Netherworld

by Amy Miles

  Aed took a step towards me. His hand rested casually against the hilt of his sword.

  “What happens to Taryn is not your problem. Nothing that happens in Netherworld is your concern. You are a human. You belong here. Neither of you should have been allowed to become aware of our realm.” He glanced at Seamus and shook his head. “Apparently because of the Lorcan attack your friend can see us now as well. It’s far too dangerous for humans to be interfering in our affairs. Our worlds are separate for a reason! For your safety.”

  “So that’s it? You just drop Seamus off and go?”

  “That’s exactly it. You shall never cross paths with our kind from this moment on. Is that understood?”

  Rage boiled beneath the surface. “No, that is not understood. I won’t be told that I’m to just forget about Taryn. I can’t. I won’t. What we shared—”

  Aed laughed. “What you shared? What? A kiss? Don’t be daft. She only kissed you to try and make me jealous.” He smirked. “It worked, too.”

  “Bollocks. We have something, and I’m not going to allow her to rot in some cell because you’re not man enough to get her out.”

  His blade was out and at my throat before I could even blink.

  “You watch your tongue, boy. Her fate is none of your concern, human.”

  Seamus came to my side, ready to stand between me and the blade. Tris shrieked at his approach, causing us all to freeze.

  “Stop this! Taryn wouldn’t want you all fighting. We have to go, Prince Aed. We need to return before the king sentences her!” Tris pleaded.

  The prince stared at me for a moment longer but slowly pulled his blade away.

  “Fine,” he said. “We’ll go.” Aed turned to look at me. “Do not try to follow after us. Even if you did happen to find the veil, there’s no way to cross it unguided.”

  He turned to leave and I yanked his shoulder back. He glared at me.

  “Wait! Take me with you,” I pleaded. “I could help break Taryn out.”

  The prince lowered his head a moment before he pinched his hand to his nose. “You don’t understand, do you? She’s in that cell because of you. She raised a blade to her prince’s neck to protect your life. You can’t help her. You’re the one who sentenced her there.”

  My gut pulled itself into knots. Was it true? Was she in trouble because of me?

  “You have to get her out of there,” I said.

  “I will try, but I honestly don’t see how. One thing I do know is that you are a danger to her. Do you understand that now?”

  I swallowed down the lump that was in my throat.

  “Aye. It was never my intent to put her in harm’s way.” My jaw clenched several times, trying to hold it together.

  His hand clapped on my shoulder. We had come to an understanding.

  “You’ll keep her safe?” I asked.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  I nodded once, hoping it would be enough.

  “Come, Tris. We must hurry. My father is an impatient man.”

  Tris looked once at her prince then back at Seamus. She bit her lip and looked at him with huge puppy dog eyes.

  She ran over and jumped into Seamus’ arms and planted a big wet one on him.

  Aed and I exchanged a glance.

  “Not you too!” Aed groaned. “What is it with you women and humans?”

  The prince walked over and forcibly removed a still clingy Tris from Seamus’ arms.

  “I’ll come back to check on your wound,” she cried as Aed pulled her away.

  “You will do no such thing! There will be no further communication with this human. Any human. Even if that means I have to put you under a twenty-four-hour watch. I will not bend on this.” He yanked her arm hard away from Seamus.

  “Hey, leave her alone,” Seamus said, trying to get back to Tris.

  Aed shoved Tris behind him and drew his sword again.

  “That’s enough. The longer we linger the less chance I have at saving Taryn’s life.” He directed that last part to Tris.

  Her eyes were filled with tears, but she relented at the thought of saving her friend.

  “I love you, Seamus,” she wept.

  “Oh, for the love of the gods!” Aed said, exasperated. “Let’s go.” He ripped the torch from the ground and headed back into the night, a weeping Tris trailing behind him.

  Seamus tried to advance after them, but I reached out to stop him.

  “Let me go. I’m going after her!”

