Текст книги "Born of Blood and Ash"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 43 (всего у книги 63 страниц)

A reddish-silver pulse of light rippled across the realm, revealing the draken that had taken flight from the palace. I saw them when the sky growled, a deep rumble building in intensity until it reached a deafening crescendo. Bright bolts of crimson-laced eather erupted from Kolis and danced across the horizon, splitting into multiple veins that streaked through the clouds like writhing serpents.

From the valley below, a draken’s panicked call sent dread cascading through me. The draken in the sky veered sharply and dove to the ground—to safety.

“No,” I whispered. I had no idea if the draken were now loyal to Penellaphe or not, but I didn’t want to see what I knew was coming.

A scream lodged in my throat. The eather struck draken after draken. Horror swamped me as they twisted and writhed in the sky, their wings crumbling and then disappearing. Essence flared in me, one, two, three…eight times as the draken shifted into their mortal forms, their bodies limp as they fell…

I couldn’t believe what I’d just seen. Shock paralyzed me when the draken on the ground let out anguished wails. Kolis had nearly wiped out all the draken of the Court in less than a minute. I didn’t think I would be capable of something like that even if I wasn’t a fledgling Primal. The kind of power it took to kill a draken…

His laughter ceased. Then, he began to sing, his voice traveling through the air like a sinister requiem that became a somber song. My entire being recoiled instinctually as the very realm shuddered, and the haunting hymn rose…

Something fell from above too fast for me to tell what it was, but it was too small to be another draken. I jerked, something else plummeting from above. Warmth flared in my chest. I looked up, the heat quickly returning as another object fell, then another, and another…

I saw things climbing out of windows and over balcony rails on the upper floors of the sweeping ivory palace, opening their arms wide and embracing the call of death.

Oh, my gods.

Horror rose. Gods and godlings, mortals and servants, embraced death. The fall from Mount Lotho would kill a god. It would likely even do serious damage to a Primal.

“You sick bastard!” I screamed, willing the eather to the surface to try to catch the ones I could, but the essence merely sparked and flickered. The delay was costly, and the fall was too quick. “Stop!”

The chilling song ceased.

My furious glare fixed on Kolis as another echo of death haunted me. “Why? Why would you do that?” I shouted. I didn’t know if I was asking about those he’d called to their deaths or if I was demanding to know why he’d taken my family. I wasn’t sure why I was asking either. I knew the answer. He was a walking nightmare. Still, I screamed, “Why?”

“You should know,” Kolis said, his voice no longer carrying the winds of summer. Now, it brought with it the nothingness of death.

“Other than you being absolutely demented,” I seethed, “do you even know why you are this way?”

A heartbeat passed, and then Kolis was directly in front of me. I didn’t even see the blow coming. His fist slammed into my jaw, the force cranking my head back.

Pain erupted, and blood filled my mouth, but I somehow managed to keep my footing.

“Did you really think that would hurt me? A Primal a millennium old?” Kolis’s laugh sounded like dry bones rubbing together. “You silly cunt.”

Head ringing, I straightened and faced him, spitting a mouthful of blood directly in his face.

Kolis smiled, and there was nothing fake about it. He licked the blood from his lips. “Tasty.” Crimson shadows blossomed under the flesh of his chest. “I should thank you for Ascending a Primal to take Embris’s place. I would’ve chosen someone different, but she…” His smile spread, and red swirled in his eyes. “She will be so lovely when she kneels before me and pledges her allegiance. Not as fulfilling as when you do, but still enjoyable.”

It was almost like his words were a different sort of siren’s call to me. Common sense jumped right off the cliff, along with Holland’s advice. Rage was an unending fire in my blood, even as instinct warned me that I needed to be careful. I had to put space between us. Kolis was old. He was stronger and faster. I had been weakened substantially, and the pain from my numerous injuries was no longer so dull. Tiny stings and sharp pricks joined the throbbing in my jaw, but all the drowning anger and sorrow was far greater, as was the knowledge that I was no longer afraid of him.

