Page 46

44 CAIDEN

Caiden’s breath turned to vapor in the cool morning air as they trudged through the forest. Pain shot through his ankle, and he leaned on Aelia for support. Even through the dirt and the grime, the scent of jasmine lingered on her skin. A scent he remembered. Not from her memories but from his own. Were his memories coming back, too?

“The smell is getting stronger. We must be getting closer to the Court of Honey,” Aelia said.

A memory rose to the surface of Caiden’s mind.

“Aelia?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember the last time we were in the Court of Honey together?”

Her cheeks flushed.

“Yes. That was a very long time ago.”

Butterflies flitted in his stomach. Back then, they’d used their secret sign to sneak out to the town proper. They’d danced and drank with the townsfolk. She’d fallen asleep in his arms on a cool summer night in a bed of wildflowers. To her, life couldn’t get better. The night sparkled with fireflies.

Caiden tapped his nose—the signal they used to give one another when they needed to escape an awkward conversation.

“We were so young,” he said.

“ I was so young. You were like seventy.”

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and he averted his eyes. This was how they used to be together. Flirtatious.

“Young for a sylph.”

She chuckled.

“But, yes, I remember. I remember dancing the night away and then falling asleep in your arms.”

“You thought life couldn’t get much better.”

“It didn’t for a long time.”

A skeletal hand clenched Caiden’s heart. He hadn’t meant to bring up such painful memories.

“I’m glad I could be a port in the storm that was your life.” His heart ached for her.

“You saved me more than you know,” she whispered.

Caiden’s throat thickened.

“And now we are strangers. I have your memories, but it’s like someone telling me a story about us… except I wasn’t there.”

He wished he had his memories—wished he knew how he felt during these precious moments.

“I’m sorry she did that to you,” Aelia said. “I’d hope we could just move on.”

“I’ve seen the way you look at Tharan. You used to look at me that way.” The words stuck in his throat. “But he looks at you the same way I looked at my wife. He really loves you Aelia. I wouldn’t dare to stand in the way of your happiness.” It wasn’t what he wanted to say

A tear trickled down her cheek. Caiden wanted to reach out and catch it before it fell off her chin.

“I didn’t want to let you go; you know. If there was a way I could have saved us, I would have. You were my first love.”

“First loves rarely last, Aelia.” Memories flashed through his mind of fights and screaming, of her longing for him to come and save her. Shame clutched his heart.

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” she sniffled.

And he never meant to hurt her, but he had. She’d loved him. Had given herself to him in so many ways, and he failed her when she needed him the most. A vision of her fingers slipping through his flashed through his mind. She didn’t want to leave him, but duty called them both in different directions.

Another memory bubbled to the surface. He had come for her in the dungeons of Ryft’s Edge, but it had been too late. She was broken, in both mind and body, laying there in a pile of hay, starved and frozen. He’d scooped her up and carried her out of the palace. Aelia clung to his scent, hoping it was real and not just some cruel joke.

A mixture of shame and guilt rippled through his heart. If only he had taken her away before she went to Ryft’s Edge. It would have been hard, but they’d have been together.

“I know,” he said. “I can feel every emotion you had.”

“That’s awkward,” she said through a half-hearted laugh.

“No, it’s not. We loved each other once. The world pulled us apart. I have been a thorn in your side at times, but the love we shared was real. You couldn’t wait forever for me to save you, and by the time I did it was too late. I wish we’d run away when we had the chance, but we can’t go back now.”

“I was really angry at you for a long time,” she sniffled.

Caiden swallowed hard.

“You had every right to be. I failed you when you needed me the most.”

“I should’ve known I’d always have to save myself. White knights only exist in bedtime stories.”

Caiden went to speak, but an arrow whizzed past them.

“Shit,” Aelia said. “We have to move faster.”

Caiden did his best to keep up with her, but his foot dragged in the frozen mud.

“Just a little farther. They won’t touch us across the border,” Aelia said through panted breaths.

“You don’t know that. They stole me from Vantris.”

“True, just wishful thinking, really.”

Another arrow whizzed past them. Caiden didn’t dare look backward. Their only chance of surviving was if they could make it to the Hive in the Court of Honey. They had a large army and would be safe there.

The sun shone on the frost-covered grass, casting everything in a gilded light. Caiden squinted to see ahead.

“We’re not going to be able to make it, Aelia.” Caiden’s throat thickened.

“They’re not going to take us again.” Her eyes narrowed on the path ahead of them. She looked back. “I don’t see them. Baylis must be shooting blindly.”

The sound of pounding hooves echoed through the quiet morning, reverberating through the hard earth. Caiden’s stomach sank. Over the horizon, the silhouettes of five Blood Riders appeared, running full speed at them.

