Page 70 of Heir Of Sun And Moon
“Rhea, you need to run,” he grits out, blocking a swing of the guard’s golden weapon with his own, the clashing metal vibrating in the night air.
“I’m not leaving you!” I scream as a hand grips my arm and jerks me back forcefully. Gold armor glows on the arms of my newest captor as the nearly full moon casts its ethereal light, finally fully risen in the night sky.
Bella growls as she snaps her jaws at King Dolian again, nearly close enough to bite his hand. The fourth guard swings his sword in Bella’s direction, but she easily dodges it and again darts towards the king. The guard holding me has his full attention on Bella, so I use every bit of strength I can to push him away, watching as he stumbles and lets go of me to catch himself as he falls.
“What’s going on down there?” a new guard shouts out from the bridge as he looks down at the field.
“The king is under attack! Assemble the rest of the King’s Guard!” one of the king’s trusted yells. The guard on the bridge turns and runs, shouting something I can’t make out as he crosses the long bridge to the castle.
I hear Flynn curse under his breath at whatever is being said. My eyes then move to the king and his guard as they still fight a quick and ruthless Bella. She manages to crunch down on my uncle’s leg before she lets go to dodge the guard’s sword. Closer to me, the man I had pushed is now scrambling back to his feet. He glares at me as he straightens to his full height, but then the king gives another shout of pain and he turns his attention back to him. The entire scene around me is pure chaos, and my feet feel frozen to the ground. I turn my head to look at Flynn, watching as one guard circles him while the other he was fighting lays motionless in the grass.
“Sunshine, run. I’ll catch up to you. Please,” Flynn’s voice sounds so wrong, so devoid of the usual cheer and confidence emanating from him. “Please,” he begs again as he fights the guard, holding his sword with one hand. Even injured, his moves are graceful and impressive, but I’m worried it won’t be enough. I have to do something to help him.
“I am not leaving without you,” I repeat. My magic pushes against the barrier of my skin, the sensation both warm and cold.
I move to Flynn’s right as he kicks the guard he is fighting in the chest. The man stumbles back, falling down into the shadows cast by the moonlight on the grass. Flynn acts quickly, bending down to pick something up before grabbing my hand, leading me as we run towards the forest outlined across the field of flowers. Bella’s name is a call on my lips as I turn my head to look for her, but Flynn stumbles and takes us both down before I can find where she is.
“Flynn!” I shriek, crawling over to his body where he lays in the wildflowers. The sweet fragrance and the delicate, colorful blooms around us mock me, hiding in their shadows the blood and death that is waiting behind us.
“It’s okay. I just need a minute to focus, and then we can get back up again,” he says on a grunt, bringing his hand to his stomach, but I’m not waiting any longer.
“I can heal you,” I plead, averting my gaze from his and all the questions that I’m sure are dancing in his eyes.
“Rhea, no, you don’t have to—”
“Stop it,” I whisper, removing his bloody hand and placing my own over his wound. “I can’t lose you too. I won’t.” I hear voices, and when I quickly glance behind me, two of the king’s trusted guards are running in our direction. My eyes go back to Flynn’s wound, closing as I inhale and gradually blow the air back out.I will save him.
“Sunshine, listen to me, I only need—” But the rest of his voice is drowned out as I focus on calling my magic to the surface as quickly as possible. It answers—faster than it did with Bella or Alexi—the shimmery white light glowing even through the darkness of my shut eyelids. My hands tingle with warmth, my heart pounding madly as I focus everything I have on healing Flynn. In my mind, I picture my magic flooding into him, reconnecting veins and muscles. It stitches together his beautiful tanned skin until no mark remains, until there is no evidence that anyone hurt him. It feels so right to use my magic on him, and I swear I feel something inside of him answer in response. It’s like a recognition or a bone-deep knowing. It calls to my magic, to me, and I swiftly answer.
