Chapter 34

Chapter

Thirty-Four

CALLISTO

I'm slammed down as the world around me shakes and shudders. Debris begins to crash down as a large chandelier that hung from the ceiling hits the ground right at the spot Silas had been standing before shattering into thousands of pieces.

Glass crunches beneath my foot as I turn to find the others only to see that Silas is walking away from us, that black mist wrapping around him much like it had the king. And I realize that we were fools to think that if the duke has the power to control others, he'd be happy controlling just the king.

Why would he when he could control someone as absolutely powerful as Silas? Silas could wipe out an entire fucking army alone .

"Silas!" I yell as the shuddering stops right before there's an explosion. Dandelion tears me to the ground, covering me with his body as the walls and ceiling are blasted out and debris rains down on us.

My fingers dig into his thick fur as his weight feels crushing on my body. Dust and debris hit down around us just before I feel a hand wrap around my ankle.

A naive part of me had assumed it was Madden or even Silas but when I look up, I see the black eyes of the king.

King Samuel drives his sword down toward me as Madden rushes forward and knocks the sword back, but as the dust settles, I realize that the king hadn't held one weapon but two.

He draws the knife from Madden's side as he laughs and turns to me. Madden tries to step in front of me to protect me as I lie on the ground, shocked by what I've just seen.

Dandelion struggles out from under a part of the wall that'd fallen on him, growling out in rage. He slams his paw into the king's body, throwing him to the far end of the room where the king slams into a supporting post that hadn't fallen in the explosion.

"Hey, hey," Dandelion says as he shifts and grabs on to Madden. "What the fuck was that? Why'd you do that? I should have done something."

"Oh… I'm fine," Madden replies as he waves him off while I scramble to my feet. "We need to… get… Silas…" He stumbles and Dandelion catches him as panic settles deep in my body.

"Madden?" I ask, anxious.

He's trying to wave some more, like that can prove all is well. "I'm fine."

He's not fine. He's not fine at all… he took the blow that was meant for me… and… he could die because of me.

"You're bleeding. Why the fuck didn't you let me handle it?" Dandelion growls, even though he wasn't in the position to help either. But he's clearly quite distraught that Madden got hurt under his watch.

"Dandelion, get him help. Please," I beg.

He looks torn between protecting me and helping Madden, but my eyes are fixated on the king who's rising to his feet while laughing. His head is bleeding, and his chest has been torn open by Dandelion's claws, but he still keeps laughing. Dandelion draws Madden a bit closer to himself, looking anxious.

Madden tries to push him off. "No, don't you dare take me and leave. You think pretty boy can do everything alone? Don't be foolish," he says, sinking down as Dandelion presses his hand against the wound. "I'm going to just… rest right here and watch you guys. I don't mind watching a naked man fight. Ha…"

Dandelion squeezes Madden to his chest tighter.

"Please, Dandelion. I… I'll poison and kill the king if I have to," I promise. "Please. Please, do this for me."

Dandelion shifts, and when I grab Madden, Madden tries to fight me but all he does is smear blood across my face.

"Why the fuck should you die too?" Madden asks.

"You're not dying. You're part of my fucking family now, you hear me? I can't lose any part of my family. Please," I beg.

"I'm sorry I said mean things about you," Madden says as I shove him onto Dandelion's back.

"You can say all the mean things about me that you want, just please be okay."

I draw back from him as I hear something behind me and hold my hands out as the vines latch on to the king, tearing him down to his knees. He thrashes against them, struggling to rise to his feet, but he can't get up.

It's now just the two of us… and I don't know what to do. I can't leave him here, and while the vines can hold him, they keep snapping.

I pull out the coin, and this time, I realize I've rubbed Madden's blood across it. Pain digs into my heart. Silas is gone… Madden is hurt… I'm all alone.

I might have spun Dandelion some tale about me doing this on my own, but…

I can't fucking do this.

I'm not the prince. I'm not some man with amazing magic. I'm a fae that even my own parents didn't want. I am the scum that walks the sidelines. I'm just someone there… but never having much purpose.

No… no… it doesn't matter if I can do this, I have to do this. Because I have people I want to protect. I have people I need to keep safe no matter what. People I love and care for who are relying on me.

