Page 133 of Oaths & Vengeance
I turned toward the doorway. “Someone bring water, now!”
Within seconds, a soldier handed me a silver flask. Using my powers since it would hurt her less, I lifted Aella enough to sit up. Her wince told me it still hurt. I quickly uncapped the flask and poured a dribble into her mouth. She swallowed it down right away. I let her have a few more small drinks before handing the water back.
Jax hurried inside with a large wool blanket. “It was all I could find, but it’s clean.”
“That’s fine. Help me cover her,” I said.
Using my powers again, I brought Aella off the ground, and we arranged the blanket underneath her. She cried out as I set her down on top of it. I winced, imagining how much she must hurt. We tucked it around her front until she was covered everywhere except her head. After that, I carefully pulled her into my arms. While I could have used my powers to move her upstairs, I needed to cradle her close. Also, I wasn’t familiar with the castle and worried I’d accidentally bump her into objects along the way if she floated separately from me.
She rested her head against my shoulder. “You really…came for me.”
“Of course I did,” I said as I carried her out of the dungeon cell. Had she doubted me? After everything, I would have thought she’d have had more confidence that I would never leave her to a fate like this.
“I was worried…he froze you.”
Ah, yes. That would have been the last thing Aella saw happening to me. “The healers kept me down for a couple of days while they repaired the damage, but I came as soon as I could.”
“Thank you.”
I leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I’ll always come for you, dear wife.”
Loden gestured for me to follow him, leading me toward a different set of steps than the ones I’d used to get down here. I moved slowly in an attempt not to jar Aella too much, but she still moaned in pain. My friend pulled the door open when we reached the top.
We made our way through a maze of corridors toward the great hall. I’d never been inside, but we merely had to follow the shouting voices to know where to go. Only alert Veronnian soldiers standing guard and some dead Therressians lying on the corridor floor slowed our pace as we moved through the castle.
The pain on Aella’s face grew so great that her features had twisted into a constant grimace. I hated that I was jarring her, but I couldn’t avoid it if I wanted to get her help. She’d clenched her eyes and jaw shut, managing to keep quiet despite how her injuries must have been affecting her. I suspected that if she hadn’t been abused so many times before, her control would not be as considerable. It sickened me that any man would harm a woman this way, and I couldn’t wait to get the anti-magic cuff off. She would recover faster then.
Unfortunately, my powers wouldn’t work on the metal band. The person who placed it had to remove it, or their death could also release the magical lock. I needed to determine who had put it there before deciding how to remedy the issue.
We entered the great hall, which also served as the dining area. Over a dozen Therressian soldiers stood lined up, their faces pressed against the wall and their arms bound behind their backs. Lord Morgunn and his two sons stood by the long table with iron shackles on their wrists and a few fresh marks on their faces. Undoubtedly, they resisted at first. Aella’s uncle had an outraged expression when his gaze fell upon me.
“Get your hands off my niece, you filthy whoreson.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “She’s mine, not yours.”
Aella’s eyes fluttered open, but she didn’t turn her head to look at her family. Her beautiful green irises were glazed with pain as I gently set her on the table. Without needing to say a word, Rynn and Briauna raced forward and began working on the worst injuries, the younger girl crying at the sight of her broken cousin. I stepped back to give them space.
“She may have committed treason by working with you, but she’s not yours,” Lord Morgunn said, lunging forward. Two guards hauled him back. Apparently, word had not reached him yet of our marriage, but I didn’t care at this point. He was dead regardless.
“According to King Worden, who married us four and a half months ago, she is mine. I merely allowed her to remain with you until I could find a way to remove the curse you placed on her. Unfortunately, it appears your idea of taking care of a family member is vastly different from mine,” I said.
In truth, I didn’t anticipate wanting her at my side when we began this journey. I’d only sought to keep her from falling into enemy hands through marriage, where I would not be able to make use of her abilities. It had suited me to keep her at a distance, able to alert me every time her uncle attacked my land.
Though he couldn’t have infiltrated our territory as easily without her, our lands had warred against each other long before she was born. Taking her away wouldn’t have stopped the conflict or the deaths.
Lord Morgunn’s face contorted. “If you were married, I would have heard about it.”
“We kept it a secret, and the king agreed since he knew you were conspiring against him. He simply needed to turn down your betrothal proposals without fully explaining his reasoning. Meanwhile, we have been investigating your recent activities. I wish I could say I’m surprised you’re still working with the dark elves despite your reassurances years ago that you cut ties with them, but we suspected that was a lie all along.” I stepped closer to him. “It was merely a matter of proving it, and that fleet arriving during your attack on Radoumar was rather damning.”
I left out what I knew about the Unseelie. We were keeping that information tightly contained because there was still a lot we didn’t know abouttheir plans. The more ignorant we appeared, the more likely they were to make a mistake.
“You can kill me,” he said, smugly. “But it will only set off a chain of events you don’t want to happen.”
I stilled. “Such as?”
Lord Morgunn shook his head. “I’m sworn to secrecy and couldn’t say—even if you spent the next week torturing me. You’ll have to find out the hard way.”
“You speak lies to save yourself,” I said, hoping to the nameless ones that I was right.
