She pressed a hand to her forehead. “My fever seems to have broken.” She glanced at her hands. “I’m not trembling anymore.” She looked at me, a faint smile on her lips. “My vision isn’t blurred either.” She inhaled deeply. “And my mind feels clear.”
Layla clapped her hands. “It’s working.”
The rush of footsteps down the hall made me turn to the door. The healer ran into the room, with Willow at his heels. The young fae stopped by the door with Layla, but the healer kept on going until he was beside Blair.
“How do you feel?” he asked, examining her.
“A little tired, hungry and thirsty, but other than that, I feel fine,” Blair said, her voice light. “Better than I have felt in several days.”
After a few tense minutes during which the healer examined Blair’s skin, her eyes, and even took some of her blood and mixed it with some magical reagent, the healer finally stood and grinned at us. “She’s cured.”
My knees wobbled with relief. “Are you sure?”
The healer nodded. “There are no traces of the virus in her blood.”
I sidestepped the goddess, and in three long steps, reached Blair’s bed. I practically threw myself over her, the bed groaning with the sudden extra weight. I heard hushed voices as the others were ushered out of the bedroom by the goddess, but that was all I noticed, because the rest of my attention was on the fae in my arms.
I held her tight against me. “I thought I would lose you.”
“For a moment there, I thought so too.” She buried her face on my neck and inhaled deeply. “It’s good to hold you like this.” Then she pulled back. “But we have work to do.”
“Wait, what?”
As if she hadn’t been on her deathbed a second ago, Blair stood from the bed. “We need to take the cure to the other fae, to Lugh.” She took a step and lost her footing.
“Whoa.” Standing beside her, I caught her elbow and kept her from falling to the floor. “I don’t want to argue, but I think you have to take it slow.”
“I’m fine.” She pressed a hand to my chest. “Just a little weak from being in my bed for days. I’ll get dressed, eat and drink something, and then I’m going to work. And you can’t stop me.”
Blair headed to the door that led to her closet. Although this was just her guest bedroom, which she rarely used, it was filled with many of her things.
I let out a sigh. “I know that, but you can’t expect me not to worry.”
She spied me from the door. “As long as you don’t stop me, I don’t mind you worrying.”
I shook my head. Yes, I was worried, but that was one of the reasons I loved her so much. Even when she was ill, Blair wouldn’t stop if she could help our people.
If only everyone was as selfless and caring as she was …
The day was busy and fast. After confirming the cure worked, Layla went back to the Summer Court to finish making more. She assured us it would only take a couple of hours to brew them and have hundreds of doses ready. Meanwhile, Lennox, Maize, Willow, and I organized the sick fae, so we could deliver the cure to them faster. Despite the healer’s recommendations to take it slow, Blair ignored him and joined us. The fae were overjoyed to see her well again. It gave them hope, which meant the world right now.
Later in the day, Layla, Varian, and a handful of their soldiers brought over dozens of boxes filled with vials—the cure.
I clasped Varian’s arm. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay you for this.”
Varian shook his head. “First, you already helped us when we were battling Sanna. Second, we are doing this because we want to.”
I hugged Layla and thanked her too. She said she would stay on standby, in case something went wrong, or unexpected side effects showed up. “Just send Mahaeru to get me.”
“Will do,” I assured her. “Thank you again.”
They left, and we worked nonstop until every sick fae had received the cure, taken it, and started showing signs of being healed. Some experienced the same pain and discomfort that Blair had, but most didn’t.
Then, Blair and I took the cure to Lugh.
The healer had to open my brother’s mouth and pour the cure inside, as he was unconscious, his fever high. According to the healer, without the cure, Lugh might have lasted another day or two, at most.
I held Blair’s hand as we waited across the room, our eyes fixed on Lugh.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Lugh took in a deep breath, opened his eyes, and sat up in bed. “What is going?” he asked, looking around. He saw me and frowned. “The rebel prince is back?”
I chuckled. He had said that to me already, but he had been so out of it, he hadn’t remembered. Self-conscious, I let go of Blair’s hand and approached his bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I had to hike over the mountains, naked and weaponless, with a pack of wild wolves on my ass.” The color was returning to his cheeks, along with his dry humor. “I don’t remember much, though I know the sea elves captured me and I was sick with the plague.” He frowned. “How am I feeling better now?”
I sat on the bed beside him and started telling him all I knew. Meanwhile, Blair called the healer to check on the crown prince, and had nourishment brought to his chambers. Maize and Willow also came to see him, and later Maize brought our mother with her. Queen Aurelia seemed in better spirits with her three children under her wings.
At that time, Blair called on Willow and the two exited the chambers, leaving us alone.
Because Lugh had been on his deathbed, he was too weak to stand or even to speak for long, so he remained in bed while we had supper with him in his chambers. It felt awkward and forced, but at the same time, it was nice. It was like we were children again. All we were missing was our father.
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
There was too much in my mind and no clear path ahead of me.
Lugh was too weak and would be so for a few more days, which meant he couldn’t simply stand and lead us to battle against the sea elves.
