The Lost Alliance (The Nihryst Book 3)

by Cait Marie

  The lanterns along the walls lit the space, creating a warm glow. But the palace no longer felt like home. Ada felt like a visitor. A stranger intruding somewhere she shouldn’t be.

  She stopped walking and turned to face the door, trying to push aside those thoughts. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned back against the wall. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  For weeks, she had wanted to storm into her father’s room and demand answers. When Lee told her that he knew her mother—that she’d known the truth all along—Ada’s heart shattered. She’d known her father was responsible for her mother’s death, but she hadn’t realized the truth behind his actions.

  She hadn’t realized she was the real reason her mother was killed. That she was killed because Ada was prophesied to break the curse and her mother knew it. Because Ada was the key to all of this, and even as a young child, she’d felt the pull toward Loxley—she’d started to recognize the symbols and their meanings. And her mother guided her. She’d encouraged Ada, read her all the stories, and never suggested otherwise when Ada had said she’d break the curse one day.

  A hand touched her shoulder, and Ada jumped. Her eyes snapped to her brother’s matching set. With a slow smile, he said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

  She shook her head, willing her heart to slow. “No, it’s fine. I was just thinking about…”

  “About?” Phillip asked, coming up behind Shane from the spare bedroom. Both looked on edge and exhausted.

  “Nothing. I was just thinking about going in.”

  Both men stared at her, as if waiting for her to tell all her truths. But she couldn’t handle that. Not yet. She didn’t have it in her to lay it out before them. They had enough going on without having to deal with her fear and guilt too.

  Shane wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

  “Any of it,” Phillip added with a pointed look.

  Ada bit at her bottom lip, wondering how to open up to them—how to share what she knew. She had never struggled to talk to either of them. Throughout their lives, both of them had been her entire world. She’d always told them everything.

  Glancing from the two guards to her brother’s door beside her, she said, “In here.”

  Neither hesitated to follow her. Shane’s room mirrored her own but with fewer frills. His large four-post bed sat opposite an elaborate fireplace with three seats around it. A table sat off to the side where Shane often took meals when avoiding others. A desk stood closer to the bed near the windows; an armoire and a hanging tapestry also occupied the room, but it was otherwise fairly bare. Ada moved to shift the wood in the hearth to warm up the room as Phillip and Shane took the burgundy settee behind her.

  “I figured something out.” She sat in one of the high-backed chairs adjacent to them. “About Mother.”

  Shane straightened and leaned forward. Phillip put a hand over one of Shane’s, and her brother turned it over to lace their fingers together. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, because for them it was.

  Swallowing past the lump forming in the back of her throat, Ada closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the chair. Maybe if she didn’t see Shane’s face, this would be easier.

  “Mother met Loxley.” She heard them both suck in a breath. “She lived near O’ Chwedlau, in the hidden square. And when she was younger, she met him.”

  Long seconds passed with only the crackling fire making any sound throughout the room. She knew they understood, but she needed to say it. She needed to be sure she was right.

  Opening her eyes, she looked at Shane. “She knew the truth the whole time. She knew he existed, and she knew that I—that we…”

  Shane stood and moved to her chair. With his newly restored strength, he pushed her over and crammed himself into the chair beside her, half-sitting on the armrest. He pulled her into his arms, and for the first time, she was truly grateful to be home.

  “She knew everything,” Ada whispered, fighting the sob climbing up her throat. “The prophecy, the curse… she knew I was the key, and he killed her for it.”

  “I know.” Shane tightened his hold on her. “She knew about the treaty too. She pieced it all together.”

  Ada’s head throbbed as he told her about seeing their mother’s ghost while sick with the Kald. He’d thought it was hallucinations at first, but she’d told him things his mind could not have conjured up on his own. She was the one who told him to find the scepter and the treaty, and she’d warned him of Ada’s sacrifice.

  “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?” Ada asked.

  “You’ve had enough to deal with.”

  As if on cue, a knock sounded on the door. Phillip got up and answered it, returning with Lee in tow. Seeing her in distress, Lee’s brow furrowed and he quickly walked toward her. Shane got to his feet, letting him take his spot.

  Unlike her brother, Lee completely lifted her up out of the way to sit and hold her on his lap. “What’s wrong, blodau?”

  She glanced to Shane, hoping he’d talk so she wouldn’t have to. As he stood beside Phillip, he obliged. Lee rubbed small circles along Ada’s back while listening.

  “You need to talk to him,” Lee whispered to Ada when Shane had finished. “You might not get all the answers you want, but you need to face your father. Have you seen him since locking him up?”

  She shook her head. The last time she’d seen her father was the day they defeated him and stopped his mass assassination plot months ago. Though, it appeared they hadn’t prevented Detmarya from going to war. Word had spread that Michel was rallying his forces and moving them to Rayerna’s southern shores, waiting for them. She knew he wouldn’t initiate a fight, but he would be prepared for them to come to him.

  “He’s right,” Shane said. “I think it will help with that guilt you’re feeling.”

