Page 3

Chapter 3

Cyrus

"W hat just happened?” Cyrus demanded as he looked upon his king and queen unconscious before him.

Again.

He still knelt from where he’d crawled to Scarlett’s side, trying to get her to stop drawing power from Cassius. She’d been pulling from him too deeply too quickly. He’d known she’d eventually get to this point—this place of being too hysterical to understand reason—but fuck. He had not anticipated this . He had not anticipated she would be willing to risk Cassius to save Sorin. Saving him should not have been in the realm of possibilities, and yet—

“She brought him back,” the High Witch said curtly, her power ?aring as it continued to wrap around Sorin.

“How?”

He couldn’t look away from his prince and friend. His chest was indeed rising and falling, albeit shallowly. The charred skin on his chest was slowly beginning to heal as her power combined with whatever the hell Scarlett had done.

And the girl who had turned their entire world upside down when Sorin had brought her across their border was curled next to him, hand ?sted in his tunic and face buried in his side. Her breathing was erratic and labored, as if she’d just ?nished a sparring match. Even in sleep, he could see the grief and worry etched into her features.

“I do not know,” the High Witch said. “But I can imagine the cost was great.”

“Cost? What cost?” Eliza asked, appearing at his side. “Like the cost of a Blood Mark?”

The High Witch shook her head. “This was not Blood Magic.”

“Then what was it?” the general demanded.

The High Witch just shook her head again, lips thinning. “I do not know, but I have seen Blood Magic used on many occasions. This was not that. Give Cassius blood. He is weak, and I cannot tend to him at the moment.”

Cyrus twisted, ?nding Cassius ?at on his back in the sand, chest heaving. He rushed to his side, kicking up sand as he crawled the short distance from Scarlett’s side to his. This entire night he had been going back and forth between the two. Trying to console Scarlett. Giving Cassius blood. Trying to stop Scarlett from spiraling into grief. Trying to get her to stop drawing from the male before him. Now back to give him more blood.

“Cassius?” His eye was closed, the patch still covering the other one. Cyrus wasn’t sure if he’d slipped into an unconscious state from his magic being dragged from him so quickly or if he was just resting. When Cassius said nothing, he reached over, shaking his shoulder gently. “Cass?” A groan was his answer, but at least it was something. “You need to drink.”

“How is she?”

Cyrus huffed a laugh of disbelief, beginning to roll his sleeve back more. “You are weakened to the point of not being able to sit up, and you ask of the girl who did it to you?”

“I am her Guardian,” he replied dryly.

“She sleeps,” Cyrus said ?atly, pulling a dagger from his side.

“Maybe we should move before doing this?” Rayner suggested, the cup they’d used for this same purpose only an hour earlier in his hand.

Cyrus looked up at the Ash Rider. “Do you not remember all the things I set on ?re when Thia died?”

Rayner’s mysterious eyes seemed to swirl faster. “I remember well, Cyrus. I also remember removing any form of weapon from the chateau and fearing you would still ?nd a way to end yourself with the godsdamn curtains. I remember forcing tonics down your throat to quell your magic so that you did not burn the whole godsdamn place down. I remember feeling utterly helpless as you broke in ways I cannot imagine, and now we are reliving it.”

“And you think it would be a good idea to move her indoors somewhere? Where others could be injured and hurt when she loses control? Because she will, Rayner. You know if whatever the fuck she just did does not work, she will lose herself completely,” Cyrus retorted, blood dripping down from the gash he’d reopened in his arm and spilling into the cup.

“I think it is foolish to be out in the open with our king and queen indisposed,” Rayner replied.

He had a point. If Sorin did survive this, by some miracle of the Fates, then it would be best to keep such news to themselves until they ?gured out what the hell was going on and what they were going to do about it.

If he did not survive it, it would be best to have the queen already subdued when she woke.

“Yeah, all right,” Cyrus conceded. He turned back to Cassius. “Drink some of this now. Enough to be able to walk. I can get you more when we get to the chateau.”

“The chateau?” Eliza asked, standing over them. “You want us all to go there? Sorin will hate that.”

“Sorin doesn’t exactly get a say in the matter at the moment. He still breathes, and I am still his Second, so the decision is mine to make,” Cyrus replied. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on. I don’t know if someone is going to show up demanding an audience here or in Solembra. If we have them hidden away, we give ourselves more time to come up with a plan and avoid making rash decisions.”

“I agree,” Rayner said. “I will bring Sorin. Briar can carry Scarlett. You help Cassius.”

