Page 223 of Lady of Starfire

“Oh, I have an idea for that,” Nuri said.

“Care to share?” Azrael asked when she didn’t continue.

The smile that filled Nuri’s face mirrored one Callan had seen on Scarlett numerous times. Then his eyes went wide when Nuri said far louder than she should, “What is this? A mortal king and Fae Prince?”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Azrael hissed.

“This is the part where you run. Or rather, do that cute little disappearing thing,” Nuri replied. “The mortals are closest to the southern passageway.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Azrael grumbled, gripping Callan’s arm and Traveling them.

When they reappeared at the southern passage, the central chamber was in utter chaos. Mordecai was barking orders and sending seraphs to search the northwest passages, effectively clearing out the main chamber. And once again, Callan was left to contemplate how someone could be both insane and so godsdamn clever.

As the last seraph went down the opposite passageway, Callan and Azrael made their way into the chamber. There were two guards remaining with the mortals, but their attention was fixed on the opposite passage.

Which left them open for Azrael to have their wings bound in vines before they even realized it was happening. He and the Earth Prince strode forward, swords drawn and plunging through the seraphs’ backs. As they sank to their knees, they were drawing the same blades across their throats.

There was screaming and crying as Callan asked, “How are we going to keep them down without fire?”

“I think we can leave that for Mordecai and Nuri to deal with,” Azrael answered, an earth portal appearing. “Convince them to go through.”

Callan turned to face the frantic mortals behind him, quickly picking out three of the men who had clearly been part of the rebel movement and weren’t refugees of any sort. Callan pointed at them, “Help me get everyone up. We have minutes, if that.”

“For what exactly?” one of the men asked.

“We have a safe place for you to go in the Wind Court. Prince Azrael will take you there,” Callan answered.

“You want us to go to a Fae Court?” a woman cried, terror at the idea evident in her voice

“I think we’ll take our chances here,” one of the other men said, crossing his arms.

Callan glanced over his shoulder at Azrael, who jerked his chin at the mortals. “They’re your people. Convince them.”

Right.

He turned back to the mortals. “We just killed the people holding you all prisoner. We are clearly on your side. Why would we send you into more danger?”

They seemed to pause at that, but still none of them were moving.

“Look, I do not know if you know who I am—”

“I know who ya’ are,” came a voice from the back. “The Crown Prince of Windonelle. Or ya’ was.”

“Yes,” Callan said, his grip tightening on the sword he still held. “I was that. Now I am the King of Windonelle. I have been with the Fae for the last several months. They are our allies. More than that,Iam your ally. Your rightful king and princess are in my kingdom. I am here on their behalf. If you cannot trust the Fae, trust me. And if you cannot do that, trust Drake and Tava Middell.”

“You know of them?” one of the men said, his arms dropping to his side.

Callan shook his head. “I am working with them and the rebels there. We both are. So are the Fae and Witches. We have help coming, but the safest place until they get here is with the Fae.”

“You have been assembling armies?” another man asked, trying to get to his feet. He was older, likely in his late sixties, and had clearly done hard labor for much of his life.

“Yes,” Callan said, stepping forward to help him to his feet. “Help is coming. We just need to hold out a little longer. We have a safe place for you to do so. Prince Azrael can take you. I cannot force you to go, but I can promise you certain death if you choose to stay.”

The people looked at each other, soft murmurs coming from them that he couldn’t decipher, but the man he’d helped to his feet straightened some.

“Thank you, your Majesty.”

Callan smiled warmly. “Go. You can trust the Fae where you are going.” He stepped to the side so the man could make his way to the portal, and as he did, more people got to their feet.

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