Page 17

CHAPTER 17

T he morning after Exitium Lunae, we left for Feldspar as the sun rose, despite the hungover state of our group.

Somehow, I’d snuck up to my room after the incident in the woods without being seen. Most of the guards had been too caught up in celebrating to the point they hadn’t noticed me wearing a man’s jacket as I quietly found the back entrance of the castle. It had been mostly empty inside the home, save for a few servants wandering about as they refilled trays outside, so it’d been relatively easy to get back to my room. I’d peeled out of my torn dress, leaving Bowen’s jacket on the bed as I bathed the sand and dirt off, somehow managing to untangle my hair from the ribbons of the mask. I’d then changed into my nightgown and tossed the clothes in the trash, along with the mask. They were all ruined anyway, and it’d be easier to have a servant dispose of them than explain why the clothes were so battered, and why I had a man’s jacket.

I still wondered why he’d been so easily willing to give me his coat.

From the moment I’d met Bowen on the night of my engagement announcement, he’d been harsh with his words, careful with his phrasing like everything he said and did was calculated. But last night, he’d killed three men simply for threatening me. Well, it was a bit past a threat, but the sentiment remained. He didn’t have to put himself at risk for me, and yet, he did. For a stranger. For someone he’d made clear he wanted nothing to do with. For someone he’d mocked before. He could have walked away, but he didn’t.

And not a soul could know of it.

We’d traveled through the Hollows most of the day, the cover from the thick forest of black pine trees a relief from the beating sun. It reflected off the rings, scorching us with heat as we moved. I was thankful we were heading into Feldspar, known for its fresh water rivers and towering trees, as shade, snow, and a swim in one of their hot springs sounded lovely after the long day of travel.

Feldspar and Torbernite were quite close to one another, not nearly as far apart as the other kingdoms—though their biomes were complete opposites, with Torbernite being warm and sunny and Feldspar being overcast and snowy—so we reached Alkali, their city, shortly after nightfall.

After a full night’s rest to recover from travel and lingering hangovers, we had awoken to freezing temperatures. The salty ocean breeze rolled through the snow-covered pines that battled for height against the massive castle. The building itself had been impressive, with its dark tan architecture against ivory accents weaved throughout the intricacies of each carefully sculpted piece of art. The palace was a painting in and of itself as it stood grand amongst the thick trees.

I’d never have thought such a place to exist. Amosite had forests containing a variety of smaller trees not far from the castle, but those didn’t hold a candle to Feldspar’s. The timber were beasts of their own, swaying with the wind that rolled in from the ocean miles away, sending loads of snow to the ground as piles fell from their branches.

After having tea with Queen Pleum, Lander and I had gone into downtown Crystalline to present our speech to the citizens. King and Queen Pleum had been much more warm than our brief interaction with Sulphur’s monarchs, but the people had treated me the same. Rather than food being thrown at us, though, they chucked balls of snow, soaking my dress through.

As Feldspar and Torbernite were close, Lander and Paxon had been welcomed with open arms. During my time to speak, though, they’d made crude comments, shouting over my words. From what I wore to the way I looked, they had picked on all of it.

But the comments that stuck with me the most were when they’d said Lander deserved better than a fragile woman.

The word had repeated itself in my brain all night. Fragile . And as much as it hurt me to hear, maybe they were right. I wasn’t prepared for any of this. All the slander, the glares, the judgment. My father knowingly threw me to the wolves with no means of preparing myself.

Through it all, Lander had apologized profusely. It wasn’t his fault—the two of us knew that. This was my father’s doing, and I was simply paying the price. He thought he could stick me in front of crowds of irate people, and I would give some simple speech and they would trust me. But what trust would they have in a kingdom that ruined their trade agreements by withholding resources we had an abundance of?

Our world relied on magic for so many things that when my father cut their supplies to such a meager amount, they suffered. They had no choice but to make do, none of these kingdoms having someone like me to replenish their resources.