The palace trembled under my wrath, and I launched myself at Kolis, summoning the eather.

All he did was lift his arm, and it was like I fucking jumped throat-first into his palm. “As much as it pains me even to admit this, Seraphena,”—his grip on my throat tightened—“I admire your tenacity. If things were different, you would’ve sat at my right hand as my most vicious ally.”

“Thanks,” I bit out, grasping his wrist. “My life is complete hearing that—”

He squeezed, silencing me and cutting off my next breath. “Your mouth, however, is a different story.”

I managed a smirk and lifted my left hand, extending my middle finger.

Kolis sighed. “I shouldn’t be surprised that you’d throw yourself at me. That’s what whores do.”

Then he threw me down with enough force to knock the trapped air out of my lungs again. The impact hurt, but I could still breathe. Wheezing and coughing, I rolled onto my side.

“And that is all you are. A whore with stolen power.” He stood over me, planting one foot on either side of me. He grabbed my hair, wrapping the strands around his fist. Jerking my head back, he forced me to meet his stare “A mortal pretending to be a Primal, who doesn’t know her place.”

“Or doesn’t know when to shut up?”

“Acknowledging the problem is half the battle, isn’t it?” He smirked. “You thought yourself so much better than me, didn’t you? Just like Eythos. But look at what you’ve done.”

I flinched.

“You killed tonight, Sera. You murdered coldly and without thought or care,” he said. “You’re no better than me.”

I couldn’t think about that right now: the truth in his words. I grabbed his arm, my nails breaking off as they dug into his flesh. I summoned the eather, but…it only pulsed weakly. My heart stuttered, and my gaze flew to his. Fuck.

“What? Come on, Seraphena. Lash out at me,” he goaded, an achingly frigid smile playing on his lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw guards beyond the interior archway leveling their bows. “Fight me like the Primal you think you are,” he pouted. “Or can’t you get it up?”

“That sounds more like your problem.” I gave him a bloody smile.

His nostrils flared. “You fucking—”

Holding on to his arm, I kicked out hard, slamming the heel of my boot into his stomach. He bent over just as a high-pitched whistle hit the air—several of them.

Kolis looked at them.

That was all he did.

The arrows shattered into dust, and the guards’ heads snapped abruptly.

I briefly closed my eyes against the pulse of death.

“How quickly loyalties change,” Kolis remarked with a shrug. “Embris would be rolling in his grave, as they say.” He twisted the hair in his grip, sending a fiery wave of pain across my skull. “Still nothing?”

My pulse pounded, and I could feel the eather struggling to ignite inside me.

Kolis chuckled darkly. “That’s what I thought. Pitiful.” He yanked my head back until sharp, stabbing pain shot down my spine. “I want you to know one thing, Seraphena.” The dull gleam of red bone appeared along his jaw. “It was neither Kyn nor Embris who entered Wayfair. Who listened to the pleas for mercy. Nor was it they who killed the Queen of Lasania. It was me.”

Everything inside me stopped once more as a tempest of fury surged through my veins, and pulsating rage roared in my ears.

“I was the last face they saw. The last voice they heard.” His head lowered to mine, and I shuddered, feeling his lips against my cheek. “And it felt so good to place my hands on them and hear their necks snap.” His tongue snaked along my cheek to my ear. “You brought this on yourself.”

My mind clicked off. There was nothing Primal or mortal about what I did next. It was pure, animalistic, unbridled rage. I snapped my head forward, not even feeling the strands of hair I tore out in the process, and went for the closest part of him, sinking my fangs into the side of his throat.

Kolis roared and jerked his head back. His flesh ripped, spilling even more blood. It coursed down his neck and my chin. I didn’t even have a chance to swallow it.

Suddenly, I was flying.

The floor was up, and the sky was down for a few brief seconds. I crashed into a pillar and fell forward, stunned as agony radiated down the length of my body.

Get up.