A rough hand lands on my shoulder, and my eyes fly open as I scream my frustration at being interrupted. Penetrating cold flows through my skin temporarily, my vision swimming in darkness. The hand disappears instantly, and I focus back on Flynn. Warmth replaces the bitter cold, my vision becoming clear again. His eyes are wide as he looks at me. My fear that this may be the last straw for him comes roaring to the surface. He didn’t know I had magic; he didn’t know I’ve been lying to him this whole time. Will he understand? Will he still look at me like I’m the only person in the room? Or will this betrayal disgust him to the point that he realizes I’m not worth the trouble?
The light of my magic reflects in his dark irises. His face softens immediately, the corners of his full lips reaching up towards his eyes. The skin along his handsome jaw glows with my magic but also with health—with life now. He is radiant against the backdrop of the night sky, a beckoning star guiding me to him from the very beginning.
“Rhea, I’m okay,” he says, but I have to make sure. I can’t stop until I know he is totally healed, fully whole again. “Sunshine, look at me.” He sits up easily, but I keep my hands pushing on his stomach, my magic flowing into him and filling his torso with white light. I don’t know how the guards haven’t stopped us yet, and I’m tempted to look behind me, but Flynn’s hand cups the side of my face.
“I can’t lose you,” I breathe the words—my voice a frayed, panicked plea through the tears falling down my cheeks. I hope he can feel the truth of it, of just how much he means to me.
“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. Nothing in this realm or any other could get me to leave you. Nothing,” he promises quietly, placing affectionate kisses on my cheeks and the tip of my nose and sealing the promise of his words with his lips. “Call your magic back,” he whispers over my mouth, his hand moving from my cheek to cup the back of my head. He pushes our foreheads together tenderly—his eyes never leaving mine. Flecks of silver are reflected there, commanding me to get lost in them. Somehow forcing the delirium of watching him get hurt to calm. “Call it back, Rhea.”
There is no anger or disappointment or fear on his face or in his voice like I expect, so I obey his gentle command and let my hands ease up on him. Like when I healed Bella, I imagine the magic slowly coming back into my body to settle in again. It moves like water trickling into a lake, like it’s slowly arriving home. Returning back to its source. The glowing that I hadn’t realized was around us dulls, our surroundings coming back into focus. Noises of men grunting and faraway footsteps pounding on stone rend through the air, rushing back into me like they were waiting just beyond a barrier. As if a shield was around us.
“Don’t look back,” he says as unease slithers inside me, wrapping around my heart. Holding my hand, he quickly stands and helps me up, grabbing his sword from where it lays amongst the flowers. It’s now that I notice he was able to snag both satchels before we ran. He puts them on, the straps crossing over his muscular chest.
“Bella!” I yell, trying to look back, but Flynn just pulls me closer to him as we run towards the woods.
“Just a little farther,” he urges, tugging me another few steps until we are nearly halfway through the field. He finally stops, turning us around but making sure that I am a step behind him. His sword is drawn in front of him, his stance wide, as we both try to find Bella in the dark. In the distance on the bridge, I can hear the rhythmic pounding on the stones get louder.
“What is that?” I ask Flynn, my hand gripping onto the back of his tunic.
“More of the King’s Guard. We need to get Bella and leave now before they have the chance to surround us,” he urges, his free hand running through his hair.
“Bella!” I shout, as I swing my head from side to side, frantically searching for the glow of her white fur in the moonlight. The early summer air is warm though no breeze rustles the trees or makes the flowers dance. It’s as if the universe, or maybe even the gods themselves, are hushed at this moment. Flynn’s head snaps forward as two tall figures emerge from the shadows only twenty feet away. But it isn’t the two guards who I saw before.
“How long have you had magic, Rhea?” My uncle’s voice is cold and strident, while his face is a painting of pure fury. Silver light pours over him from above as he limps closer.
He knows. He knows. He knows.
The silence carries a heavy weight as King Dolian and one of his trusted guards stand across from us, both wielding swords. Both ready to drag me back to that prison. “How long have you—”
