“Groundless confidence has never stopped me before,” Ornella muttered, although I thought perhaps their point had shaken her conviction a little.
“You are not leaving,” hissed one elf as they took one step forward. “You may fight if you wish, but you cannot withstand the will of the Elisari.”
Ornella seemed to deliberate for a moment, her hands clenching as I began to fear that Ciaran was right about her sharp tongue ruining everything.
“You said that you wanted to remove the Light magic from Sage. Have you done that now?” she asked finally, her voice much more subdued.
“We have accomplished our ends as much as could be done with all his resistance,” they confirmed grudgingly. And I heard Ornella inhale as if in pain.
“Then you have no more need to keep him. You want me to stay? You want someone willing to do whatever the fuck you need me to do? I will stay if you let him go.”
“Ornella!” I objected in horror.
“I will be cooperative!” she insisted over my outburst, stepping toward the elves with her hands held wide open. “Just let Sage go.”
The elves were silent for a moment in contemplation, as if her offer actually intrigued them, and my heart began to hammer painfully.
“Wewouldbenefit from cooperation,” noted one of the elves as they turned their covered head toward the other. Both of theirvoices were so similar that it was hard to tell which of them was speaking. I didn’t think they breathed, they didn’t even speak with their mouths since their veils were never disrupted by their words.
“I will do whatever you want, abide any pain willingly, just as long as Sage is free and safe with his family.”
“Nell, that wasnotthe deal!” I hissed, but she gave a sharp wave to silence me.
“We will accept an exchange,” the elves declared with a bow of their shrouded heads.
“I want to see him first.Pleaselet me see him before Amira takes him home,” Ornella pleaded. I wanted to yell at her furiously, but I had never heard her beg like that for anything, and I found my voice was gone.
One elf wordlessly swept their hand over the ground, and just like that, a prone body appeared there.
“Sage!” Ornella sobbed, dropping all pretenses of her composure as she broke into a run. She ignored the elves, but they both stepped away from her when she fell to her knees next to her unconscious mate.
I moved forward, wanting to stay close to Nell, but the sight of her bending over the inert man to press her head against his chest made me feel ill. There was no blood on him anywhere, and I was relieved to see his chest rising and falling with slow and even breaths. I was pretty sure that he was still wearing his tunic and pants from when he was taken, and even though it had been weeks since then, he did not look dishevelled. There were little braids still threaded through the loose waves of his dark hair that showed hints of burgundy in the brightness. He was just as achingly handsome as Rian, but there was a gentleness in his features, a warmth like he was more prone to smiles and kindness than threats. He appeared so serene as if he were sleeping with his long dark lashes curling delicately against his high cheekbones. His olive skin seemed pale, whichappearedto be the only physical thing wrong.
And yet…
Even I could sense the vestiges of agony that were still wafting off him. I swore I could almost hear his screams echoing in the muted light around us.
“What is wrong with him? Why will he not wake up?” Ornella demanded as she cupped Sage’s jaw. Her thumb brushed across his cheek with a reverent affection, but she did not attempt to heal her mate. I thought it was strange considering how quick she had always been to heal my smallest scrapes.
“The process was quite taxing for him,” admitted the elf without an ounce of remorse. I saw Nell clenching her free fist at the implication of how they had hurt him.
“Then hewillawaken?”
“In time,” the elf answered dismissively. “You will be a compliant subject. And we will allow him to go back,” they reminded her impatiently.
But Ornella did not seem to be listening. I squinted as she carefully drew something from her pocket, which was hidden from the elves behind Sage’s body. I cocked my head in confusion, and it was not until she placed it on the ground next to her that I realized what it was.
A branch from the portal tree. One that seemed to have already sprouted gleaming purple roots that burrowed quickly between the cracks of the white tiled flooring.
“I wanted to say goodbye,” Ornella insisted in a clear effort to distract the elves while I moved closer to her in anticipation of her next move. “This is unfair.”
“We are not interested in fairness,” the elves hissed at her in exasperation. “The fate of the many is at stake here. Now release him and fulfill your bargain, dryad!”
I was close enough now to see Ornella look up at them with unbridled hatred as her lip curled back.
“Fuck you and your bargain,” she growled at them.
And then she unleashed a blast of Light magic at the Sylvan that sent them both stumbling back. She pulled Sage out of theway to give the sapling room just before it abruptly erupted. It looked similar to the tree that was undoubtedly its parent back in the Autumn Court, but its whole trunk was pulsing bright with vivid purple veins.
