“For every nasty, barbed comment I’ve thrown at you. For every moment of grief I’ve given you. For the doubts I’ve planted in your mind.” I sucked in a shuddering breath. “I’ve been pushing you away when I should have been pulling you closer, but it’s not your fault, Adara. It’s mine. I’ve been in denial about my feelings, blaming it on the ma—”
The sound of feet crashing through the underbrush drowned out the rest of my words, and Adara and I broke apart, my head whipping toward the intrusion. Leaping to my feet, I conjured a whip of fire and snapped it threateningly, ready to fight whoever was coming for us.
But my heart sank when a ribbon of water snaked its way through the air, colliding with my fire whip and dousing it in a cloud of steam.
“Water fae?” Adara asked, pushing herself to her feet behind me. I used my body to shield her as ten fae stalked into the clearing, clad in silver-blue scale armor molded to their slender bodies from wrist to ankle. I knew from experience how deceptively strong that armor was—it was crafted from diamond fish scales and was nearly impenetrable.
“Yes,” I growled, as the squad of soldiers surrounded us. Even without that armor, their pale blue skin, webbed hands, and the gill flaps on the sides of their necks were a dead giveaway. The tallest among them, a male with silver hair pulled into a high tail and two hoops looped through the shell of his left ear, stepped forward and pressed the tip of his spear into my chest.
“State your name, and your business on our lands.”
“Einar and Adara. We are two travelers passing through on our way to Wynth,” I said calmly. My inner dragon was roaring, demanding that I slaughter these fae who posed a threat to my mate, but I knew that in our current condition, they outmatched us. “I wasn’t aware it was illegal to travel through water fae lands, but we will happily change our course, if that is the case.”
“It isn’t illegal,” the fae said, his eyes narrowing. “However, Lord Prentis, our master, has received word that traitors to the crown have passed through our border. He’s ordered us to bring to him any travelers we find here.”
“We’re not traitors,” Adara protested, coming to stand by my side. She was still flushed with fever, but she seemed to have found another reserve of strength, meeting the soldier’s gaze without a hint of fear or weakness. “And I’m a water fae, just like you.”
The soldier raised an eyebrow. “You may be a water fae, but you are clearly nothing like me,” he said, taking in her torn dress and high-born features. “Even if you aren’t traitors to the crown, two Greater Fae skulking through the forest sporting battle wounds is cause enough for suspicion. You can come with us peacefully, or with a fight, but come with us you must.” He swung his spear away from my chest, pointing it in Adara’s direction, and gave her a grim smile. “So tell me, my lady, which one will it be?”
4
Adara
We went with the water fae.
“You can’t tie her up like this,” Einar growled as the soldiers bound his hands behind his back with rope. “She’s ill, can’t you see that?”
The squad captain took a look at me, brushing my hair out of my eyes. His lips pursed as he took in my flushed face and glassy-eyed gaze. “You’re a Greater Fae,” he said, his tone almost accusatory. “What malady could possibly afflict you?”
“I’m not telling you anything until you stop treating me like a criminal,” I said flatly. I was too exhausted to make up a convincing lie, and I knew I couldn’t tell these soldiers the truth. Even if they believed me, there was a risk they might take us back to Kaipei, and that couldn’t happen. I’d rather take my chances with this Lord Prentis, see if I could convince him to help us.
The captain’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “Then we have no choice but to tie you up.”
He bound my wrists himself, but at least he allowed me the small mercy of tying them in front of my body instead of behind my back. That was the only leniency he gave, though, herding Einar and me at a punishing pace out of the forest and toward a canal waiting in the distance.
“Don’t try anything funny,” the captain warned as he ushered me into a rowboat. There were six boats beached along the bank of the river, large enough to seat four people each. I sat down on the bench, and out of impulse, skimmed my bound hands over the surface of the water. A rush of energy filled my limbs, and I sucked in a sharp breath as ice crystals formed along the surface of the water.
“None of that.” The captain yanked my arms from the water as he took his seat next to me. I scowled, but the captain didn’t notice, turning toward the dock and holding up a hand as Einar tried to clamber into the boat with us. “And not you. You go in the next one.”
He pointed to two more soldiers, who climbed in and sat down on the bench across from us. Einar growled, his eyes flashing, but he kept his head down and allowed himself to be led to the boat behind us. My heart squeezed with sympathy for him—I knew how hard it was for him to subjugate himself to these soldiers, and that he was only doing it for my sake. He would rather die than surrender to the fae.
Except dying isn’t an option for him,I thought to myself.He has to stay alive to protect the location of his people.
The captain made a shooing motion with his hand, and the boat lurched forward, seemingly of his own volition. It was then that I realized there were no oars in the rowboats—the water fae were using their own magic to propel the boats through the water. I glanced at the canal water as it rushed past us, wishing I could put my hands back in. That quick dip had given me a small burst of energy, enough to clear my head, and I couldn’t help wondering if a longer soak would give me enough to heal my injuries. I’d never drawn energy from water in the past—was this another ability the amulet had stifled? I wanted to try it again, but the captain was watching me intently, so I didn’t dare.
Instead, I glanced back at Einar to see how he was doing. He sat stiffly on the bench, his hands behind him, back straight as a pole as he stared out at the water. His expression softened a little when he noticed my stare, and he even managed a small smile.I’m okay,his gilded eyes seemed to say.Don’t worry about me.
But how could I not, when he was trussed up like a prized fowl, ready to be taken home and feasted upon? He had to be absurdly uncomfortable, sitting like that with his arms bound behind him, and exhausted to boot. Unlike me, he couldn’t draw energy from the water. He’d given everything he had to me, so I could defeat Aolis.
My gaze dropped to the cuff wrapped around my bicep, and I traced the edges of the ruby red primal stone set in the center with my eyes. There had been an enormous amount of energy in the stone when I’d tapped into it—I’d never felt anything like that in my life. How many years had it been since the stone had been used? Tiny foreign symbols I’d initially thought were meaningless patterns were etched into the edges—witchling spell marks, perhaps? It seemed like a priceless item, belonging to a noble house or even royalty. No doubt it had personal meaning to Einar, and yet he’d given it to me anyway.
I shook my head, not sure what to believe. I’d thought Einar was only with me because of our bargain, and his outburst at Kiryan had certainly seemed to support that. But the way he’d held me in the clearing, the kiss he’d brushed against my crown and the heartfelt words he’d spoken… I wish I knew what he’d been about to say before the soldiers had arrived. Wish I knew how he really felt about me.
I let my mind drift as we traveled along the canal, watching the ever-changing landscape. The terrain here was hilly, with many waterfalls and streams crisscrossing through the landscape. I remembered reading that the citizens of Lochanlee relied on a vast network of interconnecting canals to traverse the realm, and that seemed to be true. I hadn’t seen a single horse, and very few fae traveled on foot here. We passed several villages, but not major cities, and I realized this was a fairly rural region of Lochanlee.
Lochanlee.I shook my head, hardly able to believe I was actually here. When I was a child, it had been a dream of mine to visit the homeland of my father—or at least, the fictional male I’d thought was my father. Had he been based on a real person, or had Mother fabricated him entirely?
But whether or not the male she’d told me about ever existed, there was no doubt I had family somewhere here in Lochanlee. My actual mother was the Princess Olette, who had been a powerful water fae in her own right. She and my grandfather, the former king, had been members of House Usciete, which meant I was, too.