Page 100 of Under the Lion Star

The sharp crack of his hand against my face echoed off the stone walls. The skin burned hot as my head snapped to the side.

“Leor doesn’t like when people touch his wife,” I grinned, letting the blood from my lip trickle down my chin freely.

“I’m counting on it, you insolent bitch,” he sneered. “I had hoped to find you were smart enough to join me in my pursuit, but I see now that you are yet another burden I must remove from my path.”

A scrawny young elf came in, wringing his hands together as his wide eyes studied where I knelt. He looked to be about Sanna’s age, with trembling limbs that seemed barely able to walk him over to where Gamril stood.

“Did you deliver the message?” Gamril asked, his tone even.

“Y-Yes, my lord.”

“And?”

“Your son was there. As were the princes,” he managed to get out between panting breaths.

“Only one of them is a prince. That whelp, Liras, should have been left with the dogs where he belonged.”

“Yes, my lord,” the young elf nodded.

“Fuck,” Gamril sighed, interlacing his fingers behind his head as he looked to the ceiling.

Stars glinted down at us from the open circle in the mausoleum’s roof. I wondered if Atlas and Leor would take the time to devise a plan or if they would charge in, swords drawn, and just kill anyone in their path. They were both capable fighters, but based on the patrols I had counted as they passed the hall, the two of them would be helplessly outnumbered. Orin and Liras would be quick to join, but I had a feeling that Leor would want to keep them out of this for their safety.

I don’t particularly want to die. I thought to myself.

However, there were many elves who lived several centuries and had not experienced half the love that I had in my lifetime. Two mothers and a father who would do anything to see me happy. My grandma and aunt had instilled what it meant to be a strong woman. Sisters who annoyed me within an inch of my life but had shown me the meaning of loyalty every single day. The little family in the castle that I had found, each of whom pushed their way into my heart, filling it to the brim. And then there was Leor, the man who scolded me among the wheatfields and taught me how to own my strengths and recognize my worth.

All this considered, my twenty-eight years in the realm had been good.

“I suppose you’ll have to watch both your brother and husband die,” Gamril snarled, his anger palpable. “Pity that as soon as you found him, you lose him.”

“I’ve had Atlas since the day my mother died,” I seethed. “He’s always been a brother to me. And he will continue to be. Maybe we’ll create a new sibling tradition where we dance together upon your grave.”

While there was some comfort in finding that Atlas and I shared blood, it was unnecessary. He’d been my brother since the day he found me. Cocooning me in his arms and holding me steady as I delivered the worst news imaginable to my sisters. Every instance of him checking in anytime he had leave, how he’d helped me adjust to being queen, he’d always been there. Even when I didn’t notice.

An eerie silence stretched around us. The nightly songs of the crickets outside ceased. Gamril didn’t seem to notice as he shooed the young boy away. I wondered how much time he had spent in the countryside. For those of us who grew up in rural Fjorn knew there was a dangerous reason that the fauna of the night would stop their music.

Predators were on the prowl.

Chapter 34

Leor

Lit torches created an eerie glow that seeped out of the mausoleum but didn’t quite reach where I sat crouched. While waiting for Atlas to arrive, I had counted the number of patrols guarding the only entrance, timing the gaps between them. Gamril had hired at least a dozen men to guard the building, knowing full well that I would show up to retrieve Zialda.

The bushes behind me rustled, but the familiar scent of Atlas allowed me to keep my eyes focused on our target.

“Corrin?” I whispered into the darkness.

“Orin and Liras got him,” he moved next to me, his eyes darting over the protective measures his father had taken. “They took him to the catacombs with that other idiot.”

“They didn’t follow you?”

“No,” Atlas smirked. “I told them to work on getting information, and after we found Gamril, we would come get them.”

“Good,” I sighed.

It’s not that I didn’t trust Orin and Liras to help us find Zialda, but the reality was our plan could easily go sideways. I wouldn’t put their lives at risk because of my fuck up.

---