by Ivy Clyde
“What?!” I gasped. My feet stumbled over loose stones to reach the spot where Rowan stood. “Where are they?”
Rowan gestured down below.
From my perch, I spotted Vishen far away in a clearing. The height allowed us to get a bird’s eye view of the whole area. Lucia was already unconscious and hanging limply from Vishen’s shoulder. Pain lanced my heart at the sight.
“Is she alive?” I whispered urgently. “Did he kill her already?”
“I don’t think she is dead just yet,” said Rowan. “She has to be alive for the Engorging Bell to work.”
I looked back on the scene.
Vishen dropped Lucia onto a raised circular platform. The white of the marble glimmered in the dim light. He roughly aligned her body across the surface and started arranging thick candles of wax around it. The whole scene was lit up with their crimson glow. He placed several strange objects on Lucia’s body but because of the distance, I couldn’t make them out clearly.
Lucia stayed deathly still on the marble platform.
Vishen took out a scroll from within his robes and straightened it out. He started reading from it in a loud, clear voice.
“What kind of language is that?” I asked.
“The tongue of the underworld,” whispered Leon from beside me. “He is calling on dark spirits for the ritual.”
I almost asked whether such things were real. Why did I keep forgetting I wasn’t human either but a fae? Shaking my head, I focused on the scene playing out before me.
Dark figures composed of billowing black smoke gathered around the circular platform now. The sight was eerie. Vishen finished chanting and burned the scroll on one of the candles’ flame. The smoke-like creatures remained witness to what was about to happen next.
Vishen unsheathed a short dagger. Catching the glow of the candles, the curved blade glinted with crimson light. Kneeling down beside Lucia, he raised the hand clutching the hilt of the dagger and sliced it across her wrist.
“No!” I gasped. My body jolted. Magic rose up to the tips of my fingers, ready to lash out at Vishen.
Strong arms wrapped around me. “Calm down, Moira,” Leon’s voice hissed in my ears. “Keep watching. Don’t let her sacrifice go to waste.”
Tears streamed down my cheeks as the pain in my chest became unbearable. My magic became unstable, urging me to lash out at the enemy. It was a struggle to control it and my own emotional state wasn’t helping.
“Watch!” whispered Rowan quietly.
Lucia’s blood poured into the crevices that were etched on the surface of the marble platform, casting a strange symbol that glowed in the light of the candles.
Vishen brought out the replica of the Engorging Bell. Chanting in that strange tongue, he grasped the horn-like handle of the bell and began ringing it hard.
The three of us watched with bated breath but nothing else happened.
One by one, the dark figures began melting away.
“No! Wait!” Vishen’s piercing cries broke the stillness and silence of the forest. He rang the bell harder. He chanted louder. In another ten minutes, all the smoke-figures disappeared completely.
“Useless piece of shit!” he bellowed, throwing away the fake Engorging Bell. Next moment, he fell to his knees and openly started cursing and sobbing.
“Distract him,” Rowan commanded. “Get him away from her.”
“On it,” whispered Leon, rising up from my side.
Standing straight, he focused on the clearing around Vishen. Within seconds, we glimpsed figures from the hunting party emerging from behind the trees. Leon’s amber eyes blazed with an inner light. That’s when I knew he was casting an illusion. The newcomers weren’t real.
Vishen wasn’t aware though and he easily took the bait. Getting to his feet, he straightened his robes and quickly walked away from the clearing.
“Is he really gone?” I asked, staring at Lucia’s unmoving body.
“I believe so,” said Leon. “He hasn’t even come back to retrieve the bell.”
“I can’t wait anymore,” I said, straightening up. “I have to go to her.” Not bothering to wait anymore, I made the descent down the hill and hurried toward the clearing. The place was still deserted and quiet.
“Moira! Be careful!” Leon and Rowan shouted after me but I was already sprinting ahead without a backward look. I didn’t even care about my dress getting torn by the thorny brambles around me. They cut into my arms as well but the pain didn’t register in my anxiety-laden mind. My sole focus was on Lucia now.
