“Portals open like hungry wormholes all around the borders,” Marayke presses. “Whenever we take people away from one post to fill the necessities at another, the attackers use the advantage and open another portal at the weak spot. Demons are flooding in, Milord. People are dying.”
I growl, making dozens of fae around me cringe. I should have fucking seen this coming. What did I expect, having practically robbed Samael of his souls at the Cemetery of Doom? I spin around, a sword of flames forms in my hand, and I launch towards the main doors. They open wide as I do, sensing my presence and responding to my command. The castle is like a part of my body.
“Seal all entrances and exits,” I command. “Let no one in, no one out. All the military are coming with me, only a batch of guards is staying back.”
I lead the way, the soldiers’ steps thudding against the ground behind me, making it shake. Their armor and their weapons clamor, filling the air with the sound of war.
Because that’s what we’re facing—war. And I know that it somehow has to do with the woman I love. She ran away because she had something to hide. If I’m completely honest, I knew the entire time at the wedding that something was amiss and, in my great stupidity as a man in love, I would even be able to forgive her. We’ve been through too much together, and our bond is too deep.
But this isn’t only about me, it’s about all my people, about my entire realm. People are dying on the crenels because of what she did.
“Place guards at the Altar of Worlds,” I tell Marayke. “But make sure they stay hidden, or Cerys won’t approach the portal, and she won’t try to do what I think she intends to do. Have them wear a glamour over their dark energies, too, otherwise the cat will sense them. In fact, you stay behind, too. Make sure you trap the Queen.”
“The Queen.” There’s reproach in her voice. “How can you still call her that? You clearly know that she betrayed you.”
“I married her. She is the queen.”
“Her bouquet caught fire while still in the air,” she screams, anger lacing her words. “She was set on killing you!”
Fire gathers in the back of my throat. I could spit flames, burn everything in my path.
“Go!” I snarl, and the whole battalion around me comes to a halt. We’re just at the doors, ready to march out.
Marayke shrinks back, but still doesn’t leave.
“You need me,” she hisses through her teeth.
“I’ve got Draven.”
Draven steps by my side to enhance the point. Clad in his leather fighting outfit and his black cape, his eyes glowing and intense, he stands by my side like a prince of shadow. I find myself wishing Marayke had fallen in love with him instead of me. They would make a good couple, and I wouldn’t have to see the hurt in her face every time I reject her, which apparently I’m forced to do more and more often.
Marayke takes distance, but keeps looking back at me to make sure I see how dissatisfied she is with this. I realize that many of my people are staring at me expectantly. The Queen’s betrayal is obvious to all of them, considering the omen, and how she now snuck away from me, leaving me in the middle of a battle.
“Marayke,” I call. She stops. I hate this but, as the King, I have a duty to my realm, and to the image I’ve made for myself to keep my men loyal. “When you find her, put her in the dungeon.”
CHAPTER II
Cerys
INCREDIBLE, HOW EMPTY this humongous palace seems with most of the army gone. They followed Xerxes into battle, into a war that I have brought to his doorstep. But the guards and some of the soldiers stayed behind, as well as my sworn enemies Marayke the Iron Maiden and her brother the two-faced High Mage, and they are all after me.
I don’t even want to imagine what will happen if they catch me. I’ll probably wish I’d never been born, so I keep in the shadows, following Nazarean, whose fine nose keeps us on the free paths, and out of trouble.
Without all the people, this place feels like an abandoned city of old. It’s glamorous, but different from anything I’ve seen before. Since this realm is close to Hell, and resembles it in many ways, the palace walls are made of dark volcanic stone, and dark energy lurks in its shady alcoves. Reddish light from the volcanoes and rivers of fire filters through the archways and windows. Only in the darker levels, those closer to the dungeons, where the secrets are kept and where there is no light from the outside, there are torches and candles, emitting a cozier light that makes me think of Hell less.
Nazarean and I hide in the alcoves that he smells are empty, moving further towards the Hall of Ceremonies, where the great portal is. Nazarean has been quiet on his paws, purring softly to communicate when someone was too close, and in what direction we should move. As a black cat, he can blend in with the shadows, and use his senses to find our way while avoiding people, but he seems to grow uncertain as we go.
I manage to hitch a cloak from the wardrobe where the wedding attendees had left their stuff, and keep following Nazarean. He navigates the castle ground floor, managing to keep us away from the patrols, but he stops more and more often, sniffing more, turning around as if he were chasing his own tail, and complaining with soft mewls.
“You can do this,” I whisper, bending down and stroking him behind his ears, just the way he likes it. I know that it gives him confidence.
He keeps going, but we stumble upon guards where we didn’t expect them. We manage to slip away in time, but the danger is clearly greater than we thought, and Nazarean’s skills work less than usual for some reason. The cape I’m wearing is dark and shabby, perfect to blend in with the shadows, but it won’t be enough to hide me from all of my pursuers.
We have to take more detours than I expected, but now I can finally see the grand doors of the Hall of Ceremonies.
I stop in front of them, staring up at the engraved sculptures on the walls, representations of gargoyles and creatures of the underworld. Tears gather in my throat, and it’s all I can do not to let them stream down my face. All the pressure and anxiety from hiding in the darkness, terrified the patrols might find us, helped keep my feelings numb. But now that layer of numbness rips into threads.
This is where I married the love of my life only hours ago, even though I knew I shouldn’t have done it. I had made a promise to Samael, but I couldn’t bring myself to break Xerxes’ heart like that, basically leaving him at the altar. I wanted to give him the joy of our wedding, the fulfillment of our union, and then I got greedy and wanted to consummate our marriage, too. I wanted to make him happy one last time, and convey to him, physically, just how much I loved him, make him feel in his blood that I belong to him in body and soul no matter what.
But now I have to go through with the deal I made with Samael three nights ago, even if it will break Xerxes’ heart beyond repair. Even though he’ll think the worst of me forever. Hell, he probably already does. If Marayke and the patrols are after me, it’s because Xerxes ordered them to. A claw squeezes my heart just imagining the hurt that I caused him. My soul bleeds.
Nazarean meows quietly, urging me to walk inside the great hall. We have a window of time now that it’s empty, but we have to move fast. I step inside, walking down the very same aisle as I did hours ago, heading towards the high pillars and the portal, my beautiful Xerxes waiting for me with love in his eyes.