Page 32 of A Game of Monsters (Realm of Fey #4)

I pinched my eyes closed, shaking my head as if I simply hadn’t heard Eroan correctly, let alone understood him. My temple ached as I pushed fingers into it, trying to elevate the pressure building in my skull. “Eroan, what are you trying to tell me?”

“Seraphine made me believe it was the only way. She certainly knows how to plead a very convincing case, and at the time I believed her. Robin, this will work, I know it will.”

My eyes flew wide, the anger unleashing in the tone as I interrupted him. “ Who did Seraphine ask you to glamour her into?”

Eroan choked on his breath, trying to still his obvious panic. “Queen Althea Cedarfall.”

“No,” I exhaled, mind whirling. “No. No. No.”

I looked around the room, desperately searching for something – anything, to face the brunt of my reaction. If I didn’t release the power which had built inside of me, it would soon destroy me before I got the chance to fix this.

The table caught my eye, with its grooves and valleys as the oak had been carved into the map of the realms. In three strides, I stood before it, slamming my palms down into the wood. The pain was a pleasurable release, as was the wave of ice that exploded outwards. I watched, unblinking and numb, as my winter rolled across the map, devouring Wychwood and Durmain entirely in white.

My breath came out in clouds of frozen mist, the temperature dropping to new lows as the power continued to expel out of me.

I saw my reflection in the layer of fresh ice across the ruined map. Wide eyes, dishevelled hair and clear exhaustion. But it was the panic – the look of wild terror in my eyes – that made me feel like I was looking at a stranger.

“Who else knows of these plans?” I asked, finding it hard to manage my breathing. My chest ached with the vicious thump of my heart. If I’d eaten, the tide of sickness would’ve affected me.

The entire tent faded from view as Eroan’s admission continued to repeat in my mind.

“No one else,” Eroan answered, physically trembling on the spot. “Gyah was able to leave with Seraphine before she was noticed by anyone north of the Wychwood border.”

“Why?” I whispered, more to myself than Eroan, but he answered anyway. “Why would she do this!”

“Seraphine told me it was under your order, Robin. I swear, you have to believe me. I wouldn’t have done anything if I didn’t think you had a hand in it.”

“And you believed her?” I stumbled over the words, unable to fathom what I was hearing. “You believed I would freely send someone I cared about into the mouth of a monster?”

“No, actually, I didn’t. That was until Gyah confirmed your alleged orders. I was but one against two, and they were adamant this was your request. They told me you still lived, and that alone was a shock. Between being blindsided by finding out a young man I admire and care for hadn’t died, and understanding the horrifying prospects Cassial has for our dear Althea, I had to do something. I didn’t question the plan. As Gyah said, glamouring someone had worked before, so it could work again.”

Eroan referred to the time when he’d glamoured my face to look like Kayne – Duncan’s oldest friend, who betrayed us from his poisonous jealousy and hate for the fey. Because of the glamour I was able to initiate an attack on Aldrick in Rinholm. But this was different. There was only one reason she’d ask Eroan to glamour her to look like Althea, and that was to trade places with the real Queen of Cedarfall.

Was this her way of paying penance for acting without us, or simply racing toward end of the game she’d been playing from the very beginning?

I thought of her husband and the child she’d accepted as her own. Pain was a constant in my gut knowing all the things she could leave behind if this went terribly wrong.

I turned and faced Eroan. He was locked in fear, chewing nails all whilst he could hardly look at me. I laid a hand on his shoulder, attempting to offer him comfort when I couldn’t find any for myself. “You did what you thought was right, I cannot blame you for this or harbour any anger toward you. I’m only sorry you were manipulated into her game.”

“So, you didn’t know of this beforehand?” he asked.

“No. I didn’t know of this plan. And it certainly wasn’t given by me.” A violent chill captured my skin, turning it to glass. One wrong move and I would shatter. “But I did know Seraphine was with her, and the fact you didn’t mention the Asp only proved that secrets were brewing beneath the surface. I wouldn’t have asked this of Seraphine. She – she has too much to lose by risking her life so willingly.”

Another reply screamed inside of me. But I swallowed it down, refusing to lay blame on Eroan. He was simply doing what was asked of him. I shouldn’t feel this anger toward him, and yet the emotion was a maelstrom within me.

“Seraphine was adamant this was the only way,” Eroan confirmed. “I admit, the plan was solid. She shared in the desire for minimal bloodshed. A mission – quick in and out. I trusted in her chances because she was confident that all would be well.”

I heard his words, but that didn’t mean I wanted to believe them. “Did they mention any more of their plans?”

