Chapter Eighteen
I watched as Madisyn continually wrung her hands. There had been absolute bedlam since the moment I’d awoken this morning. It was our wedding day, and everyone was on edge. Security inside the castle had been beefed up, and I had guards stationed at my door. No one was comfortable because there were too many creatures squeezed into the castle today.
“You look beautiful, Sorcha, doesn’t she, Adam?” Madisyn said, forcing my eyes to lift from my trembling hands to meet Adam’s. “I meant Synthia, I’m sorry. It’s just that today my daughter is truly here.”
“She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a while,” he agreed, taking pressure off her mistake, even though he himself was handsome in a morning coat styled tuxedo with a black tie and gray vest, his hair neatly pulled back.
Mine was piled elegantly atop my head. The silver crown that kept it caged had blood red rubies at each raised peak. Silver bracelets that matched the bands around my biceps tinkled musically every time I moved. I had just enough makeup to enhance my features, and yet it looked natural. The dress wasn’t the one we’d selected together, but a last-minute surprise that Madisyn glamoured on me—and I could have sworn the sneaky Fae Queen was going to start crying if I didn’t give in and wear it. This one was a creamy white taffeta and had an open back with cross straps and organza ruffles that flowed beautifully to the floor. The front had a deep V-neckline, and the veil was sheer and edged with almost transparent lace that had been used in Madisyn’s own wedding so long ago.
I stood up from the small vanity and turned to Madisyn and Adam, who waited with me as the guards did a perimeter search before it was time to walk down the aisle and marry my Fairy. My nerves were everywhere; my heart hammered against my chest as I considered what I was doing.
I still wasn’t afraid to bind myself to Ryder; I loved him. It was something I knew to the very fiber of my being. I wasn’t afraid of spending the rest of my very long life with him; for me, there was no other option. He was mine. The rest wasn’t of importance as long as we had that. I was nervous and edgy because so many things could go wrong today. We had so many creatures set to be inside the castle that, if anyone who wished us ill wanted in, it would be easy to do.
“Nerves, Syn?” Adam moved closer and handed me a glass of red wine.
“No, not about marrying him,” I replied softly. “I love him. I’m just worried about everything else that could go wrong today.”
“We all are.” He gave me a small smirk as I accepted the glass and his hand, and he gripped mine with enough force to reassure me. I pulled my hand back and set the wine on the table that had refreshments on it. “Larissa would have loved this,” he smiled, and his eyes twinkled fondly at me. “She’d have been going crazy that you were going to be a queen.”
“She would have; she would have tried on all of the crowns by now. She would have loved it here, probably more than any of us.”
Larissa would have planned the entire wedding with Madisyn; she would have loved it. Ever since we’d been kids, she’d always had her shit together, and she had been the one who wanted the kids, the big wedding, and the prince. Not me. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat as I tried to recall what she looked like. It was as if time was erasing my beloved friend from my mind.
“I don’t remember what she looked like,” I whispered through trembling lips. “Adam.” I turned to look at him with tears in my eyes. “I can’t remember what Larissa looked like.”
“Big green eyes, the color of the greenest spring grasses in existence.” His voice was gentle as he reached out and touched my face. “Chestnut hair that couldn’t be tamed,” he smirked. “It was so wild that she had to pin it up before she could sleep at night. You remember how much she complained about it? It never did what she wanted it to, and yet every morning it looked perfect, as if she’d spent hours arranging it instead of the few minutes we were allowed to ready for missions. Not a single strand looked out of place, and you use to tease her about it, because she always looked ready to go to war the moment she rolled out of bed.”
“She was always so prepared.” I tried to pat at the corners of my eyes to make sure I wasn’t tearing up. “Her makeup was never off, nor did she ever look exhausted like the rest of us.”
“No, she was always refreshed from what little sleep we’d gotten,” he laughed.
“You remember her pink pajamas with the frogs?” I laughed.
“Oh God, they were falling apart,” he snorted. “They did hug her ass nicely, though.”
“Pervert,” I laughed. Tears blurred my vision and I chewed my lip as a sob escaped. “I miss her. I want her here with me today so badly.”
“You’ll ruin your makeup,” he chided as he stepped closer and hugged me tightly. “She would have given anything to be here if she could have.”
