CHAPTER 20

My body was frozen in shock, unable to move or speak, as the pool of ruby spread beneath Orion's downturned face, seeping around him in a halo of death.

A shift in the air caught my attention. I looked up to watch Erix lunge forward, sword outstretched for the Hunter. Gyah moved too, hands like claws as she cleared the space, boots barely touching the floor.

They were both screaming, but it was hard to fathom if they made sense with words or just angered noises. All I could think about was the blood, dark and thick, as it spread across the ground towards me.

I looked to Althea, and my heart cracked clean in two. Her eyes were wide, both brows raised high, and her mouth parted in a small, unignorable ‘O' shape. Surprise softened her face, whereas the burning of disbelief drained the colour from her cheeks and the glow from her eyes.

Then she snapped out of her daze, swinging an axe while barely making a sound. She caught Erix's blade with the curve of her own weapon, one large twist of her arm, and the momentum tore the sword from his grasp and sent it surging off into the darkness. Gyah was next, stopped dead in her tracks by a flash of burning hot fire that exploded from the skin of Althea's outstretched palm. Both warriors stumbled away, missing the wild swing of the axe, as she spun to meet the Hunter.

He was caught in his own manic laughter, not noticing or caring for the danger sweeping towards him.

Althea's cry broke the night like thunder. The axe was the lightning, warning of what was to come as it turned on the Hunter. The murderer. I winced, expecting to see more blood, deserving blood, spill alongside Orion's, but I was wrong.

In a blink, she'd turned her wrist, angling the flat edge of the axe's body towards the Hunter's head. Metal connected with bone and flesh, the crack deafening as though the very mountains we'd seen on our journey had fractured.

His head snapped back, eyes rolling to whites as a gash poured angrily over his left brow. The dagger, Erix's dagger, fell from his hand, embedding itself to the hilt in the bloodied ground.

The Hunter dropped like a sack of shit, alive but unconscious, evident from the heavy rise and fall of his chest.

"Althea," I croaked, reaching a hand for her shoulder. Her back was to me, facing the Hunter, shoulders moving rapidly beneath her breaths.

What could I say? Words were useless as she glared down at the dead body of her brother, shoulders rising and falling dramatically. I didn't know Orion well, or like him, but death was death, and he was her family. She didn't have to like him, but through blood and time, she had loved him as her kin.

And now, he was gone. Forever.

I wrapped my arms around her. She was warm beneath my touch, or perhaps I was just cold now, having hosted the untamed power of the Icethorn Court.

I waited for her to speak, giving her the time she needed as she regarded the unconscious Hunter beneath her. Her entire focus was on the human boy now as though he held coveted answers to the universe, and he was about to reveal them all.

I noticed a dark mark on his neck, peaking out of the collar of his jacket. It was a symbol of ink on his skin – in the shape of a hand.

The mark of a Hunter, as if that was his only crime.

Althea shrugged out of my hold. When she finally spoke, her voice was rough like that of stormy oceans, harsh like winds through forests. "We need to return to Aurelia. Immediately."

Erix was beside us now, sword back in his hand and the point held upon the unconscious human. "Then we kill him here. Now."

"No." Althea's answer was final, her voice void of negotiation or options. "I will not allow that."

"But he–" I wanted to reach a hand over Erix's mouth, but Althea's retort silenced him before I could waste a second imagining it.

"I am well aware of what has occurred, Erix," Althea snapped, eyes ablaze with the fire she held internally. "If we return with my brother dead, and no proof of what happened, then nothing is stopping Lady Kelsey from suggesting that his blood is on our hands. I do not know what she has planned, or what collateral she has prepared for, but the Hunter comes with us. If Orion's death is questioned, they can rip his mind open and see for themselves what happened here."

Tears ran down her face, but not a single sob broke out her mouth.

"He will be lucky if he lives that long," Gyah muttered, eyes hardly straying from the downturned body of Prince Orion Cedarfall.

