.

She had hugged my mother for a long while, saying something in her ear which brought tears to both of their eyes before she joined us with her two children, whom I guessed looked more like their father than her.

More tents and more food had to be brought in for the growing army and more than a few times, I had overheard the new Runners discussing the odd forest that had grown to the west of the castle.

I used my spell to blend into the crowd more often than not when I was getting around, wishing to move unnoticed by the very people who were fighting a war that began over me.

My mother could not escape their glances and whispers, however, as the truth spread of the other Baron trapped for seventeen years in the Blightress’s lands. Weary looks and sometimes downright glares crossed their faces as if by leaving Felgren and admitting where my father had been, she was not to be trusted.

Lanna healed slowly and my guilt at not saving her from such an injury, whether deserved or not, left me talking to her often and checking on her progress.

While we waited a few days more for Figuerah’s companion, Nyeimah , to bring some Wieldwryns from the Attatok Mountains , I overheard my mother and Lanna speaking in harsh, but hushed tones.

“ You know I am needed here,” Lanna lashed.

I began to back away from their private meeting, deciding to share the fresh apples I’d found from a tree in my forest another time. But my mother’s next words stopped me.

“ I know you, Lanna . You would not abandon your mother like this. She needs you at her side.”

Lanna huffed. “ She will die within the week whether I am there or not.”

“ You will regret it the rest of your days if you are not with her when her soul departs. Both of my mothers are dead, and I did not get to hold their hands as their breath left them. I am telling you this as someone who cares for you. I would not wish for you to regret this.”

Lanna paused a moment and I peeked slightly around the corner of the tent where they spoke. “ You don’t even like her,” she mumbled, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to her left leg.

“ That doesn’t mean she deserves to be alone at the end.” My mother reached out to squeeze her hand. “ Go , Lanna . I will hold off the Dimming until you are ready to return to us. Not a soul will think your absence unjustified. We can wait a little longer for you to say goodbye.”

“ Alright ,” Lanna sighed. “ I’ll leave tonight and send word when I’m ready to return via your portal.” Another long pause. “ Thank you, Karus .”

My mother walked away and I began to backtrack when I heard Lanna call, “ You can come out now, Sae .”

Heat flared across my cheeks and neck as I stepped forward from behind the tent, apologizing profusely that I had not meant to eavesdrop.

She shrugged, thanking me for the bright red apple, biting into the skin and saying, “ I would have told you anyway. Your mother’s right. I would regret not being there at my mother’s death.”

“ I’m sorry that her life is ending.”

“ I wish she could have heard that we saved your father and the isle. She has always meant well for me, even if it didn’t appear so.”

“ You’ll leave for the Spire by portal tonight?”

“ Yes . I’ll ensure my commandment is settled with Thevin before I go. I’ll admit I wouldn’t mind a swim or two in the Hatchery to stretch my legs before I return.”

“ Do you swim there often?”

“ Every morning I can.”

“ Then I wish you a peaceful time away. I have the strangest feeling that you are not needed here right now, but somewhere else entirely.”

She laughed, slapping me on the back and leading the way to the training pasture. “ How very cryptic of you, Sae . Perhaps you’re right.”

* * *

It was later that evening when a small group of soldiers watched her go. My mother’s green portal flickered like firelight and the rest of the Four bid her farewell, asking to relay their wishes for a peaceful rest for her mother, the Lady Lamoral .

Thevin held my hand as he approached for their goodbye. “ Go play Lady of the Spire for a bit and then get right back here,” he said, letting go of my hand to hug his friend.

Chuckling , she squeezed him tightly, forcing a grunt from his chest. She stood back, gripping his forearms as he gripped hers. “ Don’t start any new wars without me.”

He laughed. “ Why do I feel like I’m the one who needs to say that to you?”

“ Because it’s true,” she shrugged.

“ Well , old friend, I insist you find some peace while you are gone. You need it, and you deserve it.”

