Page 99 of Spring Guardians & Songbirds

Her friend shut his eyes and sighed. “Sugar gives her head a rush worse than alcohol. Take her back, she’s had enough,” he said, taking the plate from her and scooping all the remaining cake in his mouth.

Snow shot up like thunder, ready to attack her friend, but I wrapped an arm around her waist and faded us to Adriata.

Chapter fourteen

Bestia

Snowlin

Amaris was one hot humid hell covered in flowers and buzzing insects. I twirled in place as a bee went past me and I almost tripped on the long train of my favourite grey dress. The yellow wee things made me shiver. I hated bees.

“M-My queen,” Atlas said, jogging to me, half tripping over the robes that fit him three sizes too big. “I didn’t hear you arrive.”

“Nia brought me and she went to see Driada. Where is Mal?”

“At the training courts.”

“And your king?” I did need his rotten permission after all.

“I-It is his volunteering duties today,” he explained. “Children from Amaris orphanage spend four days in the care of the royal court. Mal, Driada, Kilian and I have a day each.”

“What does he teach them, rules on genocide?”

Atlas snorted and then covered it with a cough. “He is only a couple corridors down.”

Swiftly, I followed after Atlas till we were in front of a square daisy meadow overlooking the sea. Children's laughter bubbled in the air, almost as vibrant as the sunlight above. And he laid there on the juniper ground with his eyes closed and a small smile etched on his lips while children covered him in little daisies. Phantom tendrils of shadows curled here and there in the air, chasing and playing with the children, and each time they squealed when they caught one, he grinned.

Why did it make my chest well with hurt?

“Your Maj—” I slapped a hand over Atlas’s mouth and the young priest’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

I put a finger to my lips. “Don’t tell him I was here.” Pulling back, I let go of him. “I’ll find Mal myself.”

The training courts were a nightmare to find in the castle grounds. I should have listened to Atlas's advice and kept him with me.

This morning, after a quick visit to the dungeons, it had hit me. The memory from the elixir and why I saw that particular one. A place where Aryan could have kept my siblings without anyone knowing. A place that could have neutralised their magic and somewhere far but close enough for him to keep an eye on. Somewhere I prayed long and hard that I was wrong.

My feet picked up a pace when I heard heavy grunts, thuds and clatter of metal. Between feet tall walls of bushes stood a miles long ground of Adriatian soldiers sparing one another. It wasn’t hard to spot Mal, his body stood out amongst the many from the ink tattooed on him. He stood back, leaning on a court fence as he directed a group of what looked like teenagers into different fighting stances.

Eldritch Commander. For the first time I could see it. His concentration was deadly, his demeanour dark. For a moment I felt like he might downplay the true him only to disguise this. The chatter, the laughter, the jokes. Perhaps they, too, were only a mask.

He counted and they shifted on his command with heavy grunts of Darsan words.

Many stopped when I pushed through the corridors of the platformed courts, some to stare and others to gape and mumble prayers. Sigh. They never gave up, did they?

When the younger brother spotted me, all of his previous mien vanished—replaced by a mischievous grin. “Sister-in-law,” he said, jumping the fence and walking up to me. He gave me a long perusal. “Dressed a bit fancy for a match.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how much more gratifying it is beating a man dressed like this. If dirtying silks didn’t give me grief, I would have shown you what I mean.”

He laughed. “I believe you.”

A few men gathered on the platform close to us, leaning on the bannister. “My queen,” one said, bowing his head. “We finally get to see you. You are more beautiful than what Mal has painted you to be.”

Another nudged his shoulder in a signal to stop. “Kilian will hang you.”

Huh, strange. “Die an honourable death and learn to compliment a woman better.”

They all laughed to my surprise, and a few others gathered around us, my panic throttling to my neck when I spotted the black leathers and steel.