"The boy lives as long as I command it," Althea growled. "Only by my hand will he die for what he has done."

I wanted to reach for her again, to comfort her with my touch. Words were useless in this moment, even I knew that.

"It is a long ride back," Erix said, speaking aloud the thought that filled my head. "And the night is even longer. Berrow is a shorter journey. Althea, you need to rest. We all do."

"Do not tell me what I need." She spun on Erix, wild-eyed. "My brother needs to be returned to his court for his body to be dealt with accordingly. The boy needs to face the consequences as urgently as my aunt. I will rest when I choose."

Still, Althea hadn't spared the stiffening corpse of her brother a glance, not even a flick of her gaze. There was restraint there, in the way her neck was tall and sharp, her face angled awkwardly so she couldn't accidentally skim her furious stare across him.

"I am merely advising, as you called me here to do," Erix replied, bowing his head.

"Gyah," Althea said, ignoring Erix. "Can you fly now?"

I studied the Eldrae, whose own stare seemed full of calculation. Her hand became a fist as she placed it above her heart, eyes wet with tears. "I will do my best for you – for Orion."

Althea nodded, huffing in relief as though she expected resistance. "That's all I ask for."

Erix shook his head in frustration or disagreement, it was hard to determine one from the other. "Gyah is strong. But she cannot lie to please you, Althea. Do you truly believe she can take us all to Aurelia? With the added weight of your prisoner and your–"

He couldn't finish his sentence. And it didn't need to be said either, as his attention looked back to the body of the Cedarfall prince.

"We can wait then," I added, voice cracking with desperation to fill the silence before another argument broke out. I held Althea's stare, sensing gnawing sadness within the depths of it. "If it means you can take him home, I will stay back."

"It is not safe for you." Althea spared me concern, eyes darting to Erix, who shadowed me.

"It is safer being here, in… my land." I couldn't explain it, but that power I'd experienced was the only protection I required. If it could ruin realms, it would also destroy anyone who stood in my way. "If Lady Kelsey is behind all of what has occurred, then surely it would be better for me to return once she is accosted? I don't doubt Gyah's strength and ability, but it doesn't feel right asking such a thing of her."

Althea held my gaze, then looked to Erix in silent command.

"I will stay with him," Erix added, in almost a rush, reading Althea's unspoken request. Not that it needed to be said. Erix would never leave me, that much had already been made clear. "I will ensure his security until Gyah returns for us."

My chest warmed. I wanted to look at him, as I knew he looked at me, but I kept my focus on Althea, who pondered the suggestion.

"Fine. I permit you to find shelter in Berrow. No further. Gyah will collect you from there tomorrow."

It was done. Agreed without further contemplation or discussion. I felt both relief and some puckering of discomfort from splitting from the group. But it was the right thing to do, solidified by the physical relaxing of Gyah's shoulders, knowing she had fewer people to carry. Gyah gifted us a smile of thanks, although it hardly reached her golden-eyes. There was a slight limp as she walked to the unconscious Hunter. Erix had noticed it before any of us.

He was right. Gyah was in no position to take us all back.

"Robin. Help me, please," Althea commanded, braving a look at the final body remaining to collect.

Her brother.

I nodded, biting the insides of my cheeks as I watched her acknowledge the dead beneath her.

Althea knelt beside him, hands resting upon her lap and fiddling with the material of her tunic to keep them occupied.

"Tell me what I can do," I said, voice a whisper as though I feared to disturb Orion in his endless slumber.

Althea finally reached out a hand, resting it upon the tousled red hair of his head. "He did not deserve this. His death is my responsibility. I will relive this moment, playing over what has happened, telling my family."

"This isn't your fault, Althea."

"It was my careless lack in judgement that killed Orion."

Just like when Erix told me not to take blame for Briar's poisoning, I gave the same advice to Althea now, hoping it would help her like it helped me.