“ Then peace I shall find. Though I don’t think you can call me old. I’m barely seven years older than you.”

“ Practically ancient.” Thevin winked and brought her in for another hug, this time squeezing her to a gasping grunt.

I moved to hug her goodbye next and she murmured in my ear, “ Thank you for loving him back.”

“ Actually ,” I informed her, “ I loved him first.”

She hummed and turned, walking with a limp to the portal where she gave her final wave and stepped back to the Spire .

* * *

The simulation of the sun was heavy.

My mother had warned me of its weight along with a truth I did not know; the spell had taken all the chestnut brown from her hair, leaving it a shadeless white. Therefore , I knew the risk when I’d first tried the spell. I also knew that she had never been able to break it without someone helping her—usually by forcing her to the ground before she was lost to it.

She had never told me the whole story of how she had lost seven years of her life to the aftermath of the spell the first time she’d tried to carry it on her own, and I didn’t pry. Just as all of her life history, I’d listen when she was ready.

So , though the sun was heavy, it did not affect me in the same way. I had grown it, held its weight, and closed the spell with relative ease, and my mother was proud.

She beamed across the training pasture, watching her daughter build the sun over and over until I was so exhausted, I collapsed onto Thevin’s cot for an hour at the end of each training.

She , Clairannia , and Figuerah were training the whole lot of us younger Wieldwryns , teaching spells of fire, lightning, and wind—anything that could harm the Blightress’s creatures and the Blight itself.

A few days in, I received my official Wieldwryn pin. I had admired the red flower pinned to the vests and shirts of all the Wieldwryns , but hadn’t yet studied them up close. I affixed the red flower to my shirt, admiring the garnets and black obsidian stones.

“ It’s so detailed! You said Ilyenna makes these?” I asked my mother a fortnight after we had arrived at the Hyrithian ruins.

“ Mm -hmm. I asked her for this design to mark the Wieldwryns , and this is what she came up with. She is a very talented lapis conduit.”

“ Why this flower?”

“ In honor of an old friend.”

I watched her carefully. We were walking through my acre of woods, our orbs of green and white light hanging above our heads to brighten the way in the dark. “ Someone you lost in the war?”

“ Yes . A fae of Felgren . Her name was Moira and she was there with me through my darkest times until her life was taken long before she was due to leave this world.”

“ I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “ Was this flower her favorite?”

She nodded, adding, “ Demorte . She would mix the petals into a concoction to paint my lips red. It was and still is very rare for humans and fae to interact, but Moira was…an extraordinary creature. I miss her dearly.”

A hardened cold settled over my skin, and I folded my arms at my chest, rubbing my sides. A howl interrupted the silence and we both looked south, reminded of the lumens we’d left behind. “ I wish I could have known her. I wish I could have known what life was like before I became the cause of all this.”

“ You are not the cause of all of this.” She swept a hand down my hair. “ You have done nothing but bring joy and love to all the lives of the people you meet. The Blightress does not understand love. This war is her doing and hers alone.”

I waited a moment, wondering if I was ready to hear the answer to what I’d wanted to ask next. “ Do you think this will work? The Dimming , I mean. Are we ready to face her?”

“ Yes .” She didn’t hesitate. Not even a moment of doubt sounded from her voice.

“ Alright then.” I leaned into her shoulder and she put her arm around me. “ Let’s end this and bring my father home.”

* * *

The Lady Lamoral was dead, and Lanna was missing.

Word was received three days later of the Lady of the Spire’s passing, followed the next day by a letter from the Viceroy , explaining that no one had seen Lanna since her usual morning swim in the Hatchery . She was to report back to the Blight Line that afternoon.

I tried not to worry and tried harder to convince Thevin that they would find her and ease his own panic. The Four and commanders were gathered in the throne room, myself included in the conversation because of my role to play in the upcoming Dimming .

