Page 20 of A Promise so Bold and Broken (Compelling Fates Saga #2)

Chapter Twenty

T he moon hung high in the sky as she lifted rock after rock and hurled them onto the calm surface.

The low splashes didn’t do anything to soothe the chaos churning inside her, the feeling so suffocating she wanted nothing more than to crawl out of her skin—to become someone else…

Or perhaps become nothing at all.

Opening her mouth, she screamed her devastation across the darkening reflection of the sky.

Lessia screamed for her mother, for her useless death, for the regret that she’d never be able to rid herself of, until her throat was raw.

She cursed the gods.

She cursed fate.

She cursed every single decision that had led her to this moment.

And most of all, she cursed herself.

Out of breath, she fell to her knees and slammed her hands against the hard rocks, glad when they pierced her skin and blood began staining the gray stone.

What was the point?

What was the point of all this pain?

What was the point of it all?

The gods’ gifts were supposed to be the foundation a Fae needed to wander the path to their fate.

But hers?

Her “gift”?

It was poison.

It was cursed.

It might not have ultimately killed her mother, not in the way she thought it had her sister, but given what her father had said, it had surely shortened her life.

And it had been directly responsible for the disaster with Loche.

While fury—white-hot fury—built within her, golden light cast back from Ydren’s scales as she swam by, and Lessia blinked hard to repress the magic brightening her eyes, her nails pressing into her palms as she stared at the large wyvern.

Ydren had swum by a few times in the hour or so Lessia had stood atop the cliff, and she was sure the wyvern reported her whereabouts to Raine and the others.

Perhaps she’d even reported that Lessia had screamed and screamed and screamed at the sky until her voice drifted away like the mist floating atop the waves in the distance.

But so far, they’d left her alone.

She guessed Merrick might have stopped anyone who’d thought of checking up on her, and a tiny ember of gratitude wrangled with the rage pressing on her chest for the Death Whisperer.

Watching Ydren as she sailed through the water, droplets trickling down her long neck like heavy teardrops gliding down a child’s cheek, Lessia thought again on the strange path her life had taken her.

It had been filled with darkness and sorrow and fear, yes.

But then more faces joined Merrick’s in her mind—Amalise and Ardow, Kalia and the children, Soria and Pellie, her family and even Loche, although shadows still mingled with his hard features—and she realized there was light as well.

She’d been happy.

Up until her twelfth year, she’d been more than happy.

And after that…

She’d found friends.

Unlikely, strange friendships that still managed to warm a small part of her chest.

She’d even found love.

She might have lost Loche, but…

She wasn’t alone.

She still loved.

She did.

Even if she might not want to, she loved those damned children. She loved Ardow and Amalise. She loved her family in the way her mother had—unconditionally. And she even loved the broody Merrick.

Her eyes followed Ydren’s movement in the water, the ripples that formed around her huge body, how the spikes lining her back reflected the moonlight.

The wyvern didn’t have a single part of her family left.

The only person she had was a drunkard.

Lessia, on the other hand…

She had a family, even if her mother had passed.

She had a father.

A sister.

Friends.

With a sniff, Lessia straightened her stiff legs.

There might be much regret in her life.

Choices she’d make differently now.

But there wasn’t time for her to wallow in it.

Her father and Frelina were alive.

So were her friends.

And she needed to ensure it stayed that way.

Numbness settled within her, driving away the pain and the fear and the helplessness.

Letting out a harsh breath through her teeth, she stared at the moon’s reflection in the sea and unleashed every ounce of anger that had kept her moving so far.

Energy—wild, untamed energy—sparked within her, and her magic kindled across her skin, the light from her eyes brightening the polished stone beneath her feet once more.

She couldn’t break down.

She couldn’t even suppress her magic anymore.

Not if it could right the wrongs it had made.

If it could make sure the people she loved were safe.

She’d made so many stupid decisions in her short life.

Had believed the path the gods sent her on was inescapable—that it was out of her control.

But this wasn’t one of them.

Havlands was in danger, and the people on this island were perhaps the only ones who could ensure it was saved.

It wasn’t about her anymore.

It wasn’t even about her mother.

Or Loche.

Or any other single individual.

With a final glance at the winking stars, Lessia spun on her heel and began walking back to the cabin.

