by Tiya Rayne
“What?”
“While you have been hiding away in this room,” Bilal points to the walls of my room that has lately become my prison. “We have had a traitor in our midst. Tonight she injured Miriam and killed the little fairy Kema. She escaped with both boys. It seems she may have had help from Phillisius.”
Oh gods no! Not my boys. I stumble back like the news has struck me. Thank gods, Miriam is ok. Yet, the loss of Kema is hard to take. The little fairy was fearless and adored Lilly and those boys.
“It appears the familiar might have sensed the elf was a traitor, which was most likely the reason it attacked her. Had we not locked the familiar away, she could have saved them.”
Now I feel even worse. I didn’t even take the time to question the familiar. Familiars are known for their temper and trickery, but I should have known that if Lilly befriended the familiar that it had to be good. It was just hard to focus on anything with Lilly gone.
“We need to trace their steps, figure out where they would have taken the twins.”
I magically change into my battle gear. Yes, I was still not myself, not with losing Lilly, but I had to step up to the plate. I would do anything for my sons. I meant what I said to Lilly. I would always take care of them and love them like they are mine. Unfortunately, I have fallen short of that. Never again.
“I can’t believe we let Lilly down. All she asked us to do was keep them safe.” Avalia replies.
She’s really beating herself up about this.
I place a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We will get the twins back. And I doubt Lilly will worry about the twins. She will be pregnant with the Dark King’s heirs soon enough.” Though the words come out easily, they burn my throat. Just the thought of her having his fucking children makes me want to drive my sword through his gut.
Suddenly a loud thud is heard outside followed by the shaking of the ground. We all look confused until we hear the shouting from outside.
“What is going on?” Himrol queries.
His question is followed by footsteps running up the stairs to my room. An elven soldier stops in my doorway, his hands out on both sides of the doorframe. He’s out of breath.
“We are…..under…..attack.” He finally gets out.
Avalia looks to me and fear clouds her eyes. I guess times up.
I trace into the throne room and I’m followed by the others. I grab arrows and a quiver as I direct soldiers on where to go.
“I want archers up on the roof. I need Artimus and Fisgal to lead their soldiers…..”
My words are interrupted when noise outside of the throne room causes us to stop and turn to the door. The door flies open and a bleeding Drago walks in. He’s followed by a gorgeous dark skinned woman and two children.
“Drago, what are you…..” Those are the only words I get out before he is flying into me with his fist in my face.
“Ye’ worthless ass.” He shouts.
The first punch takes me off guard, but I am prepared for the second one. I dodge his blow and come up to jab him in the face. We are throwing so many blows at each other it’s hard to tell who is winning. At this rate, we will surely kill each other. Eventually we stop when Avalia’s magic freezes us both in place. She lifts us through the air and slams us both down to the marble floor. The air is knocked out of me.
“Enough!” She demands. “Drago what are you doing here?”
“To kick his ass.”
“Clearly.” I state getting to my feet. My body aches like I’ve been run over by a herd of wilder beast.
“Ye’ were supposed to protect her.” He shouts at me.
“No, you were supposed to protect her.” I counter.
He charges at me again but hits one of Avalia’s invisible walls. I smile, knowing for a fact how that feels.
“Lilly is in danger.” The brown skinned young girl, with the weird clothes, says stepping forward. The young man with her wraps his arms around her pulling her back into his side.
Bilal moves towards the pair. “What’s wrong with Lilly?”
I try to remain stoic as if I didn’t care, but I am just as worried as everyone else. No matter what, I will always have the need to protect her.
“Besides the obvious need to save everyone, she’s finally bitten off more than she can chew.” The gray-eyed beauty places her hands on her hips.
She goes on to tell us about Lilly’s plan to get the Dark King to see the error of his ways. She explains how the Dark King had everyone thinking that he was changing. They all thought Lilly’s plan might have actually been working. She even tells me about finding Lilly in bed this morning and what happened between her and the Dark King the night before. I cringe when I hear this part, even though the witch brushes over it. When she tells me about Phillisius’s threatening the boys and making Lilly tell me those lies, I feel my heart drop to my knees.
She does still love me. I was so emotionally on edge about those damn dreams that I was blinded by the truth. When Lilly admitted to something happening between her and the Dark King, I could immediately see the remorse on her face. I knew that she had made a mistake and was feeling bad about it. I had even forgiven her. It wasn’t until she pulled away from me and told me she was in love with him that I pushed her away. I should have known she was lying. I should have been able to look at her and tell she wasn’t being honest. How can I be so stupid?
“How could you ever think Lilly would chose the Dark King over you?” Hyland again.
He looks at me completely bewildered. I want to tell him that although I’ve been considered a legend, have been feared and made a hero, I am still a man. A man that is susceptible to doubt, envy, jealousy, and pain. All the things being in love can do to someone.
However, I don’t tell Hyland that. I simply say. “The dreams.” Though not completely accurate, the dreams did play a big part in my deception.
“That is how I got tipped off.” Drago says. “When she told us what ye’ said about the sickness, something didn’t feel right.”
“What sickness?”
