Page 155 of The Ashborn

Kienna noted the buzzing in her veins, a whisper of magic that wasn’t fully hers. It was muted at the start, but the longer she stood near Vaerin, the stronger it pulsed, as if the air between them throbbed with static. “Thank you for showing me this,” she said, taking a careful step closer. “I can see you’ve always wanted to keep me safe.”

“Yes.” King Vaerin turned fully to her, eyes steady. “You’re special, my child.”

She slipped her arms around his torso. His body stiffened, muscles locking like drawn wire all the way down his back. How long had it been since anyone touched him? His clothes were neat, pressed close to the form. Beneath the fabric, at the small of his back, Kienna’s fingers brushed steel. A knife.

Vaerin’s scent hit her. It was sharp and electric, like the charging air before a storm broke, layered with sweetness. Almost disarming, like summer berries in bloom.

When the king eased, Kienna’s hand darted to his belt. She ripped the knife free. Metal sang when it cleared the sheath, but before she could wield it, Vaerin shoved her hard. She slammed into the Ash tree, bark biting her spine. Air tore from her lungs. Before she could draw another breath, an invisible force clamped around her throat. Vaerin stood motionless, arm outstretched, power spilling like crimson smoke from his fingers. The red aura coiled through her, choking, curling into her lungs. Kienna clawed at nothing, gasping as the world narrowed to his grip and the taste of blood at the back of her throat.

The forest dissolved in a violent rush of light. They hit the ground in M’Ran, the ancient stones trembling beneath their boots. King Vaerin’s hand closed around her neck. They were real, crushing, and searing with power. He hurled her aside like nothing. Kienna slammed into the moss-slick earth as steel rang out. Connak’s blade came down in a lethal arc, only to be caught mid-swing by Vaerin’s effortless parry.

Kienna pushed herself up, vision swimming.

Broan and Danek were there, crashing in like a storm. And Baila was calling the forest to war. Vines erupted from the ground, lashing like whips and driving back the tide of Umbrin spilling into the clearing. Shadows writhed and shrieked where roots pierced through them.

Ruva growled, lunging through the air and ripping into another Umbrin. Focus, Little Flame. They all rally with you. Even Baila.

“Help them!” Baila barked, ripping a blade from her back scabbard and hurling it.

Kienna caught the hilt mid-spin. She rolled her eyes but didn’t waste her breath to release the curse biting at her tongue. For however long it took Baila to betray them again, she’d accept the help picking off the Dead Army. She turned to dive into the chaos.

Broan’s voice thundered over the clash. “DOWN!”

Shards of rock lifted from the earth, orbiting his massive frame before exploding forward like a hail of spears. Vaerin didn’t even flinch. He flicked his wrist, and the stones shattered in the air, raining useless dust across the battlefield. The corner of the king’s mouth curved into a slow, cold grin.

Kienna charged. Her blade cut the air in a silver arc only to freeze mid-swing as Vaerin’s hand locked around her wrist. “You cannot kill me, my child.” He said it softly, voice coiling through her like smoke. “Your bonds will not allow it.”

“Fuck you!” she snarled, wrenching against his iron grip.

Connak slid in low, his sword a flash of steel, aiming for Vaerin’s ribs when he lazily let Vaerin block him. Then he stepped back. What was he doing? Kienna grunted.

“To kill me,” Vaerin said, twisting Kienna’s arm until pain screamed up her bones, “would be to kill everything tethered to me. And you, my child, you are tethered to me.”

Stop, Ruva barked.

Kienna tried to pull herself out with all the force she could muster. Her pulse roared in her ears. She didn’t care. This was reason enough to die. Better than living under his shadow for another breath. She lunged again, every thought burning away but the need to end him. She’d go down for this, for the sake of everything he took from her. Even if the Elvish played their own part, Vaerin tortured her. He beat her down because she was special, then wrapped it up and called it love. Called it protection.

His presence made her sick.

“Then we’ll both go down.” Kienna channeled the heat of her blood into the blade she wielded and slashed a flame into the air.

The king dodged but didn’t appear fazed. Kienna let the rage consume her. With all the speed she could find, she swung again. He deflected and kicked her out of his grasp. Kienna wouldn’t give up, even when a blast of power sent her sprawling.

Frustration clawed at her ribs. King Vaerin was playing another fucking game, and she was losing.

No more.

Kienna bared her teeth, summoning the magic deep within her. Shadows flickered at her fingertips as she pressed forward, swinging with every ounce of force she had.

As she did, Connak stepped in front of the king and deflected. The metal against his own reverberated deep in Kienna’s bones, sending her backward. The magic released and exploded through the blade with blistering heat, scorching the air.

Vaerin only smiled. Slowly, he clasped his hands together. “No, I didn’t think you’d be okay with the end of your life today.”

Kienna looked at Connak, heart pounding. She hissed. “What does he mean?”

Vaerin answered for him, stepping closer with the calm of a man who knew the battlefield was already his. “Your pretty little bonds…they’re life binding.” He stood among them now. “If any one of us dies, we all die. Even your loyal protectors.”

The world tilted. Kienna’s throat clenched. She could barely hear over the hammering of her pulse. It made sense now, pieces of the puzzle she never had. Why Vaerin never killed Connak in River Storm. Why he never let her die, no matter how defiant she’d been. How she managed to feel something inside her after the Battle of Dove Port, willing her body to stay alive. Why Connak and Tristian bled themselves dry keeping her breathing.