I’d filled half-empty vials when no one was watching, my magic flowing through my body eagerly when I did, but what little I was able to do was hardly enough. There were hundreds of thousands of people in each kingdom we visited, and one or two vials wouldn’t fix their problems.

But it was a start.

With our unwelcome presence in the city, we had left Feldspar the next morning, hoping to get an early start on the journey over the Brimstone Mountains. I’d been on edge since our departure, memories of the attack in Torbernite plaguing me like the flu.

“It’s not your fault, Auria,” Lander said across from me in the carriage.

“I know.” He’d told me at least a hundred times.

“Then why are you moping?”

I looked up from my lap to find his eyes on me. “I’m not moping.”

“Two and a half weeks with you, and you think I can’t tell the shift in your mood?”

How did he expect me to feel? I’d been so excited to leave Amosite, even for just a few weeks, and with each day that passed, that spirit was being pulled out of me. I didn’t take any of this for granted, and yet, I wondered if I hadn’t left the kingdom at all, would I feel better? After all, I couldn’t be hurt by things I didn’t know.

I folded my hands together on my lap, attempting to straighten my posture, despite the wheels of the carriage shifting on each bump in the snow we passed over. I was thankful the strength vial I’d refilled this morning was enough to keep the queasiness from setting in so far. The Brimstone Mountains, as Lander had informed me, were treacherous to pass no matter the time of year. The weather conditions were so severe that many didn’t take the risk, but the guards had wanted to return to Amosite as early as we could, so they hadn’t chosen the longer route that went around the base of the mountain. “As if yours hasn’t shifted, too.”

Outside the carriage, the howling wind was deafening, and I was thankful for the thin barrier between us and the elements.

“For all different reasons,” he said.

I raised a brow. “Is that so?”

He crossed his arms, leaning back against the cushion. “Marriage is a leash.”

This time, both my brows shot up. “You think I’ll force you to give up what you love?”

“Why would a wife be okay with her husband gambling?”

I fought the smile threatening to bloom. “If you haven’t yet realized, Lander, we are not a common husband and wife duo.”

The stiffness of his arms loosened slightly. “You won’t force me to stop?”

I shook my head. “You can do whatever you’d like. If the roles were reversed, I’d hope the same.”

“But your father already controls you,” he surmised, pulling the unsaid words from my mouth.

“Yes,” I said softly. I wouldn’t allow my father to ruin this trip, even from miles away. Though the people of the kingdoms we visited were all too eager to judge me for his actions, I refused to let it get to me. Not here. Not when this was my one chance to be away from Amosite, and I only had days left. “Do you know when we’re stopping next?”

“I’d assume not until sundown. The weather isn’t kind out there,” he said with a glance out the window. We’d pulled the curtain back, giving us some light in the dim carriage, though the thick snowfall blocked almost all of the sunlight.

To get from Feldspar back to Amosite, it’d take at least two days to get over the Brimstone Mountain range with the deep snow covering the ground, slowing us down tremendously. Once we made it down, it’d take a day to reach the bridge over the chasm. That’d leave us with one day to spare, but still, the guards were worried about time.

Lander had opted to travel in the carriage today. He’d insisted it wasn’t because of the weather conditions, but I knew better. Two and a half weeks with him taught me some things, too. I’d done my best to avoid Paxon for the duration of our trip, but with every stop, he was there, assisting me down from the carriage. He’d been mostly polite since our game of croquet in Torbernite, ever the gentleman, but regardless, I was still skeptical of him.

“If you need to relieve yourself…” Lander started.

My nose scrunched. “Please. If I did, you’d be the last I’d tell.”

He grinned. “Who would be the first?”

I returned the smile, rolling my eyes, but the look quickly disappeared when the carriage jerked to a stop. Lander set a hand on the wall to keep himself steady as my hands gripped the cushions on either side of me.

“I guess we’re stopping sooner than sundown,” Lander muttered.