That’s when the young girl tells us about the dark magic making the children sick and what Lilly did to help them.
“She never mentioned this to me.”
“She did. It just wasn’t you.” Avalia explains coming to the realization. “Lilly was dreaming of a fake you, while you were dreaming of a fake her.”
“Which is why she told you the dreams were real.” The words were said in my head and they mirrored my thoughts entirely.
Damn, we were both played.
“So how is Lilly in danger now?” Avalia says turning back to the gray-eyed witch.
The witch explains the proposal and everything that happened after.
I grow more angrier with each word she says.
“It doesn’t make sense.” Bilal argues. “Why go through all of this just so Lilly will marry him?”
That was a good question. Marriage is just a formality. He had Lilly with him and thanks to him, I was out of the picture. Why force Lilly to marry him?
“Three days at midnight.” The witch whispers. She looks to Drago. “I figured it out.”
“What is it?” Avalia and I say at the same time.
“The Dark King told Lilly he wouldn’t hurt the boys if she was at the alter in three days at midnight. In three days the second moon aligns with the first causing a single moon. Which is the perfect time to have a bonding ceremony.”
“Oh my gods!” Avalia places a hand over her heart.
“If he gets her to bond with him, he can make her do whatever he wants.”
“Like siding with him in a life changing decision.” I say, thinking about the prophecy.
The whole reason for Lilly being here, is because she had an important decision to make. A decision that would shape our future. With the right words, the Dark King can make it so that Lilly can never go against him. If that were to happen, all of this will have been for nothing.
“We need
to get into the Northern Kingdom before that ceremony.” I demand.
“How did you get in and out, Drago?” Avalia asks.
“Before, I used the wolf hound. They cast projections. I was never really here, just projecting my image. However, this time….”
“That is where I come in handy.” The young scarred man speaks up for the first time. “I can get you and your entire army into the Northern Kingdom without anyone ever knowing. The only problem, it would take me more than three days. The nearest tunnel entry from here is three days away. Not to mention from that entry to the Northern castle, would take about a week. Only reason we got here so quick, is because in dragon form, Drago is extremely fast.”
Everyone turns to Drago when the boy mentions his dragon form.
“So she did it?”
He nods at my question and then smiles. “The last thing she did before they pulled her out of that room and into the dungeon. She broke my curse so that we could be saved.” Drago looks down and then back up at the entire room. “I will be honest, I still do not entirely care who wins this war. I am not a changed man, despite Lilly’s best attempts. However, I am here with ye’ right now because ye’ are the only ones that can save her. I will lay down my life for that bloody annoying human.”
“Then you are in the right place.” Bilal says with a chuckle. “We will all do the same for Lilly.”
“Good,” Drago nods. “Then let’s find a way to get her home before that ceremony.”
“Well, if somebody would break these damn chains, I could possible solve that problem.”
I turn to the witch and pull my blade from the ether slicing through the witch chains. She rubs her chaffed wrists as soon as the cuffs fall away.
“While imprisoned in that fucking castle, I learned a few things. One of them, is how the Dark King makes his portals. With the elf queen’s help, we may be able to cut this trip down.”
“I am at your service, witch,” Avalia says. “Assassin, I want you and all the generals to sit down with the young man to map out these tunnels. Drago, you can go with them. If we are going to war soon, I want every scenario and every plan thoroughly thought out. Bilal, Himrol and Hyland, I want you to make sure that every soldier has a weapon and knows where they are to be. This is it! We have three days to make this happen. We will either be victorious or die trying. May the Gods be with us.”
Chapter Nineteen
(Lilly)
♪♪“Oooooh careful eyeeee of the goddess aboveeee,
Keeeeep careful watch of my brother’s soullllll.
Annnnnnd if the skyyyyy is filled with fire of golddddd
Keeeeeep watching over your southern sonssss.”♪♪
“For fuck sakes, Bartus, give it a rest!”
I’ve spent three nights in this dungeon. It smells like blood, death, and feces. A smell that has caused me to empty my stomach in the corner many times. Rats the size of small dogs scurry around the floor. Water leaks from the walls and cause mold to grow everywhere. Not to mention the cold. I’ve been shivering and sniffing since I came down here. And even with all of that, it takes Bartus and that depressing ass song to break me.
I was shocked to find that the Southern King was my neighbor in this horrible dungeon. Even after learning he was betrayed by the Dark King not long after betraying us and the fact that he gets nightly visits from an ogre with a very high sex-drive, still does not make me have any sympathy for the old King. Part of it is because he betrayed us, and because of his betrayal Augustus died. Another part, is because he was an ass to me whenever he could be and still is. However, the biggest reasons I have no pity for Bartus, is because I am all out of fucks to give. The last time I tried to forgive and forget, I got tossed down here in this hellhole. So no, no sympathy for the Southern King.
“That song is a warrior’s melody. It is sung before all great battles. I wouldn’t expect a human whore to know anything about war and honor.”
See, he’s still an ass.
“That song is fucking depressing, and if I were the goddess daughter I would let you all die in battle just for singing it.”
“You little…”
“Oh shut up!” I cut him off, placing my feet on the ground.