  “How did you…”

  “Because I feel it too.” Shane looked at his hands. “I need to speak with him anyway. We received news late last night that a good portion of our men are refusing to fight for me. The commanders are loyal to Father, and at least half a dozen ships are stationed out at sea, unwilling to return for war.”

  Ada let out a breath and nodded. She kissed Lee on the cheek and stood. With a huff, she stormed across the room and out to the hall before she lost her courage. She reached her father’s door and froze, but Shane was already there to unlock it for her. As the lock clicked, she straightened her spine and went inside. It didn’t surprise her when her three favorite men followed her, leaving the guards in the hall. They’d stay by her side through anything.

  However, they did stand a few feet behind her as she came to halt before the former king. Emyr looked up, his eyes widening for just a second before his face returned to a state of indifference. He hadn’t expected her then.

  “Adalina, nice of you to finally visit.” His calm voice nearly undid her.

  She stared at him, opening and closing her mouth, trying to find the words. Her eyes burned, but she refused to let any more tears fall over this man.

  He looked around her. “I assume since you’re not dead you must be Loxley.”

  Ada clenched her jaw as images flashed through her mind of him stabbing Lee through—of Lee dying in her arms. Momentary as the death was, the loss had felt real. In those few moments, she’d thought Nayani had lied about not being able to break the curse on the Nihryst. It seemed like a lifetime ago that they first visited the witch of the Sannwyn Isles.

  “You’re the one my stubborn daughter is jeopardizing this entire kingdom for,” her father said, drawing her attention back to the present.

  “No,” she hissed at him. “You’re the one who jeopardized this kingdom. I’m trying to save it.”

  Emyr sneered in her direction. “I was trying to protect Detmarya—preserve its power. That sniveling little prince of yours knew the truth, and it was only a matter of time before he used it against us.”<
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  She tried to brush off the mention of Michel, but she knew her father saw her wince. A rough palm went around hers, and she squeezed Lee’s hand.

  “Yes, well, it looks like you got your war,” Shane said. “Michel broke the treaty. He killed Lady Saundra and held Ada prisoner.”

  Their father’s eyes widened a fraction, and he looked at Ada, but Shane wasn’t finished.

  “Six commanders will not yield to my rule. They’re refusing to fight for anyone but you.”

  “And how do you suppose I fix that while locked up in this stars-forsaken room?” their father asked.

  No one seemed to have a solution. They stood in silence for a long moment before Ada finally had enough. She needed answers.

  “I need to know why,” she started.

  “Now you want to talk?” Her father sneered. “Don’t you know it all? After all, you ran off when you heard me conversing with two of my men without listening to me. You went chasing after a fairy tale instead because you know best.”

  She shook her head, but it was Phillip who said, “You sent those men after her—us. What choice did she have?”

  “She could have sided with her family!” The former king’s face turned red as he stared them down. His chest heaved with breath. Ada instinctively took a step back, but Shane was there to stop her. It had been a long time since she saw her father so angry.

  “Do you really think I would have let you kill all those people?” she whispered. “For what? A throne? What good does a crown do when your kingdom doesn’t respect you? When you don’t use that power to help them?”

  Her father sighed, and in that moment, she could see the weariness slowly replace the rage in his eyes. He pointed to the seats around the room. “Sit down.”

  The change in his tone confused her. She turned to glance back at Shane, but he looked as perplexed as she felt. He gave her a subtle nod.

  “All of you,” Emyr said, looking to Shane and Phillip. “Phillip, I know you’re not leaving, so you might as well get comfortable too.”

  Ada sat in the chair across from the former king, and Lee stood next to her, opting to stay on his feet. Phillip and Shane took the padded bench between the chairs. Under different circumstances, this might have been a warm family reunion. But she’d never forgive her father for all he’d done.

  Ada didn’t waste time. She was there for a reason, and it was time. “You killed her because she knew.”

  Something dark flashed across her father’s features. If she didn’t know better, she might have bought the sadness creeping into his eyes.

  “I didn’t want to,” he whispered.

  “Liar!” Ada nearly jumped to her feet, but a soothing hand went to her shoulder.

  Emyr shook his head. “I tried to get her to stop. I told her—begged her—to let the stories go for all of our sakes.”

  Ada scoffed. “All of our sakes. You mean all of your power.”

  “I meant your life, Adalina.”

  Her lungs refused to inhale. The tears she’d fought back came once more. Lee squeezed her shoulder just enough to remind her he was with her.

  “What do you mean?” Shane asked the question she couldn’t voice.

  “The prophecy calls for a sacrifice,” Emyr said quietly. “To break the curse, someone of our bloodline must sacrifice themselves for purely unselfish reasons. They have to get forgiveness from Loxley and then…”

  He didn’t know. Ada glanced to her brother. No one had told their father she’d already figured this out. That she’d already willingly given her life for the curse to be broken. Worrying at her lip, Ada twisted her fingers together in her lap. If he knew that much, did he know more? Did he know why she was immortal now?

  Then, her mind processed his words.

  “Wait…” She looked around the room before her glare landed back on her father. “Do you honestly expect me to believe you did all this to protect me?”