Shouts rang out from behind the carriage, and then the clang of metal on metal filled my ears. Realization hit that the sound was coming from swords.

Lander stood as best he could, having to remain ducking so he wouldn’t hit the ceiling, and looked out the window. “We’re under attack,” he said hurriedly, confirming my fear.

I looked at him, eyes wide, but before I could ask him what we should do, the carriage door flung open. It hit the outside of the coach with a bang.

Hands reached in and grabbed Lander by the coat, yanking him out. A gasp escaped my lips as my legs came up on the bench, shoving myself backwards to press my back to the wall of the carriage. My eyes remained on the opening of the door. Snow blew in on the howling wind, but no one appeared. Chaos ensued outside as I tried to calm my breathing, but it was no use. I wasn’t trained to fight, and I was now alone.

The smell of blood on the icy air invaded the space as a body entered the doorway, two hands grabbing the frame to heft themself up into the carriage. I screamed, kicking out, but fingers wrapped around my ankles.

“Auria! It’s me!” the man said in a hushed whisper.

I stopped my thrashing, squinting my eyes to focus on him.

“Paxon,” I breathed.

“I’m going to get you out,” he whispered, letting go of my ankles to hold a hand out to me.

I took it, getting to my feet. “Where’s Lander?”

Paxon peeked his head out the door, looking both ways. The snow made it hard to see much of anything. “Currently fighting for his life.”

With his hand still in mine, Paxon pulled me out of the carriage. My slippers landed in the snow, the ice instantly licking at my feet. I’d freeze out here.

“Paxon,” I said hesitantly, looking warily at the snow.

He glanced back at me. “I know. It won’t be for long. We’ll find horses, and we’ll?—”

A person clad in all white hit him in the side of the head with the pommel of his sword, and he went down, dropping my hand. A scream escaped me as snow sprayed in the air where Paxon landed. The man narrowed his gaze on me from behind the mask he wore that covered the entirety of his face, leaving only his eyes to be seen, but even then, so much snow was on him that even those almost disappeared.

I stepped back. His mask lifted slightly as I assumed he grinned maliciously, and then I turned at the same time he bolted. With my slick slippers unable to get a grip in the snow, my ankle twisted. I fell as pain shot up my leg, my bare hands burying in the snow in an attempt to catch myself. I hadn’t had time to grab my gloves from the carriage, and I quickly wished I would have.

Doing my best to ignore the pain in my ankle, I shoved up with my arms to attempt to get on my back, but the man was faster. He grabbed my hair, yanking my head up. My back protested at the odd angle, my spine straining.

“Little bitch isn’t so protected now, is she?” he mumbled through the mask.

All around me, guards were fighting off bandits. They were clad in white, presumably to disguise themselves in the snow. I couldn’t tell who was winning, but with the amount of blood staining the ground, I hoped it was us.

His fingers tightened in my hair, but the burn was nothing compared to my screaming ankle. “How does it feel not having someone to save you now?” he seethed.

His words stopped my whimper from escaping at the pain flickering through me. Was he friends with the men who had attacked me the night of Exitium Lunae? Had this group been following us?

With the dagger in his other hand, he pulled my head back farther and yanked open the fur cloak I wore. Buttons flew in all directions, disappearing into the deep snow. He let out a groan—the tops of my breasts were on full display within the confines of my corset.

Slowly, he drew the tip of the dagger down my right breast, trailing it over to the other. I couldn’t hold in my fear any longer. My eyes welled with the burn of every emotion in my body coming to the surface.

“Scared?” he murmured, caressing my chest with the blade.

I pressed my lips together so tightly, I thought blood might seep from where my teeth bit into them.

“You should be,” he continued. “I might just have to play a bit before I kill you. The price of your head will be high, but I think I want to have some fun first. It’d be a shame to put this little body to waste.” He brought the tip of the dagger up my neck to my cheek, then attempted to wiggle it into my mouth. “Open.”

