CHAPTER 42

URBAN

“Who the hell are you?” Allera asked as Vienne’s grandfather stepped into the dining hall, hobbling toward us with his wooden staff in hand.

“Wren ~Mandalay~?” Brentley breathed in astonished wonder, gaping at him. Then he shook his head slowly. “I thought you died ages ago. How long have you been alive?”

Mandalay sent him a quizzical glance. “Since birth, I’d imagine.”

Flushing as he realized how ridiculous his question had been, Brentley shook his head and revised, “I mean, why did no one know you were still around?”

“Probably because I didn’t wish it to be known.” Mandalay finally reached us, slightly out of breath. “I only came tonight because I heard we’d been invaded and that the king had fallen.” He glanced toward the banquet table and sighed sadly. “My condolences.”

“Can you bring him back, sir?” Nicolette asked, moving to her dead brother’s side so she could touch Caulder’s leg mournfully.

“What’s that?” Mandalay wheezed out a cough before he shook his head. “Oh, dear child, no. I’m so sorry, but I possess no magic abilities, and even if I did, I fear only his one true love could fix this.”

“Poor Caulder,” Nicolette said, her eyes filling with tears. “He shouldn’t have ended this way. The two people he placed in the highest regard… And they betrayed him. They ~murdered~ him.”

Mandalay patted her shoulder sympathetically. “No, it isn’t fair at all. So few things in this life are.”

The young princess looked up at him. “You said I didn’t kill Yasmin. How are you so sure?”

“Because.” He nodded patiently. “The description you gave to the others of what you did sounded like a High Cliff way to exorcise demons from the bearers of dark magic. In most cases, the mixture will vanquish only the magic, leaving the host body basically unharmed. But my unfortunate granddaughter must’ve carried the darkness in her for so long and accepted it so fully within her that it bonded to her soul. The two could not be separated, so when it died, she did as well.”

“Oh,” Nicolette said in a small voice as she hugged herself.

“She was beyond redemption,” Vienne told her kindly. “None of us could’ve known. Please don’t distress yourself over this, Nicolette. You saved us. Try to focus on that.”

“She’s right.” Allera nodded, backing up Vienne’s words as she hooked her arm through Nicolette’s. “You’re our hero.”

Nicolette nodded but still looked troubled.

It made me remember the first time I’d taken a life. He’d been a nameless enemy from Lowden I’d met on the battlefield. But I could still remember the look of shock in his eyes when he realized I’d bested him and he wouldn’t survive the day. I wondered if he had family, a lover who’d mourn him, pets… Before another soldier had charged at me, and I’d been forced to kill again.

I still dreamed about that first death, though. It would take the young princess some time to get past this.

When Vienne shuddered in my arms, I realized she’d taken a life today too, as had Allera and Brentley. I wondered if this had been the first time for them as well. All of us had blood on our hands now.

Tucking my one true love in close to my side, I kissed her hair when she burrowed her face into my shoulder.

I closed my eyes, thankful she’d been kept safe.

“I should probably take Anniston up to our room,” she said, glancing up at me from exhausted eyes. “It’s been a long, traumatic day for her. She’ll adjust best with a spot of normal routine back in her system.”

It’d been a long day for Vienne too. Taking her hand, I nodded. “I’ll come with you.”

She smiled at me tenderly. “While I would love that, I wonder if you would be best suited down here for the time being—helping the new king step into his role. There’s still much to be done this night in the kingdom of Donnelly.”

I glanced over toward Brentley, who looked to be leaning heavily against Allera.

Our new king.

My God, my sister was a queen now.

~Great~. She’d no doubt lord this over me until the end of time.

“Damn,” I murmured, shaking my head. “Do you think it’s even occurred to him yet?”

“I doubt it,” Vienne murmured sadly.

I nodded, agreeing. “I’ll see what I can do then, my love. But I still feel uneasy about you going anywhere alone right now, even ~inside~ the castle. I know Yasmin’s gone and Far Shore has been handled, but—”

She grinned. “Never fear. I’ll see if I can bring Nicolette with me.”

I chuckled. “In that case, I pity whoever might try to bother you.”

Sniffing out her amusement, she placed a kiss to my jaw, then pulled back to gaze at me with pleasure. I nodded, letting her know all was well. She nodded back, only to turn away and murmur something to her grandfather. After he answered her, touching her elbow, she went to Nicolette and convinced the girl to leave with her.

I watched them go before regarding my brother-in-law.

“Your Majesty,” I said solemnly.

He glanced back at me with momentary confusion before it struck him what I meant.

Face draining of color, he shook his head and muttered, “No. Dear God, not yet. I’m not ready for that right now.”