Cyrus nodded, Eliza moving to gather the weapons they’d removed from Scarlett in case she’d tried to use one.

Which she had.

And then she’d gotten resourceful.

How could she even think clearly enough right now to pull this off? When Thia had died, the grief and pain had been too consuming for him to form a coherent thought. Yet Scarlett had been able to enact an entire plan to save her twin ?ame. Was there something else he could have done to save Thia if he had been stronger?

“Did you drink enough to stand?” he asked the commander, reaching to help him into a sitting position, shoving his thoughts aside for now.

“I’m ?ne,” Cassius muttered, pushing his hands away. He attempted to get to his feet, but immediately fell back to his knees.

“Clearly.”

Cassius sent him a droll look.

The sound of rushing water had Cyrus looking over his shoulder to see the portal Briar had opened. Scarlett was cradled to his chest. Rayner had already carried Sorin through, the High Witch following behind. Eliza was waiting on him and Cassius.

He turned back to the commander. “Let’s go then. You’re holding up the show.”

“You are such an asshole,” Cassius muttered, sucking in a breath as if readying himself for the simple act of standing.

“And you’re as stubborn as your ward,” Cyrus retorted, gripping his arm and pulling the male up with him when he pushed to his own feet. Cassius didn’t ?ght him this time, leaning against him when Cyrus slung an arm around his waist.

They stepped through the water portal, and Cyrus breathed deep as the mountain air hit his lungs. So much better than the sea air he’d been subjected to these past months. Sorin had been creating portals for him to go back to Solembra at night so he didn’t have to stay in the Black Halls, but his chest didn’t feel as tight when he was in the mountains, away from the sea.

Other than that night he’d smoked mugweed with Cassius.

He hadn’t minded the sea that night. He hadn’t quite decided if it was the mugweed itself or the company he’d been with on that balcony.

The wards zipped against their skin, Eliza sending ?ames ahead of them to melt the snow and make a path to the chateau. Having both Sorin and Scarlett with them should satisfy the wards and spells around the chateau to let them in. At least he hoped that was the case. Sorin never let them in this place. It was his own little pity party house. Other than when Thia had died, he’d only ever seen the Fire Prince open the door to this place for one other person.

Rayner already had the door open by the time he made it there with Cassius. The commander’s breathing had never eased. One look at the male and one could see he was struggling to even continue walking.

Cyrus led him over to a sofa, helping him ease down to sit, but the commander was instantly pushing back to his feet when he saw Briar and Rayner heading to the staircase at the back of the room that would lead up to the second-?oor suite.

“For fuck’s sake, sit down,” Cyrus sighed, pressing his palm to the commander’s chest. It didn’t take much effort to push him back down to the sofa.

“I need to be with her,” Cassius insisted.

“She’s not going anywhere,” Cyrus drawled, ?ames swirling in his palm. “If she wakes, I promise we’ll know. She’s loud and obnoxious. Might I suggest regaining some strength so you can actually climb the godsdamn stairs without me having to carry you up them? I did that once. It is not something I ever care to do again. You’re heavy.” Cassius took the cup Cyrus was holding out to him with a scowl, but stopped trying to get up. “At least you listen to reason better than your ward,” Cyrus muttered, once again dragging a dagger along his arm.

“Fuck off,” Cassius grumbled, his head tipping back against the sofa cushions, eye falling closed.

“If I did that, your ass would be tumbling down those stairs at this very moment when you ?nally realized you cannot make it up them on your own right now,” Cyrus replied. Cassius just raised his hand and ?ipped him off. Cyrus smirked, his blood dripping in a steady stream into the cup. When it was nearly full, he said, “Drink up.”

Cassius lifted his head, bringing the cup to his lips. Cyrus turned and headed for the stairs, his arm already beginning to heal. “I’ll check on her and report back,” he said over his shoulder.

His foot had landed on the ?rst step when Cassius called out. “Cyrus.”

He paused, glancing back. “Yeah?”

“Thank you,” Cassius said. “For helping her. For helping me. For... all of it.”

Cyrus nodded. “Rest up, Cass. I’ll let you know how she’s doing,” he replied, turning and heading up the stairs.

“Luan wants to speak with us,” Eliza announced as she came through the doorway of the upstairs chateau suite. She held a piece of parchment in her hand. “He says it’s urgent.”