Every single one of these men were vulgar.

With fear enveloping every nerve in my body, I had no choice but to obey, if only to spare myself a few more minutes of my life.

I parted my mouth, and he trailed the blade across my bottom lip.

“These will look good wrapped around my dagger, won’t they?”

The tip of the blade touched my tongue as a tear rolled down my cheek, and then the earth shook.

The man wobbled, the knife leaving my mouth. “What the f—” But before he could finish, his weight left my body, and my chest fell to the ground. In moments, his screams went silent.

I didn’t spare a single second as I flipped onto my back, using my hands to prop me up as my ankle shot pins and needles up my leg.

My eyes narrowed in an attempt to see through the flurry of snow coming down in thick sheets of white. Shouts erupted around me, but I couldn’t make out what any of them were saying as adrenaline made blood rush in my ears and pound viciously in my veins. Smoke invaded my nose, and a glance to my right revealed the carriage tipped on its side, flames enveloping it.

I managed to get on my hands and knees, crawling toward where I thought Paxon might be. He’d clearly passed out when he was hit over the head, so shouting his name would do no good other than draw attention to myself.

My entire field of vision was filled with white, and then my hand hit something hard and cold—so cold that it stood out amongst the snow coating my skin. I looked up, and the sight immediately stopped me in my tracks. I scrambled backwards, my ankle protesting at the use of it. I muffled my yelp with my hand once I stopped, staring up at the statue.

But it wasn’t a statue.

It was one of Amosite’s guards.

Frozen completely solid in ice.

An ear-piercing roar filled the air, and my eyes darted around frantically. I had no idea what could make a noise such as that, and I didn’t want to find out. I needed to get to Paxon or Lander or a guard. Somebody .

Before I could continue crawling, a thick, white whip lashed out and shattered the frozen guard, his body flying into pieces along with the ice.

My eyes widened, and all too quickly, I realized that what looked like a whip wasn’t that at all. It was a tail.

And the being attached to it was now standing directly in front of me, towering over my body with razor sharp teeth bared, a growl rumbling low in its throat.

A dragon.

All the air in my lungs was sucked from me as fear froze me in place.

Its white scales blended easily with the snow as it took a single step toward me, standing so close now that not a single snowflake fluttered between the two of us.

Its crystal blue eyes narrowed in on me, and my body shook—from fear or shock, I couldn’t tell.

A scream pierced through the air, pulling my attention from the dragon. I looked just in time to see a bandit coming straight for me with a sword raised high above his head.

Fear lodged in my throat, concealing the scream that threatened to escape, and I scrambled backwards once more. My ankle was useless, and I was going to die. I couldn’t move fast enough. Especially not at the speed these attackers were capable of. Were any of my people even still alive?

Accepting that there was no way out of this, I squeezed my eyes shut. Maybe death would be peaceful, less full of the hate that littered Serpentine. Maybe I’d finally get my freedom in the after.

I sucked in a breath, and then the battle-cry of the bandit went silent. Nothing touched me, but maybe death was merciful that way. It didn’t let you feel the pain before you departed, giving you that final moment of bliss so the last thing you felt wasn’t despair.

Open your eyes, burned one, a rough, feminine voice said, the words echoing in my head, likely from the adrenaline.

With the release of the breath I held, my eyes opened. I looked at my would-be attacker, directly in front of me, with the tip of his sword merely a foot from my face. Yet he had never gotten to strike before he was frozen to the core.

My gaze moved to the towering white dragon. It was no longer growling, its teeth hidden now.

Look at your attacker, not me, that same voice said, making my mind spin.

My eyes widened as my heart picked up its pace, realization settling in. The dragon was talking to me?

Do not be afraid of me, girl. It is them you should fear.

My chest heaved with my breaths coming in short pants now. The corset, the adrenaline, the dragon standing in front of me—it was all taking over every thought in my mind, weighing down on me like boulders from a landslide.

