Page 37 of Through Battle and Blades (The Wolf Queen 2)

My voice became far more than just a sound generated by my vocal cords. It spread out across the field and as it did, everything changed. Each person froze as they were, Reaver and our people alike, but that wasn’t enough for me.

Whatever power I possessed, it often felt like a fire burned inside me, and right now, it transformed into an inferno. A small part of me worried at that, at what I was burning as I stepped forward, weaving my way across the field, seeing for myself all of the pain I’d felt. But as I did so, the wounds on the flesh of my people closed. Skin turned smooth, blood flaked away and they were whole again.

But that was only part of the problem.

The Reavers would only rally, ready to tear us asunder, and when these fell, others would rise up to replace them, falling upon us like an unstoppable wave of terror.

Then I remembered. A wave might crash onto the shore, but it was sucked backwards, out to sea again before it could return.

“GO,” I shouted, my intent clear, and as soon as I said the word, the Reavers here turned like obedient children and did just that. Some of our people took a step too, wavering on their feet, but as they returned to themselves, they stopped from going anywhere.

Or at least I think they did.

The edges of my vision darkened as I scowled fiercely at the Reavers’ backs, not willing to blink for a second until every single one of them had quit the field.

But the gods had other ideas.

“Well done, my queen,” Pepin said, appearing at my side, her arm wrapping around my waist when I faltered, but that wasn’t enough.

“Darcy?” a masculine voice shouted as the world began to go black. “Darcy!”

I tried to answer him, I really did, but the blackness had a hold of me and it wouldn’t let me go. Not when he scooped me up into his arms, nor when he held me to his chest.

No, she had me right where she wanted me now.

Time to ride or die, Nordred had said. As an impossible coldness tore through me, it felt certain which one this would be.

Well done, little queen, the Morrigan said with a wicked chuckle, right before I fell forward into the endless darkness.

19

There I hung, in a darkness so perfect it felt impossible to imagine anything else. No thoughts, no feelings, just endless, endless nothingness. So when his voice came, it felt like the entirety of existence stuttered.

“Come on, lass,” he said, his voice raspy and careworn. “It’s not like you to go hiding. Where’s my brave girl?”

But right now, whatever I was, it rebelled. I resisted his words, his cajoling tone. I resisted those terms, that knowledge of me. I was nothing, this was nothing and there was a peace to that. We aimed for, strained towards… nothing. We were just perfectly empty, dark and still, until he spoke.

“Those likely lads of yours, they’re half mad with grief and half with fear. You took them over the edge with you, lass, as you had to, but now it's time to bring them back. Come back, Darcy.”

The command of his voice was a silken rope, wrapping itself around me and hauling me up, up, up.

“Come back to your subjects, my queen.”

The darkness fractured and my eyes flicked open and for a moment all I could do was suck in breaths and blink. Then the hazy mess before me resolved itself and I just stared.

“Nordred?” I said, the words, the act of speaking, feeling strange.

“Just so,” he said with a patient smile. When he helped me sit up, that’s when I felt the paralysing weakness inside me, my muscles barely able to share the burden of holding me up.

“She’s awake?”

The door slammed open, the handle burying itself in the soft plaster of the wall, but that brought him in. Gael stormed over, his eyes blazing, his jaw locked so tight I swore I heard his teeth crack. But I couldn’t pay any attention to that as he fell down beside my bed, onto his knees.

“I don’t know what the hell you did,” he growled, his voice a perfect snarl of menace, “but you’ll not be doing that again. You might’ve healed everyone else. One of the commander’s saying the lumbago that’s plagued him for years is gone now. But the cost…” His hands went to the edge of the bed, creeping towards mine, then turning to claws, digging them into the mattress. “Darcy, you were gone. I’ve been able to feel you inside here…” His spare hand went to his chest, leaving red marks behind as he raked it across it. “I’ve felt you inside my heart since the moment we met on the moors. Until then.”

He stared at me now, taking everything in. The way Nordred was forced to help keep me upright, the no doubt dazed expression on my face. Something pulled at me the minute Gael walked into the room, drawing me towards him even if I could barely move. But what strength I did have was spent getting closer to him. He let out a half huff, half sob, surging in and tearing me from Nordred’s grip and into his arms, wrapping his body tight around mine. As he buried his nose in my hair, I felt a deep throb inside me and as I collapsed against his chest, light began to flicker inside.

Somehow, by some means I didn’t understand, being in Gael’s arms was filling me back up, replacing whatever was lost and driving back that endless biting cold with this. A warmth that felt like a fire on a cold, sodden day or a big, steaming hot mug of cocoa. My fingers moved first, digging into him to hold him where he was, though he did not seem to be in any rush to let me go, then, as I felt stronger, I hugged him back.

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