Page 134 of Oaths & Vengeance
He gave me a malicious smile. “If you want Aella free of the curse and that cuff, you’ll have to kill me, but be prepared to accept the consequences when they come.”
I glanced down the table at my wife, where the two healers worked. One focused on her ankles and the other on her chest. They were making progress, but they’d do better with the cuff removed so Aella’s body could contribute to the process. I didn’t know what the consequences might be, but I had no choice except to kill her uncle. He could not be allowed to live.
I lifted my hand, pulling my power, and aimed it at Lord Morgunn. His collarbone snapped, and he screamed. I waited until he stopped wailing to speak again. “Your death can be quick or very slow. That is the only choice I’ll give you.”
“No,” the stubborn man said, gripping his shoulder.
I broke his right hand, waited five seconds, and then broke his left. I gave him ten seconds to relent, but he remained stubbornly mute. One by one, I snapped each of his ribs as he fell over the table, screaming in pain. It was satisfying to watch him suffer and also amusing to see his eldest son, Ulmar, seethe in rage with his good eye as I tortured his father. Tadeus kept his focus on Aella, concern in his gaze for her and no regard at all for his sire, which was interesting. My sources may have been right that there was no love between the lord and his youngest child.
“Ready to free Aella yet?” I asked Lord Morgunn after giving him a minute to catch his breath.
He snarled at me. “Not for you!”
“Very well.”
I flicked my hand and broke his right leg in two places simultaneously. He fell back onto the floor. Then, I similarly broke his other leg. He was screaming and wailing now. I wanted to keep going, but more than ten minutes had passed since we arrived in the great hall, and my wife continued to suffer with the cuff on her. For Aella’s sake, I needed to end it.
With one last pulse of power, I crushed Lord Morgunn’s skull. His eldest son flinched as blood and brain matter soaked the stone floor, but he said nothing. A cold, calculated look came over his bandaged face that deeply disturbed me.
The metallic clink of metal falling on the table told me killing Aella’s uncle had done what I’d hoped. I looked over at her, noting her color was returning, and a faint wisp of smoke trailed from the back of her neck. A sign that her curse had ended as well. Despite her numerous injuries, a faint smile touched her lips. A heavy weight had lifted and would trouble her no more.
I turned to her oldest cousin next, well aware he enjoyed harming my wife.
He fell to his knees immediately and bowed his head. “I humbly surrender and am willing to negotiate a treaty between our lands.”
I muttered a few choice words under my breath. I might have gotten away with killing Ulmar as well if he hadn’t said those specific words. As long as he cooperated and didn’t order his forces to attack me or Veronna in the near future, I couldn’t touch him. Fae laws were rather annoying at times. I very much preferred working in the shadows with no one the wiser to what I did.
“I’ll deal with him,” Hagon said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You see to your wife.”
I nodded. “Thank you. If I look at him much longer, I’m liable to kill him no matter the consequences.”
“After seeing what they’ve done to Aella, I don’t blame you. I admire the control you’ve demonstrated so far, brother.” He squeezed my shoulder one more time and headed toward the new Lord of Therress.
I joined the healers. “How is she?”
“We’ve done what we can for now, but we weren’t at full strength since we’ve been tending the wounded these last few days from the battle at Radoumar,” Briauna said, smoothing Aella’s brow. “I’ve put her to sleep, and we’ll continue to treat her wounds every four hours until the worst injuries are whole.”
“You mean I can’t take her home now?” I asked, perplexed.
She shook her head. “There is no channeler currently at the castle who could transport you outside of Therress, and it’s best to move her as little as possible until we finish mending the broken bones. Allow Rynn and I to continue working on her while your brother deals with Ulmar.”
The channeler I’d brought with me would need several hours before he could open a portal again. Since the return trip wouldn’t require him to fight through wards, he could channel all the way to Veronna, but my brother would need him to remain here for our troops. It appeared I had little choice except to spend the night in Ivory Castle.
“Very well. I will carry Aella to her room.”
“Good. She will be happier if she wakes to familiar surroundings,” Briauna said, giving me a weak smile. I imagined she was horrified by what happened to my wife and not ready to see her leave Therress.
I gathered Aella into my arms and allowed the two healers to lead me upstairs to the tiny room where she’d lived since moving to the castle. It wasn’t much larger than servant quarters, but at least it had a window and a fireplace. I laid her limp body down on the coverlet, noting how fragile she appeared. My heart might be cold, but I still felt the fury of what had been done to her. I vowed I’d never let her be harmed like that again.
Chapter 54
Aella
Awarm body cradled mine when I woke, and sandalwood filled my senses. I opened my eyes to find I was lying in my bedroom in the castle, but this was the first time anyone had ever been in it with me. Well, not counting a few times when Rynn first came to live here and needed comfort during the night.
I twisted around and found Darrow staring down at me with expressionless eyes. “What…” I sat up, wincing a little at a few aches and pains that lingered. “What are you doing here? My uncle…he…”
“Met a painful end,” Darrow replied.
