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Chapter Fifty-Six

R eign

Ice surged through my veins, a pit of dread firmly implanting itself in my bowels since we returned to the manor. Even the flickering flames of the grand hearth did nothing to chase away the chill.

“Do you honestly believe Helroth has been systematically infiltrating the minds of Royal Guardians for all these months?” Ruhl paced the length of the massive chamber that jutted over the Shadowmere Sea.

“Quiet,” I hissed. “Do you want Aelia to overhear us again?”

“Us?” Ruhl threw his thumb over his shoulder toward the courtyard below where Kaelith stood, eyes fixed to the sea as usual. “It was his fault she overheard our discussion.”

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it was,” Aidan interjected. “Clearly, we’ve wasted enough time hiding out on this island fortress while Helroth moved forward with his plans to resurrect his fallen court.”

In nearly perfect unison, our gazes swung toward Aelia’s adoptive father. Or rather, King Alaric’s most trusted general. Perhaps I’d been stupid not to consult the old Light Fae before.

“We weren’t hiding,” I growled, marching toward the male. “I was simply trying to protect Aelia. Isn’t that what you’ve done all these years?”

“Of course.” He dragged his hands across his face and heaved out a resigned sigh. “But that time has passed. Aelia has come into her full powers, and she’s become quite a weapon in her own right. Helroth is growing stronger, and the courts once again are on the brink of war.”

“What are you suggesting?” Ruhl asked.

“It’s time to reveal the princess as rightful heir to the Light throne.” His gaze swiveled to Ruhl. “And it is up to you, Prince Ruhl, to force your father to listen to reason and align his court with that of King Elian’s. Together, Shadow and Light can crush Helroth’s forces and put an end to his uprising before it begins.”

A dark chuckle erupted through my clenched teeth as I regarded Aidan. “Do you truly believe Tenebris will listen to Ruhl? Or that he would ever join forces with the King of Ethereal Light?”

“He must, if he wishes to save all the courts of Aetheria.”

“And what of my vow?” I snapped. “The moment Tenebris discovers Aelia lives, he’ll demand I fulfill my end of the bargain. For decades, the royal seer has drilled it into his head that her end is the key to avoiding our fall to ruin.”

“Then you must eliminate yourself as a factor.”

“…What are you saying, Aidan?”

“I think it’s very clear, son. At this point, you are only a risk to Aelia’s wellbeing. You must leave, go as far away as you can.”

“I cannot leave her,” I snarled, fury lashing across my escalating timbre. “I will not just abandon my cuoré to deal with three bloodthirsty kings and their courts on the verge of war.”

“She is not your cuoré yet, Reign. You have yet to complete the bond.”

“But we will!” I erased the distance between us, clenching my fingers into fists at my sides to keep from strangling the old Fae. How could he dare insinuate we were not meant to be? “She loves me, she only can’t remember because of that monster, Helroth. And already her memories have started to return. She told me only a few hours ago, that she was falling in love with me again.”

I felt Ruhl’s gaze flicker to mine, but I held my own steady, fixed to Aidan’s.

“I understand.” He drew in a breath, puffing his chest as I towered over him. “I do not doubt your love for Aelia, or your absolute devotion to her, but sometimes in life, there are difficult choices which must be made… Do you think Aelia’s parents wanted to abandon her? They did what they were forced to do for the good of all.”

“No…” I shook my head, realization hitting me like a slap in the face. “You want Aelia to go through with the betrothal to my brother, to bind the Light and Shadow Courts in marriage.”

“It is the only way to stand against the Night Court and win.” His pale gray eyes met mine, sadness mirrored in the cool depths. “The effects of the bond will fade in time, Reign. It will be difficult for both of you, but it will be for the survival of our kingdoms. Aelia will no longer be in danger because of you, and countless lives could be spared.”

“And you think my father will simply stop hunting her because I’m gone?”

“With her betrothal to Ruhl, we will make him see he has no other choice. And with you gone, Aelia, too, will be forced to agree.”