It had been planned that upon Lanna’s arrival back to the Blight Line , we would descend upon the Blightress’s lands, beginning our trek to the east and then north. There , I would use as much of my power as I could manage through the Simulair Solum spell and, hopefully, lure the Blightress to us. But with news spreading of Lanna’s sudden disappearance, unrest began to flood through the soldiers in distant whispers and colder nights coming from the Blight Line . Our armies were at unease as the Dimming loomed ahead.

“ We said we’d wait for her, so we should wait.” Thevin , who usually remained silent and reserved at any gatherings, had been persistent and vocal in this one.

My uncle replied, “ Our soldiers are restless. There’s only so much training we can do before we must attempt this end once and for all.” The Handless King’s words were difficult to hear, but true, and Thevin knew it.

“ Lanna has trained all her life for this.” Thevin insisted, stepping further into the circle where we all stood. “ We cannot just give up on her after one day. She wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

“ Exactly ,” Madame Zoreyah stepped in. “ Which means something more sinister is at play here. We cannot afford to waste more time than we already have gathering all of our forces. I motion we move into ranks tomorrow and leave for the Dimming the following day.”

“ So that’s it?” Thevin scoffed. “ You’re all just willing to let this go? She is a missing Runner Commander and now officially one of the Four . What more could she be before you look for her?”

My mother chimed in, “ We are looking for her. I spoke to the Viceroy directly today as soon as I heard. They are sending all the guards they can manage to find the heir to the Spire . We need to let them do this their own way. And Zoreyah is right. We cannot wait for long.” Her mouth set into a frown. “ I move to send our forces through the Blight Line in two days hence.”

“ Second ,” Zoreyah added.

They all looked to King Philius . He lowered his head as Thevin stared at him across the open space. “ Third .”

“ It is done then,” the Madame said, turning to the rest of the commandment. “ Send word through your ranks. Gather needed provisions and begin packing up the camp. We leave at dawn the day after next.”

A murmur filtered through the hall, and Thevin turned in a silent calm I knew was just a cover at the surface.

I shouted his name, rushing to get through the crowd and reach him.

A gruff voice behind me said, “ Let him walk it off. It’s what he usually does.”

I spun around, recognizing the Runner I’d met on my first day at the city ruins.

He sheathed the dagger he was using to clean his fingernails and smirked. “ Figured you’d know that by now.”

“ Mavryn , right?” I asked, remembering his name, but deciding to irritate him anyway.

His olive skin had darkened while training in the sun, and his dark eyes glinted as he stepped closer in a casual gait while the room cleared.

I didn’t fear him.

I didn’t fear losing whatever bullshit game he wanted to play, either.

“ And you are Saelyn . Our Savior . The Daughter of the Great Baron of Felgren . The girl who has come to end the war she stepped her dainty toes into at the last hour.”

My temper flared. I had no patience for this. “ Think what you want. You can go back to whatever life you had before in two days, and I’ll never have to lay eyes on you again.”

His arm shot out to grab me as I turned to leave, and he pulled me to the shadowy corner of the hall. I hadn’t realized how quickly it had emptied, and I dug my nails into his hand as hard as I could, yanking it from my shirt.

“ Never touch me again,” I spat.

“ Good point. Your lover might pay me a visit and break some of my bones, too.”

I flicked my hand between us, a raging white flame held above my palm, scalding to anything but my own skin. “ I can fight my own battles, if you care to see. Don’t speak to me again.”

I spun in a huff, storming across the empty hall.

“ I had no life before this war!” he called. His deep voice echoed throughout the empty throne room, stopping me in my tracks.

I refused to turn, but he continued, “ I’m just a year older than you. This is the life I’ve known. I had parents—once. Once a long time ago, I had a sister, too.”

I heard his steps echo, moving toward me, as the truth of his words held me still, forcing me to listen. He was at my back, this time murmuring low, ensuring I heard each word that seeped from his mouth like an illness I couldn’t escape.