I saw the answer in Eroan’s eyes, long before he spoke it aloud. “No. And I didn’t ask further because Gyah told me not to. She made me vow secrecy, on the grounds that she’d tear my insides out if I told a living soul.”

I bristled. “You told me.”

“Because, until now, I thought they were your plans, Robin. In fact, they knew you would come. They told me to expect you.”

It clicked, another piece of this puzzle. “Gyah is a woman of her word, which means she knew I’d likely follow. She wanted me to know they were doing this.”

Gyah knew that I’d find out about her plans and chase after them. I’d bet she was banking on us following, for backup. Which meant we needed to leave for Cassial immediately.

“Tell me how to fix this,” Eroan said. “I’m sorry, Robin. If you know of anything I can do to help fix this, I will. Just ask it of me. Anything…”

I felt the rush of blood in every vein and vessel. My ears rang with the echo of my heartbeat, driving me to the brink of madness. Standing here, wasting more time, was making the feeling worse. I had to act – to control the narrative, because this was the only way that we would win.

The realm didn’t need King Robin, it needed a level-headed Robin Icethorn who loved his friends and wanted the potential of a tomorrow.

“Continue with my previous commands,” I said, firm and swiftly. “See that those in Icethorn are protected and a path is made within the boundary for humans. If I can stop Seraphine before she makes this mistake, then we go back to our original plan. We lure the humans north, get them away from Cassial, and then attack… if Duncan has not been successful by then.”

Eroan was silent, staring at me with a creased brow. Then he asked the question I wondered if he’d be brave enough to voice aloud. “But Robin, why do you need to stop Seraphine? Clearly the Asp knows the price she is to pay. If she is taking this burden off you all, then let her. Sometimes you must understand that not everyone can be saved.”

“No. I refuse to believe that. Seraphine’s life is as important as Althea’s. No one person trumps another, just because of the blood running through their veins.”

It was Eroan’s turn to lay a hand on me. “Seraphine made her intentions clear. A sacrifice she was happy to make if it required it. She knows what she is doing, Robin. Maybe we should allow one life to pass, if it means saving thousands more. Even you said that Cassial, if desperate, will transfer Duwar into Althea. This way, if that is the case, Seraphine will die to secure the Cedarfall name, and save the realms.”

“That’s just it, Eroan.” I stared into his eyes, piercing him entirely with my gaze. “It isn’t just one life. Seraphine has a family. A husband, and a child she has taken as her own. I can’t believe she would do this, I won’t believe it!”

“I didn’t know.” I could see the regret deepen within him, threatening to consume him. It took him a moment to gather himself, and when he blinked away the horror of my truth, he looked at me, brows rising in sudden realisation. “An Asp has no family but the serpents they nest with, everyone knows that.”

I swallowed all my sadness and panic. “I have often said that Seraphine is, and will always be, an Asp. But it would seem that she shed her skin long ago and found something new beneath. I’ve underestimated her, but I also need her to survive this.”

Eroan’s eyes widened, as if remembering something. He reached into his pocket, rummaging around for something. I saw the moment he found what he was searching for as he released a soft ‘ah’, then withdrew a small wooden box. “Seraphine gave me this to pass on to you when you arrived. She said that when you came here, I was to make sure this reached you.”

I took it, fingers shaking, unable to ignore that Seraphine had truly planned for this all along. Duncan must’ve known, because he was the one to give her the command to leave with Gyah.

So many threads where unravelling quicker than I could hold them together.

The box was no bigger than the palm of my hand. The rough edges had been hand-carved, a symbol of a snake etched into its face. Lifting the lid, I peered inside to find a single glass vial.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Seraphine didn’t say.” Eroan visibly shook. “But she made it clear that you would need it.”

My heart lodged in my throat as I recognised the frayed yellow parchment that Seraphine had carried in her breast pocket. Unravelling it I knew what I’d find, but seeing it still took my breath away.

It was the sketch of her family, her found family.

My eyes caught on something the parchment had been hiding. Beneath it was a single vial, so small that I held it pinched between my forefinger and thumb. Inside, sloshing with my movement, was a liquid of pure gold.

Poison. The same she’d used on the ship to Irobel. My ears echoed with the sound of crunched glass, from when I stood over the broken vial.

Seraphine had said she only one of these left, and she’d given it to me .

I dropped it back in the box, disgusted and confused, then closed it. I held my breath until it was pocketed in my jacket, the weight of the poison and the picture of her family too heavy to bear. There was only one reason she gave me this vial of poison.

Because she knew a time would come when I’d need to use it. The question was, when?

