by Elissa Daye
“I’m telling you, something is wrong. You need to get him home right away.”
When he did not respond to her she turned swiftly on her heels. She ran to the walk on the inside of the keep’s wall and climbed as quickly as her feet would carry her. She scanned in every direction. How would she be able to warn Aiden that something was wrong when there was no proof before her eyes? And just because she felt trepidation it did not mean she knew when something would actually happen. It was the curse of the unhoned Adrianic Magic that coursed through her veins. One thing was clear; it did not matter if anyone believed her. She knew something was coming.
Lysandra closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. She remembered her mother speaking of when she had sent her spirit to find her father the night she was in labor. Lysandra took a deep breath and silently prayed for her spirit to seek out Aiden wherever he had gone. She felt the moment her soul soared through the air and then felt the gentle tug of the magical strings that kept it tethered to her body. She climbed higher and higher from the keep’s walls as her spirit flew over the trees below, the gentle friction of air tickling her arms.
It seemed to take forever to find him, for she knew not what direction to travel. She finally found him a few miles to the west of Blackwolf, surrounded by several of his men. She could not tell the exact location or really see what they were doing among the forest, for the effort to focus her magic had blurred her vision. Perhaps if she had more practice, if she had been trained at a younger age instead of wasting away precious opportunities during her youth, then perhaps she would have had been able to see more clearly.
It did not really matter what occupied his time at the moment. The only thing that mattered was getting her message to him. Now that she had found him she would send the only thing she could to bring him back to her. She yanked on the invisible bond to her soul and brought it swiftly back to her. When she was back in one piece she took another stilling breath.
She set out to create a storm of energy that would travel directly to Aiden. She was a little unsure of herself, for she had only been able to conjure a storm before when her angry emotions had built up inside her. Every wave of energy she had manipulated in the past had been based on emotions hidden deep inside, usually angry ones, but she was not angry at Aiden. The only thing she could think about was the danger that was heading her way and that Aiden could very well be in its pathway. That small retainer of men would not be enough to keep him safe. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Aiden when she could have prevented it.
The fear swelled deep within her, eating away at her confidence. What if something happened to Aiden? She would never feel his embrace, hear his laugh, or see the smiles he attempted to hide from the world. If she lost Aiden she would never be the same again. And that was when it hit her. She loved him. Not the head over the heels, lasso the moon love that many girls fantasized about. It was the kind of love that entered quietly through the back door and wrapped a blanket of warmth around you on a cold night. It was the love that made you feel peace of mind, body, and soul. It was the kind of love that families were built on, where fathers doted on children who never seemed to learn patience with the world around them. It was the love she had seen reflected in her mother’s eyes when she looked at her father. This love was new to her, and while she was unsure if it was returned, that did not matter. At that moment the only thing that mattered was that her love was somewhere in the path of danger and she was the only one who knew it was coming.
The winds picked up around her, rotating with vicious intent. The electricity around her made her hair stand up on its ends. She cared not about the soldiers eyeing her mysteriously as she raised her hands in the air, the waves of hair flying in wicked streams around her. She moved her hands to the western sky and waved the winds onward. Thunder roared around Blackwolf and it took but a few seconds for everyone to notice the spectacle she made. Lysandra continued to ignore the eyes on her.
Aiden saw the storm heading their way. It was an oddity, for he had never seen a storm move so fast. When it stopped just above their heads without moving on the hair on Aiden’s neck crackled and the prickly feeling on his spine snapped him to attention. When thunder erupted above them and lightning crashed upon the floor of the forest he shook his head in disbelief. Another spark of lightning crashed to the floor, touching the same blackened earth as before. He needed no further urging. Lightning never struck the same place twice. He knew at once that Lysandra was in danger.
“Mount up.” His command was unexpected, for they had never been afraid of a storm before. He got a few confused looks from them, but he did not care. All that mattered was that Lysandra was in danger. “Now!”
Aiden traveled the path of the forest as fast as his horse would carry him. His men were right behind him. When he made it to the gates of Blackwolf Keep he breathed a sigh of relief that the walls seemed to be untouched. He led his horse to the stables and dismounted. When he walked through the gates of the keep he saw Lysandra perched on the wall walk and went up to her.
“Lysandra? What’s going on here?”
Lysandra had not seen his approach. Her eyes were still closed and the wave of energy was still rotating around her.
Aiden grabbed her arms and shook her to attention. “Lysandra!”
She opened her eyes slowly, as if it took effort to focus her attention on him. A whisper left her mouth before she fell to the floor. “Aiden. They’re coming.”
Who was coming? Aiden caught her easily and carried her down from the wall walk. His people were still sending interested stares in her direction. Aiden brushed off the unease that entered him as he carried her up to their room. Lysandra had felt the need to warn him of something unknown. Had it been worth it? There did not seem to be any threat moving their way. His men would have spotted it by now. He was laying her down on the bed when a lone horn sounded from the guard towers at the front of the castle walls. “Layla!” Aiden’s shout could be heard all the way down to the bottom floor of the keep.
Layla entered the door timidly. “Yes, my lord?”