And I need to end this.

"You motherfucking coin, you need to do something , alright? You fucking hear me?" I hiss as I squeeze it until the edges dig into my palm.

The king laughs, obviously finding this spectacle hilarious… I kind of don't blame him.

"Please," I beg as I feel magic pulse inside the coin just before something tears out of it. It looks like a translucent raven, wings glistening in the light spilling into the destroyed room. It soars across the room and slams right into the king's chest, tearing through him, and with it, the darkness is ripped out. It flickers then dissipates as the raven gets lost in the dark… or maybe it simply disappears now that I no longer need it?

The king stops fighting a moment before he sinks down and hits the ground on his knees, the black dissipating from his eyes.

"P-Prince Eli?" he mutters. "What… what happened?"

"I'm not the prince," I say before turning and running because I have to find Silas. Somehow, I have a way to tear the darkness out of him, and I need to use it so we can have our happily ever after.

When I reach the main room, I'm greeted with death but still no Silas. Instead, I see Zepher hurry into the room. She looks quite distraught as she rushes up to me.

"I need you to take me to Silas," I beg as I grab her and pull myself onto her back. "Please. I need Silas."

She moves out of the building as I realize that I have no fucking idea how to ride a damn wyvern . She's not even wearing a saddle and there's not much to hold on to, but she doesn't wait for me to figure it out. With one quick flap of her wings, she leaps into the dark night air and takes to the sky.

While I was very adamant about finding a wyvern when I first came across Silas at the tavern, I quickly realize that the ground might be the place for me. My heart is beating out of my chest and I'm doing absolutely everything to keep from looking down at the land below. I don't even know if she knows what I'm asking, but she seems determined.

Desperately, I cling to her, knowing they couldn't have gotten far, but when I find them, Silas is surrounded by others. Should I sneak in? Can I use this coin again immediately? Do I even know how I used it the first time? Maybe I can use it from a distance…

Or maybe I don't get any fucking choice because Zepher has tucked her wings and is diving straight for him. And with horror, I realize that it's not just an army of people with Silas… but also the duke on top of a large warhorse.

Zepher tears down five men as she lands, ripping them to the ground as I'm flung from her back and hit the ground, oh… a horse length or two from the duke.

"Kill him," he simply says, sounding quite bored of me.

I roll up onto my feet and as Silas's black eyes settle on me, I scramble for the coin I'd tucked in my pocket so I wouldn't drop it. How the hell dare this man think he can control him? How could he possibly think that I'd just stand back and let him take Silas?

The world flickers before darkness hits me, telling me that Silas is being forced to listen to him. The soldiers seem to be simply fodder as they start screaming and running from Silas, who doesn't seem to care who he swipes off into his darkness.

It's like the light is sapped from the world around me, threatening to submerge me into darkness that I could never break free of… but that's fine. I could live in this darkness if it meant having Silas by my side. I've seen darkness. I've lived through that darkness, but this… this isn't darkness because Silas is here.

The duke's order to kill me circles around us as Silas focuses on me.

But isn't Silas's magic dependent on fear?

I don't know how all it works, but as the soldiers scramble and fall in failed attempts to escape, I'm left to simply walk toward Silas without any fear of them grabbing me.

"Silas, I'm here. I'm going to get you out of this mess," I assure him. "I just gotta figure out how this damn coin works, you know?"

Because… how could I be afraid of Silas? How could I be afraid of the man I love?

"Aren't you afraid of what I'm going to do to you?" he asks through gritted teeth, like he has a moment of clarity among the chaos.

"The only fear I feel is fear for you. I could never fear you," I say.

"Don't lie to me. Didn't you see what I did to the others?" he asks, telling me he's fixated on those he killed in the castle, for some reason.

"I saw the bodies of men who were killing to sacrifice an entire kingdom over greed. They had a choice. They made their choice. And I've made mine," I say as I reach out to him. "Please. Silas, fight it."

"Kill him," the duke shouts, and Silas shoves me back, into the darkness. I can hear the men screaming as they fight to escape, and someone slams into me as they try to find a way out of this darkness. But the only place I want to go is to Silas. I never want to go away.

