Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

" I know your brother very well," I say at last.

"When did you last see him?"

"He's here, in Brocéliande. He was imprisoned by Auberon, but I broke him out of the dungeon. He heard that there were other demi-Fey still here. He's looking for you."

"And how do I know you're telling the truth?"

"He told me about the last day he saw you. He said your mom was human, and when Auberon started to scapegoat humans, she never thought it would go too far. She thought it was just bluster. But then one morning, when Raphael was nine and you were sixteen, soldiers banged on your door, ready to kill everyone. He said you screamed at him to run, and he did. He thought you were behind him. He waited in the forest, but you never came. A family took him in and brought him to unoccupied France."

I feel the point of the knife leave my spine, and she releases her grip on me. When I turn to look at her, I see that her silver eyes are misted with tears.

"He's really alive?" she whispers. "You have no idea how guilty I felt for losing track of him. I had no idea he was in France the whole time."

"He's fine. He lived in France, picking grapes in a vineyard. Then…" I hesitate. I don't know her well enough to trust her with the fact that Raphael is a spy. "Then he moved to England. But he's been trying to find you in any way he can since he was nine."

A single tear runs down her cheek. "I always assumed he was dead. They killed my mum. Someone brought me to the safe haven, and I was always waiting for him to show up. Where is Raphael now? Can you bring him to me?"

"I can get a message to him through my network, but he's a wanted man in Brocéliande," I say.

She frowns at me. "What's your name?"

"Better if you don't know." You never know when someone will be caught and interrogated. "I want to get Raphael back to England, but he won't go without you. Ysolde, he needs to see you. You said you volunteered to stay and look after the kids. Does that mean you're free to leave?"

She looks torn. "Yes, of course. But the kids here need me. There are four of us taking care of them."

"If you want Raphael to get to safety, I think you need to leave Brocéliande with him. He won't go without you. At the very least, you have to talk to him. Do you know a place called the Shadowed Thicket?"

"I know it."

"Go there when you can, in a few days if possible. Stay there until I can arrange a meeting. I don't know when it will be, but I'll make it happen. I'll find a way to get in touch with Raphael."

Her face has gone pale, and she glances nervously back the way we'd come. "Okay. Can you get out of here without the guards seeing you? I might trust that you know Raphael, but they won't give a fuck about what you told me."

"The way I came in is no longer an option." I shudder. "What would you suggest?"

"Are you a good climber?"

"Decent, I guess."

She looks around. "Give me a minute."

She disappears into the other courtyard, and I stand alone, hugging myself in the cold, my teeth chattering. After a few minutes, she comes back with a coil of rope. "Follow me." She crosses around the other side of the blue dragon and points at the outstretched wing. "One of the boys managed to climb up that wing, and from there, somehow, he got to the top of the wall. Scared the life out of me. You can climb up the ladder, but then crawl over the top. See how there are fake scales up there? Use them for leverage. You should be able to get onto the wing and climb up to the parapet, like you're going the wrong way up a slide. Once at the top, you can use this rope to climb down."

I eye the dragon's wing. It's doable. "That works." I take the rope from her.

"And I'll see you at the Shadowed Thicket in a little while." She smiles, and I see Raphael in that smile, her cheek dimpling a little.

I climb up the ladder, feeling ridiculous that I thought the thing was real for even one second. At the top, I grip the scales, scoot over to the swooping wing, and hoist myself up. When I reach the parapet, I grip the stone and climb, grunting as I pull myself onto the castle wall. I tie my rope to the crenellation. Before I go, I turn to look down at Ysolde.

She raises her hand in farewell. My eyes sting when I think of Raphael seeing her again at last. With a grunt, I climb down the fortress wall.

Fatigue is eating at me, and I'm fighting to keep my eyes open. I rode for hours through the night. I'm still freezing, desperate to get under soft blankets, to feel the warmth of the fireplace heating the room.

I cross back from the stables to the castle. I've just barely made it before the sunrise. The moonlight still gleams off the courtyard snow as I trudge closer to warmth. I found only one guard by the messengers' gate, and mercifully, he didn't have many questions for me.

As I walk closer to Castle Perillos, I scan for signs of soldiers patrolling or anyone who might be following me. I see some guards by the main gate, as usual. There are none around the tower that leads up to my room.

I slip through the shadows, my legs aching with each step.

Before I pull open the door, I glance over my shoulder. Still no one around. I let out a sigh of relief.

But as I pull the tower door open, panic flares in my chest. The pale-haired guard stands at the bottom of the stairwell, arms folded. The scent of mead wafts off him, and his green eyes shine at me from the shadows.

I smile at him, but inwardly, my heart is slamming against my ribs. "See? Told you I'd be back without a problem."

He nods slowly. "And how was your trip back from Lauron? You didn't wait for me to gather the retinue."

"Well, like I said, there was no need to worry."

I start to climb the stairs, but he grabs my bicep. "So, if I checked with the soldiers who patrol the Faus-Amanz highway, they'd confirm they saw you pass about a half hour ago?"

My stomach swoops, and I'm already thinking of grabbing the dagger at my waist. "I mean, I don't think they were paying that much attention."

"There are no soldiers there. You would have known if you went through there."

I turn slowly to face his hard, metallic green glare.

"So why, my lady, would you be lying? Where did you really go? The king keeps warning us against spies, and you're new to court. Getting invited into the High Council."

I breathe in, out.

In one swift motion, I twist my arm sharply. I merely expect to catch him unaware, but to my surprise, I manage to break his hold on me. I slam my elbow into his face, and it crunches . He cries out in pain, stumbling back.