He was alive, which meant he was still the crown prince, and Blair was still his betrothed.
And she was still my mate.
I stood at an open window at my chambers, looking out at the city below, at the twinkling lights from the few alight windows and street lamps, giving a warm glow to the night. Above, the dark skies were dotted with millions of stars, the moon a crescent line on the horizon.
Behind me, the door opened, and I knew who it was without looking. I could sense her, where she was and went, as if there was a line connecting us, letting me know how far or close she was to me, ever since the mating bond snapped.
I wanted to reach for her, to embrace her, to hold on to me, to kiss her, to take her to my bed … but it felt wrong. Even though she was mine, it was wrong now.
I stood my ground as Blair walked closer and halted by my side, her face turned forward too.
“How are you doing?” she asked, her words almost a whisper lost in the night.
I sighed. “I don’t know,” I confessed. If she had asked me this question two weeks ago, I would have said it wasn’t her business. But things had changed since then. “I feel lost.”
She nodded. “I understand. I feel like I’m in a whirlpool, sinking faster and faster. I can only imagine it’s worse for you.”
It was bad for both of us. Though I was the one pushing the kingdom forward now, trying to lead it and help it, Blair’s responsibilities didn’t fall far behind mine. She was once more the future queen, after all.
And that was one of the reasons why I wanted to deal with our situation last. “My priority is our enemies,” I told her, though, deep down, I knew that was me trying to convince myself of the right course of action.
She nodded again.
We stayed quiet for a little while, standing side by side, watching the stars twinkling in the night sky, taking comfort in each other’s company.
“Red,” Blair whispered, brea
king the silence. I glanced at her. “About the sea elves …”
I turned, giving her my full attention. “Yes?”
A half-smile pulled at her lips. “I have a plan.”
24
Blair
Red put my plan into action at once. He didn’t even sleep that night. Me neither, for that matter. We started working right away, turning my plan into a reality so we could win this thing.
The shelters outside Masarn were moved farther into the kingdom, but the tents and belongings remained. The entirety of Masarn was evacuated too, making the capital look like a ghost town. Maize, the queen, and Lugh didn’t want to leave the palace, but besides looking convincing, we had to keep them safe. Lugh argued he wanted to fight, but when Red put a sword in his hand so he could prove he wouldn’t be a liability, Lugh could barely hold it. Between almost dying of his injuries during that first battle and the illness, Lugh was still too weak. But he was healing more and more every day. With time, he would be fine.
When everyone was gone and ready, Red summoned the soldiers stationed near the coast. They abandoned the camp, and even the soldiers forming the barrier retreated.
All of this took a few days, but Red and I knew we had a little time. After all, the sea elves were waiting for the illness to take us all, weren’t they?
Finally, after three days of calling back the soldiers, our scouts sent news: the sea elves were on the move. We made one last sweep through Masarn and the Oren Palace, made sure the houses were empty and that all fae were safe, then we waited.
In an unusually gray day, chillier than most, we saw them advancing to Masarn’s gates, as if they owned the place. They thought that by now, we had all been infected and died. Or the vast majority of our population had. They thought they wouldn’t have to fight us. All they had to do was to take.
They stomped into the capital. A few sea elves ran ahead, entering houses or other buildings, searching for life. There was none—we were hidden in attics and on rooftops, where they couldn’t see us.
Beside me, Red watched from a blurred window on the last floor of one of the tallest buildings, one close to the inner gate that led to the palace. We had a handful of soldiers with us, as there were others in similar positions around town, but most of the soldiers were beyond the inner walls, waiting for our signal.
We saw the sea elves advancing, their leaders at the front of the line. When they crossed the inner gates, which shut closed behind them, leaving the majority of their soldiers behind.
Chaos ensued.
The sea elves on this side of the gates roared. They thrust their weapons at the gates, trying to break them. Some tried scaling it, others ran along the walls, trying to find a weak point.
“It’s time,” Red said. He turned to me, the small coin Mahaeru had given to him in his hand. He pressed the coin between two fingers and a portal opened. It was a one-time thing, according to the goddess.
The soldiers went through first, then me, and lastly Red.
We exited on the front steps of the palace, with the courtyard open wide before us—and the Autumn soldiers surrounding two dozen confused sea elves.
From the other side of the inner wall, we heard the confusion of the sea elves, and the insistent thud of an improvised battering ram.
Chest puffed, Red approached them.
I trailed behind him.
“You tricked us,” one of the sea elves said through gritted teeth, his accent thick. By the looks of his armor and his stance, he wasn’t one of the chiefs. He was the leader—Su’jin. He took a few steps forward, but the tips of the spears our soldiers held stopped him. “Well played.”
“Surrender,” Red said.
Su’jin chuckled. “Or what? You think you can defeat us?”
“I know I can,” Red answered, serious.
Su’jin’s eyes flared. “I want to see you try.”
A wicked grin adorned Red’s lips. “My pleasure.”
25
Red
I walked closer to the circle of fae who surrounded the sea elves in the palace’s front courtyard.