I squeeze the coin so tightly in my hand that it hurts. The edges dig into my palm as I try to figure out how I'd gotten the magic to work before.

"Silas, please, you are everything I need to finally feel whole. You've absolutely changed my life, changed everything the moment you stepped into my life. I'm not afraid of you; I don't hate or fear what you can do."

The coin in my hand begins to thrum with magic.

"And I'm clearly not afraid of you. Your magic doesn't work on me. So unless you have another plan, there's nothing you can do to me, but what you can do is fight it," I say as I walk right up to him and grab his face in my hands, careful not to drop the coin.

"Kill him," the duke screams, sounding enraged.

Silas shoves me back, but I don't care. I will return to him as many times as he needs. I will always keep coming back to him.

This time as I rush toward him, the coin almost burns my hand as the magic flows out of it and forms into what looks like a translucent dragon that slams right into Silas's chest. It rips the darkness right out of him as I step forward to catch him, but before I can, the duke grabs me…

Which is the very last mistake he'll ever make.

He screams as his veins turn black enough I can see them through his skin. He reaches for his sword, but before he can, Silas snatches his wrist, tearing him off his war horse. He crashes to the ground as the horse shies away.

The man tries to twist out of his reach as Silas starts toward him. "Why did you do this?"

"Fuck you," the duke screams as he crawls for his horse which bolts.

"Why?" Silas snarls.

"Because that fucking useless man doesn't deserve to be on the throne. We'd have never won the war if it weren't for me," he growls. "Then as soon as the war was over, I was tossed aside. He might have thought he clipped my wings, but I was just waiting for the right opportunity. I did it all and yet no one gives a shit."

Silas scoffs. "I never saw you out on the battlefield, but you claim you did more than anyone? What makes you more deserving of the throne than someone like me who helped tilt the war in Vermillion's favor?"

The duke holds his hand out and the ground begins to shake, telling me he's calling for the undead, but before they can even rise up, one of the souls Silas is commanding tears right through the duke, killing him immediately.

Silas watches his body hit the ground before he looks back to the palace.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

He gives me a soft smile as his shaking hands reach out and take mine. "I am… but I need just one more moment. One more moment and then I'm all yours," he says as he sets his forehead against mine. It feels so oddly intimate, like he's pulling strength from me just by touch. He takes a deep breath, his skin hot against mine as my emotions cause flowers to bloom wildly around our feet.

Honestly, I'm just relieved he's okay. He's back and he's by my side. His hands squeeze me again. "Right back… I'll be right back," he mutters, and with what looks like great reluctance, he pulls back from me. "Just one more thing, I have to do one more thing," he says as he starts back toward the palace.

"It's okay, I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

Silas takes a deep breath and turns to face someone I hadn't even heard coming. He sets a protective hand on me, pushing me behind him as the king rushes up on the back of a horse that is carrying him and the prince.

Eli leaps off the horse and hurries forward but before he can reach us, Silas rushes past and grabs the king, dragging him off and tossing him onto the ground.

The king, who is quite weak after all that's happened to him, crashes to the ground, but there are no guards to protect him.

"Do you know who I am?" Silas asks, voice so quiet and steady that I really think the king should be worried.

"N-Now I do," the king says.

"I was used by you and your army until you were done with me before spinning lies to make me out to be the enemy. Thankfully, you didn't know my face, allowing me to live right under your nose where I could keep an eye on what was going on for years. But there's just one last thing. Just answer me this… did you have my family killed?"

The king's look of horror almost seems to deflate the man. He drops his eyes as he looks away, like he suddenly feels like he deserves whatever Silas is going to do to him. He doesn't even have to say anything. Silas now has the answer he's been looking for.

"I didn't want to," King Samuel whispers. "I was young and stupid, being thrown into a war I didn't start. My brother seemed to have more tactical knowledge, so I began to rely on him. When he ordered it done… I should have stopped him. But I turned from it, I pretended like I didn't even understand what he was doing… yet after the war was over, I felt like every time I saw him, I was forced to face the shit I'd done. So I drove him off where I'd hoped he'd stay.

"Honestly, he'd been quiet for so many years that I had hope that it was just the war that'd brought out the worst in him, as it had so many others. But now… I see how wrong I was."