Reaching her, I dropped to my knees. Heavy glamor still masked her feminine features, giving the illusion of a male body.
“Lucia, wake up!” I called through a choked throat. My hands gripped onto her shoulders and shook hard. “Please, wake up!”
“Gently, Moira,” said Rowan in a severe tone. “Bind that wound on her wrist first.”
Blinded by tears, I looked toward her slashed wrist. Blood still dripped from the deep wound. The sound of tearing fabric had me look toward Leon. He’d torn off the hem of his tunic with his teeth. Kneeling down beside me, he used the scrap of cloth to bandage the wound.
Deep sobs wracked through my body, shaking me to the core. My magic burned and throbbed inside me, wanting to be unleashed. I didn’t understand why it was still so unstable. Vishen was already gone. There were no more enemies to be burned.
Grief, my mind whispered the word to me.
My magic felt grief? I stared into Lucia’s pale face and felt my magic surging and ebbing in my veins. Its erratic pulsing seemed to echo the irregular beats of my heart.
“She is fading fast,” said Rowan. His fingers were pressed against the side of her neck. “The blade wasn’t a normal one. It cut into her magical core too.”
“What do we do now?” I flung myself on Rowan like a mad woman and grabbed the front of his tunic. “Do something!” I screamed in his face. “Do something or I won’t ever forgive you!” Part of me knew I was being irrational but at the moment, all logic and sense seemed to have leaked out of me. I was desperate for Lucia to wake up.
“Use the bell on her,” said Leon. “It’s full of life force at the moment. Let it discharge into her body. I believe it will heal her magical core.”
“It will?”
“It’s worth a try.”
Swiping away the tears hazing up my vision, I reached inside my pocket to retrieve the Engorging Bell.
“If you could stop it from sucking out the life force from its surroundings, you can make it discharge the power it has absorbed,” said Rowan. His hand squeezed my shoulder. “Calm your mind. You can do this.”
His support despite my madness suffused me with warmth. The desperation I’d felt earlier seeped out of me. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and focused my magic to intertwine with the Engorging Bell.
Tell your magic what to do and see it happening, Cade’s voice floated in my mind. That was the instruction he’d given me during our one and only training session.
I followed his teaching and instructed the bell to give off all its powers to Lucia. The bell in my palm vibrated hard and turned hot. My magic protected me from getting burned, so I held on to it tightly, dominating over it with my will.
Soft moans reached my ears.
My eyes sprung open at once. Lucia’s body was stirring and faint groans were escaping her lips.
“She is getting better!” I exclaimed, turning my excited gaze on my mates. However, their expressions didn’t match my excitement. “What’s wrong?”
Leon pointed a finger toward Lucia. I followed it and glanced at a familiar-looking symbol glowing in the center of her chest. The sigil glowed with a bluish-silver light and took the shape of a sickle moon with a few glittering stars around it. It was the exact replica of the other half of my mating seal. It resembled the lunar fae part of the lumina fae mark.
The Engorging Bell continued to vibrate and grow hot in my palm while I stared at the symbol gl
owing on her chest. “What does this mean?”
“She is your fated mate too,” Rowan’s voice was too deadly grim for me refute the truth in it.
I stared back at Lucia and it suddenly hit me. My magic growing calm around her, the trust I felt the moment I saw her, the way she was devoted to protecting me and carrying out my every wish despite the risks to her life, my own madness and desperation when I saw her dying…
The Engorging Bell stopped vibrating and grew cool against my palm. The symbol that had lit up on her chest disappeared as well. I looked toward her face and suddenly realized she was staring back at me.
14
Moira
All the words on my lips seemed to die out as I looked into Lucia’s clear emerald-green eyes. Rowan and Leon moved forward to grab her hands and helped her sit up.