“Does he now?” Cyrus asked from where he sat in an armchair near the hearth. Cassius was sprawled across the sofa, ?nally sleeping. The moment he’d had enough strength last night to climb the stairs, he’d insisted on doing so. He’d watched over Scarlett all night and day; but when he’d practically fallen asleep standing up, the High Witch had forced him away, saying that if he fell onto the bed and landed on Sorin, he’d undo all her hard work over the past several hours. Cassius had muttered under his breath, but he’d been asleep almost instantly when his ass had hit the sofa.

The High Witch had also worked through the night, continuing to use her power to heal Sorin. She looked as exhausted as her son. Shortly after Cassius had fallen asleep, she had asked Briar for a portal to the Witch Kingdoms, asking him to retrieve her later tonight.

The king and queen hadn’t moved from where they’d been placed upon arrival. According to the High Witch, Sorin’s heartbeat was strong and steady. Cyrus could see for himself that his chest was rising and falling, breaths unlabored and deep. Scarlett was next to him. She’d immediately turned into him as soon as Briar had laid her on the bed. Her hand rested on his chest, and her breathing was nearly in sync with her husband’s, as if she had naturally fallen into rhythm with him. Neither had shown any sign of waking any time soon.

“With us and Briar,” Eliza said in response to his comment.

“Briar should be back soon,” Rayner said from the chair he occupied across from Cyrus. “We can discuss what to do then.”

“Any change?” Eliza asked, perching on the arm of the sofa by Cassius’s feet.

“Nothing,” Cyrus said, his head dropping back against the chair. When the silence became too heavy, he asked, “What do you think the cost was for this?”

“Whatever it was, the High Witch made it sound like it would be steep,” Eliza replied grimly.

“I can only assume she saw this Lord of Night, or whatever he calls himself, when Shirina made her sleep,” Cyrus said. “That had to be how she knew to look for Altaria, right?”

“That’d be my best guess,” Rayner said evenly.

“But what exactly did she do?” Eliza asked, her gaze going to the sleeping royals.

“I don’t think that’s the question we should be asking right now,” Cyrus said, studying the queen in contemplation.

“Then what should we be asking?” Eliza drawled.

“We should not be asking what she did, but what she is,” Cyrus said simply.

“She’s Avonleyan. We know that,” Eliza argued.

“But what does that mean ?” Cyrus asked, his gaze moving from the queen to the general. “The history of that kingdom has all but been erased from this continent. The only books that do remain are hidden away in secret chambers or beneath the Wind Citadel, behind doors not even Ashtine can access. We know very little about the kingdom, its people, or what power they actually possess. And that’s... ” He trailed off, not sure how to finish that thought.

“That’s unsettling,” Rayner ?nished for him. “For all of us, including the queen.”

“Indeed,” Cyrus replied as the sound of the front door opening and closing echoed from downstairs.

“Briar,” Rayner said when Eliza and Cyrus immediately tensed.

“Maybe warn us before we hear them next time,” Cyrus drawled. Rayner shrugged. “The High Witch is with him. She is... unhappy.”

Eliza snorted softly. “What else is new?”

“There is an issue,” Hazel said tersely the moment she stepped through the doorway, her eyes immediately going to her son. “Has he slept this entire time?”

“Yes,” Cyrus answered.

“Good,” she clipped, moving to the bedside, white light immediately ?aring and wrapping around Sorin.

“And this issue?” Eliza asked. They were used to letting her deal with the High Witch, seeing as how the Witches found most males to be an annoyance best dealt with by beheading.

The High Witch leaned back, withdrawing her hands. Violet eyes settled on them, her lip curling back in disgust. “There is a Night Child squatting in my kingdom.”

Cyrus’s brows ?ew up at that news. “Is it still alive?”

“For now,” the High Witch replied. “How much longer he will remain so, I cannot say.”

“He?” Eliza asked.

“He claims to know the queen. He claims Death’s Shadow sent him to me and that I would provide refuge until he could get to Death’s Maiden,” the High Witch continued, her voice soft and dripping with barely suppressed rage.

Cyrus was on his feet. “Are you saying Auberon Isra is alive and ?ed to your territory?”

Auberon Isra had been Contessa Rosalyn’s Second-in-Command. They had all assumed Nuri had killed him when she had killed the Contessa to take her place. If what she was claiming was true, Death’s Shadow had spared him, instead of allowing him to ?ee to a territory where no one would dare seek him out.

And what did that mean for her allegiance? He had been told of her blood vow, but if she had found a way to spare Auberon, were there other loopholes she could exploit?

