Page 127 of Oaths & Vengeance
My uncle’s remaining soldiers roughly grabbed my arms and dragged me through plant remains and fae body parts toward the archway. My feet scraped against the uneven and blood-soaked stones. Ahead, I could see the anti-magic cuff Lord Morgunn held.
With the vestiges of power I had left, I sent healing magic to my garden. It wouldn’t save the ones with too much damage, but it would give some of the others a fighting chance of recovering. I didn’t keep a drop of strength for myself, giving them my all. They deserved it.
We made it past the archway, and my uncle took the honor of cuffing me. They callously dragged me along the path toward the front corner of the castle as I tried not to cry out from the pain of my injuries. None of them showed an ounce of mercy after what my garden had done to their comrades. I stumbled down the stairs to the dungeon, twisting my ankle midway. Though I cried out, they didn’t seem to care or slow their pace.
Finally, they hauled me into the last cell and shackled me to the wall. Lord Morgunn ordered two of his largest and most vicious soldiers to beat me, but warned them to take care and not maim or kill me. They struck my body everywhere so many times that my screams grew hoarse, and Isagged against the chains. I couldn’t say how much time had passed before darkness overtook me.
Chapter 51
Darrow
Every part of me ached as I fought to pull myself from a deep sleep. There was something important I needed to do, but it felt like wading through sludge to try to remember. Little by little, bits and pieces of memories surfaced. I recalled the battle, seeing Aella repel the dark elf forces into the sea, and after that, my facing off with Lord Morgunn. He had struck me with a spear of ice that had felt unbearably cold. The last image I recalled was Aella being dragged into the portal ring, her face filled with fear and horror.
I sat straight up and opened my eyes. The muscles in my body protested loudly, but I didn’t care. My sister sat in a chair next to my bed, her feet propped up on the nightstand. A flash of relief crossed her gaze before it turned detached.
“About time you woke up,” she said, lowering her feet to the floor and flinging her long, brown-black hair behind her back. “The healer lifted the sleep spell two hours ago.”
Two hours? “How long have I been down?”
“About two and a half days.”
“Aella is in trouble, and you let me sleep that long?” I asked, furious.
She rolled her eyes. “You were at death’s door for most of it. Lord Morgunn does terrifying work with his ice magic, and it took that long for the healers to repair the damage to your skin and organs. At least now we know why we kept finding frozen victims every time we fought Therress.”
I lifted the blanket to check myself, realizing I was naked underneath, and noted the top layers of my skin were new and still raw from regrowth. Perhaps it was best I hadn’t seen how bad I looked in those early hoursafter the battle. My stomach still had a dark spot just below my navel from where the spear had impaled me.
If I were this bad… “What about Loden and the other two soldiers?”
“Loden was the least injured since the ice pierced him in the thigh first. He woke last night.” She paused and shook her head. “The others were struck higher in the chest and didn’t survive the first day.”
I closed my eyes, mourning their loss. They’d been good, loyal elves. Once I finished collecting myself, I looked at Faina again. “I need to rescue Aella before it’s too late.”
She frowned. “What do you mean? Surely, her uncle wouldn’t kill her.”
I relayed all that I could recall from that night. “He knows she betrayed him, and he’s undoubtedly punishing her as we speak.”
A deadly, cold calm took over Faina’s features. “Then you’ll find a way to rescue her.”
At that moment, Loden barged through the door. He was still pale like me from his injuries, but otherwise, he appeared fully recovered. “Good, you’re awake.”
“You know what I need to do.” He had been there for much of it, and I’d told him what happened between Aella and the dark elves before we tried to intercept Lord Morgunn.
He nodded. “Our spies reported that Aella was hauled away by her uncle and cousin soon after arriving at Ivory Castle keep, but they were unable to follow and find out what happened to her. Anyone who knows anything isn’t talking about it. In anticipation of your waking, I sent one of your sebeskas out at dawn. She should be approaching the castle soon. We can’t formulate a plan until we have an idea of what is happening there.”
Nameless ones bless him for thinking ahead as always. “Thank you. What is the status of Radoumar?”
“It’s a disaster,” Faina said, sighing. “After we sent you and the worst of the wounded here to Darynia, we had to track down the remaining dark elves that your frighteningly powerful wife missed. We also had to contain the fires, gather the dead, and set up tents for those who lost their homes, which was nearly two hundred.”
She paused, and amusement lit in her gray eyes. “More than once, we heard the story of a beautiful blonde lady in gray who stepped in to protect them from the horde of enemy soldiers. Father isn’t happy that Aella opened that portal for her uncle, but he recognizes that she mitigated the damage as much as she could.”
“Yes, but she is undoubtedly paying for her selflessness now.”
My sister’s gaze turned haunted because she had suffered during our yearly trips to Karganoth as well. They usually separated us, and like me, she never talked about her experiences. I had no idea what had happened to her, but I suspected she faced circumstances similar to mine. After seeing the evidence of what Lord Morgunn had done to Aella in the past, we could each imagine how much worse it might get for her.
“That’s why I had the healers concentrate more on you and Loden than the other injured,” she said, straightening her shoulders as she undoubtedly pushed old memories away. “We needed you back at full strength as soon as possible.”
“Thank you.”