I needed to get up and breathe. I flattened my palms, and lightning streaked the sky, momentarily turning night to day. Breathe in. I needed to get up because this was the true Primal of Death. I may have thought I’d faced him before, but I hadn’t. I’d squared off with a weaker version of him.

Kolis stopped, looking up as heavy thunder rolled. He laughed. “You are so incredibly easy to provoke,” he said, voice thickening. “So incredibly easy to play.”

Hold. I took the time to rest and take stock of the situation while he blabbed on. Using eather wasn’t an option, but I wasn’t weaponless. I pushed onto my knees. Breathe out. Another bolt of lightning cut through the sky. Hold. The air cooled, the temperature dropping until I could see my breath.

“Perfect,” he said. “Nyktos can feel you right now, even though he’s at the Pillars. Blood isn’t that powerful. The blessing of a heart bond, though? He can feel everything and do nothing.” He paused. “I do hope he sends his draken. I would love nothing more than to send Nektas’s body back to him.”

The lightning. The temperature. It was Ash.

“Believe it or not, I enjoyed escorting souls through the Pillars. Seeing their lives. Their pain. How they loved. Hated. Their mistakes and successes. I lived vicariously through them for eons,” he said. “But I do not miss being tied to them.”

I shuddered and breathed out. Tiny snowflakes had begun to fall, swirling gently to the ruined floor. Silvery flashes of light began pulsing in the valley below.

“You’re nothing but a fledgling Primal without my nephew by your side,” he continued. “Or a so-called Fate to make sure your mouth doesn’t get you into trouble.”

I lifted my head, meeting his stare as realization sank in. All of this… Kolis had set a trap, and I had rushed right into it.

“Ah, I see you’re finally figuring it out.” He raised his brows, and crimson shadows swirled across his cheeks. “Admittedly, you killing Embris did catch me a little off guard. I didn’t think you’d be able to harness that kind of power yet. That angered me.” Chunks of stone lifted and slid away as he strode toward me. “But having you unleash your rage and take quite a few people’s lives in the process was also surprisingly arousing.”

“Fucking creep,” I rasped.

“What did you say?”

I rose to my feet, holding my breath for five seconds. “I said, you are—”

Kolis shot forward and grabbed my throat. He lifted me, slamming me into the wall. “I’m sorry. What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.”

“Fucking creep!” I screamed.

His eyes flashed pure crimson as he pressed into me. Fucking gods, he hadn’t been lying a few seconds ago. My stomach roiled. “I gave you a chance, Seraphena. All you had to do was give me what I wanted. I would’ve left you and my nephew alone. I wouldn’t have gone after your family. I would’ve had my everything.” His mouth brushed my chin when he spoke, his voice as soft and gentle as the most peaceful death. But his body shook with anger. “I would’ve been happy!” he shouted. “I would’ve been whole for the first time in my fucking life!”

I tried to turn my head away, but he tightened his grip. Over his shoulder, I saw a draken drawing nearer. I didn’t know if it was one of his or one that now belonged to Penellaphe, and I had no idea where Attes was.

“I would have what you and my nephew have.” Kolis inhaled deeply. “But you had to be this way. You had to ruin everything. You had to test me.”

Without even looking, he threw out his left hand. A bolt of crimson-and-black eather streamed out, thick like oil, striking the draken. Its scream stole my breath, its wings crumbling before it fell.

“You just had to make it difficult.” He rested his forehead against mine and sighed. “So, now I’m going to make it difficult.”

I swung my arm, grabbing a fistful of his hair. Strands snapped when I jerked his head back. “Do you ever not blame yourself for anything? Oh, wait. You have. You blame yourself for your brother’s death.”

His lips peeled back in a snarl. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You and I both know that’s bullshit, Kolis,” I hissed. “You loved him. He loved you. And you murdered him.”

“Shut up.”

“By accident,” I spat.

Hollow bone appeared along his jaw. His lips thinned until there was no flesh as he leaned back.

“Tell me, Kolis.” I laughed, spitting blood. “Do you really want to live? Because I know what I saw when I drove the bone through your chest. Relief.”

