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To see my father, a king, the lone earth bender in a thousand turns, bend the knee at my command was humbling. It was empowering. To know he trusted my abilities and my word bolstered my strength, even numbed a few fears threatening to bend my spine beneath their weight.
My father splayed his palm over the soil. He closed his eyes.
I took hold of a tree limb when bursts of rock and soil flung into the air. The ground rolled and shook. It bent like nothing morethan a jagged stick carving a line in the sand. Daj split the soil, crumbling more than one wall around the palace.
The same harrowing bells from the night I’d escaped rang out from the belltowers. Guards, readied with blades and arrows, emerged from behind doors, walls, and trees.
“Mira,” Sander shouted. “Light the sky.”
My friend hesitated, still holding the illusions that kept us hidden.
I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Mir, it’s time.”
Her amber eyes were glassy as she took in each of our faces. “Any of you bleeding fools die, I will never sit with you in the hall of the gods, hear me? And I will be the life of the revel in the Otherworld, so stay alive. Gods, even you, Hearttalker.”
“I’m not dying tonight, Princess,” Tait grumbled without correcting his name. He looked to his clock. “Send the signal. Danger is rising. We’re out of time.”
Mira closed her eyes and flung her hands upward. Shadows and mists abandoned us, but flashes of silver and blue shattered the dark sky overhead. An illusion of stars spiraling down from the heavens, beautiful, yet unbelievable, like thousands of gleaming blades slicing through the billows of dark storm clouds.
Without the added shields of Mira’s illusions, it took no time at all for the elven guards to spot us on the open shore.
“Go!” I shoved Mira into Jonas and Sander. Both twins had blackened the whites of their eyes.
Jonas hesitated, rubbing his chest. “I need you to say it plainly, Liv. It’s keeping me close to you.”
“Jonas, if you do not hit your mark, we have no way in. This is how you protect the Ever Kingdom.”
A muscle throbbed in his cheek, but slowly, Jonas drifted away from me. Faster and faster still, until he sprinted after his brother and Mira.
“Livia,” my father shouted, unsheathing one axe. “Be fierce, littlelove.”
I clenched my jaw so tight it seized. There, in the trees, rounded shields of blue were aligned, shoulder to shoulder. Points of swords aimed over the tops. Rows of guards stomped onto the shore. From the parapets and scattered treetops, archers pulled bowstrings taut.
They surrounded us, their four remaining enemies—an earth bender, a sea fae, a warrior prince, and a queen—and, no mistake, thought this fight over before it truly began.
Upon a shrill whistle, the rows of shields parted. Arion shoved through. Wretchedly handsome, he appeared even more powerful than last I’d seen the man. Black straps kept his golden blades on his powerful chest and legs. His fiery hair was tied off his neck, and the gold caps over his pointed ears had been replaced with silver.
“We take to battle for all elven folk!” He spoke to bolster his warriors, but his snide, wretched glee at the sight of battle couldn’t be contained. He risked their blood, all to win himself a throne.
This was not for his people, this was for him.
Over his shoulder, Fione’s pointed features came into view. It was the first I’d seen the sea witch out of flowing silken gowns. She wore tight hosen, boots to her thighs, and stiletto knives encircled her waist. Pinned to her belt was a whale skin pouch, doubtless holding her spells and potions.
“This is the army of the Ever King?” Arion scoffed, a shadow in his eyes. “I’m insulted.”
“He is an earth bender,” Fione sneered. “I didn’t believe the rumor to be true. Bloodsinger managed to convince his father’s killer to keep him breathing.”
“Ah. I have plans for your fae realms. I find them bothersome and mismanaged,” Arion said. “I think I shall take them for myself. Why not? We’re taking the sea, simple enough to take yours.”
“Why not?” My father remained unruffled, almost bored. How? I didn’t know. My heart felt as though it had taken up in the back of my throat.
Arion flicked a palm at the split stones surrounding the palace. “If this is the best you can do, I rather like my odds.”
My daj didn’t even smirk. He rolled his axe once in his grip. “Why don’t we find out.”
With a derisive scoff, Arion turned his back on us. “Kill them and make it swift. I’d like to end this little skirmish before sunset and get on with well-overdue vows.”
Arrows realigned and adjusted. Fione’s lip curled as she turned after Arion, returning to the palace. The elven prince was meant to rise as the victor in battle, but he would do it on the backs of his people. He’d sit atop a seat, sipping his wine, and claim a throne while men died for his sake.