“I can’t believe you are all here,” said Lucia, looking around herself. Her gaze took in the marble platform and then looked down at the bloodied bandage on her wrist. “Vishen made me bleed out, huh?” she asked, staring at the crimson liquid that filled the deep marks etched onto the stone altar. “I guess I am lucky to be alive.”
“You’re lucky because of the Engorging Bell,” said Leon. “And Moira, of course.”
She looked toward me and smiled, but I couldn’t smile back at her. I was still too stunned from the revelation she was one of my fated mates.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“She is fine,” said Rowan. “Will you be able to stand on your own? If so, you should get away from all that blood.”
“You’re right,” said Lucia, climbing off the platform. Her robes were dampened and stained a deep maroon because of the drying blood. The sight made my stomach heave. Even though I wasn’t sure how I felt about Lucia being one of my fated mates, I still cared for her.
“How do you feel?” asked Leon, gazing at her intently. “How does your magic feel?”
“My magic?”
“Vishen didn’t just hurt your body,” said Rowan. “The weapon damaged your core too. It’s lucky we had an object like the Engorging Bell and someone who could use it in the right way. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have survived what he did to you.”
Lucia gazed at me. “Thank you, Moira,” she said softly. “Thank you for saving my life.”
I gave a nod. “This belongs to you now.” Taking her hand, I placed the Engorging Bell on her palm.
“You were able to figure out how to use this?” she asked, grinning.
“Yeah.”
Her smile brightened. “You’re truly King Arian’s child. Only a powerful person could manipulate this dark object into doing their bidding.” Placing her arm around me, she drew close to me. “What’s wrong, Moira? You’re awfully quiet.”
“She is probably not used to you looking so manly,” said Leon, coming to my rescue. “It’s throwing me off too. What kind of illusion have you been using?”
Lucia chuckled. “This illusion wouldn’t go away even if I am dead.”
“Yeah, we saw that,” said Rowan. “You’ve been very good with fooling Vishen.”
“Oh ya! Where is that bastard?” asked Lucia. “Did you guys chase him off?”
“I used an illusion and made him think people were coming this way.”
Lucia laughed loudly and slapped Leon’s arm. I was grateful to both him and Rowan for distracting Lucia while I sorted through the jumble of thoughts and emotions in my mind.
“Let’s get you back to the crowd,” said Rowan. “I don’t want him lying to people saying you’re dead already.”
“Let’s think of a reason why I came back from the dead,” said Lucia. Stretching her arms, she walked around the clearing, seeming to be in deep thought. I marveled at the power of the Engorging Bell that seemed to bring new life to her when she was so close to the brink of death. She looked like she hadn’t been bleeding only minutes ago!
The three of us stayed quiet, waiting for her to come up with an idea.
“I’ve got it!” she shouted, punching the air before her. She turned shining eyes on me. “This way, you can get inside the palace as well. Vishen himself will bring you there.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, distracted from my own thoughts for the moment. “How will you get me inside the palace?”
“I will say this kind, brave lady saved me from a group of assassins who wanted to kill me,” said Lucia with a mischievous grin. “I will ask Vishen to bring you into my harem. He has to say yes because you’re a woman living in his manor. There is no way he can refuse to give you away.”
“You have a harem?” I asked as a sudden bout of jealousy snaked through me.
Lucia giggled. “I don’t but it’s about time Prince Eoghan got one.” My lips formed a frown but Lucia continued to smile like she had sorted through all our problems. Glancing toward Rowan and Leon, she said, “You guys go back to the edge of the woods and say you can’t find your lady. Just when people start panicking, I will step in with Moira and take care of the rest.”
“Are you sure?” asked Rowan. “You will take her to the Moon Palace right away?”
“Not right away,” said Lucia. “But in a few days.” When Rowan and Leon continued to look worried, she added, “Don’t stress over the matter. Moira will be safe. I will never let her come to any harm.”
On a normal occasion, both Rowan and Leon would argue and make her explain herself more but to my surprise, they both stayed quiet, easily agreeing to her plan. They left me in the clearing with Lucia. Did the revelation of her being my mate put their minds at ease? Did they finally trust her fully?