  “And I’ll follow with ya when the time comes, but we can’t do it now. We have to give him time to save Taryn first. Her life is on the line, mate. We can’t risk it right now.”

  Seamus’ face was red with anger. “Fine. But we will go back.”

  I turned to look back at the shadows where they had disappeared.

  “Aye. That we will, mate. That we will.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  AED

  T HE CROWDS BEGAN TO form not long after dawn. I tried to drown out their murmuring with a pillow over my head, but my stomach was twisted in knots I couldn’t ignore. Today was the day Taryn would either live or die. Her fate now rested entirely in my hands.

  With Seamus back in the human realm where he belonged, that secret was safe. Tris would never risk her friend’s life. Of that I was certain.

  Rising from my bed, I moved towards the wash basin and splashed my face. The cut over my eye and along my swollen upper lip stung from the icy water. That human, Devlin, had a mean right hook. My silver eyes stared back at me. The jealousy still lingered there.

  I leaned over the basin and stared at myself in the mirror. I hadn’t slept well at all. While my mother fretted and my father raged, all I could think about was Taryn locked in the dungeon. A lesser girl would have been terrified, but I had faith she’d hold it together. At least until she saw the chopping block. All bets were off when a man had to face their own mortality. As tough as Taryn was, she had to be scared of that.

  I closed my eyes against my reflection. How could my father suggest such a death sentence? Banishment, while horrific, made sense given the crime, but chopping her head off…it was barbaric.

  Taryn was right. My father did have it in for her. This felt personal. Obviously her warmongering had greatly angered my father and he wasn’t about to let that go anytime soon.

  I hurried to finish washing and dressing before heading down to the throne room for the council meeting that would determine if the powers that be would side with my father’s insanity. I was to be questioned about her attack, in detail, to help them decide her fate. I’d spent all night trying to figure out what to say but nothing felt right.

  The castle was abuzz with activity when I exited my chambers. Everywhere I looked, people scurried around, casting furtive glances at my father’s closed council room door.

  “Bollocks,” I muttered when I saw the closed door and hurried forward, but the guard at the door denied me entrance. My first reaction was to knock the bloke out and storm in, but I restrained myself. The last thing I wanted to do was give my father a reason to doubt me. When I turned away and heard the guard blow out a nervous breath, I knew he was surprised that I didn’t take him out too.

  With no other choice but to feign patience, I paced outside for nearly an hour before the doors opened. Several men dipped their heads in my direction as they hurried past but none met my eye.

  “Ah, Aed. So good of you to join us finally.” My father didn’t sound like it was good at all.

  “The messenger must have got lost on his way to my chambers with the note about the time change, Father. Not to mention you had guards barring the doors,” I bit back.

  “Indeed.” My father’s eyes narrowed at my tone. “I’ll be sure to have them properly punished for that oversight.”

  He held out his hand and motioned for me to follow. I gritted my teeth at his side step but kept pace with him. Whether I liked it or not, this was his show and I was just there to make him look good. �
��The council has agreed to my request for the beheading.”

  “Request? We both know you demanded this escalation.”

  The king reached out and placed an arm across my path before we reached the door so that I slammed hard into him. He glanced at a scribe standing nearby and jerked his head to dismiss him. My father waited until we were alone before speaking again.

  “You failed in your task, son. I had no other choice but to get my own hands dirty.”

  “She bested me,” I said.

  “She is a girl!” he spat.

  “A girl who managed to kill a Lorcan at the docks and save countless lives,” I reminded him.

  “You are the crown prince! No one should ever best you.” A vein pulsed down my father’s forehead. He puffed out his chest and then exhaled. “I need you to assure me that you have memorized the story I gave you last night. It is the only way to corroborate her attempt to take your life and tie up any loose ends. We can’t have you getting cold feet in front of the people and let this traitor go free.”

  I pressed back my shoulders. The events of the previous night were still fresh in my memory. My father had been beside himself with eagerness when he realised he finally had what he needed to send Taryn to the gallows.