  Her father visibly stiffened. “If I hadn’t stopped your mother, one of you would have sacrificed yourselves. At least now you know and—”

  “It’s too late,” Ada cut him off.

  The color drained from Emyr’s face. “No. You can’t, Ada.”

  She pushed to her feet, unable to sit still, and whispered, “I already did.”

  No one said a word. Her father looked from her to Lee and then to Shane. He slowly stood. “What do you mean?”

  “I…” She wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence. Saying it out loud would sound absurd. I killed myself, and now I’m immortal.

  When he took a step closer, she couldn’t help but flinch. Lee’s hand went to her back. Her father slowed, but he kept moving forward.

  “All right, that’s enough,” Phillip said, getting up and angling his body in front of her. Even when she was immortal, he stood between her and potential threats. As if he couldn’t help himself.

  The former king looked at him, amusement fighting the curiosity. “Mr. Lavens—”

  “Captain,” Shane said. “Captain Lavens.”

  A hint of something akin to pride lit Emyr’s eyes. “I’m not going to harm her, Captain. I just want to understand what she means.”

  When his gaze met hers once more, Ada said, “I mean I already did it. Loxley forgave me, and I sacrificed myself for him—for the Nihryst.”

  Her father looked her up and down. “But you’re still here. You’re fine.”

  “I… came back.”

  “What else do you know about the prophecy, Father?” Shane tugged on Phillip’s arm to pull him back down to the bench.

  Emyr stared at Ada a moment longer before moving to the drink cart in the corner. He poured an amber liquid into a glass and took a significant gulp before turning back to them. “I told you all I know. If there is more, it was not part of anything I ever read or heard. It was not part of the curse originally set by my ancestor. King Henri’s mother included the part about the sacrifice, assuming no one in our bloodline would ever be so willing.”

  “Where did the prophecy come from?” Phillip asked. “If your ancestors put the curse on them, who foretold what would happen? How did they know about Ada?”

  “Another witch of sorts, according to our ancestors,” Emyr said with a shrug. “The prophecy came before Loxley’s birth. There was more to it—about the inevitable war between the two kingdoms. But I don’t know where it derived from or any more of the details. It was all just rumors spread throughout history.”

  Ada didn’t feel any better. She’d wanted answers, not more riddles. Rubbing the side of her head with one hand, she asked, “Why did you kill her? Why couldn’t you just burn the cards?”

  Her words were barely audible. It was the question burning through her the past few months.

  “I tried everything,” he said in equally hushed tones. He walked to the chair he’d vacated and braced himself with both hands on its back. “Just as the Nihryst could not be killed, the cards could not be destroyed.”

  “Then, the book.” Her voice rose along with her anger. “Stars, you could’ve locked her away. Anything else!”

  “You think I could’ve gotten away with that? The people of Detmarya loved her. They never would have believed any reason I conjured for her to be hidden away.” He slammed his glass down then rounded the chair, getting just as loud.

  “Why not lock up the book and cards then?” Shane asked.

  Their father’s jaw dropped. His fists clenched at his sides as he turned to face Shane. “I tried.”

  “Did you?” Shane stood to his full height with Phillip rising beside him. “There had to have been something else you could have done.”

  Phillip grabbed him around the waist as he tried to charge forward. He whispered something, and Shane stopped fighting. Ada reached out to hold Lee’s hand, done with the conversation.

  Emyr looked from Phillip holding onto his son to Ada’s fingers laced through Lee’s. Shaking his head, he dropped back down into his chair. He met Ada’s gaze with a c
old expression. “You sacrificed yourself not to right the wrongs done by our ancestors but because you fell in love. Tell me, is it him you love or the story—the adventure?”

  She clenched her jaw. “We’re done here.”

  She strode toward the door with Lee.

  Shane and Phillip followed, but before they could reach the hall, their father called out, “Captain.”

  Ada stilled, one hand on the doorknob. She wasn’t sure which captain he was talking to until she turned and saw him staring at Phillip, who still had an arm around Shane’s waist.

  “You know this won’t work, right?” He pointed from Phillip to her brother. “No matter how hard you fight for my son, the people will not accept you two.”

  Phillip’s throat bobbed. Releasing Lee, Ada yanked the door open and shoved Phillip and Shane out ahead of them. The hurt on both of their faces was too much.

  “He’s wrong,” she said. They had let go of each other in the hall, no doubt wary of the two men standing guard. She put a hand on Shane’s arm but kept her eyes on her best friend. “The people love you. Do not let him fill your heads with lies.”

  Phillip glanced from her to the guards and then back. He gave her a curt nod, but Shane whispered, “But what if he’s right?”

  Chapter 7

  Shane

  Shane watched as Kal hugged Adalina, recognizing her from when she and the Nihryst delivered supplies to Obaith months ago. He smiled as the boy seemed to relax with familiar faces around him. Loxley sat beside them with Karey next to him. When she caught Shane watching them, her face lit up. She jumped from the bed and ran toward him.

  Laughing, Shane bent to lift her up as she reached him. She wrapped her little arms around his neck, and he hugged her to him while walking farther into the room.