She wasn’t surprised to find Merrick waiting for her halfway there, but as she fell into step with him, he didn’t speak, only nodded once as his steps slowed to keep her pace.

Lessia halted with her hand on the doorknob when they reached the cabin.

Turning her eyes to Merrick’s, she stated, “We need to make sure they believe us. And that they’ll help. With whatever means necessary. I… I can’t fail again. I won’t.”

Merrick’s hand touched hers as fiery determination sparked within his eyes. “I know.”

She eyed him for a moment—it seemed as if he wanted to say something else—but when he remained quiet, Lessia pulled the door open and stepped into the warmth.

Her resolve wavered for a second when she took in the cramped cabin.

Raine stood by the bar, a surly expression on his face as he poured liquor into a dirty glass.

Her father sat in one of the chairs, with Kerym beside him, his thick sword lying across his lap.

Ardow and Venko shared the couch, and she noted that their distance appeared to have shrunk compared to the past few days.

Frelina was nowhere to be seen, but as her ears perked, the rustling of clothing reached them, and she realized her sister must be in one of the rooms adjoining this one.

Merrick nudged her over the threshold, and when his hand remained on her back, her voice sounded steadier than she felt as she spoke. “F— Alarin, we don’t have much time. As you know, Havlands is in danger, and we must ensure Rioner and Loche see it before it’s too late. We need them to set aside their differences, with each other and us, so we can withstand the threats to our realm.”

Her father met her eyes, but Kerym spoke before he had the chance. “I was wondering why a fleet of Oakgards’ Fae was traveling this way. The sound of their war drums still has my ears ringing.”

“Where?” Merrick snapped.

“Oh, they’re several weeks away. Perhaps a couple of months, depending on the weather they’ll face.” Kerym grinned as he traced a finger over the sharp edge of his blade. “I haven’t fought Fae in many decades, and the constant traveling was getting quite dull. I was already on my way to investigate when I received your letter. Seems like I made the right choice.” He slapped Raine, who’d sat down on the armrest of his chair, so hard on the back that the Fae choked on the sip he’d just taken. “We get to fight together again!”

Raine bared his teeth at him. “I am not fighting for Rioner. All of Vastala can fall for all I care.”

“You wouldn’t fight for Rioner,” Merrick snarled. “You’d fight for our family and friends who still live there. Or have you given up on everyone you care for?”

“You, out of all people, should agree with me!” Raine flew from his seat, his finger jabbing in Merrick’s direction. “After what he did to you?”

Without thinking, Lessia grabbed a bottle from the table beside her and smashed it on the floor, forcing all eyes to hers. “Enough! We do not have time to argue. It’s not about any of us. It’s about the people in Havlands! The rebels are planning an attack soon, and it’ll weaken the whole realm. We need to get Rioner and Loche to speak to the rebel leader—make sure we’re united before those Oakgards’ Fae arrive.”

“Even better.” Kerym leaned back in his seat, his grin creeping wider. “A little warm-up fight before the big act.”

Ardow let out a low sound of disapproval but kept his mouth in a thin line when Lessia glared at him.

Rising from the chair, her father shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”

He raised a hand when Lessia opened her mouth to argue. “Please… Just listen to what I have to say.”

Walking up to the painting of the wyvern and dragging a finger over the Fae holding up the glowing stone, he spoke in a hushed voice. “I’ll be executed if Rioner finds out I even thought of telling you this. But Elessia is right. The realm will be weakened, but it’s not Vastala that is in danger.”

“What do you mean?” Merrick stepped closer behind her, the warmth from his body keeping her feet firmly in place when a shiver raced down her spine at her father’s haunted face.

“I couldn’t tell you this before, Merrick… But Rioner knows all about the rebels and the Oakgards’ Fae, and he has a plan to keep Vastala and his rule intact.” Her father sighed as he sought Lessia’s eyes. “This goes back to before any of us in this room were born. Back to when our ancestors lived in the Old World.”

“What scheming shit has Rioner come up with now?” Kerym scoffed but quieted after Merrick growled softly.

The low rumble rolled through Lessia, and she wrapped her arms around herself when goose bumps pebbled her skin.

“It wasn’t Rioner who came up with it.” Alarin wrung his hands as his gaze swept over the room. “When we drove our gods from this world, they didn’t leave peacefully.”

