Chapter Forty-Eight

CHAPTER

FORTY-EIGHT

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F INNIAN IS PALER THAN USUAL, AND ON HIS KNEES BEFORE an Imirath soldier. Blood trickles from his lips and stains his white doublet. He looks at me across the hall like he wishes he could both run to me and run from me to keep the danger away. But I'll always chase him even if it means running into a war. My heart falls to the floor and suddenly we're children again, separated by a thief in the forest. It was the first moment I knew I'd throw myself in front of Finnian to take any blade aimed at him.

Not Finnian.

Not my Finnian.

Venatrix shattered the wall of windows, and her large body takes up half the hall. The other dragons remain close but can't fit in here no matter how tall the ceiling is. Cayden throws a knife into an advisor's neck, cutting his whispers to Eagor short, and Valia shrieks when the blood sprays her in the face.

Ryder escorts me to where Cayden, Saskia, Braxton, and several generals are gathered. The blood Cayden spilled feeds the garden of corpses he must've planted before I rejoined the banquet. He probably picked off several people after he sent Ryder to find me, and stopped once Finnian was ushered in at knifepoint. Venatrix moves behind our group, tucking her wings close to her body as her head towers above us.

"Princess Elowen." Eagor is the first to speak. "I know it may not seem so, but this is the start of a very long peace."

"Peace?" I echo. "You think to start peace by holding my brother at the tip of a knife?"

"It's merely a precaution."

I shake my head, too angry to form words as my eyes flash between Eagor and Finnian. The doors bang open and two Vareveth soldiers drag Ailliard's bloodied body between them before dropping him to the floor and joining our side. I'd think he was dead if he didn't begin crawling toward Eagor and Valia. His right eye is swollen shut, there's a gash on his forehead, and blood slides down the side of his face.

It feels strange to mourn someone who still breathes.

"I love what you've done with your face," Finnian says, and the guard holding him slams his fist into his cheek.

"Unhand him!" I demand. "Unhand him or my killing won't stop with the people in this room. I'll find where each one of you lives and I will burn your homes and families alive."

"You're not like your father," Ailliard spits. "You're worse."

"And yet she's still far better than you," Cayden says, scanning his eyes over the gathering across from us. "I've never been a forgiving person, and I don't intend to become one tonight."

"We have a chance at peace!" Eagor cries. "If we send her back to King Garrick, he will pay us a hefty sum and will ease off the borders."

"Eagor is an imbecile cursed with ignorance," Saskia mutters.

"We will do an exchange of prisoners," I announce. "Release him and you can have me." I'll find a way to fight my way out, or I'll die in dragon fire before they chain me again, but I will never condemn someone I love to the same fate.

"NO!" Finnian shouts as Cayden wraps his hand around my wrist.

"Do not keep me from him," I command. "I will not watch him die."

"He won't die," Cayden promises, lowering his voice so only I can hear. "I'm going to distract them. Finnian is smart, he'll wield it to his advantage. I'll do whatever it takes to get us out alive, but please know this isn't how I wanted to do this."

"Do whatever you must," I reply, too focused on getting Finnian away from the enemy to care about details and sending a warning to Venatrix to prepare herself.

"I promise I'll make you happy," he says before straightening up to address the crowd. "There will be no exchange."

"She's the princess of our kingdom, you'll hand her over or I'll cut this one open," sneers the guard holding Finnian.

"She's my queen," Cayden states, declaring his loyalty and sending a wave of suspicion crashing down on our enemies. "If you successfully sent Elowen to Imirath, which you've obviously and pathetically failed at, I would've started a war to get her back."

"You would start a war for one woman?" Eagor shouts incredulously. "You are the Commander of Vareveth, your loyalties reside with the crown!"

"You should be terrified of what I'll do for her," Cayden answers, his grip tightening on my wrist. Sweat collects at the base of my neck. "My loyalties do lie with the crown. I, Cayden Veles, Commander of Vareveth, invoke my right to challenge the throne, deeming the reigning monarchs unfit to rule."

The room erupts in chaos, and Finnian elbows the guard restraining him in his crotch. Venatrix hops over us and sends the guards reaching for him into the wall with her tail. I meet Finnian halfway and cover his back while returning to our side. He frames my face with his hands once we're safe.

"Never offer yourself to Imirath again," he growls.

I smile up at him. "Don't get captured and I won't have to."

Ryder slaps a hand on Finnian's shoulder and another general hands him a spare sword. Venatrix continues roaring to keep our enemies on the other side of the room as they try to charge. Ryder and Saskia are trying to get Cayden's attention, but his emotionless eyes are fixed on me, and what he declared to the room hits me.

He challenged the throne.

"What are you doing?" I almost whisper. He shouldn't be able to hear it over Eagor, Valia, and Ailliard shouting profanities, or the advisors and Imirath soldiers trying to maneuver around Venatrix, but he does.

