Page 87 of Crowned By the Fae King

Tension rolled down Cass' spine. His feathers slicked down, one by one, until his wings were a killing blade again—now notched along the edges from Ithronel's sword, I noticed with sorrow. "Motherfucker," he growled. "Agreed."

That was fifty years of safety. The people… creatures… we owed hospitality to didn't sound like a particularly pleasant bunch, but it wasn't as if grief or hunting was inherently evil, or even things like battlefields and greed. For fifty years where we didn't have to deal with any direct god-on-Cass duels? It felt worthwhile.

A considering sound from the throat of the giant wolf. "Tathalin Xirangyl."

The Raven King.

Cass closed his eyes, brow creasing. He's cruel and ancient, he said, mental voice losing focus. A thousand different images flickered through my mind—fields of slaughter, burning cities, mangled corpses, people maimed and left alive as a warning to the rest. I— I don't know if—

Then say no, I sent back, horror clawing at me from the things he'd seen. If he's that bad, say no.

He dropped his chin. "No," he whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Interesting," Faerqen said. He turned away and stalked back towards the eerie wood, now dark with night. "Then our bargain is concluded. Fare thee well, darling game pieces."

We didn't get a chance to have the last word. The moment he stepped into the forest it vanished, leaving the entrance of the banquet hall behind, the double door opening onto bedrock. The temperature in the room shot up in the same instant, snow and ice melting with vigor as the Clement Palace asserted itself, trying to set things to rights.

I stood there dumbly for at least a solid minute, staring at the wall where there had been a winter wood. The banquet hall was thoroughly ruined; the beautiful inlaid marble of the central walkway was unrecognizable rubble, and the space I'd created for the fight was nothing but bare stone, like it had been hewn out of the mountainside. I didn't even know where I'd put the people, but a moment's focus on the palace reassured me on that front. The rest of the banquet hall was where it had been the whole time, though it had been fully abandoned. From the courtiers' perspective, the central fifteen feet of the banquet hall had simply become a solid piece of bedrock.

Slowly, I dragged my eyes back over to Cass. He held himself turned away from me, the greatsword with its tip resting on the floor, held loosely in his right hand.

"Cass?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to push him, but needing to know what to do next.

My throat ached as he forced himself to swallow. "Can you go? Away?" he asked, his voice as rough as if he'd been screaming. "I think I need some space."

"Right. Sure. Of— Of course," I said, backing away. I stumbled over a piece of rubble and yanked my eyes away from him before I could see his reaction. I could feel his eyes on me, the way his hands were shaking, the overwhelming grief and terror—

I forced my eyes shut. Took one deep breath. Another. I knew how to meditate, and I used it to calm myself, focusing on the Clement Palace instead of on Cass. He was there, too, but if I kept my mind on other topics, I could keep from paying attention to the precise knowledge of his stance, of his heartbroken expression, of the pain of his beating heart. Vad. Vad, please, show me Vad, I thought to it, practically begging the palace.

A door opened midair. I didn't even bother marveling at that. I all but leapt through it, escaping my soulmate and lurching into a small office mostly full of wing and tail. "Vaduin? Vad—"

Vaduin jumped with a sharp hiss, snapping his gaze towards me, but Dani had her hand over his eyes before they met mine. "Fuck," he gasped out, his tail curling up. "Don't fucking startle me like that without your eyes shielded! Do you want to fucking die—"

"She didn't know, sweetness," Dani said softly, while I stood there with adrenaline still sharp under my skin. "It's alright. I've got you."

He panted out a harsh breath, then reached up and pulled her hand down. Vad looked up at me—then past me, to the blank wall. His ears dropped and an expression of pleading came into his eyes. "Where's Cass?" he asked, with the same fear as a military wife opening the door to a uniformed soldier she didn't recognize. "Is he hurt? Is he…" He stopped, taking a panting breath. His tail coiled around Dani's ankle. "What happened?"

"He's okay. He's… he's alive." I closed my eyes, trying not to let the horror of it eat me alive. "He, um… he killed her? Just— Just for now."

Vad and Dani stared at me.

Vaduin swallowed hard. "He… killed her? He— How?"

I wrapped my arms around my chest, starting to shake. "I don't know. He got his hands on her. She… fell apart. It was… Faerqen showed up after. We made a bargain with him, for protection from her. Cass… he's hurt. I don't know how bad. He told me to leave, that he wanted to be alone, but I think he just wanted to be not with me."

"Hey, hey," Danica said. She stepped over and hugged me, pressing her forehead against mine. "It's okay. It'll be okay."

A moment later, Vaduin tucked my hair behind my ear and set his warm hand on my shoulder. "I can go to him," he said quietly. "Are you going to be alright?"

I took a deep breath, then made myself step out of Dani's embrace. "I'm fine." I was. Physically, at least.

His troubled expression only deepened. "As you like," he said. "Of your kindness, could you make me a door?"

Because Cass was probably still in that room, entombed in our palace. I closed my eyes and set my hand on the wall. I didn't even have to work to find him. He was the other half of my soul, the Court Himself, and all it took was the faintest thought of him for me to know where he stood.

Vaduin bent down and kissed me on the temple. "Chin up," he said when I frowned at him, chucking me under the chin with two fingers. "The tumult is worth the balance. You'll surely find your way there."

He stepped through the door, long tail curling behind him, and left me alone with Danica.

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