She grabbed his arm with her gloved hand and led him into a black stone hut just off of the street, outside of the Ruin’s current path. It was empty inside, abandoned. Blood splashed the floor, turning Lorcan’s stomach. Whoever had lived here had been caught up in the fight. They had likely died fleeing from the enemy.
He turned to the shadow warriors, motioning them inside. For now, this hut was safe, but it might not be for long.
He took the cloaked fae to the back corner of the room where they could speak privately without being overheard. “I’m listening, Nollaig, but I don’t understand.”
“The streets ahead are packed to the brim with enemies. As soon as we round that corner, we will be swarmed by wood fae. Two hundred, at least. Against nine. We will surely die.”
Lorcan’s heart roared in his ears. “Then, we’ll stay here.”
“We can’t. The Ruin will come this way soon enough.”
He shook his head, gazing at the path ahead. “What are you suggesting then? We can’t just hide here like cowards until we die.”
“I would not suggest anything of the kind.” She pointed out the window, toward a distant alley. “Go right. We can get to the castle that way.”
A slithering unease unfurled in his gut. “The castle.”
“Where your father is hiding.”
Lorcan clenched his fingers around the hilt of his sword. “And why would we go to the castle to see my father, Nollaig?”
“So that we can take the throne from him and end his terrible reign.”
Lorcan’s throat was thick. “Take it from him? How?”
“I think you know how. There is only one way to take down a mad king like that.” She turned and nodded toward Segonax. “He will be locked up in the fortress, but he’ll allow Segonax inside. And us along with him.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe what I am hearing. You plan for me to abandon the fight so that I can kill my own father. I wanted to help this kingdom as best I could, Nollaig, but not like this.”
“No, I will kill the king.”
He took a step back. “You?”
“It is the only way to save the realm. You can’t do it yourself. You’d be cursed.”
“And you’d be cursed, too!” Frustration raged through him, hot like a knife drenched in blood. He did not know what worried him more. That Nollaig wanted to kill the king, or that Lorcan did not know if he could let her do it.
“I’m already cursed, Your Highness.”
Mouth dry, he tried to speak. “How long have you been planning this?”
“For a very long time.” A pause. “Once the battle is over, we will not get a chance like this again. His assassins missed us once, but they might not miss again. This might be our only chance. The city is in chaos. We can use that to our advantage.”
“It sounds as though you’ve thought a lot about this.”
“Oh, I have, Your Highness,” she said, her voice sharp. “I have very much indeed.”
Lorcan could only stare at the cloaked fae he had known for so many years...except had he ever truly known her? He had never seen her face or even her hands. She had hidden herself from the rest of the court for as long as he had known her. She had never once shared a thing about her past. Nollaig had always been an enigma.
A harmless enigma, he realized. Perhaps that had been the point all along.
“My father will have guards with him,” Lorcan said.
“He will.” She nodded toward the warriors who were waiting for his signal. “A few, but no more than what we have here.”
“Segonax will never go along with it.”
She chuckled. “Segonax might feel quite a bit differently than you’d expect.”
“You two have been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
“Biding our time.”
“Are you even a shadow fae, Nollaig?”
She hissed. “I am more a shadow fae than anyone else here, and far more than your father ever was.”
Lorcan did not know what that meant, but he did know that he couldn’t spend any more time asking questions. The city was under attack on two fronts. Three, if he included his father. He needed to make a decision. There was no more time to think. He needed to act.
Nollaig cocked her head, listening. “The wood fae are coming, Your Highness.”
Lorcan let out a growl. He hated this. Everything about it. It felt wrong. The city was burning because of his father’s actions, and Bolg was only showing signs of getting worse. If someone did not step in and stop him, there would be nothing left of the shadow realm to save.
And yet...
“Your Highness, what is it you wish for us to do?”
“This is madness,” he said, his stomach in turmoil.
“Madness is a king sending thousands of his people to die.”
Lorcan winced. It was true, all of it. Nollaig had suddenly placed the future of the realm in his hands, and he did not know what to do. He’d never wanted this kind of power. His princedom had been forced upon him by a father he’d never even met. He’d gladly gone to the Air Court to spy, if only to escape these barren lands.
But he had made a vow back in the mountains. He’d promised himself that he would return to Findius, find a way to stop Bolg Rothach, and become the king himself. This was his chance to right his father’s wrongs. To save the people of this crumbling kingdom.
Lorcan fisted his hands. “Fine. I will go to the castle to carry out your godforsaken plan. But I am not leaving Reyna here to fight the Ruin alone. First, I’m going to help her in any way I can, and then together we’ll fight the wood fae threatening to tear this city apart. Then, and only then, we will go rip my father off his throne. After our enemies are defeated and not before.”
Nollaig sighed in disappointment. “I truly am sorry about this, Your Highness.”
He frowned. “Sorry about what?”
Pain flared through his head, and then the world went black.
48
Reyna
The wind was harsh and brutally hot. Her hair was a storm of silver, slashing at her face and neck. Gritting her teeth, she flicked her gaze down the street. Lorcan and his warriors vanished around the bend, ducking out of the path of the Ruin. The storm above could grow and expand and consume the entire city whole. But for now, they were safe. The Ruin was nothing more than a bulbous cloud wide enough to destroy a single city street.
And so she could finally focus on her greatest enemy and keep it drawn to her side. She needed to give Lorcan a little more time to get his warriors to safety. The last thing she wanted was to get others caught up in this, particularly Nollaig and Segonax. Lorcan was immune, but they weren’t. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing anyone else.
She dropped back her head to glare up at this dark thing that had haunted her for so many years. It wanted her, she understood now. It had ravaged the ice kingdom, all in search of her. It had followed her to the Air Court. And now it was here. Little did it know, she was finally ready for it.
She opened her arms wide as the black flecks fell heavily onto her cheeks.
“What do you want with me?” she shouted into the storm.