I followed, content to keep an eye on my mate as she approached the Death Elf warily. Stopping a few feet away, she canted her head.
What are you thinking, Sunshine?
The connection between us hummed.There’s something about Ryllae… I’m not sure what it is. Her magic is different from her father’s.
“Who are you?” Aileana asked out loud, curiosity running through the bond.
Daegal’s voice was gruff as he said, “You know who Ryllae is.” He tightened his grip around the princess trembling in his arms.
Aileana shook her head slowly back and forth. Her hood had fallen off during the battle, and the wind blew her sunset red locks behind her. She brushed a strand behind her ear, never removing her gaze from the Death Elf. “No, we don’t. Not really.”
Daegal growled. “Ryllae’s the same elf we rescued from the prison.”
“Yes,” Aileana said slowly. “But who is that?”
The question settled between us, and the air thickened.
“Aileana is right.” Ryllae pulled Daegal’s arms away from her, and she bent, picking up a nearby skull. Her fingers ran over the white bones almost reverently as she whispered, “I don’t know who I am. But I’ll figure it out.” She glanced over her shoulder, smiling softly at Daegal. “We’ll figure it out.”
A beat passed before Aileana nodded tersely. “Absolutely. None of us are here by accident. Of that, I am certain. There have been far too many factors at play here for this to be chance.” She held up her hand, ticking off her fingers. “I escaped the tower and met Xander in the King’s Forest. Fate was definitely at play there. Then we went to Thyr and picked up Daegal and Jo. That wasn’t by accident.”
I shook my head. “Even the journey into Vlarone and finding Ryllae in Nightstone Prison would never have happened if fate wasn’t at play.” Moving beside my mate, I looked over our small group. “There were so many ways this could have gone, but we six are here today.”
“The answers we seek exist. We just need to find them,” Aileana concluded, slipping her hand into mine.
I’m so proud of you,I said through the bond.
She smiled up at me, her brows lifted.Because I’m bossy, or because I know how to use a dagger?
I smirked.A bit of both.
The energy brought on by battle coursed through. My veins, and I wanted nothing more than to spend time alone with Aileana. I glanced at her and saw the same need reflected in her eyes.
“Why don’t we get out of here?” Daegal said as the silence stretched on. Moving my gaze away from Aileana took physical effort, but I did it just as the Fortune Elf continued. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d prefer to not spend the night next to a pile of bones. Especially since we still have four days of hiking remaining.”
That reminder was as effective as dumping a bucket of cold water on my head. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. Spending time alone with my mate would just have to wait.
“I couldn’t agree more.” Kysha glanced at her wife. “Can you Look ahead and find a place to camp?”
Maiela nodded, and that silver magic of her kind took over her eyes. She was gone for less than a minute before she came back to us, providing the welcome news that there was a cave roughly two hours from here.
After that, things moved quickly. Maiela handed out small loaves of bread and cheese for a very late dinner; we gathered and cleaned our weapons; and then we were off.
The mood was heavy, the toll of taking lives affecting us all as we walked. Quieter than usual, without a single snarky word or clever banter, Aileana leaned against me, her grip on my hand tight as her magic slipped out in a steady stream of green. It cleared the path ahead of us, and we moved swiftly through the blackened woods. I kept my senses extended, listening to the forest as we hiked. I would not allow us to be caught unaware again.
When the moon was high in the sky and exhaustion was making moving difficult even for me, an opening in the mountainside came into view up ahead. To call it a cave was really an exaggeration; it was just a large overhang, but at least it was out of the elements.
Aileana and I arrived a few minutes before the others. I pulled her aside, standing at the entrance of the cave. She’d been unnaturally silent since we’d left the skeletons, and I knew something was bothering her.
“Are you alright, Sunshine?” I asked, taking her pack and placing it on the ground before doing the same with mine. “Was it the magic?”
I didn’t blame Aileana for her aversion to Death Elves. After what Remington and Edgar had done to her, it was a miracle she was even willing to be in the same room as Ryllae, let alone travel with her.
“I’m… fine,” Aileana whispered.
“Fine?” I raised a brow. “I’ve been alive long enough to know that when females say they’re ‘fine’, it’s rarely the case.”
“I’m… there was a lot of red.” She sighed. “It was a lot.”