26. We’re All Gonna Die

Chapter 26

We're All Gonna Die

After that fiasco, we got the fuck out of Dodge.

Nylian didn't speak to his uncle before our departure, and the duke didn't attempt to approach any of us. I didn't know whether he was still pissed or if he was giving his nephew some space. Even as we rode out of Blackscar, Nylian was still a simmering cauldron of rage that wouldn't cool for a long, long time.

Thankfully, Captain Elion stepped up to make sure we had all the supplies we needed for our journey to Ashbourne. Or rather, a small, secluded manor that sat on Lake Mallomar. Apparently, I was hungry that day when I was naming things. Gods, I was such an asshole.

The Duchess Helena Covington's private manor was called Stonewill Chateau and sat beside the lake because it was the home of the black-winged cobra—a creature I was not looking forward to facing in person.

Traveling south didn't take as long as I'd hoped it would. The route was over flat plains and farmlands that had flourished after centuries of peace between Lockeheim and Wolfrest. Seeing the people tending to their fields and bringing in their harvest made me even more eager to keep this trek as private as possible. If the government of Lockeheim was interested in going to war with Wolfrest, so be it. It was the lives of their people they were throwing away.

But if this was one power-hungry bastard out for themselves, there was no reason to ruin the lives of thousands by escalating this disaster even further.

While on the road, we caught Adeline, Jasper, and Master Binx up on the news that Orian was still clinging to life and that we needed to get an antidote to the poison coursing through his blood. Adeline had at least spent some time in Ashbourne and had used the road that cut through the Hissing Marsh. While the black-winged cobra preferred to stay at Lake Mallomar, there were plenty of other snakes and aggressive plant life that called the Hissing Marsh home. The lake and marsh were the leading reasons Lockeheim had become renowned for its poison. There were countless venomous creatures living within its borders that could be raised and harvested for their toxins.

Not to mention, the Hissing Marsh provided an excellent border to keep out would-be invaders. There was no point in attacking a kingdom if you were going to lose most of your soldiers in a swamp.

To my relief, the path to Stonewill Chateau didn't require us to spend much time in the marsh. On a hill overlooking the home, we stopped our horses and tied them to a nearby tree. Adeline and I took care of removing the gears, rubbing them down, and feeding them. I caught her glancing over her shoulder at Jasper several times as he sat with his head bowed next to Nylian while talking about the Widow's Spite poison and the black-winged cobra.

"We can leave him here at camp," I said, breaking the silence.

"What?" Adeline's head snapped up, and she blinked at me, as if her brain were still trying to comprehend my words. After a second, she frowned and resumed brushing Jasper's horse. "No. He has to go with us. I mean, I'd love to knock him out, tie him up, and leave him here, but he's the only one out of the four of us who knows squat about poisons and those damn snakes."

I couldn't argue with that. I might have been the idiot who'd created them, but Jasper was the one who knew all the rules that had developed without me.

"Well, if things go sideways on us and you see an opening to get Jasper out of there, I want you to take it. Nylian and I can look out for ourselves."

A harsh bark of laughter jumped from her throat, and the horse startled, stomping a hoof in the dirt. She cooed at it and rubbed its neck, calming it before turning her attention to me. "You really are an idiot sometimes."

"Gee, thanks."

"Like we would leave you two behind," she scoffed. "As if my brother would let me leave you behind."

"I—"

"He's got a thing for you, you know?"

I choked on the rest of my sentence, and Adeline rolled her eyes at me. "Not like that. I mean, he admires you. Looks up to you."

"I doubt that."

She finished brushing Jasper's horse and stuffed the brush in a small bag that she dropped on the ground. "Why wouldn't he?" She lifted one hand and ticked off each item as she strolled toward me. "Magic brought you here, which automatically makes you the most interesting person in all the world to him. You are constantly getting things wrong, but you never let it stop you from getting back up and trying again."

I frowned at her. This list wasn't sounding all that flattering.