Time slows down, the energy that has been building up in me for weeks starting to blaze through my body.

Mordred said that being here will awaken my dormant powers. The powers of the Lady of the Lake.

The guard is already drawing his sword, snarling. Gripping my dagger, I lunge for his throat, much faster than I ever used to be. He parries, awkwardly hitting me with his wrist. He knocks the dagger out of my hand, and it clatters to the stone, but he's struggling to manage his sword in the small space.

I kick him hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. He tries to call out, but his voice sounds choked now. I kick him again, slamming my foot into his wrist, pressing it between my boot and the wall until he drops the sword. But he punches me with his free hand, and it's not the punch of a human or a demi-Fey or anything I'm used to. It's the punch of full-blooded Fey with the strength of a fucking ox. The pain rockets through my skull, vibrating in my brain, and I stagger back. Hot blood fills my mouth.

Frantically, I grab my dagger off the floor, but by the time I'm up again, he's retrieved his sword. He lunges for me, and I try to dodge out of the way of his blade. I'm not fast enough. Pain rips through my side as his blade slices my flesh.

With that pain, more power blazes through me, and time crawls. The guard's movements suddenly seem clumsy, snail-like. I dart forward and swipe my blade across his throat in a swift, brutal arc, carving it open. He drops his sword again, gripping his neck as blood sprays around him. I watch as he slumps to the ground.

My thoughts are a raging tempest.

Footfalls, coming down the stairs. Someone obviously heard the shouting, the clattering of weapons.

But this time, I'm not going to stop for a conversation. I grit my teeth.

The moment the next soldier rounds the stairwell, I toss my dagger in a perfect arc. All the practice in the training halls of Avalon Tower intermingles with my newfound powers, sending my blade spinning directly into the man's throat. The hilt juts from his neck. Groaning, he manages to pull it out, but a gurgling noise rises from his gullet. My heart is thundering wildly, and the metallic scent of blood fills the hall.

He's dying too slowly. I grab the dagger from his hand and plunge it into his heart, severing his artery. My thoughts are roaring, my vision's swimming. What the fuck am I turning into? All I can smell is blood, and it drips from my lips. Is it mine or theirs? I feel like I've fucking bathed in it.

For a few minutes, I can't think coherently. It's just me breathing in the smell of death—until my survival instincts kick back into action.

I have to get rid of what I've done.

Right now.

I don't have another moment to waste.

I drag the bodies out into the wintry night, one at a time. It's still dark, thank the gods. But even when the bodies are gone, what am I to do with the blood soaking the stairwell?

Once the corpses are outside, I pull the jacket off the man with the pale blond hair. Guilt flutters through me as I wonder if there might've been another way, but I don't have time to dwell on it. I'm in enemy territory here. One slip up, and my severed head will end up on a pike, my limbs nailed to the gatehouse.

I carry the jacket back inside and use it to soak up some of the blood from the stairs. Then I carry handfuls of snow inside, letting them melt on the blood-streaked stairs. As fast as I can, I scrub some of that up with the second jacket. It's not perfect, but the stones are dark. I've soaked up most of the pools.

When the stairs look less like a bloodbath, I return to the bodies, dragging them by the shoulders, one in each hand. It should be an impossible feat because they're heavy as fuck, but some of that earlier magical energy is propelling me on. I hoist them across the darkened courtyard.

When I look behind me, I realize I've left trails of crimson. They're not bleeding much—their hearts have stopped. But it's still there. I'm bleeding on the snow, too.

There's not much to do but keep going.

I pull them past the willow tree, gripping them both, my knuckles white as I drag them. Frustration crackles through me at how slowly I'm moving, and I glance up at the sky. As soon as the sun comes out, I'm fucked. Anyone will be able to see me from the windows of the palace, hauling fucking corpses across the courtyard.

The first blush of dawn starts to tinge the sky, and my breath catches.

I force myself to move faster, but the pain in my side is agonizing.

At last, I get to the ley portal and feel the stones' magic shimmering over me. The hair rises on the back of my neck as I drag them toward the edge of the circle. Only Sentinels can get through the ring stones, and whatever they're carrying with them.

But is a corpse really a person? Or is it now a thing? I'm about to find out.

I glance up at the sky and see the predawn light staining the clouds pale amber. Gods help me . I need to do this now. I drag the bodies into the jagged stones, and the black tear opens before me. With them in my grasp, I fall through the portal.

I land hard on the cold, rocky earth of Avalon. I look around me to find the ring stones standing tall, washed in the first milky rays of morning light. The bodies made it through the portal with me.

From a distance, soft, deep laughter ripples across the garden. Gripping my slashed side, I look up to see Mordred stalking closer, his dark cloak flowing behind him. "Did you bring me something daughter? A gift. Like a cat brings a dead mouse to its owners. How sweet."

"I had to get rid of them," I say, still catching my breath.

"You're hurt," he says. "Let me help you."

"Do you have healing magic?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "That I don't, I'm afraid."

"Needle and thread?"

"Might take me a while to find them."

I glance across at the ruined castle. "Never mind. I need you to get rid of the bodies. Can you do that?"

A dark smile curls his lips. "I do remember a look in your eyes, condemning me for killing all those people in Lothian Tower. But truly, my daughter, you do take after me. I am delighted to find you just as ruthless."

My throat tightens. "Just get rid of the corpses."

And with that, I plunge back into the fortress of my enemies.