“Shut the fuck up!”

I swung my knee up. Kolis moved at the last second, and the blow connected with his chest. He grunted and released me. I reached for the bone dagger at my thigh, unsheathing it. I thrust out, aiming for the fucker’s head—

Kolis caught my wrist, looked down at what I held, and tilted his head. “Drop it,” he ordered, his voice guttural.

“Fuck you,” I spat, swinging out with my other arm.

“Maybe later.” He caught my left arm. Flesh returned, and the crimson bone retreated. “I think I’m owed that, aren’t I?”

I struggled to push past his hold. “I thought you were waiting for Sotoria.”

“I was.” He twisted my right wrist, snapping the bone. I couldn’t suppress the scream as my fingers sprang open, and the dagger slipped free. “It’s not like I’d be betraying Sotoria. I don’t desire you or your body. I desire your pain and submission. Your humiliation. And since I know her soul is in The Star, I also know she’s not out there waiting for me.”

“Waiting for you?” I gasped, my arm throbbing. “You mean hiding from you, willing to end her life to escape you?”

Kolis turned sharply, throwing me like a sack of potatoes. I hit the floor, crashing into stone. I groaned when thudding agony rolled through my right arm. I couldn’t move as I felt the essence slipping from my chest and pooling in my stomach.

I really should’ve listened to Holland.

“You and I are really going to need to work on watching that mouth of yours.” Kolis was kneeling over me before I could even move. He grabbed my nape and flipped me onto my back. “Because you and I?” He caught my wrists, grinding the broken bones together as he pinned my arms above my head. He straddled my legs, trapping them. “We’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

“Get off me, you piece of shit!” I screamed, eather flickering frantically. He switched the hold on my wrists to one hand. “Get off me—”

He slapped his free hand down on my mouth, his fingers more bone than flesh and cutting into my skin. “I have a feeling I’m going to have to cut out your tongue, and that would be a shame. I’m sure once Kyn finishes with his brother, he’ll want a taste of that sharp tongue.” A spasm shuddered through him as he rolled his neck. “I need you to listen to me when I tell you how this will go.”

I glared at him, wishing my stare could burn him alive.

“First and foremost, you will give me The Star,” he said. “But that will no longer satisfy me. You will give me more than that.”

I strained against his hold, rage choking me.

“You will give me retribution,” he whispered, blood dripping from his throat onto my face, even though the wound had healed. “I will keep you alive until Sotoria matures, and then I will drain every drop of blood and essence from you and rise as the Primal of Ash and Blood.” He lowered his head, and my body went rigid. I felt his fangs against my throat. “That will take years, Seraphena. Years. And in those years, you will feel what I have. What it’s like to have the one thing you only ever wanted repeatedly taken from you. Do you know how that feels? You should have gotten a taste of it since I’ve already begun.” He lifted my upper body when I didn’t answer and slammed me back down. My head cracked off the floor. He removed his hand from my mouth. “Do you?”

“Fuck off!” I shouted as panic, icy and slick, coated my skin, and my vision blinked in and out. I couldn’t pass out. I couldn’t.

Kolis gripped my chin. Snow fell in larger flakes, coming down faster. “Every day without her kills a piece of me,” he said, real emotion creeping into his voice, thickening it. “And I want that for you. I want you to drown in it. Choke on it. I want each and every day you live to be coated in sorrow and regret, while knowing you could’ve prevented it by giving her to me.” He slammed my head back once more, and my vision faded again. “I want Nyktos’s death.”

My heart stopped, and my struggles ceased. “No,” I seethed, feeling the essence trying to rise. “I will not allow it.”

“You are no longer in a position to decide what you will allow.” He tipped my head back until my neck protested. “But I don’t want a quick death for him. He will live as long as you so that he, too, can feel that loss every day. So that he can feel everything done to you, just as he feels this right now. And as I said before, Seraphena, I have so much planned for you.”