"And you believe in him without question. It's like you look at him and you can see that he's going to be a great wizard. No one has ever believed in him like that." She pressed one hand to her chest and stared at me with wide, sparkling eyes. "I love my brother with all my heart, and even I have trouble believing that some days."

I smiled at her. "He will be a great wizard. We've just got to find him the right teacher. That's all."

Adeline drew in a somewhat ragged breath through her nose and nodded. She focused on petting the neck of Nylian's horse while I finished rubbing him down after our long ride that day. "Addie, you're a great mercenary, too, but you're an even better big sister."

"Gods, you're such an asshole," she moaned and sniffed. She turned her back to me and roughly wiped her eyes. I pretended not to notice, keeping my head down as I gave Nylian's horse a last pat on the rump before walking over to grab my gear.

As I straightened, Adeline punched my shoulder. "Just so you know, we're all getting out of this snake pit alive. There won't be any sacrificing for the rest of the group. Jasper needs to get to West Vale and find a teacher. Nylian needs to save his brother. And they need us to keep them alive."

"I bet your plan is already more sensible than anything those two are trying to cook up," I said as we walked over to join the elf, wizard, and chipmunk.

As if on cue, all three heads popped up at my words. They'd scratched a rough diagram in the dirt in front of them.

"If all your plans include me being left at camp, you can just scrap them and start over. I might not like snakes, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you leave me behind," I continued while still standing over them.

Nylian and Jasper stared at us and then shared a long, silent look. In the end, Nylian shrugged a shoulder and Jasper threw up his hands in exasperation. That proved I was right on that guess.

The elf turned his attention to me and smiled, "Precious?—"

I leveled a finger at him, my expression stern. "Do not think you can sweet talk your way out of this with precious this and Adam that."

Nylian lost his grin and stood to face me, his hands resting on my hips. "You're right. I want to keep you out of this fight. It's dangerous. I feel confident that I can protect you from swords, but snakes and poison are more insidious and harder to protect against. A bite or even the smallest prick on something you didn't even see, and it could be too late. I came too close to losing you in Blackscar."

"And you won't lose me now." I leaned in and stole a quick kiss, but it did little to remove the worry from his vibrant green eyes. At least it felt like he was listening to me. "I worry about the same things for you, but if we're watching each other's backs, it will be harder for the duchess to strike."

My lover dragged in a deep breath and held it for a second, before releasing it with a nod. "Okay. You're going."

Jasper leaned around us to glare at his sister. "What Adam said, but without all the mush and kissing."

"Fine. Whatever. We're all going so we can all die together in the snake house. Sounds like a fun time for everyone," Adeline snapped.

I took Nylian's hand and led him over to where he'd been brainstorming with Jasper. Adeline picked up a sack of dried rations and handed them out while we hashed out some rough plans. Nothing seemed brilliant. It went without saying that this woman had to have some kind of security system on the place, even though we couldn't see any actual guards moving about the grounds.

"This might sound crazy, but what if Nylian and me just…you know…walk up and knock on the front door?" I suggested.

"Knock on the front door? You're kidding me?" Adeline repeated in a flat voice.

"Why not? Maybe she didn't know what the poison was being used for. Maybe she still doesn't know. She might give, or more likely, sell us the antidote and hand over the name of the asshole who bought the poison. We don't know that she's trying to start a war between Lockeheim and Wolfrest."

Nylian gazed at me, his face unreadable. He turned to Jasper and gave another one of his shrugs. "It's not the worst idea we've come up with."

"I just love the support," I muttered.

"If you and Adam are going in the front door, what are Jasper and I doing? Sitting on the hill, twiddling our thumbs?"

"You two can circle the building and search for another way inside. Wait for our signal to come rescue us if there's trouble," Nylian said.

Jasper plucked the chipmunk off the top of his head and held out a sunflower seed for him to eat. "What kind of signal?"

The elf smirked. "I imagine you'll know it when you see it. We won't be subtle." He stared at the chipmunk eating his dinner. "And I'd keep a close watch on Master Binx. If she's got snakes slithering about the place, I'm sure he'd make a tasty snack."

Yep, this was an insane idea. We'd be lucky if we didn't die.