“Watch over my wife. Her health is in your hands.” Aiden sent one last look at his sleeping wife before walking out the door.
The sounding horn continued to warn the keep of the pending approach of danger. The clatter of the metal on stone soon rang through the town as the keep’s troops pounded the ground. Swords and shields glared as the sun’s rays penetrated the chaos. Aiden held the sword steadily in his hand while sweat beaded on his brow as the heat of the day ran through him. They would be prepared for any intruder.
“Any banners flying?” Aiden awaited the response from his guard in the tower.
“Appears to be the Tiberon Clan. Tibalus has added nigh to forty more head to his army, Lord Aiden.”
“No matter, William. He could add a hundred to his lot and he would still not match the strength and heart of Blackwolf.”
“Incoming!” Arrows flew over the castle walls, littering the ground harmlessly around them. With shields up the soldiers were protected from the next wave.
“Archers!” Aiden called to the archers on the wall as he climbed up to join them. They returned fire swiftly to the swarm of men below, felling several with ease. Aiden could see Terryn’s destrier circle the back line of his men as he shouted at them. It was clear that he expected the walls of Blackwolf to be lacking in defense today. Someone within Blackwolf Keep must have informed him that half of the garrison was outside the castle walls. If Lysandra had not attempted to warn him they might not have been able to fight off the attack.
Terryn’s men were starting to climb the castle walls while others were batting a ram into the portcullis that separated Blackwolf from intruders. Battle cries shattered the silence and a flurry of sparks flashed in the air as swords clanged dangerously around them. Soon every man was in motion and the battle was fierce.
Lysandra woke to the sounds of metal on metal, shouts of anger, cries of
fear, and howls of pain. She sprung up from the bed and rushed out of the room with Layla running after her. She exited the keep, much to the dismay of her maid, and ran swiftly up the stairs of the wall walk, which had long since been abandoned for the fight in the bailey below. Lysandra saw the madness ensuing and could tell that the opposing army outnumbered her people greatly.
Her people. She may not have been born within these walls, but these people were her own. She felt the anger rising inside her. She was still weak from her efforts earlier, but when she saw several men attacking Aiden she managed to find enough strength within her to conjure the deadliest storm to ever pass through these parts. Small tunnels of wind rotated dangerously around the bailey, a hiss of air rising in a heated pitch. Thunder bellowed a threatening war cry at the intruders within Blackwolf’s walls and lightning sprung out of a cloudless sky, the static electricity scoring the ground with long, black welts.
Aiden watched as clouds of air rotated around him. It dodged his people effortlessly while plucking Terryn’s men high into the air skillfully. The fighting continued as most people were distracted with the flurry of steel and the stinging sweat that ran into unshielded eyes. Lightning struck next to him, but unlike his foes, he feared it not. He looked to his people and shouted loud above the roaring crowds. “Fear not, Blackwolf. The angel of mercy is on our side!”
More tornadoes crashed into their adversaries, tossing them like leaves on the breeze. A horn sounded outside the keep and Terryn’s men turned to it. Terryn Tibalus was ordering a retreat of his forces amidst the chaos of a storm that had risen even more deadly outside the castle walls. Aiden saw several charred bodies scattered across the ground, the tarring ash only echoing the outlines of flesh. While several of the Tibalus clan had been defeated this day, many more still remained. Aiden watched the retreat and raised his sword. “For Blackwolf!”
“Ah ya!” The cheer was strong among his people. People rejoiced, the men clapped each other the backs, and the women rushed to their men. Before he knew it Anna came running at him and planted a hot kiss on his mouth. He pushed her away, the smile no longer on his face. Perhaps Lysandra had been right when she suggested Anna find a mate soon. He no longer had the patience to put up with her arrogance.
When Aiden looked up to the wall walk he saw Lysandra’s petite form standing there. She seemed so small, frail like a tiny sapling bent under winter winds, and he knew she had paid greatly for her efforts today. He saw her start a slow climb from the top of the wall. When her body disappeared from sight he turned back to his people as the celebrations continued.
Lysandra felt the stares follow her back to the keep. She had seen the looks of fear pass over the faces of the people and she was suddenly afraid that she may have just alienated herself from the others by baring her secret so openly to the world. She had also seen Anna attach herself to Aiden as if she possessed him. In another lifetime she probably had, but he was no longer hers. He belonged to Lysandra. She had hoped that Aiden would come to her, but he had turned away after his eyes met hers across the distance.
She walked alone into the keep with a cold fear creeping up her spine. Did he prefer Anna’s company? Had her Adrianic magic scared him away? She now knew what it was to love with all her heart as her mother had before her. That must have been the key to the Adrianic magic that her mother had kept so close to her, the missing piece that had made it easy to harness the elements around her.
A bitter sadness rushed to the forefront of her mind, for she remembered his words about love. He no longer believed in it, it was just a fanciful notion. If she were to broadcast it so openly to him, she would only make a fool of herself. She walked to the chambers connected to the one she had been sharing with Aiden up until now. She slid the covers back from the smaller bed, crawled underneath, and closed her eyes. She wished that her life was simpler, as carefree as the healing winds of Elkliss before her uncle ripped open its bleeding heart and spilled the blood of her people on the porcelain floors.