My insides flashed cold, and our eyes locked. I thought I heard footsteps, but I had to be imagining it because he didn’t react.

“And because I am a kind and gracious King, I will allow you two to leave this existence together,” he said, eyes burning like coals. A shadow moved out of the corner of my eye. He was zeroed in on me and only me. “But by then, I imagine both of you will be begging for death.”

He shifted his lower body, and my entire being flinched. “Should we start now?”

I refused to look away from him. I refused to cower—to beg or disappear.

“I’m going to ask you once more,” he said, slipping his hand from my chin and running it down my chest. I clamped my jaw as he squeezed, swallowing the cry of pain. “Do I scare you?” His hand twisted, and I kicked my head back. A wave of agony washed over me. “Do I?”

I panted through the pain. My head was spinning. Another flash of lightning radiated through the sky, reflecting off a blade of dull white. I didn’t understand what I was seeing in the falling snow until my eyes locked with ones the color of the Stroud Sea. “No,” I rasped. “You don’t scare me anymore. I feel absolutely nothing when it comes to you.”

Kolis lifted his head, eyes narrowing. “We’ll have to change that, won’t we?”

I smiled. “I think…I’ll pass on that offer.”

Crimson eather flared in his eyes, and I knew he was about to do something terrible.

He didn’t get the chance.

The bone dagger I’d dropped sliced clear through Kolis’s throat as his head was jerked back. Hot, shimmery blood sprayed my face, and the Primal reared, his shout ending in an abrupt crunch of bone as Ward, the first viktor, cut the fucker’s head clean off his shoulders.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

The release of energy came in a flash of intense whitish-silver light.

It wasn’t a destructive discharge of power, but it still threw Ward back and knocked the air out of me.

I’d been wrong.

Ward hadn’t sliced Kolis’s head completely off. And I wished I hadn’t been wrong for several reasons. The least important one—but the only reason I could focus on at the moment—was the fact that Kolis’s head had flopped to the side, lying against his shoulder, exposing torn sinew and bone. His head was only hanging on by threads of flesh.

He blinked at me, his mouth stretched wide in a silent, bloody snarl.

I would never unsee this. And there was a good chance I might vomit, but I needed to snap out of it. He staggered to his feet, and mist poured from him, opening a tear in the realm. I groaned, rolling onto my side and trying to stand. Kolis was severely weakened, and that kind of injury wouldn’t heal right away. The tomb in Oak Ambler wasn’t ready, and we didn’t have enough Ancient bone to hold him. But if we could keep him—

The entire realm seemed to flicker into nothingness—either that or I passed out because the next thing I knew, Ward was hovering over me, his sandy-blond hair damp with fallen snow. Concern was clearly etched into the sun-weathered lines of his face.

“Say something,” he said, his cold hand on my cheek.

I swallowed, wincing as pain flared in my throat. “Hi?”

His brows shot up. “Say something a little more complex than that.”

“You almost cut Kolis’s head off.”

“Feels strange to be relieved to hear you say that,” he said. “But yes, I did.”

“He’s gone, isn’t he?”

Ward nodded.

I swore, squeezing my eyes shut. Kolis would likely be down for the count, but…

“Thank you,” I said.

“No need to thank me.”

But there was. If he hadn’t shown up…

Ward worked an arm under my shoulders and apologized. I winced. “You need to get out—” He cursed, ducking his head when a large, green-and-brown-scaled draken landed on the edge of the ruined chamber. “Godsdamnit,” he muttered, glaring at the draken, who stared back at us with vivid sapphire eyes.

“What is it with…you and draken?” I asked as he helped me stand. The…the imprint of that draken was familiar. Aurelia? Attes’s draken?

“They breathe fiery eather,” he quipped. “Enough said.”

I figured he had a point. “Aurelia?”

The draken nodded.

“She won’t hurt you,” I said, taking a deep breath that hurt my ribs, spine…everything.

“Sure.” Ward sounded doubtful.