“Yes,” the High Witch spat. “You have until sunrise to get him out, or I have given Arantxa orders to kill him.”

“Fucking hell,” Cyrus muttered. He turned to the other Fae. “Bring him here? We can’t really risk anyone else discovering he’s still alive. Not right now, with so much unknown.”

“Agreed,” Briar said. He’d moved across the room to one of the windows, watching the sun dip behind the mountain peaks. He hadn’t said much since the throne room, but Rayner had ?lled Cyrus in on what had happened between him and Ashtine.

The Water Prince turned to face them after another beat of silence. “I checked in on the mortals. We should not leave them alone at the Black Halls any longer.”

“We can’t bring them all here. There’s hardly enough room for us,” Eliza argued.

“I can move them to the House of Water for now,” Briar said. “Sawyer and Neve can watch over them until Sorin and Scarlett wake. I simply wanted to run it by you ?rst.”

“Did Luan contact you?” Eliza asked.

“He did,” Briar replied. “He is coming here tonight.”

“He’s what?” Eliza balked, and Cyrus had to agree with her. Sorin was already going to be pissy about all of them being in here, but Azrael Luan?

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cyrus cut in. “We do not want it known that Sorin lives. Not until—”

“I know this,” Briar cut in. “But he has information that we need. He is also our only way of getting that information at the moment. I would rather he report here, in a location as secluded as possible.”

“And you believe we can trust him?” Eliza asked, her tone conveying her thoughts on that matter.

“We can,” Briar said. “Ashtine always spoke favorably of him.”

“Ashtine now sides with Talwyn,” Cyrus pointed out, earning a glare from the Water Prince, but he couldn’t deny it. “Who says Azrael has not done the same?”

“He did not,” Briar replied with an eerie calm that had Cyrus knowing he was close to overstepping with the prince. “If memory serves correctly, I was there. You were not. Furthermore, I have dealt with Prince Luan for decades. He may be as dif?cult as Talwyn is, but he was also the voice of reason in her ear when needed. If you do not trust him, you can trust my experience with him as a fellow ruler.”

“I did not mean any offense, Briar,” Cyrus said. “I just... ” He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes ?nding their way to his king and queen once more. “I don’t know what to do here. I don’t know what they would want.”

And didn’t that just make him a shit Second? He may have done this before when Talwyn had sent Sorin to the mortal lands for three years, but that had been different. Sorin hadn’t been on his death bed. He had communicated every so often through Amaré, Anala’s spirit animal. They hadn’t been about to go to war against Maraan Lords and seraphs whose power they could not even begin to predict.

He may have been in this role for decades, but there were still times he felt more like that kid on the streets of Aelyndee than he did a member of the prince’s Inner Court. There were still days he woke and wondered how the hell he’d made it from there to here. He’d thank the Fates, but they’d taken as much as they’d ever given. Why they found him deserving of moving from the streets to a palace, he’d never understand, but he certainly had the scars to show it wasn’t just handed to him. Scars that never let him heal quite right.

“You are Sorin’s Second in the Fire Court, but her Second slumbers beside her,” Briar said.

Cyrus’s brows shot up. “You are pulling rank as her Third?”

“I will if necessary,” Briar replied. “We are on the brink of war. Lines have been drawn. There is no room for uncertainty.”

“That is how wars are lost,” Cyrus countered. “Rash decisions made by generals and princes not looking at all the angles.”

The temperature in the chateau dropped noticeably as Briar’s icy blue eyes ?ashed with anger.

“Enough,” Rayner cut in. “Bickering amongst ourselves is also how wars are lost.” When neither Fae said anything in response, Rayner continued. “Briar is correct. We cannot risk meeting anywhere else right now. The Earth Prince does not need to come up here. He can remain downstairs. He does not need to know Sorin lives. He will assume Scarlett is lost to grief, which is not entirely a farce. Agreed?”

Cyrus sighed, swiping a hand down his face again. “Agreed,” he muttered.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he was arguing with them. His own points were valid, but as he’d once told Scarlett, they worked so well together because they all brought their own strengths to the table and worked as a unit. Briar had ruled his Court as long as Sorin, had just as much experience.

It probably had to do with the fact that this involved the Earth Prince. Second to Talwyn. Who had murdered his own prince. Never mind the fact that he lived. The Fae Queen had, for all intents and purposes, killed him, and now her loyal Second wanted to meet with them? He was right to be leery. He was right to resist this to some extent.

