“My ego speaks of nothing,” he spat, crimson gaze darkening. “We are both familiar with how our desires are woven together, braided in a way the gods seem to command. Believe me, the furthest thing I want is to be with a woman likeyou.”
“Ignore him!” Alastair shouted, running a hand along his neck to wipe away the cut Caspian had still managed to leave behind, regardless of my interference. “He has a thing for taunting. It’s a lever he pulls quite frequently in?—”
An unforgiving force slammed into the side of my head, darkness snuffing out my vision before I even had time to contemplate what had happened. Ears ringing, I blinked through the affliction that burned against the base of my skull. Struggling to level myself, I brushed myfingertips over the cold divots beneath me, tracing each rock shape as if it would somehow rid me of the daze that had taken over.
Surroundings greeted me once more, the vibrancy of Veilmar serving not only as a reminder of where I was, but a glaring warning for what was approaching. The horizon came into view just beyond the hand-crafted town, and along it, a fleet of ten ships sat docked at the port, all bearing the royal crest.
Which meant…
“Alastair, we need to?—”
Before I had the chance to extend my warning, a foot collided with my stomach. Oxygen vanished immediately as I was tossed back into one of the structural pillars as if I weighed nothing. My spine and ribs cracked upon impact, and another wave of unconsciousness threatened to swallow me whole.
“Now that she is taken care of,” Caspian growled, his timbre sounding close yet distant at the same time, “we can pick up where we last left off.”
Shadows loomed along the edges of my vision, and as they slipped to coat my sight with an inky black, that motherly voice filled the back of my mind.“Daughter, I know you are tired, but it is pertinent that you keep yourself awake. You need to escape this island, for Malrik is here, and while his orders do not entail retrieving you, his viciousness guides his desires.”
I clenched my jaw, a sharp inhale aiding my movement. Forcing an elbow beneath me, the consistent clash of steel greeted me, its pace hinting at Elaros’s presence—for he was awaiting the soul of the losing opponent.
“I cannot leave him,”I shot back as I pushed myself to my knees.
“You cannot stay.”
“And I refuse to abandon my friend!”My shout tore through my subconscious, and the steady pulse of my heart followed. Ignoring the sudden sway of the earth beneath me, I continued,“Unlike your lot, humans are devoted to people they care about.”
“You foolish girl,”she spoke with venom, but there was the ghost of asmile lingering.“Those of us bearing said titles are the reason each of you is living. Without us and our protection, you would’ve died long before you could meet this friend of yours.”
“And if you had been around to shield me from the brutality of this world, you would know that I will never abandon those who have held me with gentleness.”Lips curling into a snarl, I swallowed my pain as I forced myself upright.“But that is something you lack understanding in because you weren’t there! You weren’t there when Malrik beat me! You weren’t there when he raped me! You. Weren’t. There!”
Not having noticed the sudden approach of dark clouds overhead, the roar of thunder brought me back from my stupor. Rain slipped from their angry forms, coating the island in a downpour.
Chest raising with growing fury, I combed my fingers through my dampening hair. My utterance settled, and with it, another wave of wrath consumed my senses. It sparked at the base of my spine, roaring up its length. In tandem with its desired release, lightning carved its way through the sky, striking the cobblestone mere feet away from where Caspian and Alastair continued their fight.
Did I… Did I do that?
“Rohen!” Alastair shouted, catching our opponent's strike with a steadier hold. “Get your ass back to the ship!”
Seething, my brows narrowed. “What?”
“Get”—sweeping the tip of his sword skyward, he forced Caspian back a step—“thefuckout of here!”
“The crown is here!” I screamed back, the sky roaring with rage overhead. “If I leave you here, Leilani will never?—”
“That I already know, and I have this thing for escaping danger unscathed. Besides,” he sheathed his weapon, and I went to scold him for it. Stopping as soon as his knuckles drove into Caspian’s face, the rest of his statement followed: “I have a fucking score to settle.”
Peering over my shoulder, I caught sight of the all-too-familiar royal garb of the king’s approaching men. With a curse, I turned back to Alastair right as Caspian caught him by the throat, heaving him off the ground.
“Run!” he forced the single, rasped command from his lips, and whether I wanted to or not, my body started moving.
“I fucking swear, Ellira, if you are the one?—”
“I am the one,”she snarled, the usual gentleness to her tone nonexistent.“You staying there will influence everything. Fate will no longer work in our favor, and we will be nowhere near as close as we are now. I refuse to allow your inability to listen to rip from us our ability to destroy the dark gods.”
I tossed myself over one of the carts with ease, the glass trinkets remaining sturdy regardless of my influence. Ire building, lightning erupted overhead once more, and with it, I spat at the goddess who claimed to be my mother, “I am not some godsdamned chess piece!”
“No, you are not,”she replied, her voice softening.“But you are the child of the prophecy, the one meant to weave all five children of the gods together. The one who will put an end to the corruption that poisons the land, the apathy that asphyxiates the use of magic.”
“That sounds a whole lot like a pawn to me—someone you are using to complete your work because of your own inadequacies.” Slipping out of the main square and down an alleyway, I flattened my back against the building at the sudden approach of footsteps.