"We fought for freedom, but even ten years after the war, so much freedom is still withheld from us," Silas says. "You still allow slavers to come into your city and sell humans. You still paint Langsten as monsters, leaving me to wonder if it's the other way around. A part of me can't help but wonder if it'd be best to say the duke killed you and give someone else a chance, such as the prince or the queen of Langsten." Silas glances over at the prince, who seems uncertain.

For a moment, everyone stands there in crushing silence before Prince Eli steps in front of the king. "You're right, there is a lot of wrong still in this kingdom, and you're also right that it's become stagnant for the last ten years. But I am willing and eager to make changes. I've never agreed with my father. I was dragged around the war and while he thrived in it, I only saw reasons to make sure we were never at war again.

"Allow me the chance. I understand that with my uncle alive, I wouldn't be king, but I have hope that he'd trust my judgments enough that we could move closer to the ideal life that humans fought so hard for over ten years ago."

Silas sighs. "Do as you please. I'm done. I fought my war, but now, all I want to do is enjoy my peace. The duke is dead. Vermillion is in shambles. Your people might struggle to trust their king. But I'm going to Langsten. I've fought enough for these people."

"Thank you," King Samuel quietly says as he rises to his feet, using the horse to steady himself. "I'm aware it shouldn't take all of this to thank you, and I'm aware it's ten years too late."

I turn to Silas to see his reaction. I think we're both aware that unless we want to take the fate of the royals into our own hands, there's little more we can do. Vermillion will either change and thrive, or remain how it is and struggle until another kingdom crashes into it.

Right now, all there is to focus on is the here and now. "What about the people turned to stone? Is there any way to save them?" I ask.

"I'm not sure," Silas says before looking at Eli. "You know more about it than we do."

"I know very little," he admits. "But I did bring the other coin. I… felt that if the first coin responded to you so well… there was a possibility you could get the second to respond too."

He holds it out to me, but I'm a bit wary to even take it. What if it's a trap? Then again, what the hell would he want me for? He already handed me the magic that would stop his father, so is he really going to fuck me over?

Eli must see my apprehension because he says with a smile, "I'm well aware that if I did anything, Silas would immediately end my life."

I reach out and take the black coin. Other than the color, it looks and feels the exact same as the first, but the moment my fingers touch it, I feel the heat from the other coin ignite before the black coin snaps right in half in my hand.

I'm so busy staring at it that I don't even realize the other coin has disappeared until I close my hand. "Where the hell did it go?" I ask.

"I don't know… maybe now that the reason it was here is gone, it destroyed itself or something."

I suppose it could have, but wouldn't there be a trace of it left?

"Where's Madden?" Silas asks, breaking my fixation on my hand.

"He got hurt… protecting me. Dandelion took him for help," I say, feeling anxious about it. "I don't know where he took him."

Silas squeezes me to him. "It's okay. Madden will send a bird when he gets there," he promises, but I'm afraid of what will happen if Madden can't . What if…

Silas's grip simply tightens, like he can read my thoughts. "Madden's tough as hell. I promise you, he's one of the toughest people I know. He'll send us some odd creature—or maybe even Dandelion," he assures me as he nods to my left.

I look over as Dandelion lopes onto the scene. He takes one look at the king and slaps him to the ground as I watch in horror. "Dandelion, no, we're not… still fighting. Fighting is over," I say as he shifts back. He keeps a foot on the king's back as he squats down, quite naked as the king looks more than a little horrified. It does seem like he's narrowly escaped Death to run right into Naked Death.

"If you ever look at my papa or Madden or Silas again, I will remove your limbs from your body piece by piece. I don't give a fuck what or who you are. My world has no kings or queens. All of you are royal pieces of shit turning a blind eye to the hell happening down here. I have no qualms about murdering you, do you understand?"

"Very clearly," he whispers.

"Is Madden okay?" I ask, hoping that'll get him off the king's back.

"I found a healer before I came back to kill anyone who needs to be killed," he says as he eyes the king.

"Can you take us to him?" I ask.

Dandelion shifts, then snarls at the king one last time before hurrying over to me. I climb onto his back without hesitation, and Silas gets on behind me as Zepher follows.

Silas wraps his arms around my waist and sets his forehead against my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Hmm… I'm sorry."