Somehow, the beast wasn’t talking with its mouth, though. It seemed to have the ability to speak in my mind.

It is rude to stare.

Was it…female?

“Auria!” a voice shouted from somewhere in the distance.

Paxon.

He was awake.

I opened my mouth to shout back to him, but before I could get a word out, the dragon swung her head around in a snake-like movement, looking for something.

My stomach dropped as I realized she was looking for him.

“No!” I yelled up to her. “No! Don’t hurt him!”

The greater evil always wins, she growled.

“He’s not like the others!” I shouted, trying to stand, but my ankle refused.

I twisted until I was on my hands and knees, my body nearly frozen from the cold, but I couldn’t let her turn him into an ice statue, or eat him, or whatever it was she planned to do to him, too.

“Please! Please don’t hurt him! They’re on my side!”

The dragon’s nostrils flared as she faced me again, white eyelids blinking slowly before she subtly shook her head, almost like she’d been caught in a haze. A low rumble sounded from her throat. Be careful who you hold close, burned one. Loyalty does not always guarantee integrity.

Tears welled in my eyes with the slight horror of her looking down on me. She was massive. Taller than any tree I’d seen before, bigger than any of the houses I’d seen on our journey, and she was standing directly in front of me, her head lowered to get a better look.

It seemed almost as if the hardness of her gaze softened the slightest before she blinked it away. Her wings flared out seconds before she took off into the sky, disappearing from sight as her white scales blended into the flurry of snowflakes.

“Auria!” Paxon shouted again, pulling me back to the wreckage around me.

I tried to calm my breathing, but it was no use. She was in the sky somewhere above, able to strike at any moment. She could kill me. Kill them. Kill all of us.

But she’d had the opportunity to, and she hadn’t. She’d even protected me. If she hadn’t been there, I’d be dead right now.

“Auria, fucking hell, there you are,” Paxon said, relief clear in his tone.

My focus moved from the white sky to him, where he crouched beside me, taking his coat off to drape over my shoulders.

“Are you okay?” he asked, helping me sit back. I hadn’t realized I was still on all fours.

As I sat, my ankle twinged in pain, and I hissed in a breath. “I think I twisted my ankle.”

He looked down at it, but my attention remained focused on our surroundings. At any moment, a bandit could attack or the dragon could swoop back down and freeze us all where we sat. If there even was anyone else to freeze other than me and Paxon.

The snow began to lighten up, revealing the aftermath of what had ensued only moments ago. Chunks of ice sat perched in the snow, pieces of the bandits’—and some of our guards’—bodies sticking out at odd angles. Their blood was frozen, none seeping out from the thick layer of ice. Whatever was sprayed on the snow had happened before they underwent the wrath of the dragon. She’d frozen them all in place, using just her tail to shatter the ice formations when she so pleased.

“Want the good or bad news first?” Paxon asked, surveying my injury.

“The good. Please,” I replied, still reeling from what had happened.

“The cold is keeping the swelling at somewhat of a minimum,” he said.

“Okay. And the bad?”

“You won’t be able to walk on it.”

I bent my leg at the knee, eyeing my ankle. It was already a deep shade of purple, clearly not well enough to be of use.

“I figured as much,” I muttered.

If Paxon saw the formations of ice around us, he didn’t mention it. He had more knowledge out here than I did, so perhaps he already knew what they were and didn’t care. If he knew they’d come from a dragon, how could he be so calm about it, as if she wasn’t about to freeze him where he stood? Had he even seen her?

“Paxon! Auria!” a voice called out, and I immediately recognized it.

“That’s Lander,” I said quickly, frantically looking around to see if I could spot where he was. My teeth chattered in the cold, shivers wracking my body as the adrenaline wore off. My wet dress and thin slippers were no use against the freezing temperatures, and sitting in the snow was doing me no favors.