"Don't harbour this guilt, Althea. It won't do you any good. Instead, lay the blame on the person who planned this. They killed Orion. Focusing on them will a better use of energy."

She looked at me with wide, unblinking eyes; they glistened with tears that she did not dare lose. "I hear you, Robin. But my family are a different matter. They will certainly question how this happened. Why I let a small, insolent boy slit the throat of my own brother when I was inches away. It is my fault, and I do not wish to hear you say otherwise again."

"Lady Kelsey may not have held the blade, but she nudged the hand in that direction," I said. "She will pay a far greater price than the Hunter."

"If she is truly the person behind it, that is." Althea blinked, keeping her eyes closed for a paused moment. "Maybe she is, maybe not. And if not, I will find out who is, for his sake." She ran her hands down her brother's back, a muscle feathering in her taut jaw. "Robin, more will die, known and nameless, unless you claim what is rightfully yours, Orion will become but a name on a long list of lives wasted."

An overbearing weight rested across my shoulders. Unseen, but there. "Orion wanted war. I don't believe that wish has changed."

"He wanted war, and his life paid for it. So ask yourself what it is you want… and if you will allow anyone else to perish whilst you ponder your decision."

I swallowed hard, unable to conjure words as Althea studied me intently. She was not angry at me, although her comments suggested otherwise. She looked exhausted, eyes rimmed with shadows and shoulders hunched forward, her frame smaller than before. I thought of the Taster, Briar, and now the body lying between us.

Who would be next?

"How do you not hate my existence after what I have caused you to lose so far?"

A lover and then a brother.

"Because the outcome I wish for requires you to be alive. And hating you will not aid my hopes. It would hinder them." Althea levelled her gaze, lifting her chin as she rolled back her shoulders. A single tear fell from her eye, trailing a river across the sharp edge of her cheekbone and down towards her nose. She didn't reach for it to clear it from her face. I did, catching it with the brush of a finger. "He will not be the first, nor the last, to lose a life to this conflict. And who am I to hate you when I see a man who has lost far more than me. Make the choice, Robin. Not only for your sake. Do it for those around you."

I cared little for the ache in my legs, or the stinging of cold winds which ripped across my face. Not when all I could think of was Althea holding the limp body of her brother across her lap as Gyah's wings flapped wildly, before they sliced off into the night.

The vision followed me all the way to Berrow, Erix leading ahead as we battled the thick darkness. I could've walked like that until dawn arrived, lost in a storm of my thoughts. They were so consuming that I hardly noticed as the snow-coated ground smoothed out to old stone, and the outlines of buildings stood guard on either side of us.

It was as if the town of Berrow slept. There wasn't the glow of a fire to be seen in the shattered windows, no noise besides the slamming of doors in the wind, hanging from rusted and forgotten hinges.

There was no life here, only Erix and me.

I don't know what I expected to find, but a place void of any life was certainly not an option.

Looking up, I took in the buildings, crumpled and ruined beneath the weight of winter. Snow layered across concave roofs, walls covered in frost that caught glints of the only light brave enough to be here. The moon had split through the thinning of clouds, a thankful guide, making it bearable to put one foot in front of the other.

"Robin," Erix called, demanding my attention. He'd deviated from the straight and sure path he'd walked. Now he waited beside a cottage-like building to my side. Much like the others, it looked as though one good gust would blow it down. "We going to stop here for the night."

"Not that I don't trust your judgement, but are you certain it will be standing by morning?" I asked, wrapping my arms around my waist in hopes to hold in some body heat.

A weak smile found itself across Erix's face. "I suppose there is only one way to find out."

He reached for the door and wrestled it open. The screech of wood and worn metal had me cringing as it seemed to shatter all silence of the darkened village. Wrapping my arms around my waist, I followed Erix into the shadowed building.

"What happened here?" I asked, following him into a connecting room down the narrow hallway we had entered. Even here, evidence of destruction littered the ground, furniture toppled over, items of clothing and other objects discarded across every inch of flooring.