“We know,” Raine sneered. “Our race was nearly extinct from the war.”

“Not just that,” her father responded. “It’s rumored that they left each royal family with a curse as revenge for their treachery. My father didn’t believe it, nor did his father or the king before him. But when those Oakgards’ Fae arrived to speak to Rioner… he wasn’t so sure anymore.”

“Curse?” Ardow asked as he leaned forward, his eyes wide.

Alarin nodded. “Curse or prophecy… whatever you prefer to call it. Each of the four royal families was supposedly bestowed with one. The Fae planning to invade us are bound to the earth—used to be under the Oakgards’ rule—and only through the connection to the elements can they draw up power to wield magic. They told Rioner their lands are dying because the Oakgards were cursed to kill their lands if they ever used magic again.”

Lessia’s breath hitched, and from the silence at her back, she guessed Merrick held his breath as well.

Wincing, her father cast a glance their way. “Supposedly, the Rantzier family—which back then was known for our emissaries, our eagerness to travel and to form new alliances—was cursed to be dethroned, our people’s lives torn apart by an ally. It wasn’t until recently I heard part of the curse, and…” Alarin swallowed. “While I don’t agree with Rioner’s plans, I can understand his reasoning as a leader of his people.”

It felt as if everyone in the room stared at her chest, where her heart beat so hard it echoed in her ears when Lessia opened her mouth. “What… what did the curse state?”

Her father’s eyes dropped to the floor. “As I said, I only heard parts of it…”

“Alarin,” Merrick warned when he hesitated.

“Very well.” Alarin leaned against the wall, and when Lessia’s gaze traveled across the room, all eyes were glued to him as he spoke in a low voice.

“The Rantzier rule will end, its people disband, by the hands of the reluctant ally—the ally that should have stood by their side, that should have fought with them, that should have protected them. It’s the one loved by Fae and human, the one you may not slay for the war that fragile death would bring, who will finally bring the Rantziers to their knees.”

Everything went silent.

Everything but her pulse, which seemed to sing a song of fear within her.

“Fae and human…” Raine mumbled, his eyes flying over her for a moment.

Lessia violently shook her head as Ardow whispered, “It’s Loche, isn’t it?”

Alarin nodded. “Rioner wasn’t sure at first, as Loche seemed to be a true ally. It wasn’t until… that last night of the election with Elessia.”

Lessia swallowed, the sound bouncing between the walls of the silent house.

“For those of us who just arrived, what happened with the human ruler and the Faeling?” Kerym’s eyes sought hers, and she quickly averted them when curiosity filled his sea-blue ones.

“Well?” Kerym demanded when thick tension layered across the group.

Loved by Fae and human.

Betrayed gray eyes filled her vision.

Herself crawling toward him on the floor.

I think I’m falling in love with you.

Her father remained quiet, but the pity in his eyes was as evident as the shaking in Raine’s hands when the latter offered him a glass of liquor.

When Raine’s face also twisted with sympathy as he glanced her way again, she couldn’t stand it anymore, every muscle within her body going taut as she cast her eyes down.

“I told him I loved him,” she said in a monotone, refusing to let the images of Loche’s disgusted face surface.

A muffled cough made her whirl around, and her brows knitted when Merrick’s face drained of blood as he stared back at her.

Mind spinning, she stepped toward him, but Merrick’s features quickly slipped into his usual mask, and he waved her away.

Her frown deepened as he instead stalked up to her father and Raine and grabbed the glass in Raine’s hand to drain it.

Lessia looked on as he threw his head back, more realizations slamming into her.

That’s why Rioner had been so adamant Loche had something to do with the strange things happening, even when she told him he didn’t…

That’s why he’d needed eyes on him from the inside.

That’s why… he’d sent her.

A half-Fae.

As a test.

She bit back a growl.

No one hated anyone as much as Lessia hated the king then.

A loathing swept through her like poison—filling every nerve and vein.

“So.” Merrick’s tongue darted out to lick a stray drop off his lips as he slapped the glass back into Raine’s hand. “Rioner believes Loche is about to dethrone him. What has he planned to do about it?”

