Page 83 of Oaths & Vengeance (Realm of Zadrya #1)

Within seconds, a soldier handed me a silver flask.

Using my powers since it would hurt her less, I lifted Aella enough to sit up.

Her wince told me it still hurt. I quickly uncapped the flask and poured a dribble into her mouth.

She swallowed it down right away. I let her have a few more small drinks before handing the water back.

Jax hurried inside with a large wool blanket. “It was all I could find, but it’s clean.”

“That’s fine. Help me cover her,” I said.

Using my powers again, I brought Aella off the ground, and we arranged the blanket underneath her.

She cried out as I set her down on top of it.

I winced, imagining how much she must hurt.

We tucked it around her front until she was covered everywhere except her head.

After that, I carefully pulled her into my arms. While I could have used my powers to move her upstairs, I needed to cradle her close.

Also, I wasn’t familiar with the castle and worried I’d accidentally bump her into objects along the way if she floated separately from me.

She rested her head against my shoulder. “You really…came for me.”

“Of course I did,” I said as I carried her out of the dungeon cell. Had she doubted me? After everything, I would have thought she’d have had more confidence that I would never leave her to a fate like this.

“I was worried…he froze you. ”

Ah, yes. That would have been the last thing Aella saw happening to me. “The healers kept me down for a couple of days while they repaired the damage, but I came as soon as I could.”

“Thank you.”

I leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I’ll always come for you, dear wife.”

Loden gestured for me to follow him, leading me toward a different set of steps than the ones I’d used to get down here. I moved slowly in an attempt not to jar Aella too much, but she still moaned in pain. My friend pulled the door open when we reached the top.

We made our way through a maze of corridors toward the great hall.

I’d never been inside, but we merely had to follow the shouting voices to know where to go.

Only alert Veronnian soldiers standing guard and some dead Therressians lying on the corridor floor slowed our pace as we moved through the castle.

The pain on Aella’s face grew so great that her features had twisted into a constant grimace.

I hated that I was jarring her, but I couldn’t avoid it if I wanted to get her help.

She’d clenched her eyes and jaw shut, managing to keep quiet despite how her injuries must have been affecting her.

I suspected that if she hadn’t been abused so many times before, her control would not be as considerable.

It sickened me that any man would harm a woman this way, and I couldn’t wait to get the anti-magic cuff off. She would recover faster then.

Unfortunately, my powers wouldn’t work on the metal band. The person who placed it had to remove it, or their death could also release the magical lock. I needed to determine who had put it there before deciding how to remedy the issue.

We entered the great hall, which also served as the dining area.

Over a dozen Therressian soldiers stood lined up, their faces pressed against the wall and their arms bound behind their backs.

Lord Morgunn and his two sons stood by the long table with iron shackles on their wrists and a few fresh marks on their faces.

Undoubtedly, they resisted at first. Aella’s uncle had an outraged expression when his gaze fell upon me.

“Get your hands off my niece, you filthy whoreson.”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “She’s mine, not yours. ”

Aella’s eyes fluttered open, but she didn’t turn her head to look at her family.

Her beautiful green irises were glazed with pain as I gently set her on the table.

Without needing to say a word, Rynn and Briauna raced forward and began working on the worst injuries, the younger girl crying at the sight of her broken cousin. I stepped back to give them space.

“She may have committed treason by working with you, but she’s not yours,” Lord Morgunn said, lunging forward. Two guards hauled him back. Apparently, word had not reached him yet of our marriage, but I didn’t care at this point. He was dead regardless.

“According to King Worden, who married us four and a half months ago, she is mine. I merely allowed her to remain with you until I could find a way to remove the curse you placed on her. Unfortunately, it appears your idea of taking care of a family member is vastly different from mine,” I said.

In truth, I didn’t anticipate wanting her at my side when we began this journey.

I’d only sought to keep her from falling into enemy hands through marriage, where I would not be able to make use of her abilities.

It had suited me to keep her at a distance, able to alert me every time her uncle attacked my land.

Though he couldn’t have infiltrated our territory as easily without her, our lands had warred against each other long before she was born. Taking her away wouldn’t have stopped the conflict or the deaths.

Lord Morgunn’s face contorted. “If you were married, I would have heard about it.”

“We kept it a secret, and the king agreed since he knew you were conspiring against him. He simply needed to turn down your betrothal proposals without fully explaining his reasoning. Meanwhile, we have been investigating your recent activities. I wish I could say I’m surprised you’re still working with the dark elves despite your reassurances years ago that you cut ties with them, but we suspected that was a lie all along.

” I stepped closer to him. “It was merely a matter of proving it, and that fleet arriving during your attack on Radoumar was rather damning.”

I left out what I knew about the Unseelie. We were keeping that information tightly contained because there was still a lot we didn’t know about their plans. The more ignorant we appeared, the more likely they were to make a mistake.

