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38 AELIA

Pain seared through every limb of my body. I didn’t want to open my eyes, but I knew I had to. Vultures circled overhead. Their black bodies contrasted against a gray sky.

“Good, you’re awake,” Baylis’s voice rang in my ears.

I didn’t respond at first; the shaking of the rickety cart made my head hurt and my stomach turn.

“Where are we?” I said, my voice hoarse from disuse.

“We’re on our way to the Court of Whispers.”

“Why?” I eked out.

“We’re meeting Erissa there.”

My chest tightened, and I shut my eyes once more. I didn’t want to think about what awaited me. The Court of Whispers was a poorer court whose mere existence depended upon sacrificing people to the Night Folk. Why would anyone want to live there? I had no idea. Pride, I guess.

I tried my best to sleep for most of the trip, but the shackles around my wrists and ankles made it difficult. They’d purposefully put the shackles on to inhibit my healing. Smart on their part, I’ll give them that. The smell of hops and barley wafted through the air. We must be in the Court of Malts. Technically, a Wild Court, if I could get to a town, they would shelter me. That was a big if .

We pulled into some brush for the night.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Baylis said, fastening my shackles to an O-ring hook before hopping out of the back of the cart.

I rolled my eyes.

“Alwin, start a fire,” she commanded the mercenary who was twice her size.

“You know, you don’t hold my contract. The mage does. So, if I were you, I’d cool it with the orders,” he said.

I peered out over the cart’s edge just in time to see my sister nock her bow.

“I am betrothed to the king of the Highlands, Midlands, and soon to be…”

A ringing in my ears drowned out her next words, but I heard enough to know Gideon was on the move. He was up to something. But how would he conquer anyone without the full strength of his army?

My head ached, and I tightened my jaw to try and numb the pain. Had they given me something to knock me out, or was this just a side effect of being shot in the back by an iron arrow?

I laid back down in the bed of the cart. There was little else I could do with my arms and legs locked tight.

The wind howled overhead. I looked to the stars and thought of Tharan. Was he looking at the stars as well? Was he wondering where I was? Did he even know I was missing? Surely, Amolie had sent a raven or told Roderick by now. But would they know where to look? I had made so many enemies. Anyone could have taken me. Would they think of Gideon and Erissa first, or would they look to the sea queen? At least I had enough foresight not to bring the Scepter of the Dead with me.

My breath turned to vapor in the cool night air. I imagined Tharan’s arms wrapped around me. Would I ever see him again? My heart sank. I should have told him how I felt. I should have told him how much I loved him. Why did I have to be so afraid of a good thing? Why couldn’t I accept the love I knew I deserved?

None of these thoughts mattered now. Tharan would kill Baylis and this mercenary without another thought. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. My sister had betrayed me, but I hoped she was still in there somewhere.

I should have listened to my instincts and kept a better watch on her. The time for regrets was over. I had to move forward. She was Gideon’s creature now, and I had to accept that. My thoughts drifted to my horse, Adion. I would likely never see him again—never feel his soft fur beneath my fingers—never feel the wind on my face as we raced through an open field. Would he wonder where I’ve gone? Would he think I’ve abandoned him? My heart clenched in my chest, and I smothered a sob.

From where I lay, I could see the golden hue of fire licking the trees. There would be no warmth for me.

Baylis returned.

“Here,” she said. “Three rabbits. Cook them up, and I’ll get some water for Aelia.” My name sounded foreign on her tongue.

A few minutes later, she returned. The smell of roasting meat wafted through the air. Holding a sack of water in one hand and a roasted rabbit in another, she jumped into the back of the cart.

“Can’t have you dying on us now. Erissa will be pissed, and we both know it’s better to be on her good side.”

She pulled me up into a sitting position. It took everything I had in me not to scream in pain. A heat radiated from where she’d shot me, bringing tears to my eyes.

With her delicate fingers, she stripped the meat from the bones. “Open up.”

Despite my growling stomach, I shut my mouth tightly.

Her brows knitted.

“Now, Aelia, don’t be stubborn. If you want to heal, you need to eat.”