“I know, but there’s not a day that I don’t think of her and miss her being a part of this.” I swallowed as I pulled away and carefully wiped my eyes.
“We all miss her,” he agreed.
“Synthia, it’s almost time,” Madisyn interrupted as she opened the door and spoke with the guards for a moment. “I need to take my place.” She motioned for Adam to follow her. “Adam will wait for you and your father at the doors of the throne room, just like we practiced.”
“Okay.” I pushed up on my tiptoes to kiss Adam’s cheek before hugging Madisyn, who beamed in response.
“You are a sight today. One that the lands will speak of until the end of time,” she said roughly before she wiped at her eyes and smiled. “Thank you for allowing me to do this for you.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I dabbed at the corners of my eyes as I watched them leave. Once the door was closed, I exhaled and moved back to the vanity, staring at the reflection of a stranger.
I watched as my image shimmered to the look I wanted. For a moment, I was me when I’d been no more than an Enforcer, glowing blue glyphs enhanced with the invisible ink, then my image shimmered to the girl I’d been upon first arriving in Faery. The Heir brands swirled upon my flesh, fanning out as they fought each other for dominance upon my flesh. They climbed my arms in thin lines to form a mixed colored Celtic knot of womanhood on my shoulders. The place where the stars for my guardians had once rested as a reminder of what I’d lost. One for each life I’d lost in my childhood. My eyes closed and, when I opened them, they were the brilliant azure and lilac colored ones I’d inherited after Transitioning. Delicate thin black lines surrounded my irises, the tricolor of Fae royalty. I opened my mouth, watching as the delicate fangs extended. This was what I was supposed to look like, this was me.
“There she is,” I whispered at the reflection, watching as the brands struggled for dominance. Dark red, gold, black, and silver pulsed along my arms as power radiated from each strand. The white ink of the Guild pulsed as well, glowing strong and sure even against the Fae brands. It had been a long time since I’d seen them or anything that I’d had since before coming to Faery. That girl was still in there, but she wasn’t the same.
I reached up and began pulling the veil over my face as a knock sounded from the door. I moved to it without thought as it opened and Lasair walked in. He looked regal in his suit, but his eyes looked different today. He nodded to the guards and directed them to wait for us in the outer hallway to guard our entry into the main hall.
Once inside, he turned violet and cobalt eyes on me and smiled as he slowly looked me over. His smile, however, gave me pause, and the hair on my nape stood up in awareness that something was wrong.
“Lasair?” I looked at him speculatively, trying to figure out what was off as he smiled a generous smile at me, his brilliant eyes seemed to twinkle.
“Sorcha, my sweet, is something amiss?” he asked, revealing perfect teeth.
“Not at all, Faolán,” I growled as I watched him. His eyes narrowed and he grinned, and as I watched him close the door, I swallowed the urge to scream for help. “I knew you’d get the message I sent out.” I watched as he locked us into the room.
I wasn’t afraid of him. I wouldn’t be afraid of him any longer. He’d taken up too much of my life with worrying about where he was, or what he was doing. He was insane, and the only way to protect myself and my babies, was to take him out of the equation.
“Afraid, sister dear?” he smirked as he produced blades and gave up pretending to be our father. His features shimmered back to the ones that had haunted me for most of my life. He was still beautiful; his eyes shone deceivingly, the ethereal beauty of the Fae his only redeeming quality, but it was a lie. What lay beneath that beautiful façade was monstrous. He tilted his head and watched me as he stepped closer, only for me to sidestep, placing more distance between us.
“I am not afraid of you,” I replied easily, showing no weakness. He was cold, maniacal, and his kind fed off fear. I glamoured the veil off and stepped out of the Cinderella shoes I’d worn for Ryder. He loved fucking me in heels that looked particularly hot on his shoulders. “I was as a child, when you slaughtered the people who were protecting me. Did you know how close you were to me that day?” I taunted, drawing his attention away from my breasts, which his eyes feasted on. “I was there, brother. I watched you take my adopted mother over and over again before you bashed in my father’s head. I was right beneath your nose and you still couldn’t find me. So close, Faolán, and yet always just out of your reach.”