“Fuck,” Aelia said. “What are we going to do?”

Caiden looked down at the chain linking them, and an idea formed in his head.

“Let them get close. We’re going to use our chain to trip the horse.”

“Are you insane? That’s never going to work.”

“At worst the chain breaks and we’re free.”

“They could trample us, break our arms, we could die.”

“They’re going to kill us anyway. Better to go down fighting.”

Aelia looked toward the riders. They were so close they could see the drool coming from the water horses’ sharp fangs. The riders smiled a mouth full of lip-less rotten teeth. Their bloodred eyes thirsty for a kill.

“Wait until they get close and then we pull apart. The horses won’t be able to stop.”

“But I feel bad about the horse.”

“That horse will eat you if given the chance.”

The rumbling grew more violent.

“You’re right,” Aelia said.

Caiden could see the horses’ breath in the cold morning light.

“On my cue.”

The pocked faces of the riders became clearer. The stench of rotting flesh hung heavy in the air.

“Wait,” Caiden said as calmly as he could.

The lead rider kicked his steed, and they shot ahead of the rest.

The rider held up his sword ready to lop off Caiden’s head.

Caiden held his breath, saying a silent prayer to Illya to let them live. He watched as the horses’ hooves grew closer and closer, throwing mud in their wake.

“Caiden…” Aelia whispered.

The horse was nearly upon them. The rider lowered his sword.

“Now!”

They broke apart and fell to their knees, pulling their chain tight.

Caiden’s wrists twisted against his manacles but did not break. He let out a guttural cry as the chain buckled under the weight of the horse. With a snap , the chain broke.

The rider’s eyes widened. He tried to stop his horse, but it was too late. The animal’s leg hit the trip chain, sending the horse tumbling headfirst into the brush.

The riders called to each other in wicked screams sending a shiver down Caiden’s spine.

Aelia picked herself up. The chains linking her manacles fell to the ground. Caiden’s did the same. They were free. Aelia’s face brightened and darkened in an instant.

The other riders closed ranks around them. Caiden and Aelia stood back-to-back.

“If you have another plan, now would be the time to implement it,” Aelia said.

Caiden’s chest tightened, and adrenaline coursed through his veins, but he had no plan. There were too many for him and Aelia to take on; his ankle was broken, and neither of them had magic.

“Uh, well, if you pray to the Trinity, now might be a good time to put in a cry for help.”

The Blood Riders licked their bare teeth. The smell of their acrid breath wafted through the air. Closer and closer, they moved until Caiden and Aelia were within inches of the horse’s long fangs.

“Don’t harm them. The lady wants them whole,” one of the riders called to the others, raising his fist in a sign to hold. “We are to keep them here until she arrives.”

Dread coiled like a snake in Caiden’s gut. This was it; they were done for. Erissa would take them back and probably give them parasites like the others. He reached for Aelia’s hand, intertwining their fingers.

“I’m sorry, Caiden,” she whispered. “For everything.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. We’re going to get out of this. We didn’t escape and face the Night Folk, just to be captured again.”

“Alright, well, any actionable steps we could take would be great.”

An arrow soared through the air, hitting a Blood Rider between the eyes. The man didn’t even have time to blink before he was on the ground. His water horse ripped into his lifeless body with its massive fangs.

The knot in Caiden’s chest unraveled. Baylis wouldn’t kill a Blood Rider. It could only be a friendly court coming to rescue them, but who? Court of Honey? The Woodlands? The Stormlands? Strangers looking to hunt Blood Riders?

The other men looked around to see the source of the arrow. Caiden swore he could see a flicker of fear in their cold dead eyes. In an instant, the other three were on the ground.

He blinked stupidly at the lifeless bodies. The sound of crunching bones echoed in his chest as the water horses devoured their riders, a reminder every triumph balances on the edge of a knife.

“Run,” Aelia said.

Caiden looked at his twisted ankle, and dread pooled in his stomach. He couldn’t outrun a water horse even with a good leg.

“I can’t.”

“Lean on me. They’ll hunt us down when they’re finished. They’ve had a taste of blood now, and they’ll want more.”

With his arm looped over her shoulder, he rested his weight on her, trying his best to help her as much as he could. He couldn’t help but see the woman she was. The one from long ago who tamed horses and charmed dignitaries. The one he knew in a different lifetime. The one he let slip through his fingers.

Dark hooded figures emerged from the forest.

Caiden sucked in a breath. He and Aelia paused in their tracks. They couldn’t go back. Not with the water horses behind them.

One of the figures pulled his hood off, and Caiden recognized him as one of Lucius’s Shadow Hunters. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.

