Page 127 of Crowned By the Fae King

Six people closed in on him, armed with a variety of spears and swords. Cass kept them at bay with quick strikes of his wings, darting into the paths his wings cleared to attack with his stolen sword. But he was panting, arm shaking. Blood soaked his clothing and followed his path in dark footprints.

They'd forgotten all about the little mortal soulmate.

I bared my teeth and drew my sword, surging forward over the uneven ground. My blade took a spearman in the kidneys, sinking in cleanly, just like my swordmistress had drilled me.

He screamed and dropped. I was already darting back between the trees.

The others knew I was there, now, but none of them could turn their back on Cass. I heard footsteps behind me, but I stayed focused on Cass and his attackers.

Cass moved with sharp grace, dropping low with his wings slicing the air. His sword ran an assailant through. His wing hit another. A spearman dodged his deadly feathers and came into my range. My bloody blade sliced through her hamstring, and she went down with a shrill cry.

We could do this. There were only so many of them. As long as Cass could keep them occupied—

Instinct born from training with Tech sent me wheeling, reacting to the whistling sound of a blade before it even registered to my ears. A sword flickered through the air, inches from my face. I had my blood-slick blade up in time to parry the next strike, the sword licking for my throat. Two fae came for me, one with a dancer's build and a heavier woman with a balaclava-style cowl.

I barely managed to block the next strike. Fae were fast, and I was horribly outmatched.

"An adequate swordswoman can fend off a skilled one for as long as she can retreat," came my swordmistress' advice, her remembered voice level and calm. I obeyed, stepping backwards with each strike, my hand going numb from the strength of her blows.

Cass roared in pain, and my eyes jerked towards him before I could stop myself. There were only three left, but Cass had a spear through his leg. He hit the ground hard, down on one knee, the blood stark against his gleaming wings.

My opponent took the opening, slipping through my guard. Her sword took me in the right bicep, slicing through muscle and tendon. I screamed, vision whiting out and sword slipping out of my hand.

"QUYEN—!"

No time to think—no time to answer. Back up, back up, out of her range—

I scraped my scalp on a branch and reacted without thinking, grabbing it and jumping backwards. I let go just as the swordswoman came for me. It whipped forward, lancing across her eyes, and I lunged with it, knocking us both to the ground. I scrambled for her dagger, the sword useless in a grapple.

My fingers closed around the hilt moments before she rolled us. I stabbed blindly, not caring where I hit, sobbing from pain and terror. The blade sank in, over and over, like butchering meat. Hot blood spattered my face and hands.

She went limp. I shoved myself out from under her, frantic. Cass snarled, the sound reverberating through the air.

The black-cowled woman whipped her sword up, facing me. Her grip was shit. She held the sword like it was a stick, her stance unbalanced, but she menaced me, stalking forward. Even a shitty swordswoman could kill me. I only had a fucking dagger.

A sound like wet paper marked the end of the last of the assailants facing my soulmate, Cass literally tearing him apart. My soulmate's feral rage shifted to the woman between us, his blood-soaked wings mantling—the Court roused, wrath focusing on Cass—

"Courts don't allow their bloodlines to physically attack each other," he'd said, talking about how the Court would protect Yllana. "Any attempts are met with lethal retaliation."

My assailant was Tarra. His sister.

I flung myself at her in the same heartbeat Cass did—but I was closer, and I got there first. I hit her with my shoulder and staggered past, stopping my feral soulmate from attacking another member of the royal bloodline by interposing my own body.

Cass tried to pull the blow; staggered and fell. His sword-sharp wing hit me in the side, cutting deep. The agony dropped me to my knees. My stolen dagger skittered across the frozen earth, staining it red as hot wet soaked my side and painted the snow.

With a snarl of stymied rage on her beautiful face, Tarra lifted her sword and drove it for my heart.

Show No Weakness

The sword took Cass in the shoulder, piercing just under his collarbone as he threw his bleeding, broken body across me. Power struck the princess like a warhammer, vicious retribution dealt by the Court of Mercy for a royal who dared to attack her own bloodline.

The world went silent.

For one timeless moment, I met her sapphire eyes, seeing only confusion. Then she crumpled, her body dissolving into ash and slumping down like snow. My eyes went wide, horror a cold knot in my chest. Mercy had more than killed her. Mercy had destroyed her, would have done that to Cass—

"Cass," I whimpered, dragging myself out from under him. My blood dripped onto Tarra's ashes in crimson accusation.

He was making sobbing sounds, covered in blood, a sword and seven arrows impaling him. Iron, he had iron in him, iron and poison—

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