The soldiers stepped to the side, creating a space wide enough for me to walk through. Su’jin narrowed his eyes and lifted his axe. If he attacked me now, he would be dead in seconds; he was smart enough to know that. I could see it in his eyes, how he calculated the odds of killing me before the others could kill him. But what good would that do? The other sea elves would be killed in seconds too, and after we defeated the leaders, I was sure we could subdue the ones on the other side of the inner wall too.
Su’jin held his ground. “What are you doing?”
“Showing you this.” I fished a small vial from my vest pocket and showed it to him. “This is a serum designed to kill your kind in matters of seconds.”
Su’jin balked. “You’re bluffing.”
“Would you like a demonstration?” I snapped my fingers.
Lennox and General Barric came forward and grabbed one of them—the sea elf who had almost killed Lugh and Blair. Ta’hun. I had no idea of the exact rankings of the sea elves, but I knew this particular sea elf ranked directly below Su’jin.
Ta’hun struggled against Lennox and General Barric’s hold, shouting in his language, probably asking for Su’jin to help him. But Su’jin ignored him. Sage approached the group and helped Lennox and General Barric. The three of them subdued Ta’hun, forcing him to kneel. Sage held his hair and pulled his head back. The sea elf screamed. Before he knew what was happening, I uncapped the vial and poured the liquid into his mouth.
Ta’hun spit it out, but I was sure most of it had gone down his throat. He was done for.
Lennox, General Barric, and Sage let go of Ta’hun and stepped back. The sea elf’s body started trembling. “What’s happening?” he asked, his eyes wide. He fell forward to the ground, his body convulsing.
“Look!” Another sea elf pointed to the one writhing on the ground. His skin darkened and smoked, as if he was being burned from the inside. They all retreated, as if it was contagious. It wasn’t, but they didn’t need to know that.
Ta’hun stilled, his eyes wide, his mouth open, his body limp.
All of this had been Blair’s idea. Pretending most of us had been infected and died or gotten so sick, we couldn’t fight. Making the capital look like a ghost town, as if we were already dead. Hiding the soldiers and waiting. Asking Layla to create a serum fatal to the sea elves, but harmless to us.
Despite the dark side of her plan, I had never been prouder of Blair. She alone could lead this kingdom and this army. She didn’t need a male fae by her side.
I lifted the empty vial. “I have thousands of doses more. I can dip them on arrows and our blades and kill you all.”
Su’jin glanced from the dead body to me. From the dead body to me, several times. “What do you want?”
I took another step closer. “I want you to leave my land and never come back.” I showed him the vial again. “If you do, we’ll be waiting. The next time, you won’t make it two steps onto our beaches before we kill you all.”
Su’jin stared at me, probably trying to find the bluff in my words. There was none. As much as it sickened me to have picked Ta’hun and killed him—I would rather it had been during a fair fight—it was a necessary evil. If I wanted to avoid hundreds of more deaths, I had to do this. I had to show them we were as ruthless as they were.
Another sea elf approached Su’jin and whispered in his ear.
A moment later, Su’jin nodded at me. “Fine,” he barked, clearly unhappy. “We’ll leave.”
“And never come back,” I added.
Su’jin hesitated. “We’ll leave and never come back.”
“Good.” I suppressed a sigh of relief. I didn’t want to show them any sign of weakness or compassion, but I was truly glad he had taken the deal as I was tired of bloody battles. I prayed he kept his word and I never had to use the serum. “We’ll escort you back to your ships.”
26
<
br /> Blair
Red and our soldiers disarmed the sea elves and bound them with reinforced ropes and chains, then escorted them to the coast. I stayed in the capital to help the fae return to their houses and stores. The fae who had camped outside the capital were instructed to remain there for a few more days, to give Red time to send the sea elves away.
I also helped out at the palace since Queen Aurelia was still a little out of it, Lugh too weak, Maize didn’t have one diplomatic bone in her body, and Willow was too young.
An entire week passed. The fae in the camps left, the soldiers stationed in the capital returned to the garrison, Lugh felt stronger every day, but Red hadn't returned.
I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. He hadn’t sent one letter, one response. I imagined he was riding up and down the coast, scouring every inch of land and ocean, making sure all of the sea elves were really gone.
Otherwise, why hadn’t he come back yet? I didn’t allow myself to go down that path. I held on to the belief he was still out there, taking care of our kingdom and our safety. Soon, he would return to the Oren Palace.
Right?
When the second week came and went, my faith in him started failing. I asked General Barric and other soldiers about his whereabouts, and everyone gave me the same answer: Red had stayed to make sure everything was all right, but he sent the soldiers back to their posts.
So, I had been right.
I held on to that until a third week passed. Then, despite being busy with royal life, I started unraveling.
The worst moment was when Queen Aurelia invited us for tea. It felt like we had skipped the last few weeks and were back to before the sea elves invasion, Lugh’s near death, Red’s comeback, and the mating bond. Even my mother had been invited, to her delight.
Queen Aurelia’s head was worse than ever.
“Lugh, my dear, you’re looking so gaunt,” she said with a soft smile. “Have you been eating well?”
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