The valley below was illuminated with streaks of eather once more, drawing my attention. I stiffened. Aurelia’s neck swiveled gracefully. She peered down into the valley, letting out a low whimper. I pulled away from the viktor and limped toward the edge of the atrium. Snow continued to fall in heavy sheets, coating the rooftops and the once rain-slicked streets. It wasn’t the only thing that littered the tops of buildings and roads. Bodies did, too. Lotho residents moved in the streets, seeing to the fallen.

I turned away from the sight. The reminder of the true extent of Kolis’s power was painful. “Is it Attes and Kyn?”

Yes, came Aurelia’s response. It wasn’t as loud or clear as when I heard Nektas or even Reaver, but the worry in her soft voice was evident.

My hands closed into fists. “I need to get down there and help Attes.” I tried to summon the eather, but the pulse of power was weak. “I don’t think I can shadowstep.”

“Going down there would be unwise,” Ward stated.

“Agreed,” another voice intruded, snapping my head toward the still-standing interior wall.

Thierran strode forward, the hood of his cloak shielding his head from the precipitation. The footprints the oneirou left in the snow were red. Blood. He carried a short sword at his side, the tip also dripping blood.

“How did you get here?” I demanded, tensing as I reached out, taking the bone dagger from Ward’s hand. Ash said Thierran could be trusted. Somewhat. But I wasn’t taking any chances.

“Trust no one. Smart girl,” he murmured, eyeing the dagger. His gaze lifted to mine. “I could sense…something going on down here, other than the obvious,” he said. “Since I am from Lotho, I can enter without it causing a stir. No one else from the Shadowlands could do that, so Rhain sent me.”

It made sense, but I kept the dagger in my hand. “You had trouble coming in?”

His head tilted. “More like I figured it was time to settle some old scores on my way up.”

Ward grunted something under his breath and crossed his arms. I eyed the oneirou. What had Ash said? He’d called Thierran an opportunist. A low laugh left me.

The oneirou’s violet eyes glittered with amusement. “You’re wounded.” He paused. “And you smell of Death.”

“Thanks,” I murmured. “Kolis was here.”

“That’s who did this?” He looked over the side of the mountain and his jaw tensed. “He finally almost succeeded.”

“In what?” I noticed the snow had slowed.

“Eradicating the oneirou.” He sheathed his sword. “I am the last.”

Gods. The weight of that was almost too much to bear as it stacked on top of all the other losses. “I’m sorry.”

Thierran’s gaze met mine. There was nothing to be gained from his expression. “Thank you,” he said finally, bowing his head.

Kyn tucked tail and ran, Aurelia said through the notam, each word laced with disgust. Even left his wounded draken here.

The draken.

I sucked in a shrill breath when images of the falling draken filled my mind. “Lotho had how many draken?”

“Ten, I believe,” Thierran answered.

There were only two now. I shuddered.

Aurelia lowered her head when Attes appeared. He looked as bad as I felt. The armor across his chest was dented, fresh blood coursed down his arms, and his leather pants were charred in several places.

“Where the fuck is Kolis?” he growled.

“Likely gone to ground.” I sheathed the bone dagger. “Ward here snuck up on him and nearly decapitated him.”

“Wouldn’t have been able to do it if he hadn’t been so focused on you,” Ward replied.

Attes’s gaze shot to mine, and I looked away. He reached out and ran his palm over Aurelia’s scaled jaw. “Come on.” He came to my side, and Aurelia took off, rising into the sky. “Let’s get you home before any other asshole decides to show up.”

I nodded but then turned to the oneirou. “Are you coming back?”

“Eventually. No need to rush now that Embris is no more.” A grin appeared, curving the straight lines of his scars. “Can’t say I am even remotely upset about that.”

“We can agree on that,” Ward said gruffly, and my chest hollowed. He bowed his head toward me. “If you will excuse me, I would like to check on Penellaphe.”

“Thank you again,” I said, weariness settling in. And now that the adrenaline was gone, I could feel the cracks in my restraint starting to form.