  “I know my duty, Father. I will play my part.”

  “Good. See to it that you do.”

  With that, my father moved past, leaving me alone. I rubbed at the sore spot on my chest where his arm slammed into me.

  “Bastard,” I muttered under my breath.

  A roar from the crowd outside told me that my father had just emerged from the castle gates. I hurried to follow after. My father’s steward motioned for me to pause until my father and mother were seated on the raised platform that had been built overnight. The people of Eimear squeezed into every spare inch of standing room in the castle’s courtyard and paths. Children sat on top of parents’ shoulders. Others stood outside the walls, craning to hear.

  None of them really knew why they were there, but the rumours must have spun out of control after Taryn was dragged off the ferry. I could only imagine how long it took to reach her family.

  “Introducing the Crown Prince, Aed…” Trumpets blasted, making everyone flinch as the steward’s call was masked.

  I ducked under the guards’ raised horns and the crowd went wild at the sight of me.

  Plastering on a smile, I waved. Girls shoved each other to get the position nearest my empty seat on the platform. I worked hard to keep the smile in place when one tried to grab my foot as I passed. At a stern glance from my father, two reapers rushed forward and dragged the girl away. Others rushed forward to push the line back.

  Raising his hand for silence, the king rose from his throne as I took my seat. My mother looked pale and her face was drawn. Her eyes were rimmed with red and puffy from a night of crying. I could only imagine what my father had said to her the night before to upset her so. He had not been kind when she tried to argue with him against a beheading.

  I had never seen her so passionate about defending the rights of a commoner before. It had been years since I last stepped foot into the human realm. Maybe she suspected that there was more to my reasoning to follow Taryn than I let on. Or maybe the loss of Alroy had blended with her fear of losing me. Either way, it pained me to know that I helped to make her cry.

  “Welcome, good people of Eimear. Though most of you are unaware of why you have been invited here today, I have to ask your forgiveness. Today is not a day for celebration, but for justice.”

  A whisper began among the crowd, so my father raised his voice to be heard.

  “One from among you has committed a grievous sin.” He turned and pointed at me. “Just last night, a girl attacked my son while in the human realm. Many of you saw her delivered to the castle in chains.”

  When he paused for effect, I shifted in my chair. He was enjoying this far too much.

  “Taryn Brennan, daughter of a once disgraced soldier in Eimear, has wrongfully attacked the Prince of the Netherworld.”

  I gritted my teeth when all eyes turned to look at me.

  “This girl has no honour, no respect for authority. You have all heard her accuse me of terrible things right outside these very walls as she whispered falsities to anyone who would listen. She believes I am the reason she was attacked in the human realm. We now have proof she has ignored the laws and learned to fight, provoking not one, but two Lorcan attacks. Many of you lost loved ones at the attack not long ago at the docks. Though some call her a hero, I pose another option. I say she provoked the uprising!”

  My throat clenched as I watched distrust and suspicion bloom on my people’s faces. Taryn didn’t stand a chance.

  “She is a menace and must be brought to justice.”

  I looked out at the crowd once more, searching for Taryn’s family. They had to be there. While the crowd rose in a cheer of bloodlust that sickened me, I saw one man stand out among them. His eyes were filled with a profound sadness as he clung to his wife and daughters. He had to be the man I was looking for.

  My father raised his hands once more for silence. “Some of you might call for banishment. That justice can only be found among the council, and in any other case, I would heartily agree with you. But this is no ordinary situation. Since she has been trained to fight, we cannot risk that she will find a way back from the Hollow Lands. She might even return leading an army of Lorcan against us in search of revenge.”

  The crowd reacted with excited nods and gasps at the suggestion.

  I heard the groan of a gate opening, followed by the clanking of chains. My father smiled and threw out his arms. “I present to you, the traitor!”

  Men, women, and even children surged forward to spit at Taryn as she was forced to walk through the crowd. She held her head high. Though her lower lip trembled, not a single tear fell.