“ Each one of them was murdered on the Blight Line . Not even the power my sister held could save her life and make her into one of those abominations they call trees.” He leaned even closer, his face at my ear. “ And you want to know something else, precious Saelyn of Felgren ?”

I gritted my teeth and turned, my glare one of a fury I knew he recognized because he laughed in my face, his hand flying quickly to the curve of my neck, pressing a thumb into my skin, hard enough to bruise. “ Thevin must be a better man than me because I would have fucked you and turned you over to the Blightress the minute I was through to be done with this war.”

An inky black wave of power wrapped lazily around his throat, his mouth, trapping his arms to his side. He was held in a tight grip, all of him covered except his eyes.

His eyes I kept to see, to understand at what point he’d gone too far. At whatever point he’d tripped the darkness inside of me, emerging from the tips of my fingers in waves, squeezing, pressing on his chest, lifting him into the air.

I only wanted to hurt him, to watch him writhing in pain. I heard the crack of his ribs with the crack of my ring and glanced down to see the large stone fracture in lines of more black, more trails of darkness.

“ He doesn’t deserve to live, Little One .”

I agreed.

Or did I ?

I blinked rapidly, my breath caught at the man I had hanging from a dark power I didn’t recognize as my own. Blood , bright against the dark wisps of my power, ran down his chin and his eyes bulged in red.

I dropped him, rushing back until I tripped on my own boots, falling to the mosaic floor in a pattern of dark thistle.

He didn’t move.

I didn’t move.

Only my breath broke the silence as it came rapidly from my chest along with the hard swallow at my throat, dry and sore.

“ Do him a favor. End his life because, as he said, he has none. ”

“ Go away,” I whispered with tears running hot and free down my cheeks.

“ If he lives, I look forward to making a corpse of him first. ”

“ Go away!” I screamed, shouting into the growing dark.

“ Sae ?” Thevin’s voice cleared my head, and I turned on the floor, crying with relief.

He was at my side seconds later, holding me close. “ What happened? Who is that?”

I stole a glance at the body of the man I wasn’t sure still breathed and said, “ Mavryn . I - I didn’t mean to! I don’t know how I? —”

He pulled me back against his chest, warm and safe, a place I probably didn’t deserve to be but would stay in until he forced me away.

“ I’m going to look, Sae . I’m not leaving you. I’m just going to see.”

I clung to his shirt harder, but he gently pried my hand from him, rising off the floor to inspect the body.

I hadn’t meant to play this game, and the blood that pooled around his head told me I had either won or lost.

“ He’s alive,” Thevin called. “ Come here. I need you to stop the bleeding.”

My lips trembled, but I rose, stepping toward the man I’d almost murdered in cold blood because he said something so foul, I snapped.

“ Right here,” Thevin urged. “ Close this gash.”

“ Sarchio , ” I whispered, my teeth chattering in a cold I felt to my bones.

The wound slowly closed, my magic returning to the hazy white I’d known all my life.

Thevin pressed his fingers to Mavryn’s pulse. “ He’ll live, Sae . You didn’t kill him.”

I let out a pathetic sob of relief, my nails digging into Thevin’s arm. “ We have to tell my mother,” I said, still staring at the pool of blood trailing through the grooved lines of the tiled floor.

He nodded. “ We have to tell one of the Four . It doesn’t have to be your mother. There’s no one else high enough in rank to dismiss him and do so quietly.”

“ He’ll be dismissed?” I asked, bleary eyed, my thoughts swimming.

“ What did he do?”

I sobered at Thevin’s tone.

“ He was angry. He blamed me for the loss of his parents and sister.”

“ Did he touch you?”

“ Does it matter?” I scoffed, “ Look at him! I almost killed a man, Thevin ! I don’t even remember snapping.” I gulped again, my throat scratchy as I said, “ My magic turned black and…and I heard her speaking in my head again.”

He shook his head with eyes of cold steel. “ It matters. Did he touch you?”

