Page 147 of Heirs of the Cursed

They headed southeast, toward Saevus Forest. Still, the goddesses offered her no protection as the clattering sound of horses’ hooves echoed behind them like a warning of death.

Naithea kept running despite the pain.

“Faster!” the man behind her shouted.

She obeyed, regardless of her desire to yield. Naithea’s eyes grew wide as a soldier appeared before her. The horse he wasriding reared and neighed, making her stumble with the broken branches and cold rocks below her feet.

As her savior helped her back on her feet, one of the soldiers leaped from the horse and advanced toward her. He drew his weapon, ready to strike . . .

The last thing Naithea had time to do was raise her sword and avoid the impact.

41

Saevus Forest

Darcia ran. She ran through the trees, the wind and the night, guided by the strange light that flowed from her necklace and broke through the darkness.

The light of a star.

Above the chaos, her father’s last words echoed in her mind; the promise of a shared burden. When he had told her to follow the light, Darcia hadn’t understood what he meant. Now, as the pendant urged her forward, she realized he’d always known that she had to find her sister to face their fate together.

Her legs trembled, about to give out, but she didn’t let them as the sound of metal clashing and soldiers shouting rose between the tall trees of the forest. Darcia moved toward death, wandering deeper into Saevus Forest with a tell-tale heart.

Yet it wasn’t fear that flowed through her veins, not even a yearning for vengeance . . . It washope. Hope to find freedom, to do those things she’d promised Gion. To do them for Caeli and for the cursed kingdom that had perished twenty-one years ago because of an unfair bargain whose fulfillment now rested on her shoulders.

None of the soldiers saw her as she stepped through the shadows that the towering trees created around the clearing.

Darcia had to hold back an exhale of surprise when her eyes set on her. There, on her feet, sword in hand, her twin fought against two soldiers. She held back the fury of the army and the bloodthirsty king who wished to hunt them down and destroy them once and for all with the blade of her weapon.

Alasdair fought beside her sister; lethal, violent and voracious.

Six were the king’s soldiers they had to face.

A high-pitched scream hung in the air as one of the soldiers grabbed her sister by the arm, digging his fingers into the open wound on her collarbones with his free hand. Still, she stirred in his grasp, unwilling to surrender.

“We got you, you dirty whore!” he spat as he shook her with violence.

For Caeli.

For Bassel and Sadira. For Gion.

For Bellmare and for Dawnfall . . .

Darcia stepped forward.

“You’re wrong,” she said in a firm voice. The battle stopped for a short moment. She met the gaze of all the soldiers and smiled at her soon-to-be prey. “Let the show begin.”

Naithea was breathing heavily as she swept her gaze over the soldiers who approached them with determination.

The blade of her sword was already stained with the blood of her enemies, even though none of them had fallen to the ground in surrender. She didn’t think she’d be able to fight them all by herself—not even with the help of the stranger who seemed reluctant to leave her side.

Then a soft voice broke through the shouts of combat.

It was the firm words that reverberated through the forest as a soldier yanked her by her arm that consumed her completely. There, mere steps away, was the young woman with whom she shared more than blood. With whom she shared a common destiny. Naithea noticed the resemblance immediately, made in the image of each other.

Time stood still when their gazes met. The fear that either of them might have felt at that moment was masked by a new layer of strength, of courage . . .

Her twin’s nod offered a silent warning and, taking the opportunity she offered, Naithea broke free with a punch on the soldier’s face and swept his legs to disarm him before everything around them fell into utter blackness.

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