“You can kill me,” he said, smugly. “But it will only set off a chain of events you don’t want to happen.”

I stilled. “Such as?”

Lord Morgunn shook his head. “I’m sworn to secrecy and couldn’t say—even if you spent the next week torturing me. You’ll have to find out the hard way.”

“You speak lies to save yourself,” I said, hoping to the nameless ones that I was right.

He gave me a malicious smile. “If you want Aella free of the curse and that cuff, you’ll have to kill me, but be prepared to accept the consequences when they come.”

I glanced down the table at my wife, where the two healers worked.

One focused on her ankles and the other on her chest. They were making progress, but they’d do better with the cuff removed so Aella’s body could contribute to the process.

I didn’t know what the consequences might be, but I had no choice except to kill her uncle. He could not be allowed to live.

I lifted my hand, pulling my power, and aimed it at Lord Morgunn. His collarbone snapped, and he screamed. I waited until he stopped wailing to speak again. “Your death can be quick or very slow. That is the only choice I’ll give you.”

“No,” the stubborn man said, gripping his shoulder.

I broke his right hand, waited five seconds, and then broke his left.

I gave him ten seconds to relent, but he remained stubbornly mute.

One by one, I snapped each of his ribs as he fell over the table, screaming in pain.

It was satisfying to watch him suffer and also amusing to see his eldest son, Ulmar, seethe in rage with his good eye as I tortured his father.

Tadeus kept his focus on Aella, concern in his gaze for her and no regard at all for his sire, which was interesting.

My sources may have been right that there was no love between the lord and his youngest child.

“Ready to free Aella yet?” I asked Lord Morgunn after giving him a minute to catch his breath .

He snarled at me. “Not for you!”

“Very well.”

I flicked my hand and broke his right leg in two places simultaneously.

He fell back onto the floor. Then, I similarly broke his other leg.

He was screaming and wailing now. I wanted to keep going, but more than ten minutes had passed since we arrived in the great hall, and my wife continued to suffer with the cuff on her. For Aella’s sake, I needed to end it.

With one last pulse of power, I crushed Lord Morgunn’s skull. His eldest son flinched as blood and brain matter soaked the stone floor, but he said nothing. A cold, calculated look came over his bandaged face that deeply disturbed me.

The metallic clink of metal falling on the table told me killing Aella’s uncle had done what I’d hoped.

I looked over at her, noting her color was returning, and a faint wisp of smoke trailed from the back of her neck.

A sign that her curse had ended as well.

Despite her numerous injuries, a faint smile touched her lips.

A heavy weight had lifted and would trouble her no more.

I turned to her oldest cousin next, well aware he enjoyed harming my wife.

He fell to his knees immediately and bowed his head. “I humbly surrender and am willing to negotiate a treaty between our lands.”

I muttered a few choice words under my breath.

I might have gotten away with killing Ulmar as well if he hadn’t said those specific words.

As long as he cooperated and didn’t order his forces to attack me or Veronna in the near future, I couldn’t touch him.

Fae laws were rather annoying at times. I very much preferred working in the shadows with no one the wiser to what I did.

“I’ll deal with him,” Hagon said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You see to your wife.”

I nodded. “Thank you. If I look at him much longer, I’m liable to kill him no matter the consequences. ”

“After seeing what they’ve done to Aella, I don’t blame you. I admire the control you’ve demonstrated so far, brother.” He squeezed my shoulder one more time and headed toward the new Lord of Therress.

I joined the healers. “How is she?”

“We’ve done what we can for now, but we weren’t at full strength since we’ve been tending the wounded these last few days from the battle at Radoumar,” Briauna said, smoothing Aella’s brow.

“I’ve put her to sleep, and we’ll continue to treat her wounds every four hours until the worst injuries are whole. ”

“You mean I can’t take her home now?” I asked, perplexed.

She shook her head. “There is no channeler currently at the castle who could transport you outside of Therress, and it’s best to move her as little as possible until we finish mending the broken bones. Allow Rynn and I to continue working on her while your brother deals with Ulmar.”

The channeler I’d brought with me would need several hours before he could open a portal again.

Since the return trip wouldn’t require him to fight through wards, he could channel all the way to Veronna, but my brother would need him to remain here for our troops.

It appeared I had little choice except to spend the night in Ivory Castle.

“Very well. I will carry Aella to her room.”

“Good. She will be happier if she wakes to familiar surroundings,” Briauna said, giving me a weak smile. I imagined she was horrified by what happened to my wife and not ready to see her leave Therress.

I gathered Aella into my arms and allowed the two healers to lead me upstairs to the tiny room where she’d lived since moving to the castle.

It wasn’t much larger than servant quarters, but at least it had a window and a fireplace.

I laid her limp body down on the coverlet, noting how fragile she appeared.

My heart might be cold, but I still felt the fury of what had been done to her.

I vowed I’d never let her be harmed like that again.