  She locked her eyes on me and the look there was a punch to the gut. I could see that she was resigned to her fate. Her cool exterior only broke when her father pushed against the crowd to try to get to her side.

  “Da!” The pain in her voice tore at me.

  I wanted to go to her, to tell her how sorry I was for getting her into this mess, but I remained where I sat. As was expected.

  “Bring the traitor to me,” the king commanded.

  I watched as the guards ripped Taryn from her father’s fingertips. The crowd’s jeers rose. I cleared my throat and turned to look at my father so that I didn’t betray my disgust.

  “A threat to my son and my only remaining heir is a direct threat to me.” The crowd’s roar slowly abated. The king smiled as he stepped to the edge of the platform and stared down at Taryn. “The council convened this morning on your behalf, Taryn. Your fate has been decided.”

  A man in a long black cloak, head covered, stepped forward. He held an ax in hand. Its silver surface gleamed from sharpening. Behind that stood the wide base of an old tree. No blood stained its ancient rings. Not yet.

  Taryn’s eyes widened before she turned to spit at my father’s feet. “You’ve had it in for me for ages. Kill me, if ya want, but leave my family alone! They did nothin’ to ya. Why banish them if I’m already dead?”

  “Banish them?” I sat forward. “What is she talking about, Father?”

  The king glanced back at me. “All lies. That’s all she has ever said about me.”

  “He wants to send them over the wall, Aed!” Taryn yelled at me.

  My mother flinched beside me at the informal use of my name and I looked over at her. She looked ill again, but I could not go to her. I imagined hearing Taryn call to me would be a shock. No one knew we’d spent time together.

  The king smirked. “You see? She is defiant until the end. She dares to ignore my son’s title!”

  Turning to look at me, he motioned for me to approach. Taryn’s eyes shifted to look at me and I saw confusion, betrayal, and pleading in her eyes. She spoke none of it as I moved closer.

  “
My son has confessed to me the events of last night in great detail.” The king clapped his arm around my shoulder and presented me to the crowd. “Go on, son. Tell them what happened.”

  Taryn never lowered her gaze when I looked away from her and stared out over the crowd. “It is true. Taryn and I were found together by the reapers last night in the human world.”

  A hush fell over the crowd. I felt the tension grow in my father’s grip and Taryn’s gaze drilling a hole in my soul.

  “The attack was my fault,” I called out, loud and clear.

  “What?” My father yanked me around. “What are you doing?”

  “Playing my part, as promised.” I shook him off and stepped around him. “As you all know, I was commanded to return from my post at the Wall in order to select a bride. My father feels it is the time I take my place as his heir and ensure that our lineage carries on.”

  “Aed,” my father growled in my ear. “I don’t know what you think you are doing—”

  I stepped away from him to address my people.

  “I can understand why the reapers misunderstood the situation. It did look rather…threatening, but I assure you it was far from it.” I smiled down at Taryn. “Good people of Eimear, my father is mistaken. Taryn did not attack me. She saved me. Fighting at the Wall has taught me a great deal about life, about duty and honour, but Taryn has taught me the most important thing of all…how to love.”

  My father sounded like he choked on his anger behind me, but I did not turn to look at him.

  “And so I have chosen my bride!”

  Reaching down, I helped Taryn up onto the platform beside me. For the first time, she looked completely bewildered and I held out my hand to her jailer. “The key, please.”

  The fat little man looked confused as he handed it over. With great care, I unlocked her shackles and tossed them off the platform. Taking her hands in mine, I raised them to my lips.

  “What are ya doin’?” she hissed.

  “Saving your arse. Go along with it if you want to live.” I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Taryn was a bit taken back when I asked her to be my intended. I’m sure you can imagine that it would be a shock to anyone, but she has graciously accepted. What the reapers witnessed was nothing more than the playful sparring of two people in love. So, Father, this is a day of celebration for I am to be married!”