I’ve been sitting on my cot with my knees to my chest most of the night. I stand to my feet and walk over to the bars of my cell.
“Besides, you betrayed the Locke and your family to side with the Dark King. You wouldn’t know honor even if it came on the tip of an ogre’s penis.”
Yes, I was being cruel and petty, but being locked down here takes the sweetness out of a girl.
“I only wanted what was owed to me. I deserved those kingdoms. Artimus is a drunken idiot. He could barely stay off the drink enough to run his own household, let alone a kingdom. And Fisgal was a womanizing know it all. He cared about nothing but his cock.”
“So that’s what this is about? All of this death and war is because a greedy king that had everything just wanted more. I should have never come here.” I’m fuming mad.
Why am I here? Why am I risking everything for these people that only care about themselves and what more they can gain.
Bartus’s laughter catches me off guard. A brick wall separates his cell from mine so I can’t see him. However I assume his cell is the same as mine. No window, square cell, three brick walls and one made of metal poles. Maybe a small cot in one corner and a bucket in the other.
I imagine him sitting on the floor of his cell, his head thrown back in laughter.
“You don’t actually think this war is about land or peace, do you?”
I pause, my back against the metal poles. This is exactly what this war is about. Avalia and the others are fighting for peace, while Nevy wants to remain in control.
“Of course that is what this is about. If the Dark King surrenders or at the least agree to peace then all this would be over with. No more fighting, no more dying, and no more war.”
It was just that simple.
Bartus chuckles. “You are not that daft, Human. You’re a whore, but not a dumb one. This war was never about Peace or land, this war is about you.”
“Me!” I shout.
Clearly Bartus has suffered some type of brain injury, or maybe the mold is getting to him.
“This has nothing to do with me. You guys were fighting this battle before I arrived.”
“It may have started off as nothing more than a battle for peace and power. That is what I thought it was about for the longest. But, I learned that the real cause of this war is you. Every driving action behind this war is made with you in mind. Think about it, Lilly. Who’s making the decisions? Who’s the driving force behind the two armies? What do both sides really want?”
I do what Bartus asks and I stop to really think. I knew what Nevy was after. He wants heirs. He believes that I am the only one that can give him what he wants. However, Avalia is the driving force behind the others, and she doesn’t want me. I explain this to Bartus.
Again he laughs. “The elf queen is in love with the assassin. She would do anything for him, even start a war so that he gets to continue to fuck his human lover. The Assassin is the one calling the shots. Two men fighting for one woman. My poor son never had a chance. If you really want to blame someone for your misfortunes, Human, you should blame yourself. Your inability to keep your legs close will kill half of the people in the Locke.”
My heart is beating loudly in my chest. Is he right? Does this war really come down to me? Augustus, Matthias, and all the countless people that has died are because of me. I never asked to be brought here. I never asked to fall in love with Assassin, have children with Rykan, or even learn to care for Nevy. Yet, I wouldn’t change any of it. All of it helped to shape me into the woman that I am now.
“Truth is, Human, you are the only one that can stop this war. Take you out of the picture, no one has a reason to fight.”
Our attention is pulled to the sound of the dungeon doors opening. The
only time those doors have opened is to bring me food, when a guard comes to do a sweep to make sure we haven’t escaped, and when Pascott comes in to fetch Pascott. I’ve already had my last meal for the day, the guard not too long left, and it’s too soon for Pascott, which means only one thing.
“It’s time.” The witch that attacked me at the diner is standing in front of my cell with Northern Soldiers. She pushes a key into the lock and I step away. The soldiers enter, grabbing me by the arms and hauling me out of the cell.
“Such a beautiful night for a wedding.” Ofilla sings behind me.
***********
(Nevy)
“How is she?” I ask Ofilla the moment she enters the room.
“If you were only going to ask about her every ten minutes, you shouldn’t have stuck her in the dungeon.”
Ofilla is right. From the moment Drago escaped, Lilly’s wellbeing has been the only thing I have focused on. I have made sure that she was well fed while in the dungeons. I have sent guards down to make sure she was ok. I have done everything I could do to make sure her stay in the dungeon was not too harsh. Only thing I couldn’t do was let her out. I knew that if I saw Lilly, if I saw the sadness and the disappointment on her face, I wouldn’t be able to go through with this. I needed to go through with this.
“Instead of worrying about the girl, you should be worrying about those bloody bastards. The smallest one cries non-stop. I’m tempted to slit its throat.” Ofilla growls. “Once the ceremony is complete, we can do away with the filthy mongrels.”
“No!” I say turning from my mirror.
I was already dressed in my wedding suit. The top coat was black with embroidered patterns. It fell just above my knees with large silver buttons. The thick cuffs were secured with the same silver buttons. The vest underneath was made of the same fabric as the top coat. And underneath was an all-black tunic. My trousers and shoes were also all black. The black was striking against my tan skin.
“What do you mean no? The bastards have to die in order for you to remain king. You know this.”
She was right, I do. However, the thought of killing the boys made me nauseas. It wasn’t because I cared about them. I had no use for the bastards. Yet, why do I hesitate?