“Moira,” Lucia’s voice made me look up at her. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look anxious.”
“I’m fine.” Part of me wanted to ask her right away whether she knew about the mating seal on her body but the question wouldn’t come to my lips just yet. What would happen if she said yes? I doubted I was prepared for the conversation just yet. Taking a deep breath, I tried to clear my expression. “So, how are we doing this?” I asked. “How will Vishen believe you are okay?”
“The Engorging Bell didn’t work for him,” said Lucia. “It won’t be hard to make him believe that dagger was useless too.” She suddenly grinned. “I will do all the talking. You just follow my lead, all right?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“You will see.” She winked at me.
Relief spread through me to see her back to her usual self and being so cheerful. Lucia rarely showed this side to her personality. Most of the time, she was too worried and anxious about me or one of her plans with Vishen not working. Perhaps, she was momentarily happy to be alive. She’d gone through with the sacrificial ritual believing she wouldn’t survive. Pain lanced through my chest at the thought. She was really going to die just to give me a fighting chance against Vishen.
“Come on,” said Lucia. “Get in my arms.”
“Wait, what?” I stared at her, wondering if I heard her right.
Moving closer to me, she said, “Go limp.” Next second, she bent down before me and swept me off my feet.
I gasped, scrambling to get my arms around her neck. “What are you doing, Lucia?”
She chuckled. “Play dead.”
“What?”
“Pretend that you’ve fainted,” said Lucia. “I am going to tell Vishen you saved me and carried me back to the hunting party but that you got exhausted and passed out.
Pressed against her, I felt the heat seeping from her body. This close to her, I could see the tiny gold flecks around the green of her eyes. Most of her features were morphed to look manly but I recognized the look in her gaze when she looked at me.
“Just like that,” she said. “Rest your head against my chest and close your eyes. Be the epitome of a damsel in distress.”
Lucia had no idea I knew about her secret now, that I understood her intense need to protect me. Exhaling a long breath, I closed my eyes. My vision was enclosed in darkness but my ears picked up the sou
nds of her boots stepping on the dry leaves and twigs of the forest floor. Part of me felt impressed by the strength in her arms. She was walking fast but didn’t seem to lose her stamina or breath.
The edge of the woods must have been a long way from the clearing. After a while, my mind relaxed enough for me to enjoy my closeness to Lucia. She was a woman like me but it was strange how safe she made me feel. The only people who made feel so protected were Rowan, Leon, and Cade. Even when I was unaware of the mate bond between us, I trusted her.
For the moment, I simply enjoyed being close to her.
Soon, the sound of a number of voices reached me.
“We’re almost there,” Lucia whispered to me. “Keep your eyes closed.”
“Your Highness!” several voices gasped out.
“He’s here! The prince has returned!”
“You had us so worried, My Prince!”
“Are you okay, Your Highness? Why is there so much blood on you?”
“Flora, Flora! Don’t faint!”
“Get Lord Vishen. The prince has returned!”
Chaos surrounded us but I kept my eyes firmly closed, trusting in Lucia to get me away from the mob safely.
“Your Highness!” said a voice that silenced everyone else. “You…you are here.” He tried very hard but couldn’t suppress his astonishment.
“Lord Vishen, did I offend you in some way?” asked Lucia in a deep, rumbling voice.
“Your Highness…”
“None of the guards who were supposed to follow us came to my rescue when I got attacked by assassins. Even you left my side. If it weren’t for this woman, I would be dead already!”
“I don’t understand. What happened, Your Highness?”
“I don’t know what happened!” Lucia bellowed. “I woke up bleeding from my hand. If left alone, I would have perished in these infernal woods.” Her breathing turned harsh and ragged but I knew she was faking it. “Where are the damned servants when you need them? Why am I still carrying this woman?”
“Someone take the woman away!” Vishen commanded.