"The Commander of Vareveth can challenge the throne if they marry someone of royal blood." He steps forward and steadies me when my knees buckle. "The clause was written into our laws after the civil war, to prevent another internal war in Vareveth by providing a way to legally overthrow the reigning monarchs with the support of the army."

"You knew about the clause this whole time?" The floor feels like it's shaking under my feet, about to crack and send me plummeting. A pained expression crosses his face, but Venatrix turns our attention when she rears her head back and the scent of smoke fills the room.

"If the room fills with flames, we won't be able to see people escaping," Saskia states, and I call Venatrix off. "We should fight them with blades. It'll be easier to gain allies in the war if you express restraint."

Everything is moving so fast and spinning around me. I feel as if I don't have enough time to take a breath, like I'm running just behind everyone as they near the finish line.

"I agree," I say, shoving Cayden's hands off me. He'll challenge the throne legally or illegally to keep me safe, but illegally will lead to all kingdoms of Ravaryn turning their backs or raising their blades on us. "I will marry you."

"El, I didn't fall for you because of a clause." He steps forward, and I step back. "Please, believe that."

"Spare me the details until we've dealt with this mess," I state.

His jaw clenches and he nods while unsheathing his sword.

By the gods . . . I can't believe I'm doing this. A life with him doesn't sound bad at all, but my mind is my own worst enemy, and it twists every interaction we've ever had. I can tell he practically feels my memory warping, turning every stolen glance in a crowded room into something calculated.

I command Venatrix to leave the hall, but she remains close by with the other dragons. The guards surrounding the room draw their swords and point them toward our enemies. I've come too far and sacrificed too much just to let power slip from my fingers now. I came from nothing, and now I have a kingdom ripe for my taking. I will shake the very stars the gods hung in the sky and crumble the mountains they forged on the earth.

Vengeance is a promise signed in blood.

"This is madness!" Eagor wails. "I am the king, you fucking bastards!"

Cayden tsks. "I would think a man of your standing wouldn't have to resort to using such vulgar language."

"You are nothing but a band of thieves," Valia growls as tears stream down her face. "No kingdom will respect a queen who whored her way to a throne or a king who committed regicide."

"Venomous words from a bitch that doesn't know how to hold a blade," I say. "I'm terrified, truly."

Cayden twirls his sword in his hands, and I let all arguments and noise fall away while zoning in on my targets. My heart slows, and I fall into the hypnotic trance of a battle. It's my chance to expel the rage, fear, confusion, and betrayal that churn inside me. I'm a wasteland of vexation and fury. I can't be in an open field, screaming until every emotion plaguing me relents, but I can kill my way to clarity.

"Charge!" Cayden commands, and both sides clash.

I throw my dragon dagger at an Imirath soldier advancing on me, killing him instantly while engaging with another. I swing my sword but let the advisor deflect it so I'm able to kick him in the groin and slice his neck open when he leans forward.

The hall is filled with the sounds of clashing steel, people gurgling on blood, and battle cries. Cayden cuts down the advisors surrounding Eagor and Valia, but Valia is already dead, and Cayden orders a soldier to restrain Eagor before he can kill himself.

I continue blocking the advances of a guard, but he kicks my wounded leg before I have the chance to maneuver away. It gives out, and I slide my blade down his stomach as my knees hit the floor in a pile of his entrails. My ribs throb and I cough blood onto my hand, using my sword to get back on my feet.

Finnian battles an advisor.

Ryder battles two, swinging his swords in an ancient dance of war.

Saskia slices through an Imirath soldier.

Movement registers in the corner of my eye before I have the chance to find Cayden, and I settle on Ailliard running through the blood and downed bodies. I track his target, and dread pools in my stomach as my heart crashes through the floor.

"Ailliard, stop!"

I feel every step he takes closer to Cayden in my bones. He's fighting three Imirath soldiers at once, all skillful, and all united against him. My fingers tighten around the hilt on my knife as I recall Ailliard throughout different phases of my life.

That Ailliard is dead. He's in the past and will forever remain there. My future has been rewritten in a language I can't yet read, but Cayden is in it; I could recognize him in any vernacular.

Cayden threw himself in front of a dragon for me, and Ailliard threw me to the wolves the second he heard a whisper from Imirath.

I throw my knife, piercing Ailliard between his ribs. Time moves slowly as I watch his body fall to the floor, head smacking against the polished tile. He used to be one of the strongest people in the world to me, and now he's scrambling to his knees, crying out from the blade I impaled in him. My gown drags through the blood and over the bodies littering the same path he took. I step over him, and my heels crunch in broken glass as I offer my back to the shattered windows.

"You were right, uncle." I call on Calithea and her shadow appears instantly, her silvery wings spreading on either side of me. He underestimated my ability to find solace in the flames. My eyes glow gold, and he gapes at me in horror. "Love isn't enough."

Calithea's flames shoot forward, encompassing Ailliard as his screams and the scent of burning flesh filter through the room.