“I didn’t know about her family,” Eroan said. “If I did, I would’ve refused her request. I believed Seraphine was the only one with nothing to lose, but I was wrong and I will regret that for the rest of my days.”

“Seraphine is a woman of action, rather than her word,” I said. “She would’ve done this, no matter what you said. She is, if anything, determined. I believe wholeheartedly that this outcome would’ve always been the same.”

“What are you going to do, Robin?” Eroan asked, fear creasing his brow, and narrowing his eyes.

The answer was simple. “I’m going to continue playing this game of chase with her. Just as she wants. What she has left for me, she will want returned. That sketch is as important to her as the people made from the strokes of her pen.”

Eroan swallowed a sob. I could see his desire to tell me not to go, but he knew that it would be wasted. “If that is what must be done, then so be it. But you must promise me you will be safe, Robin. It is important you come back. Icethorn needs you, and I need you. These days believing you died in the crossfire with the Nephilim have been some of the darkest. Your return has sparked a light in me, and I don’t wish to see it extinguished.”

I laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Kindle that light, Eroan for it is hope. Not of my return, but the reminder we have a chance to fix this. You’re the best advisor in all the realms, remember that.”

He scoffed, recognising the goodbye in my tone. Tears filled his eyes. “As if you’ve ever let me advise you, Robin. Like mother like son. She would’ve been so proud of you.”

“I don’t think so,” I said, fighting the tears, understanding the possibility that this could be the last time I saw Eroan.

“Believe me, she would. And I am proud of you too.”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

Eroan refused to look away from me, his gaze fixing me to the spot. “You will. I know you will.”

I almost turned to go when someone flooded my mind. “Jesibel, would you please see that she is safe. No matter what happens, I leave her for you to care for just as you have with me.”

A single tear rolled down Eroan’s cheek. “I will take that on board, even though you will be coming back, and you will see her yourself. Anyway…” he drew his loose sleeve across his face, drying his cheeks. “Jesi has something to show you upon her return. If that is enough to bring you back, then hold onto that.”

I nodded, unable to say another word because of the lump of emotion clogging my throat.

It was difficult to leave Eroan. But as I turned, my limbs heavy as stone, I almost longed for him to call after me. But he didn’t. Eroan didn’t chase after me as I left the tent. My focus was strong – the need to find Erix the only thing that mattered. He had left a handful of gryvern behind to monitor my movements, which came in handy in a moment like now.

“I need to be taken to Erix, immediately .” I made sure to remember my manners, even if my entire body was seconds from combusting. “Please.”

The gryvern encased me in seconds, and I was airborne. I looked back in time to find Eroan – standing just beyond the tent, looking skywards, waving – who faded into the distance.

Erix took his time to dress me. I bit down on my tongue, choosing not to tell him about the vial of poison concealed within the wrappings of Seraphine’s sketch. If he knew about it, there was a chance he’d try and stop me from going after Seraphine. Especially because I’d petitioned against that.

I hoped the gryvern would reach them first, and the poison and the sketch would be passed back into Seraphine’s ownership. I couldn’t risk this being the catalyst of a war.

I locked eyes with Erix in the reflection of the mirror. It had been propped up against the tent’s main pole, large enough that I could see my entire body and Erix’s every movement.

“You are going to be needing this,” Erix said, brushing the hairs away from my forehead, flattening the strands of obsidian down. “Cassial will see you wearing your crown as a means to taunt him. Remind him who stands against him, not just the fey, but their protectors.”

“I’ll wear it with pride,” I replied, cringing as the cool metal fell upon my brow. “Especially if it makes him sour at the sight of me.”

A shiver passed over me, lingering across my skin which was currently hidden beneath layers of leather and armour. In the minimal light of late afternoon, it caught across the hard edges of armour, giving me the impression that I glowed. Every second that passed without news of Gyah and Seraphine’s return was killing me from the inside.

“I understand why Seraphine would do this,” I whispered, turning my back on the reflection and facing Erix. He’d been dressed in armour too, making his already broad shoulders seem as wide as mountains. His wings had been tipped with metal clasps, shaved to sharp points, turning his entire body into a weapon. “But that doesn’t mean I can accept it.”

“Little bird, we are all willing to do anything to save these realms. Seraphine is no different to you, or to Duncan. Even to me. We have a part to play, and she believes she has found hers.”

He was right, but that still didn’t make it easier to swallow. “I just hope we aren’t too late.”

Something in me told me we were, and what we would find when we arrived at Cassial’s war camp was going to be the ruin of me.