She was right. Without sustenance, it would take longer for me to heal, which meant more time in this sustained state of agony. Reluctantly, I opened my mouth, and she placed a piece of the rabbit on my tongue. I considered biting off another one of her fingers so she couldn’t hold a bow but thought better of it. I needed to appeal to my old sister. The one I knew. Going tit-for-tat on who could inflict more pain on the other would get us both maimed or killed.

The meat tasted rough and gamey in my mouth, but I was starving, so I ate every bite.

“Good,” Baylis said, uncorking the water sack and holding it to my lips. “Drink.”

I did as I was told, guzzling down the water as if I had been wandering in the desert for ages.

“Get some rest. We’re heading out in the morning.”

I didn’t say anything, just nodded. The perverse part of me wanted to know their plan—to see where this was all going.

Baylis covered me with my cloak before jumping out of the cart.

A voice in the darkness startled me awake. Only blackness surrounded me except for the dim glow of a lamp.

“Who goes there?” the voice called.

Was this my chance?

Neither Baylis nor Alwin answered. Either they were asleep or off hunting. The voice sounded again.

“Who goes there?”

“Help!” I cried out. “Help me!”

A small halfling with a wrinkled face came into view. Through the dim light, I could see his gray eyes widen.

“Miss, are you alright?”

“Do I look alright?” I whispered, desperately. “Help me get out of here.”

The man looked around wearily.

“Hurry, please.” My voice was barely a whisper.

Climbing into the cart, the man pulled away my cloak, gasping at my chains.

“I am Hand to the Alder King. I have been kidnapped. Please help me.”

“Ma’am, I am but a halfling. I cannot carry you.”

“Run to town and alert a magistrate. We are on the move. Tell them where you saw me last. King Tharan will know what to do.”

The man nodded so frantically the hat he wore nearly fell off.

“Go, now.”

The halfling fled into the woods.

An arrow whizzed through the darkness, but I did not hear it hit its mark.

I sat up. Through the red light of the dying fire, Baylis emerged. The shadows playing against her delicate features turned her into the monster she really was.

She scoffed, kicking the mercenary who’d passed out from drink hours ago. “Get up, fool. We need to get out of here.”

The man continued to snore.

Scooping up a ball of snow, she threw it at Alwin, who jerked awake, running a giant hand through his dark, wavy hair. “Wha… What’s going on?” His voice slurred with the clumsiness of a drunk.

“We need to go,” Baylis said, throwing snow on the fire. The flames hissed as they died.

Alwin hooked the horse up while Baylis loaded the cart.

With a click of his tongue, the cart lurched forward, and with it, any hopes of my rescue. I said a silent prayer to Amenna that the halfling had made it. Baylis couldn’t see in the dark. Her aim would’ve been off.

We rode through the night and into the next morning. The sun crested over the horizon, casting everything in a pale pink light. The first buds of spring peeked through the snow. From where I sat, I could see grape vines hanging from wooden braces. We were in elven territory now.

“Baylis, what are you doing? The elves don’t take kindly to outsiders.”

“It’s fine. We have permission to pass.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Erissa made special arrangements for us.”

“Erissa has been banished from these lands for thousands of years.”

She scoffed.

“There are still some who are loyal to Crom Cruach and want to see him rise again.”

“King Arendir?”

“I don’t know who the bargain was made with.”

The conversation ended.

A chill ran down my spine. Was Arendir working with Erissa? Sure, he was power-hungry, but I just hadn’t realized the lengths he’d go to get what he wanted.

We rode through the day. Not one elf stopped us. Not even for a toll. My body slowly healed as we went along. I could feel my powers returning and my wounds mending. I faded in and out of consciousness. The sky overhead turned from faint pink to blue to orange and then to black. All the while, the horse never stopped. Or perhaps he did, and I did not notice.

A fever left my brow wet and clammy, and my breath rasped in my chest as the magic in my veins worked hard to heal the iron-infected wounds.

We stopped in front of a tiny shack that couldn’t have been more than two rooms. The roof sagged, and the shutters barely hung from their hinges.

Alwin lifted me from the cart like I weighed nothing at all.

An ancient-looking elf with long pointed ears, a bulbous nose, and pock-marked skin answered the door.

“Come in quickly. We don’t need anyone snooping around.” The cottage smelled of mildew and old soil.