"Why the hell would you be apologizing to me? You were dragged into all of this because of me."

He gently kisses my neck before tucking his head back down and slumping against me, and I find myself loving it… loving that he's willing to rely on me even after everything that's happened. "Callisto, how were you able to ignore my magic?"

"It was quite simple," I say, surprised he hasn't accepted the obvious answer. I mean, didn't he already figure it out? But then again, he's very stubborn. "I have to be afraid of you for your magic to work against me, do I not?"

His arms tighten in response. "You promise me?"

"Silas, you have to know your magic well enough to know the answer to that," I say as I cup his hand.

Dandelion brings us back inside the walls and over to a clinic. I slide off his back and hurry inside to where Madden is lying on a bed that a woman is standing over.

"How are you?" Silas asks as he rushes in.

"I'll live. Probably. I mean, I assume. Unless the healer says I won't, then I might not. So you all better worship me now. Tell me how much you all love me so the last words you speak about me are ones of love and how amazing I am."

I don't want to get in the way of the healer, but she seems to be done as she steps back. I rush over to Madden and grab his hand before sinking down next to his bed. "You saved my life, Madden. I'm so sorry that you ended up in such a situation. Thank you so much for protecting me, but promise me you'll put yourself first from now on, okay? Please?"

He seems uncertain of what to say and maybe even a little flustered. "It's not that big of a deal. It's not like I did that much." Like he didn't leap in front of me to take on the king.

"You were stabbed," Silas says.

Madden refuses to just take the thanks. "It's fine. I wasn't stabbed that badly."

"You were stabbed pretty badly. Like any more badly would be death," the healer counters.

"See? Could have been worse," Madden says, clearly not getting the point… of course he isn't.

I'm just relieved he's okay.

The healer soon heads back to Madden's bed, so Silas pulls me toward the door to give them some space, but I notice Dandelion stays behind. Together, we step outside, where I turn to him and slump against him.

"Well… that was an adventure," I say.

Silas wraps me up in his arms. "I love you, Callisto. I just…" He cups my face in his hands. "I love you so much."

So many emotions begin to bubble up inside me as I fling my arms around him and lean into him. "I love you too. I'm just… so happy you understand how much I care about you. I know you were worried I would fear you or that I would hate you for what you've done, but I hope you understand me enough to know that could never happen. I love you just the way you are."

"Then why were you worried about me thinking about you differently?" he asks, obviously referring to how I'd been worried about him finding out that I wasn't the prince he once thought of me as.

I stare at him for a long moment. "Maybe we're both fools."

He grins at me. "That's alright. We can be fools together."

"Sure as fuck can be," I say before leaning toward him. His lips press gently against mine before he kisses me deeper, his lips parting as he draws me in. When he pulls back from the kiss, leaving me feeling breathless, he smiles at me.

"I think if I keep saying sweet things about you, we're going to be smothered in flowers."

I look at the ground in embarrassment before quickly trying to get the flowers to calm the fuck down. "No idea what you're talking about. They were totally here when we arrived."

He looks around at the yard coated in flowers before leaning in and giving me another kiss. "Ah, my mistake."

"So… what now?" I ask, a little anxious about what he's going to say. I mean… there's nothing forcing us together now. He could decide that Vermillion really is the best place for him.

"As soon as Madden's good to travel, we'll head back to Langsten."

"Are you positive?"

"I am," he says. "I have no ties here. The people I know here are the people who struggle to let life move on… but hopefully change is coming… and if not, it looks like Dandelion is prepared to slap the king back into the ground."

"I… feel like most people would get hung for that."

"Good thing Dandelion's not like most people," Silas says with a grin. "You really are fucking magical, Callisto."

"Uhh… I'm not so sure about that."

"For having grown up the way you did, you really opened yourself up, which I've always struggled to do. Just think about Dandelion. You were determined to save him, even at the cost of your own life. I would have killed him that day he attacked you. I… really would have because I struggle to see the possible change and good in others. But you've taught me to give people chances. There's no way the old me would have let the king walk, knowing he'd allowed my family to be slaughtered."

"Doesn't that just mean we're better together?"

"It sure does," he says before kissing me again.