Page 2 of Realms of Shadow and Sun
Closing his eyes, he reached deep inside, desperate to sense her presence. He stilled his breathing, searching, hoping. There—a flicker, faint but undeniable. She was alive. Relief washed over him, quickly followed by frustration as he realized the connection lacked its usual intensity. She must be far away, he surmised, likely already in the Shadow Realm. But she was alive, and that knowledge ignited a spark of determination within him.
Grayden attempted to stand, but his legs betrayed him, muscles quivering like a newborn foal's. He swayed unsteadily, the room spinning around him.
“You've lost a lot of blood, Grayden,” Julietta said, her voice tinged with urgency. “You need to lie back down.”
“No,” he growled, the word rumbling from deep in his chest. “I won't stop until I get her back.”
If Julietta was shocked by his tone, she didn't show it. Instead, she lowered her voice, speaking to him as one might to a wounded animal. “Your brother is on his way here now. He will help you get Renya back. But you can't do anything in the shape you're in.”
“What plans have been made to retrieve my mate?” The words came out as a snarl, unhappiness dripping from each syllable. Instantly, guilt flooded him as Julietta stepped back, a glint of fear in her eyes. Grayden sighed, then grimaced as pain flowed through him once more. Gods, he wasn't fit to launch any kind of attack. He couldn't even remain on his feet. Nausea overtook him, and he fell back onto the mattress, the softness doing little to cushion the impact.
“I'm sorry, Julietta,” he whispered, his voice small and heavy with anguish. “I just...I need Renya.”
Julietta's expression softened. She walked towards the table near the crackling fire and returned with a tray bearing a steaming bowl of broth. The rich aroma drifted towards him, but instead of enticing his appetite, it only served to turn his stomach further.
“My mother is talking with Gillbert and Orien to figure out what to do next,” Julietta explained, her voice gentle but firm. “I know you need Renya, but our people are suffering. We've lost a third of our village, and there's no food and not much shelter. Times have been hard for a while, but the dragons and Shadow Realm soldiers made quick work of the village. Everything was ransacked.”
Once again, guilt flushed Grayden's cheeks and neck. Of course, their village was all but destroyed. He glanced around the room, surprised to see it relatively unscathed. Julietta caught his questioning look and seemed to understand.
“The north half of the castle is untouched,” she explained, her voice catching slightly. “Once the Shadow Queen got—got what she came for, they immediately retreated.”
Grayden heard the hesitation in Julietta's voice. She was trying hard not to say Renya's name, as if it would pain him even further. In truth, hearing her name spoken aloud might have been a comfort, a reminder that she wasn't just a figment of his imagination.
His head began to swim, the room blurring at the edges. He saw the look of concern deepen on Julietta's face before her features faded and everything went black.
The next time consciousness returned to Grayden, it was Dimitri at his side. The healer's rough hands worked deftly, adjusting the bandage wrapped around Grayden's torso. The scent of medicinal herbs hung heavy in the air, pungent and sharp.
“Ah, you're awake,” Dimitri said, his voice gruff but not unkind. “I'm afraid you're battling a nasty infection in that wound. I've tried to draw it out using a poultice, and it seems to be working, albeit slowly.”
This time, the nausea and dizziness weren't as overwhelming, though a dull ache persisted throughout Grayden's body. Sitting up still sent shockwaves of pain through him, but he managed to do so without whimpering. He studied Dimitri, relief washing over him as he saw their healer had survived the battle unscathed.
“We'll get her back,” Dimitri said, his words an echo of Julietta's earlier assurance.
Grayden said nothing, the emptiness inside him a gaping void. Without Renya, he felt hollow, purposeless. The pain of her absence weighed on his soul, threatening to crush him entirely.
Dimitri accepted Grayden's silence and began to examine him closely. As he unwrapped the bandage, his eyes widened at the sight of the wound beneath.
“That bad, huh?” Grayden rasped, his voice rough from disuse.
Dimitri sighed heavily, moving towards the edge of the bed to retrieve several bottles from his healer's bag. “It's still horribly infected,” he admitted, his tone grim. He opened a jar filled with a mint-green paste and began to apply it gently to the wound.
The salve stung fiercely, but Grayden bit back any sign of discomfort. This sting was nothing compared to the ache of Renya's absence. “Well, Cressida kicked me several times there,” he said, attempting a wry smile that came out more as a frown. “I'm not surprised.”
Dimitri remained silent as he smeared the contents of another jar onto the inside of a fresh bandage before wrapping it around Grayden's waist. Before he could secure it, the door to the room flew open with a resounding bang.
“Grayden, are you okay?” Phillippe's voice boomed through the room as he rushed to his brother's side, concern clouding his usually composed features. Dark circles shadowed his mocha-colored eyes, and his jaw was covered in several days' worth of coarse stubble.
With effort, Grayden managed to sit up straighter. “No, I'm not okay,” he said, his voice low and tight with barely contained emotion. “Renya is gone, and I'm too weak to do a damn thing about it.”
Dimitri, sensing the tension, quickly finished securing the bandage and gathered his supplies. He backed out of the room silently, leaving the brothers to talk privately.
“We'll get her back, Brother,” Phillippe said, his tone a mixture of determination and sympathy.
“You know what?” Grayden snapped, frustration boiling over. “You're the second person to say that to me within the past half hour, yet no one has offered up a single plan.” He clenched his jaw tightly, muscles jumping beneath his skin.
“Whoa there, calm down,” Phillippe said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “I care about Renya too. But we have a multitude of problems we're facing. The entire village outside is a war zone. People are displaced, there's no food or clean water, and the dead haven't even been recovered from where they fell. The second I got here, I dispatched as many of our soldiers as I could spare to help restore the city and at least stabilize things here.”
Grayden knew his brother was right, but every instinct screamed that none of it mattered. The only thing in this entire world that carried any weight was the connection he shared with his mate. He looked away, shame and frustration warring within him. He felt overwhelmed by the aching need to get her back, yet helpless in the face of his own weakness and the kingdom's dire situation.