The elf led us to the back of the house, where a portal stood open—swirling colors of blue and green.

“And this will take us where we need to go?” Baylis asked.

“Yes, my Lady. Unlike the sanctioned portals, this will take you anywhere you want to go. I’ve already put in your coordinates.”

Operating an unsanctioned portal carried a hefty price. They were outlawed ages ago during the Sylph and Elven Wars. I didn’t even know any still existed. They must have paid this man a small fortune for him to risk his life like this.

“Very well, let’s go.” Baylis walked through the portal, and we followed, stepping into a dense wood steeped in fog with mountains at our backside. The portal promptly closed behind us.

Baylis scoffed. “That idiot sent us to the wrong place.” She paced around the darkened wood. Her blonde hair glowed in the streaks of moonlight trickling through the thick canopy. The smell of damp earth and pine wafted through the forest. “Okay, let’s go this way. We must be close. He can’t actually be that bad at the one job he had.” She started off into the forest.

Alwin followed, still carrying me. The smell of liquor on his breath mixed with the smell of sweat on his skin. I tried my best not to breathe.

Baylis used a machete to hack through thick brush blocking our path. Thorns scraped at our skin, snagging on our clothes.

“You know, if you undid my ankles I could walk.”

“And risk you running again? I don’t think so.”

“Suit yourself,” I said.

A faint clicking sound echoed in the distance. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. We were not alone.

“Stay alert,” Baylis said.

Alwin nodded.

“Do you know what hunts us?” I asked.

“Shh. Be quiet. We don’t need to draw any more attention than we already have,” Baylis said without even looking back at me.

I shut my mouth. If something attacked us, they could deal with it.

We walked through the black night until the faint light of a cabin came into view. A single candle burned in the dust-covered window. Where were we?

Smoke billowed from the chimney of the log cabin, dissipating into the night. I tried to see in the window as we approached, but the grime made that impossible.

Baylis knocked three times, paused, then knocked two more times.

We waited, silent as the grave. The forest moved around us. Hungry eyes raked over our bodies. Whatever was out there was preparing to strike. My pulse quickened. I didn’t know which to fear more: whatever was in the cabin or the monsters lurking in the woods.

Baylis knocked again.

A rustling in the brush.

Alwin set me down on the damp ground before pulling his sword. “Try the knob, Baylis.”

She jiggled the handle.

“It’s locked.”

Alwin gazed out at the forest, where dozens of glowing red eyes came into view.

“Break the window. We need to get in there now,” he whispered out of the side of his mouth.

Baylis pounded frantically at the door.

“Hello, hello! Let us in!”

My eyes flitted between my sister and the eyes in the forest.

A latch scraped against its base, and the door opened.

“Quickly,” the voice of my nightmares said.

A clicking echoed through the forest, and dread pooled in my stomach.

Alwin scooped me up and brought me inside as the sound bore into my brain.

Baylis shut the door, and the clicking stopped.

Inside, the cabin was shabby and old. The smell of mahogany lingered on its beams, but it had been ages since someone had inhabited it.

Erissa pulled back her white hood. The flame danced across her burned face. I grimaced at the sight of her mangled skin.

A coy smile pulled at the corners of her lips.

“Nice to see you, Aelia. You’re looking… well, you’ve looked better.” She turned to Baylis and Alwin, her brow knitted. “I thought I said she wasn’t to be harmed.”

Baylis shrugged.

“She ran. What was I supposed to do?”

“Not shoot her in the back.” Erissa scolded. “Lay her down here. I’ll fix her up.”

Alwin set me down on a rickety cot. My blood boiled in my veins at the sight of the ancient mage.

Erissa sighed, resting her hands on her hips.

“Aelia, Aelia, Aelia. Always getting into trouble.”

Alwin lit a fire in the hearth.

“Yeah, well, excuse me for wanting to escape. I’ve already experienced your hospitality once. I don’t care to experience it again.”

“Oh, but you’ll want to see who else will be here soon.”

My heart lurched into my throat. Tharan? Caiden?

A fist pounded at the door.

“Right on time,” Erissa said, moving gracefully across the cabin, her white robes flowing behind her.

She opened the door, and a panting woman with dark red hair and angled features nearly fell through the door. Behind her led on a chain, was Caiden.