“ He -he grabbed me and pushed me to the shadows.”

“ But that’s not what made you do this,” he said low, rising and glancing toward the hall doors. “ What caused this, Sae ? What turned your power black and called the Blightress to your mind?”

“ I - I don’t…remember.”

“ Lie .” He reached down for my hand and pulled me swiftly to my feet, catching my waist and lifting my chin. “ I will not harm him further. Tell me what he said to you.”

“ He said”—a tear ran hot down my cheek—“he said you’re a better man than him. And that he would have…he would have fucked me, and then turned me over to her when he was done.”

Thevin blinked slowly, his jaw feathering in the force I knew he placed upon it. He moved his hand to catch the second tear falling in the trail of the last. “ He deserved what you gave him and more. Let’s find your mother and be rid of this.”

“ No ,” I stopped him as he tried to leave. “ My uncle. He can help us. I don’t want my mother to… I don’t want to burden her with this or know the Blightress spoke to me again. She’s barely hanging on as it is, and I don’t know what this could do.”

“ Alright . The Handless King it is. But tell me you will agree to his judgement. Whatever he proposes as punishment for Mavryn will happen unhindered.”

I nodded, taking his hand.

We left the hall, finding our way out to the foyer and taking the main staircase that led to the royal quarters.

I let Thevin do most of the talking.

My uncle listened, glancing at me in concern occasionally and following us back down to the empty throne room.

Mavryn stirred and was heaving himself up to a sitting position, gripping the side of his head.

“ You are forthwith stripped of duty in the Runner’s army,” my uncle called, waving an orange flamed hand toward him. “ At full dark, you will walk into the Blight Line where we leave you to your fate, or you will be escorted to Dremstone where you will spend the next two years working the mines.”

Mavryn spit blood onto the tiled floor, tilting his head back against the wall. “ And her punishment for the thousands of lives she has ended?” He laughed bitterly, adding, “ Hiding away in her forest while good people were shattered beyond recognition? What judgment do you place on your niece, wise king? Or should I ask what judgement you place on your sister?”

An orange spark knocked his face back, sending him sidelong on the floor. He lifted himself in another laugh of malice, spitting more blood that pooled from his lip.

“ You have a death wish, it seems,” my uncle spat, glaring down at the man who had been a Runner just minutes ago, now nothing more than dead or a prisoner.

“ You are all fools,” Mavryn chuckled, wiping at his bloody face. “ We’ve fought this war for nothing.” He pointed a finger at me. I saw the tremble in his hand as he continued. “ That fucking bitch should have been knifed in her mother’s belly, and this never would’ve?—”

The dagger flew straight and true, slicing through his black shirt, piercing the left side of his chest. I gasped, grabbing Thevin’s arm still outstretched, his aim unmatched and deadly.

Mavryn slumped over in silence, no more than a corpse as if the Blightress had predicted he would be before long. The crimson pool flowed quickly, joining the blood already spilled from this man.

I turned to my uncle first, swiftly taking a step in front of Thevin as if I could protect him from any damning repercussions of killing in cold blood. “ He wanted to die! You heard how he spoke, uncle, please don’t. Thevin was only trying to protect me.”

“ I’m not going to punish Thevin , Saelyn .”

I dropped my shoulders, but still stood in front of him as if I could take any of my love’s blows for myself.

The King stared over my head, watching Thevin . “ I’m going to get rid of this body, and we’re never speaking of this again.”

I felt Thevin’s hands at my waist, attempting to push me behind him, but I wouldn’t budge. I planted my boots solidly on the floor, ignoring his insistent tugs.

A glowing cage of orange light flickered over what was left of Mavryn , enveloping the corpse in a shield of flame. We said nothing as all three of us watched the swirling power radiating from the King , burning fast and hot.

Thevin wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me toward him as the fire receded, and all that was left of the Runner was a pile of dark ash across the ruined tile of the castle floor.