Gods, no, this wasn’t happening. I would not allow it. My head whipped back and forth, agony tearing at my insides. When would fate finally let us be? I could not lose Aelia; I would never survive it a second time.

Aidan reached out, his hand closing over my shoulder. “I know how much you love her, Reign. You are a good Fae, a noble one, despite all you’ve endured, and this sacrifice could save Aetheria.”

My head swung toward my brother, eyes latching onto his. He simply stood there, face pale and lips pressed into a tight line.

“You’re not going to gloat then?” I hissed.

A tendon across his jaw feathered beneath the day-old scruff.

“What do you say, brother?”

“Aidan’s right,” Ruhl murmured, the softly spoken words carrying the weight of inevitability, of a fate neither of us could escape.

And a truth I wasn’t ready to face, one I would never accept.

I stormed out of the chamber, a thousand daggers piercing my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. Aidan was wrong. I was not a good Fae. I did not have a selfless bone in my body, and I would rather all of Aetheria—hell, all of Crescentia—burn than give up my Aelia.

* * *

The moonlight slid across Aelia’s face like a gentle caress, illuminating her perfect features in an ethereal glow. The cuorem bond awakened at her nearness, pulsing frantically in my chest as I braced myself in the doorway of her chamber, our chamber, the one we’d shared for the past few incredible nights.

Take her. Claim her before it’s too late. She’s yours .

The hushed whispers rushed through my mind, escalating to a frantic tempo. I squeezed my eyes closed in a vain attempt to block the debilitating effects of the cuorem. Noxus, there was nothing I wanted more than to finally claim Aelia as mine.

Still, a tiny sliver of my conscience couldn’t help but dwell on Aidan’s words. What if she truly were better off without me?

Moving closer, drawn by an invisible force as powerful as the tides themselves, I paused at the foot of her bed, drinking her in. I couldn’t accept it. Why would the gods bind me to this female only to tear us apart?

No, I had to believe that in their infinite wisdom, this bond had been created for a purpose. I would not allow Aidan or Ruhl to convince me otherwise. There had to be a way for Aelia and me to be together without sacrificing all the inhabitants of Aetheria.

Though I truly cared little for them…

Aelia was all that mattered.

She stirred beneath the coverlet as if she’d felt my presence, her lids fluttered and brilliant silver-blue orbs found mine a moment later. “You’ve finally come to bed.”

“Mmm,” I murmured, forcing my feet to remain at the footboard despite the overwhelming urge to crawl on top of her.

She pushed the silk coverlet aside and sat up, leaning on her elbows. “Well, come on then. I waited for as long as I could, but I was so tired I must have fallen asleep.”

“Waited?” My breath hitched on the word.

A wicked grin curled her lips, and the sleepy haze of a second ago vanished. “I owe you from earlier. Do you really not remember?”

“Of course I remember, princess,” I purred, a jagged edge to my tone. “But after everything that happened…”

“It only makes me more eager to fulfill my promise. To give us both a moment of reprieve from the chaos.”

“Aelia…” I whispered, her name on my lips an inescapable vow.

“Let me show you how much you mean to me, my prince.” She straightened, kneeling on the bed, and reached out her hand. Her expression was tentative, a rosy flush to her cheeks. “I was terrified today when I found myself in the midst of that battlefield. I couldn’t tell what was real and what was a cursed illusion, implanted by my scheming grandsire.” She wiggled her fingers, beckoning me closer, and like a shadow chasing the light, I was powerless to deny her. My hand wrapped around hers and she towed me closer, until my knees hit the edge of the mattress.

“And then you came for me, as you promised you would, and I realized you always would .” Her hands skated up my chest, wrapping around my neck and holding me steady as my heart hammered against my ribs like a relentless drum. “I love you, Reign Darkthorn, or Prince Reign of Umbra, or whatever your gods’ damned name may be. Helroth may have torn away all memories of you, but he couldn’t carve out the love in my heart, the all-consuming emotion that has been there all along. I love you in this life and the next, and for all that will come after. You are mine, and I am yours.”

Aelia sealed the promise with a kiss that had my blood roaring.