AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Viveca made a broad motion with her hand. “Um, duh? We were all there when Aric met her in Corast. We know.”
Aric frowned. Denham had gone so far as to reveal the truth of Rochelle’s origins in front of Cecilia? “Rochelle’s past is irrelevant. How long have the two of you been conspiring together, and what are you hoping to achieve?” He was about ready to violate the moral codes and force them to speak. Punishment be damned.
“What are you trying to hide, Aric?” Cecilia asked. “Did you know?”
“Of course her past is relevant,” Denham said. “But if you’ve changed your mind on insisting I answer that question, then by all means, I’ll refrain.”
Viveca released a loud, aggravated growl and threw her hands out. “This is going nowhere!” She thrust an arm forward, pointing directly at Cecilia. “Why did you attack Rochelle? What’s the connection between you and Prince Denham? What’s going on, Cecilia?”
“Aric,” Mitzi said. “There’s no time. If Rochelle … if she somehowteleported, or was transported in a state of despair, she could be seriously hurt. You’re the only one who can possibly save her.”
As if he didn’t know that.
“Prince Denham,” Darnel said, “regardless of anything else, you were clearly holding a recognized citizen of Yafae against her will. Do you deny you were complicit in the state that caused her wounds?”
Denham scoffed. “You assume the blood is hers.”
“The hair is,” Mitzi said.
“I’ll have all your heads,” Denham said. He glared around the group. “This kingdom is falling apart, with little thanks to you lunatics. One day soon I will ascend the throne, and I will take your heads. It will be a glorious day, indeed.”
Aric’s eyes flew wide.
Viveca’s stance slackened.
Mitzi gasped.
“What…?” Darnel asked, voice a whisper.
“It was him,” Aric said as realization dawned. He turned his focus to Darnel and handed over the strap. “Denham started the wave of malicious rumors that have taken over the cities. He’s behind the rising hatred and unrest. I imagine if the Lamonts are interrogated properly, they’ll confirm as much.” He met Darnel’s gaze. “Can I leave them to you for now?”
Darnel took the strap and nodded. “Yes. We can handle this until you return.”
Chapter Twenty
The sight of blood and carnage hadn’t bothered Aric on a visceral level so badly in longer than he could remember.
There wasn’t enough blood to explain the lack of a body, for which he was grateful, but there was certainly enough to be concerning. Most of it centered or pooled in the space with the bulk of the chair fragments and remaining suppressant straps, which all appeared to have been torn to shreds. Inelegant, haphazard shreds. It didn’t look at all like what Rochelle had once done to his reading room, when her unconscious terror and trauma had combined to pull the structure and surrounding objects apart tiny piece by tiny piece, but rather like something had clawed and torn at it.
The cluster of mess all angled outward in a perfect sphere, as if it had blown away from the center spot, but not with a physical force that equaled the magical force he’d felt minutes earlier. That added up to the idea of teleportation, especially a hurried, possibly unintentional one. Had she done it on purpose? Had it been her first? He had no way to answer those questions just from observing the destruction of the sundered room around him.
So he stepped into the center, where her remaining magical traces were strongest, and carefully reached out for them. He didn’t want to chase them away or crush them, but rather to catch them, and follow them back to their source. The way one might follow a trail.
Rochelle’s energy was fragile, but still familiar, and seemed to respond to his. It only took a second to latch on to the swirling remnants, and then a whole new picture bloomed in front of his mind’s eye. A sparkling rainbow arc that curved up high and away from where they were, racing over most of Yafae, before dropping again into somewhere unexpected. As soon as the seven waterfalls appeared in his mental picture, Aric knew where to go. As surprised as he was, Mitzi had been right. Time was of the essence. He only hoped Rochelle had managed to make it to her destination in one piece.
The moment he arrived in the clearing across from the waterfall archway, Aric wished he’d amended his plea. Yet at the same time, a small part of him was immediately relieved. Something that had been coiled tightly within him loosened at the sight of familiar golden hair dancing in the ever-present breeze. Though only slightly.
That sense of relief stalled as quickly as it began, because though she was alive and all her limbs seemed to be intact, she continued to bleed. Blood matted her beautiful hair and stained the rock beneath her. Her fingers gripped into her leg just above the knee with a shaking pressure and even from his distance, and angle, he could see she struggled to breathe steadily.
I’ll kill him.
But not yet. Rochelle needed his help more than Denham needed his rage.
So Aric moved swiftly forward, letting his anger add a little warmth to the already chilled late afternoon air. “Rochelle,” he said, doing his best to gentle his tone. “Let me help.”
She jerked at his voice, seeming not to have noticed his presence even when he released his magic into the air, and whipped her head up and around. Her eyes went wide for a moment before a shuddering, ragged breath wheezed from her lungs. “Aric…” Tears rolled from her eyes and her hand slid from her leg. “I really am … no good at … healing.”
She toppled over as if she’d been straining just to stay conscious, as if whatever part of her had relaxed at the sight of him had zapped her strength.
