AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sorry, brother.”
He just shook his head. “This guard has the power to hide from all senses, but only every few days. He slipped into the forest and spied. Madinia arrived and left with Prisca on horseback. The man she freed traveled in the opposite direction.”
Despite the situation, I almost laughed. Madinia had not only found Prisca’s location first, but she’d helped her escape before we’d even arrived. If Madinia ever chose to truly care about someone, she would be a force to be reckoned with.
I killed the guard with a glance, my power making his body dance as he died.
“Then we go. Now.”
* * *
I had thought things couldn’t get worse. But such thoughts were not just useless, they were a temptation for the gods. Things could always get worse.
I’d imagined that Madinia would save the hybrid heir, and we would enjoy a brief respite while she gathered her allies. Instead, just days after I’d sent Prisca’s location to Madinia, Pelysian was standing in my rooms once more, his eyes haunted…
My palms began to sweat.
Pelysian was always, always calm. Composed. Usually, I found it infuriating. But seeing fear on his face was worse.
“Sabium has begun planning his trip to the barrier.”
Nausea swept through me, until I stumbled to the closest chair, burying my head in my hands. “When?”
“Soon. By the next full moon.”
Eight days. I lifted my head. “Your mother said my sacrifice would buy Jamic time!”
“And it has. The problem is the king. According to my source, he no longer wishes to keep the barrier up. After all, it is now far too late for the fae and hybrids to find the help they need. Even if they could get to the eastern continents and convince another kingdom to help us, the political machinations of that would take months. Not to mention the time it would take for any allies to ready their own armies for war.”
A tiny spark of hope appeared deep in my chest. “Then…then Sabium doesn’t need Jamic. Perhaps he could be convinced to let him go.”
Pelysian’s eyes gleamed with sympathy. “He does need him, Your Majesty. He will sacrifice him at the barrier. Only, instead of using that power to reinforce the barrier, he will take all the power from both your son and the barrier into himself. That power will make him unstoppable. A god.”
I didn’t care about the influx of power Sabium would receive. I certainly didn’t care what happened to this continent or the people living on it. Because if Sabium received that power, I would already have nothing left to live for.
Jamic would be dead.
My arms ached for him, and for a moment, I could almost feel the last time I’d hugged him. I’d noticed how tall he was in that moment—much taller than I. Had he grown taller still? He’d reached nineteen winters while imprisoned by the man he’d thought was his father.
“Your Majesty?”
I raised my gaze once more, and I must have looked as hopeless as I felt, because Pelysian crouched in front of me.
“We will get this information to the woman you have the connection with.”
“Madinia,” I mumbled. My face had turned numb.
“Yes.”
Pelysian melted away, and I wandered through my rooms, my mind replaying our conversation again and again.
I made my way to the library, spending the day huddled in front of a fire. The numbness had spread to my entire body.
Eventually, I got up to pace. But my attention was caught by movement outside.
Sabium’s carriage was entering the castle gates, surrounded by guards. Pressing myself against the window, I watched as he stepped out of that carriage, his expression twisted with rage.
The tumultuous chaos in my mind quieted, until only stillness and silence remained. Unclenching my fists, I stretched out my stiffened fingers. If Sabium had managed to kill the hybrid heir, he would have been beaming. He would have also been dragging her corpse behind his horse.