She shuddered as the icy cold sheets touched her skin. She tossed and turned for a few moments before she found a comfortable spot. Lysandra fell into a restless sleep as rounds of loud cheering continued to sound from the bailey. She could not help feeling that she was desperately alone in a world full of strangers.
Chapter 25
When Aiden finally made his way upstairs he was sure Lysandra would be fast asleep in their bed. When he pulled back the covers to find her missing his heart skipped a beat and plummeted to the bottom of his stomach, where acid started to churn sickly. Panic was a strange feeling for him, for he could handle almost any situation, much like the battle this morning. He was up for almost any challenge that was sent his way, but the unease he felt coursing through him at the moment was not something with which he was familiar.
He lit a candle from the tinderbox, then searched the room, remembering the first night when she had fallen asleep in the chair. He did not find her anywhere in his chambers, but when he realized the door to the other chamber was shut he walked swiftly over to it. He yanked the door open so hard it almost came off the hinges, but he did not care. All he needed at that moment in time was to make sure that his wife was safe.
Her shape was discernible from the covers of the bed. He walked closer to where she lay and looked down at the face of the woman who had saved his people that day. Her face was bathed in moonlight that magnified the frailty he had seen earlier today. He should have come after her, but he had priorities with the people of the keep. His people.
Aiden reached out to touch her pale face and was shocked with the amount of heat emanating from her. She was on fire. He picked her up as gently as he could and walked swiftly back to his room. He placed her on the bed and went in search of any maid he could find. Something was terribly wrong. Lysandra had not even stirred when he moved her. Not even a glimmer of life showed on her face and, had it not been for the flames covering her skin and the slow beat of her heart, there would have been no trace of life.
Layla came running from the servant’s quarters when Aiden’s call for help broke the silence of the night. She ran up to Lysandra as fast as her feet would carry her. Aiden watched as she brought another serving girl in with her. “Don’t you worry, Lord Aiden. April and I will take care of her. She’s probably just spent all her energy.”
April came in to the room and, without even glancing at her master, she hurried over to Lysandra. She had brought a bag of things into the room with her. “I need her clothes removed.”
Aiden assisted with the clothing, carefully removing each piece. “Anything else?”
April turned to Aiden with a smirk. “You’re not well suited to playing the nurse maid, my lord. There are others more acquainted with caring for her.”
“I will do just fine, April. Just tell me what needs to be done.”
“Water, my lord. Lots of water.”
Aiden called for water from the doorway and then returned back to the bed. “What are you doing?”
April had walked to the fireplace and was feeding the flames with herbs that sent foggy smoke into the room. “Cleansing the room. It will keep only healthy energy in here.”
He coughed as he inhaled the smoke and tears burned his eyes. “How in the world is this supposed to help?”
“Do I question your leadership? This is what I do, my lord. I’m the best you’ll find.” She went to the window and opened the shutters. The air flowing into the room sucked out the smoke and the room was no longer covered with its haze. She then closed the window back up.
Aiden smirked at April and tried not to let the wariness he felt show in his eyes. He did not have time to find anyone else and April was quite talented. He nodded to her respectfully. “I bow to your experience.”
When the water arrived they each took turns bathing the fever away from her body. It seemed to ebb and flow at different times throughout the day. It was hard to predict how long it would take her to pull through this. Aiden had never
seen anyone go into this deep a sleep before. The last time he had seen something like this was when his grandfather had passed away.
The sickness had come into Blackwolf like a plague, tearing through those that had little defense, striking down the old and the young. It was the deep fevered sleep that had taken his grandfather away from him. He took a deep breath and willed the darkness away from his thoughts. He would not let Lysandra die. It was his duty to protect her.
Aiden’s face cast guilty shadows on the ground. If he had not brought her here she would not be going through this. She would never have used so much of herself to protect his people. As soon as that thought entered his head logic took over. If he had not brought her back from Ghelli House she could very well have gone through much worse at Terryn’s awful hands.
Aiden refused to leave her side, but he was surrounded by hens clucking their tongues at him that he would be no good to anyone if he did not take care of his health. He sat in the chair when the ladies attempted to shoo him away and grumbled angrily at them. He refused to budge. His wife had put everything she had into protecting him and his people. His health was nothing compared to the sacrifice she had made. He moved the chair next to the bed and kept a constant vigil over her during the night, watching every rise and fall of her chest, hoping above all else that her fever would not get worse.
Chapter 26
Lysandra looked around her to find only a haze of clouds as her company. Where was she? She had no idea how she had gotten to this place or from where she had actually come. It was as if she were missing fragile pieces of time, puzzle pieces that spun away from each other before connecting to make a picture that made sense. She walked among the haze, hands stretched in front of her to guide her through safely. She stepped into a puddle of water and looked down to her feet. She appeared to be standing in something much bigger than a puddle. She felt the cold run along her toes and wiggled them in the mud beneath her feet.