"Winter happened," Erix said, voice quiet and steps steady as though he expected someone to jump out of the shadows and attack. Not once did his hand leave the warm leather hilt at his waist.

"It's like it's been ransacked." I stepped over a toy bear, seams torn and features distorted by years of neglect.

"Just forgotten," Erix corrected. "When your mother and her court were killed, the magic of the land was left without a person to control it. It took a matter of days for the power to spread. A storm so great that it left homes, towns, villages and hamlets in tatters. Berrow is the furthest west and likely the most well off from the horror. This is nothing in comparison to what ruin has taken tenancy on Icethorn land."

"So this is what'll become of Durmain, if I don't do anything?" My body tensed at the thought, imagining my home like this, trampled by a storm until it was nothing but ruins.

"What may become of Durmain." Erix stopped in his tracks, face shrouded in the darkness of the home. He was so close, hands brushing either side of my hips as he urged me before him. "I think we should start by making a fire, then we can talk."

I nodded, wondering if his piercing gaze could see the reddening of my cheeks. "That would be nice."

He breathed out slowly. "Yes, little bird. It would be."

Turned out, the hearth was unusable, piled up with spilling snow which likely filled every inch of the wonky chimney. Instead, beside a bed in the far back room, Erix piled armfuls of forgotten items into a pile before striking flame from a small piece of flint that he had hidden in his breast pocket.

"Always prepared, never surprised," I said.

Erix turned to me, the halo of light casting shapes across the side of his face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I gestured towards the flint in his hands. "You've come prepared, that's all. It's just something my father always tried to drum into me. Not that I listened."

Thinking about him, the distance between us both physically and mentally, stirred an ache in my chest. I battened it down, like a hatch in a storm, leaving that concern for when I wasn't so exhausted.

"Little bird."

I almost held my breath at the suggestion of his tone. "Yes?"

There was a seriousness to his stare, one that flayed my skin from my bones until I was utterly exposed before him.

"You look like you've been pulled through a bush of thorns," Erix said, studying me from his perch on the edge of the bed we had uncovered through our exploration of the home.

The firelight gave me a better look at the countless scratches and cuts across his face as well. "And you look as though you lost a fight to one."

"I nearly did, but you saved me." Erix dragged a finger and thumb down the side of his face, barely wincing as he ran over the ridges of the many marks the gryvern had left on him.

"Saying I ‘saved you' is a bit of a stretch."

He looked at me, brow raised, not needing to tell me how wrong I was.

"Do they hurt?" Erix asked, eyes trailing over the wounds down the side of my neck.

I shook my head, holding a breath as his finger reached for them. Closing my eyes, I readied myself for it, the warmth of a fingertip as he trailed the line of my jaw. But it didn't arrive. Opening my eyes, I saw his lips, one side curved upwards into a smirk that longed to be wiped clean from his face. "I thought I lost you for a moment."

"You are infuriating," I admitted.

Erix rocked back, resting on both arms which propped him up. The bed frame screamed in protest. I was amazed it was still standing by the time he made himself comfortable.

"You know, I have been called worse."

I rolled my eyes. "I can imagine."

"When we return to Aurelia, I want you to be seen by a healer."

If I was standing, I would've put my hands on my hips as I scolded him. "Not even my dad speaks to me with such demanding tones, you know."

"Well, your father is far from here now, which leaves you in my capable hands."

"Oh, lucky me," I said through a yawn that'd been impossible to keep away. "Remember, even you admitted I saved you. I think I'm pretty capable of looking after myself."

"You have a point, but even you need to sleep." Erix shifted his weight, hands on knees as he pushed himself to stand. "That amount of magic use is exhausting."

I was tired – exhausted, Erix was right – and far greater than I'd ever been before. Even without moving my legs, I knew they wouldn't cooperate even if I willed it. All I wanted to do was lie back on the cold, dusty sheets and let my heavy eyelids close.