“Lord Caiden, we’ve been searching for you. Master Lucius has instructed us to bring you back home, but seeing as you’re injured, we will take you to the Court of Honey.”

Two tall and lanky Shadow Hunters looped their arms around Caiden, lifting him from Aelia’s grip.

He reached back for her, but their fingers slipped through one another.

They walked for hours until they reached the Hive, where the Queen Bee awaited them.

Exhausted, bloodied, and bruised, Caiden fell to his knees before her.

“Your Majesty, I am sorry to come to you like this, but I am in great need of aid.”

“I can see that,” she said. Bees buzzed around her flower crown. “You are a Council Court. Of course, I will shelter you.” She waved to her attendants. “Remove their shackles and take them to the infirmary so a healer can tend to their injuries.”

Attendants rushed to Caiden and Aelia’s side, lifting them onto gurneys. Caiden let his body relax for the first time in weeks. He was safe. Aelia was safe. That’s all that mattered now.

They took them both to the infirmary where healers tended to their wounds and locksmiths came to break their manacles open.

A rush of magic seeped into Caiden’s blood, roaring like a fire through his veins. He winced as the pain consumed him.

A healer came over to administer elixir of poppy to help with the pain. His eyes felt heavy, and his head wobbled on a rubbery neck.

“Alright, all healed,” Aelia said, sitting up in her bed next to his. She twisted her hands around her wrists where the manacles had been.

“Not so fast,” said the lead healer, a tall, lanky man with gray hair and a short, trimmed beard. “You need your rest. I’m having the cooks add some magical herbs to your dinners to aid in rejuvenating your magic. You were wearing those manacles for a long time. Your magic must have been nearly gone.

Aelia huffed but lay back down on the bed.

“Fine.”

The healer turned his attention to Caiden.

“We’re going to have to regrow the bones in your ankle. I’ve got a tonic, but it will take at least a day.”

Caiden groaned but agreed.

The healer nodded and went to mix the tincture.

Aelia fiddled with her fingers. “I hate laying here. We need to act.”

“Yeah? You don’t even know what you’re looking for.”

“A magical well should be easy to find.”

“Let’s ask the queen. Hopefully, she can point us in the right direction. We will take my Shadow Hunters with us as reinforcements.”

“I suppose you’re right. Old habits die hard.” She shut her eyes.

A memory flashed through Caiden’s mind. Their bodies entwined in red silk sheets. His fingers trailed the curve of her back. Her long, brown hair in a mess of curls. His heart swelled and cracked. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on something else… anything else but her.

A flurry of movement proved a worthy distraction. The queen entered in a sweeping gown the color of sunflowers in full bloom, her round belly on full display. Bees buzzed around her tight curls.

“Are you two feeling better?” she said in her deep feminine voice.

Both nodded as they sat up in their beds.

“Very well, I’ve got two pieces of information I think you will find helpful. The first is your Captain Roderick was here yesterday. They were asking about the Court of Screams. I sent them to Honeyville. I assume you’d want to know.”

“Yes, thank you,” Caiden nodded.

She clicked her tongue.

“What?” Caiden asked.

“I didn’t know the Court of Storms had allied with the Woodland Realm.”

Aelia twisted her hair into a knot. “Was the Alder King with them?”

“Indeed. He is looking for something in the Court of Screams.”

She turned to him, eyes wide and wild.

“We have to go. Tonight, Caiden.”

“He needs to heal,” the healer chimed in. His brows furrowed. “And so do you. You can leave in the morning.”

Caiden couldn’t help but feel like he missed her already. She loved someone else now, and he would have to accept that.

“I know you want to help Tharan and find the Wells… I want that too. Please, do not leave without me. Besides, we don’t know if we need all our blood to unlock the Well.”

Her gaze softened on him and her face contorted with indecision. Was she feeling something long forgotten too?

Moments of silence passed until finally, she said, “Fine. We’ll leave in the morning. Is there a portal or are we hoofing it?”

The queen sighed, and her eyes shot to the ceiling.

“I do have a portal for my own personal use. I suppose you could use it. Since it’s for a good cause.”

Caiden smirked.

“You don’t do anything out of the goodness of your heart, Queen. What do you want in return?”

“Well, there is something the Court of Storms could help me with.”

Caiden shook his head.

“Of course there is.”

“We are expecting a drought this year. Our bees depend on flowers. I’d like you to send some of your citizens with the gift of rain to help if that is the case.”

“It is done.”

A blinding white smile cut her face in two.

“Excellent. You may use my portal in the morning.” The queen turned on her heel and promptly exited the infirmary, followed by her attendants and a buzzing of bees.