“Should you not wear a crown?” I asked, looking up at Erix through my lashes. “King Oakstorm. If we are going to hope to get a rise out of Cassial, then he must see both Altar-chosen bloodlines rise against him.”

He shook his head, silver eyes falling to our joined hands. “As much as you see that future for me, I think it is best to let the Oakstorm name die with Elinor. She was the best of them. I can play pretend until this is over, but I have no desire to be a king. I would not be a good one anyway. I am my father’s son after all.”

“You’d be better than good, Erix” I replied, running my hands down the smooth edges of his gauntlets. “If you gave yourself the chance. You have always told me about duty, and this is your greatest duty yet. Do not turn your back to it before you understand the potential for good you can offer Oakstorm.”

“We shall see,” Erix said, lifting fingers and using them to tuck a loose strand of dark hair behind my ear. “But, for now, let us focus on the issue at hand. Hopefully word has reached Duncan, and he has already been successful removing Althea from Cassial, before Seraphine needs to trade places. We have changed plans so many times, in such a short period of time, there is no doubt a lot of room for error. But we all have our focus, we all know what must be done.”

I had hoped the same, but Duncan didn’t know of these plans of Seraphine and Gyah. And I hardly believed our message containing the recent changes had reached him. If anything, his plans to save Althea only left a void in her place, perfect for Seraphine to slip in. I couldn’t help but think that that was exactly what she hoped for.

Seraphine was always one step ahead.

“We focus and save as many innocent people as we can,” I said, refusing to break Erix’s line of sight. “Shifting the perspective of the humans, making them believe that Cassial is not the saviour he has sold himself as, that is our goal. We rip the roots of this fucking weed out with it. Cassial will perish, I believe that. But we must still fix the poison and scars he has left in his wake. That will be a battle unto itself.”

Erix dropped my hands and turned me back to face the mirror. “It will work, little bird. Because it has to.”

“I hope you are right.” I sighed, the anxiety heavy in my spirit.

If my reaction didn’t reveal just how I lacked the confidence in our plans, nothing else would.

“Are you ready?” Erix asked.

I held my chin high, rolling my shoulders back. Perhaps if I faked confidence, I could trick myself into believing in it. “I have no other choice but to be ready. Are you?”

“I am,” Erix said with an air of truth. “Because this time, we fight beside each other.”

“No fight, just saving humans,” I reminded him.

“Well, hopefully a little fight after that.”

“For our tomorrow,” I said.

Erix squeezed my arms, soft lips tugging up at the corners. “For our tomorrow, little bird. And the tomorrow for everyone else. Human, fey, assassin, monster or angel. We will be given the chance of a new world, because we deserve it, and we will fight for it – together.”

“Together,” I said, blinking as the word settled over me.

I longed for Duncan to be here with us, sharing in his moment. But if anything, it made me ready to leave, to be reunited with him again. So the three of us could be whole once more.

Erix moved himself to stand before me, blocking out my reflection. I was forced to lock eyes with him, not that I cared to look anywhere else. He placed his hands on either side of my face, sharing the warmth of his gentle caress.

I closed my eyes and waited for his lips to touch mine. As they did, my body erupted in pleasure, my knees buckling – not from weakness, but the physical knowledge that I could rely on Erix to always prop me up. I hoped he felt the same, and I hoped that the poison in my pocket would never need to be touched by my hand until I was throwing it into the Sleeping Depths after Cassial’s body.

Erix drew away, not completely, but enough that when he spoke his lips tickled a hair’s breadth away from mine. “I love you, Robin Icethorn.”

“Oh, we are using full names, are we?” My reply came out of me with ease and no hesitation. “If that is the case, I love you too, Erix Oakstorm.”

“Ready to save the realm, once and for all?” he asked.

This time, when I straightened, my confidence was not forced or faked. I felt it in every fibre of my being, as if I was fuelled by the need to see this through. I would do anything to end this – anything .

I just hoped it didn’t need to come to that.

I took Erix’s hand in mine, overtly aware of how small he made me feel. “I’m ready to secure our future.”

“That’s the answer I was hoping–”

A horn blared out across the world, making the tent walls flutter against the sound. Our heads whipped around, ears ringing long after the horn silenced.

For a second, the aftermath of the sound was almost still. Quiet. As silent as death. I supposed it was an omen, because what followed was exactly that.

Death. But not ours. Not yet.

Shouts soon began to fill the silence. I felt my chest crack in two, my heart splintering as words trickled inside our tent.

A part of me died as they finally reached my ears.

“Queen Althea Cedarfall is dead,” A keening cry split the camp, working its way deep into my bones. “Cedarfall has fallen!”