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“It is madness, Ferryn!” he cried, his voice cracking with terror and fury.
My gaze snapped back to the creatures emerging into the shallows, coming closer. Wights. More and more of the dead, hollow eyes and gaping mouths, their bones scraping and clicking together without flesh and tendon to soften their movements.
“No.” I shook my head as Meck attacked his brother and swords clanged.
I dodged around them, running for the camp when a hand snatched my arm and jerked me into a hard body. Ferryn twisted my arm backwards behind my back, pressing me close.
“No, my mizrah.” Black striations streaked like shards of black glass in his eyes, darkening his irises. “You’re not going anywhere.” Then he swiftly lifted the handle of his sword above me and swung down toward my head.
Sharp pain, then darkness.
Chapter 41
GOLL
I sat staringinto the blue-coal fire. I should’ve been thinking of my next move toward a proper alliance with Issos, or the trade routes that weren’t settled, or the rebuilding of Lumeria, which wasn’t moving as swiftly as expected. The people of Mevia and the surrounding villages rejected assistance of any kind, threatening the wraith fae I’d sent if they stepped foot on their land.
I’d expected some push-back from some Lumerians, but not such a rejection that was akin to denying the treaty. Of course, my soldiers still occupied Mevia and hadn’t been hindered in any other way, but it was apparent there were still hostilities toward us. And likely would be for a while.
As much as I’d wanted to move into an era of peace between Lumeria and Northgall, I wasn’t a fool. The hatred still simmered—on both sides. But try as I might to focus on what a king should be doing, my mind kept drifting back to Una. The soon-to-be mother of my child. Our child.
I grunted at the sweet sting of what lay ahead for her. The pain and danger of childbirth. The thought of it filled me with a dread I hadn’t known before.
And yet, she still had her own quest to complete. The gods hadn’t called her to Northgall at seventeen, where fate left her mutilated, only to regrow wings the color of our world, then send her on another hunt for the god-touched texts for nothing. If she was given the cure to help her people,ourpeople, then our journey was just beginning.
The tent flap opened, and I glanced up expecting Dalya to step through, but it was Pullo. He appeared agitated.
I stood, unease curling in my gut. “What is it?”
“I can’t find her.”
I’d sent Pullo to fetch Dalya some time ago.
“What do you mean?” I asked, but I was already stalking past him and out of the tent.
He followed as I made my way swiftly toward the campfires. “I checked her tent, Sire, and the campfires at the back of camp, then I went to the tents of those who’d been injured in the wolf attack. She’s with none of them.”
“Did she go with Una and the ladies to bathe at the stream?”
“No, Sire. I saw Meck and Ferryn escorting them when I first went to Dalya’s tent.”
I stalked past the fire nearest my tent where Keffa was singing an old ballad. Dalya was nowhere in that circle. Soryn caught my expression, set his whetstone on the log he was sitting on, and walked toward me. “What’s wrong?” he asked gruffly.
“Pullo can’t find Dalya in the camp,” I said in a low voice. “We need to do a full search.”
By this point, Keffa had stopped entertaining the Culled and was wandering up to us as well. Before he even asked, I told him that Dalya was missing. Though there was no proof yet, I sensed something was wrong. I’d specifically told Dalya to be ready toscry after Olgavet served dinner. She hadn’t come on her own, so I’d sent Pullo. Dalya never disobeyed a command, and there was no logical reason for her to leave the encampment at night.
“We need to search every tent and speak to every fae,” I told them. “I’ll fetch Una and—”
A cry pierced the night. One of my Culled. We all turned toward the sound.
For a brief moment, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Wights stalked into camp, attacking the warriors at the fire at the front. One had grabbed one of my fae from behind and sank sharp fangs into his throat, blue blood streaming.
I sprinted into action as did those around me, a stone of dread sinking into my stomach. Dodging into my tent, I grabbed my sword I’d left at the bedside then ran across camp toward the stream.
Soryn, Keffa, and Pullo were right behind me, fighting wights as we went. The only way to kill them was to sever their heads or by burning them. I used feyfire to disintegrate the ones Keffa and Soryn hadn’t decapitated and who stood in our way, coming from the direction of the stream.
“No,” I prayed, running faster, fear bright and burning in my chest.