“I know,” Paxon acknowledged, glancing over his shoulder a moment before turning back to me. The furrow in his brow told me he was conflicted. “The bandits are all dead. Can you wait here?”

I nodded, though I wasn’t certain how he could be so sure. What if they were only hiding, waiting to strike when our guard was down?

He stood, walking in the direction of the carriage that was still smoldering. The entire cart was destroyed, burned to a crisp.

“My lady,” a voice croaked out, barely audible from somewhere behind me.

Looking over my shoulder, one of Torbernite’s guards lay trapped under the neck of a deceased horse. From what I could see, the man was bleeding from his thigh. I glanced back in the direction where Paxon had disappeared, not seeing him or Lander anywhere in sight. He had asked me not to move, but the guard wasn’t far. If I could get him unpinned, he could put pressure on his wound to stop the bleeding.

Digging my hands into the snow to brace myself, I crawled toward the guard, doing my best to avoid putting any sort of pressure on my ankle.

“Can you shove it off?” I asked after rounding the body of the horse.

He shook his head, and upon closer inspection of his wound, I could see an arrow sticking clean through his leg. “It’s too heavy, my lady. If you get help, they may be able to.”

The horse’s neck was completely draped over the bottom half of his leg, keeping it pinned in the snow.

“I don’t know how many are left,” I admitted softly, setting a hand on the horse’s jaw. The animal didn’t deserve this. None of us did.

The guard winced as he tried to move his leg, only successful in creating more pain with the arrow stuck inside him. “Prince Paxon—he might be able to. He was just with you.”

I glanced in the direction Paxon had walked off and still saw no sign of him. The snow hadn’t completely stopped falling, clouding some of the distance he’d gone, so I couldn’t tell how far he was.

“I can try,” I said, determination ringing in my tone.

“Lady Auria. With all due respect, this is a thousand-pound animal and you are injured.”

I ignored him, angling myself beside him to get the best advantage to push the horse’s head. I braced two hands between its eyes while the guard braced a hand on its neck, his other behind him in the snow to keep himself propped up. With the position he was in, he wouldn’t be able to stay upright if he wasn’t supporting himself.

I gritted my teeth against the anticipation of the pain in my ankle and pushed as hard as I could, squeezing my eyes shut. My knees dug into the snow, the muscles in my arms straining with the effort, but I put every ounce of my strength into it. I wouldn’t let another guard die. They were out here because of me, and we were most likely ambushed because of me. I wouldn’t let him die because of me, too.

I began sliding forward and opened my eyes to find the neck of the horse sliding off the guard’s leg, its head gliding into the snow at his feet.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Paxon said from a few feet away.

My gaze shot up to him now standing there with Lander by his side.

“Your fiancée is quite strong,” Paxon added.

“Auria, are you alright?” Lander asked, quickly kneeling beside me.

I sat back, careful not to use my leg much. “Just a twisted ankle. You, on the other hand, look nearly untouched.”

“Couple of them got a few good punches in, but I’m still breathing, thankfully,” Lander said.

Paxon snorted. “A miracle, honestly.”

Lander ignored him, holding out his hand. “May I?”

I nodded, and he positioned himself under my shoulder. I wrapped an arm around his torso and leaned most of my weight on him as he helped me stand.

“Can you walk?” he asked, looking down at my feet. They were buried in the snow, the bottom of my dress scrunching on the surface.

I attempted to set my foot down, adding a small bit of weight to it, and instantly regretted it. My eyes squeezed shut as I held back my wince. “Not really, no.”

Paxon moved to talk to the guard that was assisting the one I’d just freed from the horse, leaving Lander to help me on his own.

“It might be more than just a strain, then. It’s a long walk to the nearest town, and we have no carriage. I can carry you, but?—”

“I can do it.” I was weak in so many ways, but I wouldn’t let a hurt ankle slow us down.

“Are you sure?” he asked, clearly concerned.

I gave a determined nod. “I am. I can do it.”