Her father’s eyes narrowed as he sliced them between her and Merrick before responding, “Rioner doesn’t believe he can kill him himself—not with how the curse was outlined. So, he’s made a deal with the Oakgards’ Fae. They have sent some soldiers to help quash the rebels who plan to attack Vastala. And once that’s done, and Loche and his men are still occupied with what we expect to be a fragile aftermath of the rebel attacks in Ellow, he will provide Vastala soldiers to take Ellow for their own.”

“Amazing!” Kerym clapped his hands as a wicked smirk lifted his lips. “So there is no chance of us succeeding in saving Havlands, then? Thank the gods. I’ve tired of this world anyway. Perhaps I might finally find rest.”

A smile pulled at Raine’s features as well. “When you put it that way… this might be more interesting than I thought.”

Lessia’s nostrils flared as her eyes flitted between the two grinning Fae, then to Merrick, who’d grabbed another glass to down it.

The fucking gods.

Always the damned gods.

They’d done nothing more than wreak havoc.

“There must be something we can do!” Lessia snarled. “Stupid fate cannot be the reason Ellow is destroyed. Loche doesn’t have any interest in taking Rioner down. Even if Rioner is a stubborn bastard, we must be able to convince him!”

They would have to.

Amalise was in Ellow.

And so were the children.

The children she had brought over from what now seemed to be the safe isle.

Her father shot her a sorrow-filled look. “Rioner will not listen. I’ve tried. Some of his other council members have even tried to calm him. He believes he is protecting his people. And… what if he is right? The curse does speak to our people being disbanded.”

Lessia snorted.

Protecting his people…

There was no way.

“Merrick?” Stalking up to him instead, a snarl ripped from her lips when he didn’t immediately meet her eyes. “Merrick!”

When he finally tilted his head down and met them, a current whispered over her skin.

The inky black was impossibly darker, the silver flecks more pronounced, his cheeks flushed with color, and if she didn’t know better, she might have thought his hand shook as he gripped her arm—to keep her steady or to keep her from getting more into his face, she didn’t know.

“We’d need an army if we’re to take on Rioner and a fleet of Oakgards’ Fae. A much bigger army than those flimsy ships the humans call their navy.” Merrick pulled her closer, his breaths fanning over her face as he leaned in. “We’d all die, Lessia. We’d die for this. For…”

She heard the word he swallowed.

Him.

They’d die for Loche.

But it wasn’t about him.

At least not only him.

It was about every person who’d visited her tavern.

Every person who’d smiled at her during the election.

Every person who’d hoped for a better life under Loche.

Sure… they could try to get the children out and just take off—hide somewhere and wait this out.

But she’d made a vow that day she’d hurt Frelina.

And damned if she wouldn’t keep it.

She refused to break their stare off.

Refused to believe there was nothing they could do.

She’d made a choice.

And if that choice led to her death?

Well, then, so be it.

She was so tired of the gods.

So tired of fate.

So tired of being helpless.

No.

Fuck that.

“Then we find an army!” she hissed. “I thought you all had taken down companies of soldiers by yourselves!” Lessia threw her arm out toward where Raine and Kerym still grinned at each other as they refilled their drinks. “Did the stories lie?”

“They do not lie,” Merrick snarled back, his face an inch from hers, and she nearly stumbled back when his eyes flared. “If you want to fight… I’ll fight for you.”

“So will I.”

Both their heads whipped toward Raine when he spoke.

Raine winked at them. “Don’t look so surprised. I won’t fight for Rioner, but I’ll fight for the humans. If they’re all like those two”—he waved toward Venko and Ardow, who sat with their mouths open and stared at them all—“they can be quite amusing.”

“Count me in.” Kerym studied his nails. “I meant it. I am bored with this world. And I enjoy these odds.”

“I will fight as well, Elessia.” Alarin took a hesitant step their way. “It’s what Miryn would have wanted.”

Lessia closed her eyes when raw despair etched across her father’s features, and Merrick’s grip on her arm tightened until she opened them again.

Ardow cleared his throat from the couch while he threw Venko a quick look. “I will stand by you. I believe we need to warn the rebels, but I will follow your orders if you do not wish to do so.”

Venko chewed on his lip for a while, his cheeks reddening as the others’ gazes landed on him, but he finally said, “I can’t promise I will fight. But if you can get me back to Ellow, I will provide you with weapons and other resources you might need from my ships.”

Lessia gave him a small smile, then moved to meet the males’ eyes one by one. “Then I guess our first step is to warn Loche.”