But what waited in the dark of my eyes sent a burst of fear through me.

Before Erix took two steps from the bed, I spoke up. "Where are you going?"

He put a hand on his hip and pointed towards the shadowed doorway. "There is another bedroom down the hallway."

I couldn't explain it, not that I wanted to either, but the thought of him leaving me in this place was unnerving.

"Well," I said, looking around me as though the excuse I required was hiding among the messy room. "What's wrong with this bed?"

"It is occupied." Erix's stare pinned me to the spot. Then he turned his back again and stepped towards the threshold of the room slower than before. "Only room for one."

"But the fire." I grappled for an excuse for him to stay. "You've only just made it and have barely warmed up. If you go somewhere else, what is to say you'll catch your death from how…"

"Little bird." He turned on his heels slowly. "If you are asking me to stay with you, then ask it."

"I don't–" His body shifted an inch. "Okay, stay."

The smile Erix gave me lit another fire deep within me. I tried not to let the creeping heat add colour to my face, but there was nothing he couldn't notice with those storm-filled eyes.

"Not even a please?"

If there was a pillow to throw at him, I would've jumped at the chance.

Before I could retract my offer, I kicked my boots from my feet, one after the other, and swung my legs over until I was lying down, facing the low ceiling. Erix walked to my side, looking down at me, his back haloed in the firelight. "Infuriating, am I?"

Yes . My mind screamed. But it also wanted a distraction, and I needed that now. With the images of Althea and Orion, the Hunter and the gryvern plaguing my thoughts, I needed a distraction.

And the comfort of his presence.

"Just get in before I change my mind."

His grin told me that he didn't believe a word I said. Erix didn't speak again, not as he tugged at the belt around his waist, pulling it through the loops of his breeches until the sheath and sword were discarded to the floor.

Once Erix clambered onto the bed beside me, I felt greatly overdressed. I praised myself for not watching him undress, so much so that I was surprised by the brush of bare skin against my arm. His torso was exposed, skin taut as he lowered himself down. There was no time to count the ridges of muscles that lined his stomach.

My breath hitched as I saw the dark material of his trousers. I looked away quickly before he could notice my wandering gaze.

Here is the distraction I longed for.

"Are you not going to be cold?" I asked, rolling over, so I faced the small bundle of flames in the middle of the room. I shivered, although the fingers of heat reached for me without restraint.

"Do not worry about me," Erix said, breath brushing against the back of my head. On my side, I fit him around me like the piece of a puzzle, his tall, broad body folding around mine, so close that I was certain he saw the shiver of hairs standing to attention across my neck. "It is my job to be concerned about you."

"Well, I give you an order to cease those worries, if but for one night."

"Is that a command, Robin Icethorn? Because it sounds like you are beginning to grow used to your future of demands like a duck to water."

I folded an arm beneath my head like a pillow, trying anything to get comfortable, but failing. "Can we not talk about that?"

"Is that another command I hear?" Erix's voice was riddled with teasing.

"A request, nothing more. I don't want to think of anything right now. Not of tomorrow or what has happened tonight. I just want to sleep."

An arm folded over me, strong and grounding. Erix's fingers trailed close to my stomach, hovering inches away from touching the loose material of my tunic. "Then sleep."

There was no conversation left to be had. I couldn't move beneath his entrapment, and nor did I want to. This was exactly why I didn't want him to sleep away from me. Not because I cared for him being cold. It was my own selfish desire to feel… guarded. We'd seen so much darkness tonight, and I wasn't ready to battle the shadows that waited when I closed my eyes.

Not alone.

So, with Erix pressed close, I shut my eyes, welcoming the flicker of red light, easing me into the darkness. Part of me wondered if my mind would become the next hurdle in keeping me awake. I focused on Erix's breathing, counting in my head each inhale and feeling each warm exhale on the back of my neck.

Before I could reach the count of ten, I was claimed by sleep.