“You’re alone now, sister, and I’ve brought others with me. Others who want to see the end of your betrothed’s line. The Horde will be no more when I finish with them, and when I have, you’ll be mine. This time, I will take what is rightfully mine from you. I may even allow you a little pleasure before I end your pathetic life.”
“Always with the fucking; Faolán, I’m your sister. You sick fuck,” I laughed. “You’re not man enough to take me, not now, not ever. Whoever you brought here will be slaughtered, and this will end here and now.”
“It ends when I find your twins and slaughter them,” he shouted, spittle exploding from his lips.
“Triplets, Faolán, I had three. Three children who are all more worthy of inheriting the Heir brands than you. I pity you; you’re a sad little thing.” I shook my head in disgust as I glamoured swords and waited for him to strike. “You always lose, and that’s because you want it too bad. Too much. You’ll never lead any caste of the Fae, because you are not a leader. You ran to the Mages and sought their help because you’re too weak to do anything yourself. Here, we call you Faolán the Failure; born to fail anything you set out to do.”
“I captured you once, whore; I will do it again and I will force him to watch as I spread your thighs and take you. You will scream for me; whether in pleasure or pain, you will scream!” he shouted as he lunged, and I danced around it, dodging the attack and deflecting it with my blades as I placed my back to the door and watched him.
His blades were iron, the handles were wrapped in swathes of cloth, but to the Fae, they were deadly. He’d been carrying them, slowly draining himself to get to me. I’d been waiting for him, knowing that this wedding wouldn’t happen if he showed, but this was more important.
This was everything.
“Iron?” I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why he was working so hard to kill me if he intended to have me still.
“Iron kills Fae; you think I came here to take prisoners?” he spat.
“No, I think you came here to die,” I answered calmly.
He lunged, swinging, and I parried as he advanced. An age-old dance of warriors, each swing was effortless as I deflected his blows with my lighter, thinner blades. I dropped and rolled when he got too close to me, kicking out as I went down, which sent him crashing through the doors he’d entered through.
The moment we entered the halls, the sound of faint screams reached my ears, and I ignored it. Nothing mattered except killing him. I brought my blade up as he lunged, deflecting the blow that had been meant to sever my head from my body.
I stepped backwards, and for a moment I seemed to lose control of my body as a concussive blast of noise and sheer force knocked me off my feet; stone and wood blew around the hallway. The explosion sent both me and Faolán sailing as debris scattered over us and landed everywhere. I was the first up, searching for my blades as my ears continued to ring from the noise. I was covered in a sheen of fine dust from the stone. I didn’t stop to look as I found a blade and turned in time to deflect another blow and lunge, and then parried him as he attacked ruthlessly.
My heart skipped a beat as screams erupted from the main hall, the place where Ryder was supposed to be waiting to marry me. I didn’t dare run to him, because Faolán would vanish the moment I did. I was down a blade, having lost it in the debris, and I could feel the wards around us humming with the warning of danger.
In my free hand, I brought up an energy ball; fluorescent blue power sailed through the air at Faolán before he could think to block it. It hit him in his chest, sending him careening into the wall behind him. Smoke billowed from the hall, and my heart beat wildly as the screams lingered. Terrified shrieks and moans of pain carried on the billowing smoke that reached into the hallway, filling it with a smoky haze that made it next to impossible to see Faolán.
One after another I continued to slam magical balls of energy in his direction. Unable to see if I hit the mark, I moved closer, only to feel searing pain as one of his hit me. I ducked, not daring to roll with the rocks and other debris that littered the floor. My side was on fire, but I wasn’t losing this battle.
I remained still, unmoving. I didn’t even dare to breathe as he searched for me in the thick, billowing smoke. The moment he got close, I brought my sword up and slid it through his center, but he pulled away from the pain. His scream told me I’d hit my mark, and once again I was silent as I moved across the room, using the smoke as a screen and a shield.
He fumbled. The sound of feet crushing rock gave his position away and, once again, I gave up my location to swing my blade as I used my other hand to project energy from it; his grunt of pain was satisfying.
“You bitch, you ruined everything!” he shouted, the sound hollow; he must have been choking on the blood that was surely flowing from his lungs. “I should have been the Heir, and then I could have killed our sniveling father and taken his crown! But you, you ruined it all! They threw you away like trash, and you could have stayed away and lived, but you returned to Faery and triggered your destiny. Now, that destiny will kill you!”