“He’s going to need to offer some type of proof for whatever he tries to convince us of,” Eliza chimed in, voicing Cyrus’s thoughts. “He is loyal to Talwyn, not us.”

“He is loyal to his Court,” Briar argued.

“Bullshit,” Cyrus said. “If he had to choose, he would choose her every time. Just as you would choose Ashtine.”

“You know nothing of my relationship with Ashtine, Cyrus. Keep her out of this.”

“We can’t,” Cyrus insisted. “Your relationship with her will clearly impact your decisions. Just like Scarlett impacted Sorin’s choices. It’s not a bad thing, but it is certainly something we cannot simply ignore. The same goes for Luan. We cannot ignore his past relationship with Talwyn. That would be foolish.”

“I never said we had to trust him. I said we needed to hear him out,” Briar countered, his tone going as icy as his power.

“And we will,” Rayner cut in again. “We will hear him out and then discuss our next move from there.”

“I would request you provide me a portal back to the Witch Kingdoms before he arrives. I have had enough male interaction to last me for decades at this point,” the High Witch said from the bedside.

“Of course, my lady,” Briar said, his tone instantly shifting to one of respect. “When you are ready, we can move beyond the wards, and I can create a portal.”

Hazel nodded, glancing at Cassius still asleep on the sofa. “I will return in the morning,” she said, moving to the doorway. “But remember to have the Night Child gone before then.”

An hour later, they all stood on the main level when the front door opened and Rayner escorted Prince Luan into the chateau. Cyrus leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Eliza was doing the same across from him, only she toyed with a dagger.

“Where is your queen?” Luan asked before the door had fully shut behind him.

“As you can imagine, she is indisposed,” Briar replied. They’d all agreed to let him do as much of the talking as possible, given their own history with the Earth Prince.

“And the Witch child? Her Hand-to-the-Queen?” he questioned.

“Consoling her,” Cyrus gritted out.

It wasn’t entirely a lie. He was upstairs keeping watch over Scarlett and Sorin. The gods help them if she woke up and Luan was still here.

“You have information to share?” Briar asked.

Luan turned to face him. “I do. But before I do that, I want you to know that I made sure Princess Ashtine was safely in her Citadel after everything was said and done.”

Angst ?ashed across Briar’s features. It was gone just as quickly. If he was surprised Luan knew of his relationship with Ashtine, he didn’t let that show either. “Thank you for that.”

Luan nodded. “They plan to enter the Fae Courts,” he said, never one to dance around any topic.

“And we are prepared to meet them should they somehow manage to cross the wards,” Briar replied.

“Talwyn plans to allow them to enter the wards.”

“She does not have the authority to do that for the Western Courts,” Cyrus growled.

“She does,” Briar said. “The wards were enacted by both Fae Queens. As such, both queens have the authority to allow others to cross, just as the ruling royal can grant access to their individual Courts. The queens have never been at odds with one another, save for Esmeray, so it has never been an issue.”

Luan turned to Cyrus. “You were in the Night Children territory when we fought those winged men,” he said. “I do not care how prepared you think your forces are; the truth is none of us are prepared for them. We do not know what they are or what they are capable of.”

No one volunteered the fact that they did in fact know they were seraphs.

Other than that, everything he’d said was true. They had no idea how their magic worked or what it was. Could they do more than fly? Was it only the Maraan Lords that had additional gifts? Or did all the seraphs have that too?

“When?” Rayner asked. “When is this to happen?”

“I do not know,” Luan replied.

“And why should we believe you?” Eliza asked.

Rage crossed the prince’s features. “You think I want to hand my Court over to them? They are my people. It is my duty to protect them.”

“But you are loyal to Talwyn,” the general countered.

A muscle feathered in Luan’s jaw. “I was until she sided against her own people.”

Cyrus pushed off the wall at that. “And if you ?nd yourself in a position that would require you to take her life, would you be able to do it?”

“Would you have been able to kill Thia?” Luan snarled.

“Not if Anala herself had threatened to set me alight with the ?res of the sun,” Cyrus said. “But Thia and I were never on opposing sides, and that is precisely why I ask. If it comes down to her life or the lives of your people, who will you choose?”

“I will do whatever is necessary to protect my people, but I am not the one who will kill my queen,” Luan said, glancing at the ceiling as though he knew precisely where Scarlett was. “But I will beg your queen for mercy on her behalf.”

“She will not grant it,” Cyrus said simply.

Luan seemed to ?inch at the words, but all he said in response was, “I know.”