Ward waved my gratitude off, walking away. Attes folded an arm around my waist and told Thierran, “Stay out of trouble.”

The oneirou smiled in a way that told me he planned to use this time to settle more scores. I wanted to laugh again.

Attes shadowstepped us back to the House of Haides, and as the mist around us faded, I saw familiar faces in the palace’s foyer. Solemn expressions. Worried eyes.

It was Rhain who stepped forward. “Sera?”

“Where is Nyktos?” Attes demanded.

“He’s still at the Pillars,” Rhain said, his gaze fixed on me. “Rhahar joined him to help. There’s been…”

There had been even more souls passing through the Pillars.

Because of me.

Because of Kolis.

A tremor coursed through me.

“I’ll have fresh water sent to your chambers,” Aios said, drawing away from a shockingly quiet Bele. “We’ll get you cleaned up.”

I said nothing, just started to go with Attes and Rhain as they led me toward the stairs. Some distant part of my brain clicked back on, and I remembered what the events of tonight actually meant. I needed to keep it together. For just a little bit longer.

“Are the Shadowlands secured?” I asked, barely recognizing my voice.

“Yes,” Lailah answered. “Soldiers are on the Rise surrounding Lethe and the palace since this…this began.”

“Has Theon been notified to watch for any movement?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Good.” I pressed my hand to my lower stomach, my mind racing. “We…should send someone to Mount Lotho,” I said, truly having no idea how much Holland would intervene if there was another attack. “There are only two draken remaining. Penellaphe’s Court will be vulnerable until she awakens.”

Lailah’s inhale was swift. “Only two?”

“Kolis,” I said, and that was all I could say about that.

“I’m already on it,” Attes assured me. “Aurelia will send Elias and several of my most trusted guards.”

“Sera.” Saion moved into my line of sight. “What are the orders if we see ships entering the Lassa Sea?”

I met his stare, but all I saw were the people of Lotho leaping to their deaths. “If they do not swear allegiance to the true Queen and King, destroy them.”

“Are you sure?” Attes asked.

“I think she was pretty clear,” Bele growled, eather pooling in her eyes.

Rhain turned to me. “There will be no turning back if that is what we do.”

“We are already past that point, and that was before Kolis had my family slaughtered,” I hissed, and Bele gasped. The shock radiating through each of their faces told me they hadn’t learned about that yet. Energy ramped up inside me. “We were already past that point. I just didn’t see it until now.”

“Fates,” Rhain rasped.

Attes hung his head in shame that didn’t belong to him.

“I will no longer risk the lives of those I care for,” I told them. “If any forces are perceived as a threat, destroy them.”

Saion nodded, anger mixing with the disbelief in his expression. “Understood and agreed.”

Lailah joined him, thumping her fist off her chest. “We will gladly follow those orders.”

I inhaled through the burning in my throat and eyes.

“Bele,” Attes said. “You need to protect your Court’s boundaries.”

Bele’s nostrils flared. “I need to protect my Queen—”

“You will be doing just that by making sure your Court doesn’t fall into Kolis’s hands,” I said.

Bele’s jaw flexed, but she nodded. “I promise that will not happen.”

“I know.” I forced a swallow. “Kolis is wounded. He will be out, but I don’t know for how long. And I assume Kyn isn’t in much better shape.”

“He’s not,” Attes confirmed.

“But we should plan for either of them to make a move at any point,” I continued, glancing at Rhain. “We need to send forces to Sirta to back up Bele.”

There were several nods.

“I will also send a division.” Attes tugged on my waist. “Come.”

Kars moved away from the pedestal and stopped in front of us. He lowered himself to one knee and bowed his head. “I am sorry for your loss,” he said, his voice thick. “May your family be welcomed into the arms of those waiting for them in the Vale.”

Tears clogged my throat and stung my eyes. I felt myself begin to shake and crack further. “Thank you.”

I had no idea how I ended up in my bedchambers, whether I had walked or Attes had shadowstepped us—for all I knew, he could’ve carried me. But we were there.