“I’m not just the Heir to the Blood throne, Faolán. I’m a Goddess,” I snapped angrily. “No one would have let you sit on that throne, no one! You are evil to the very center of your rotten core. Danu and Faery would have fought you so that the heir brands would go to Liam over you. This land fights against those who harm it, or hadn’t you noticed that?”
“I would have killed them all—and their children!” he shouted, catching me off guard as he shot another energy ball towards me, hitting the side of my head.
He lunged, trying to use the element of surprise against me. I was ready, and swung my blade as I felt the power in the room shift in the hall, and he collided with my blade. It stuck through his shoulder, but once again he moved away into the thick clouds of smoke.
I went silent, sensing him as he cradled his arm and grunted with pain. I moved soundlessly, gliding over the rubble as I snuck closer to him. The moment I did, I paused, staring at his back. His shoulders drooped in defeat; he was defeated and he knew it.
“You can change,” I tried. For Madisyn’s sake, I would at least try—but my hope died an ignoble death as he turned with his hands full of energy. In that moment, I knew he’d never change what he was: Evil until his last dying breath.
My sword swung out before he could send the huge glowing balls of magic at me, severing muscle from flesh as his head detached from his body and went rolling across the debris-strewn floor. My eyes followed it as it rolled towards the screams that still filled the hall. Blood dripped from my face, and I vaguely realized it was arterial flow from his decapitation. My dress was ripped, torn from the fight, and yet I didn’t stop, I couldn’t.
My feet moved, as if pulled by an invisible cord. I walked towards the chaos I heard, and into the room where I’d been about to pledge my life to Ryder’s. There was no joy in killing Faolán, only a sense of peace in knowing he’d never touch me or my children ever again.
I waved my hand, clearing the smoke that filled the room, and gasped as bodies were revealed. Bodies with limbs missing and dead corpses littered the floor. Adam was laying on the floor, forcing me to move into action as I made my way through the bodies to get to him.
“No, no, get up,” I pleaded as I searched the room for Ryder. “Adam, please,” I begged, and when he opened his eyes, I sagged in relief. My magic searched him for injuries, finding several contusions but nothing that would be debilitating. “What happened?”
“Jesus,” he gasped, holding onto me as he searched me for injuries. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s not my blood,” I assured him. “Ryder?”
“I don’t know; he wasn’t here when the room exploded.”
“How did it explode?” I asked, looking around, searching for clues. The debris went outwards; rocks were thrown outwards from what had once been a wall. The damage was the worst by the dais, which meant it was the point of the origin of the blast. “It was meant to kill him.” I tried to swallow the lump that appeared in my throat at that realization.
“You don’t know that,” he grunted as I helped him to his feet as we stumbled over the bodies, stone, and debris.
“Look at it, it’s gone,” I whispered as I swallowed the scream that was lodged in my throat. There was no sign of him or his brothers. My eyes moved to those who were stirring, finding Lasair, Keir, and Madisyn on the far side of the room, covered in dust and blood. “Could they have found a way to kill him? I can’t lose him, Adam,” I sobbed. I couldn’t. He was my world. If he was gone, I’d unravel. I’d come apart. I’d become a monster to avenge him. “We have to help the wounded,” I announced resolutely. My voice quivered as I fought to control it. “We have to get them out of here.”
I watched as Adam reached down, picking up a child who he had shielded from the explosive blast, and closed his eyes. He opened them, looked at me, and tried to sift again. Nothing happened.
“It’s a ward, to nullify Fae magic,” I whispered as I sent feelers out to figure out what was blocking him. “This wasn’t a hit,” I said softly, for Adam’s ears alone. “This was the Guild; those are Witch spells and wards.” They’d placed a spell to keep the Fae from sifting, to block our power, which meant they’d come here to send a message, to take something.
My stomach dropped as I turned and looked at the dais, where it had been. The attack on the main hall would have been a distraction, which meant whatever they’d come for hadn’t been inside the hall yet.
“We need to find Zahruk and Ristan.” I fought against the fear that was trying to engulf me.
“And Ryder.” Adam looked around the room for my fiancé as I looked at him with cold eyes and nodded.
“And Ryder.”