“Cast off!”Fael commanded, his voice burning with rage and power.The air around them seemed to ignite, crackling with energy.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Lissea trilled, her tone laced with menace.“I think you should invite them tostay.”
Her voice carried no warmth, only hard edges and the promise of violence.She pointed toward the rooftops.Through the wafting mist, Ren’wyn could just make out archers, their crossbows tipped with flaming arrows aimed directly at theship.
“Damn it,” Esrin cursed darkly.The pressure of wind and water around Ren’wyn grew harsher as he hooked an arm around her waist, hauling her over the railing.
“Let go of me!”she screamed, thrashing violently.“Let go of me, you asshole!”
Esrin dropped the bonds of air and water to direct them toward the archers, but Zev’s voice cut through the chaos.
“Don’t,” Zev warned.“Don’t.They’re crossbow bolts, Esrin.Even without fire, they’ll rip through the hull and tear us apart.”
Zev joined Esrin, holding Ren’wyn down as she fought desperately, writhing in an attempt to breakfree.
“Fael!”she screamed, her voice tearing against her throat like shards of glass.
He stood with his sword angled across his chest, power radiating from him like a storm barely contained.Fire ran along the blade, his skin glowing as every muscle tensed with fury.Beautiful and angry.He was so beautiful—and he was slippingaway.
“Here’s how this is going to go, Lissea,” he said, his tone laced with the raw warning of his power.“This boat is going to cast off, and I’m going to come with you willingly to Ma-Lortil.Or you can try to stop them, and I’ll let my power free.While I will eventually die, I’ll be glad to burn through as many of your men as possible—and you.Your play, Lissea.”
Her expression was as cold and cruel as her eyes.She crossed her arms, gaze sharp as she considered him.A few times, she opened her mouth as if to speak, only to close it again, calculating her response.
“Very well, Fael,” she hissed, her earlier, sunny tone gone.“I accept your offer.Cast off your ship and come with me.”
Something deep and cold stirred in the pit of Ren’wyn’s stomach.It was dark and hungry, and at Lissea’s words, it surged upward like a tidal wave, crashing through her and choking her throat.
“Fael!”she roared, her voice tearing through the night as the boat, already untied, drifted lazily away from the dock.“Fael!”
Her screams turned to raw, incoherent cries as he walked toward Lissea, his power dimming, flames receding as he sheathed his sword.The shards of broken music clawed at her senses, sharp and discordant.Lissea gestured, and soldiers spilled from the buildings, swarming the wharf.
At the last moment, Fael turned, his gaze locking with Ren’wyn’s.A flicker of fire seemed to dance along her cold, damp skin.His eyes were filled with pain, longing, and unbearable sorrow.
The soldiers were on him in an instant.One punched him across the face; another dropped him with the hilt of a sword slammed into his shoulder.Ren’wyn caught a glimpse of chains being dragged from a doorway before Esrin waved his hand, thick fog swallowing the wharf fromview.
“No!You bastard!”Ren’wyn shrieked, her voice ripping painfully in her throat.“Let me go!Let me go to him!You bastards!”
Zev and Esrin wrestled her to the deck as the crew looked on warily.Their hands bruised her arms, the roughened boards beneath her stinging her skin as she thrashed.The pain was her anchor, keeping her from dissolving into the nothingness clawing at her mind.They dragged her into the cabin, but she fought them every step, her screams splintered and incoherent.
“Stop fighting,” Esrin said gently, almost pleading.“It’s over, Ren’wyn.Stop fighting us.”
She couldn’t.The pain and the fight were all that remained.Her mind replayed the images—Fael being beaten, Fael walking toward Lissea.
Zev closed his eyes, his expression shifting to deep focus.It started with his palms and fingers, where they pressed against Ren’wyn’s legs, holding her down.Slowly, his form began to change, merging into the wool of the blanket beneath her.The fabric came alive, spreading over her from toe to neck, binding her in place.Zev’s magic intertwined with the blanket, his very essence pressing down—unyielding andfirm.
Ren’wyn shuddered and groaned, tears streaming freely down her face.She could feel the blanket pinning her, a suffocating stillness.There was no more moving freely.
“No,” she wept, then whimpered it again.“No.”
Between the waves of pain and grief, a surge of anger burned.“Falorian,” she croaked, her voice cracking as she turned toward Esrin.He dropped to his knees beside her, smoothing his hand gently over her hair, his face streaked with tears.
“I know, Ren,” he rasped, his pain mirroring her own as he touched her with heartbreaking tenderness.
“He’s the crown prince,” she said in disbelief.“The emperor’sson.”
“You didn’t know?”Zev asked softly.
Ren’wyn’s head snapped toward him, her face twisting with sudden fury.“No, I didn’t,” she bit out, her anger returning like a lightning strike.“That somehow escaped him during our months together—and his time in mybed.”