“All the same,” I told him with a humble bow. “You are the king, and your kingdom just experienced its first battle. Its first ~invasion~. Even though we won, there are still some of our fallen soldiers out there on the field and wounded survivors to tend to. Plus, we’ve the captured prisoners to deal with and we need to let the people know how Caulder died, as well as ~why~ Far Shore came to hate us, and who betrayed us.”

“Christ.” Brentley closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. “You’re right. We’re only just getting started this night, aren’t we?”

“It’s okay, my love,” Allera encouraged him, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his cheek. “You’ve got this. I have faith in you.”

Brentley opened his lashes to study her face. When she nodded, it must’ve given him the boost he needed, because he straightened and glanced expectantly around the room before frowning.

“Where the hell are all the guards? And servants?”

I winced. Stupid me, I’d ordered them all away to give the family time to say goodbye to Caulder. If only I hadn’t done that, Yasmin might not have been able to get away with what she’d done.

Then again, I realized everyone she’d killed tonight was now alive, and Nicolette had taken care of ~her~. If any servants or soldiers had been near when she’d exposed her magic, she probably would’ve killed them off first. So it was just as well that they hadn’t been around to get hurt.

“I’ll get them, Your Majesty,” I promised.

“Good.” Brentley nodded. “Have them meet me in the Throne Room as soon as possible, you included, as you’ve just been upgraded from leader of my army to top advisor.”

I paused, shocked by such a proclamation. A part of me wanted to celebrate, so I could gloat to my father. ~See, I wasn’t a total fuck-up~, I could tell him. A ~king~ trusted me and valued my opinion enough to make me his top advisor. Yet, another part of me cringed away from such bothersome, vile politics.

When I noticed that Allera had lifted her eyebrows my way, clearly wondering if I’d actually accept the position or not, I scowled back.

The brat knew me too well.

Clearing my throat, I smiled stiffly at Brentley. “As honored as I am by the offer, Your Majesty, I think my talents remain best executed on the battlefield.”

Brentley lifted a single eyebrow. “Are you turning me down, Prince?”

I chuckled. “While I’d certainly love to give you my opinion on every matter and probably ~will~ continue to do so no matter what my title is, I just wonder if the position of top advisor should go to someone who knows the kingdom better—someone with, say, ~Mandalay~ blood in them.”

“Vienne,” Wren Mandalay murmured in pleased surprise. Then he nodded his approval and rotated toward Brentley. “I like this kid’s thinking.”

“Then it is done,” Brentley announced. “But… As she is busy tending to her child at the moment, would you mind standing in her stead for the time being?” he asked the old man. “I’d greatly appreciate receiving your wisdom and insight.”

Mandalay bowed to him, then winced when he straightened his crooked spine, pressing his hand against his lower back. “It would be my honor, Your Majesty.”

As they started for the exit to continue on to the Throne Room, I shook my head when Brentley glanced back to give me his own approving nod.

Then I set out to give orders to the servants. I found them all waiting expectantly to hear updates on Caulder and the rest of the kingdom. I gave them my news and sent them off to perform their duties before navigating my way to the Throne Room myself.

Two hours later, the king had sent his yawning wife off to bed, and he’d taken care of most of the issues that should be attended to immediately. His one last task was to have an audience with the Far Shore prisoners his army had captured.

There were less than two dozen of them, wearing nothing but those loose leather skirts, sandals, and strange tattoos on the center of their backs, with more running up the sides of their arms. Every single one of them was young and dirty after spending the last few hours in the Iron Castle’s dungeon that Mandalay claimed had never been used before tonight.

As they were led into the Throne Room by four guards who had them bound together with iron chains around their ankles, wrists, and throats, I studied our enemies. They were here for what they thought was a good cause. Soren had made them believe we had wronged them, that we hated them. Their anger and sense of injustice were palpable.

I almost felt bad for them.

Just as Brentley began to address them, charging them with crimes against Donnelly but promising to pardon them if they agreed to bend the knee in allegiance to him, a voice hissed from behind me.

“Psst. Urban!”

I turned to find a wide-eyed Nicolette hovering in the entrance to a servant’s hallway not far behind me. Fidgeting like crazy, she looked scared out of her mind, so I hurried to her, clasping her arm.

“What’s wrong? Vienne—”

I’m not sure why I asked about my one true love, since I felt no trouble from her through my mark, but my worries always went first to her; I couldn’t seem to help it.

“No,” Nicolette said, shaking her head vigorously. “It’s not her. It’s me. I mean, my mark. It… It’s ~itching~.”

I blinked in disbelief as her gaze moved toward the row of Far Shore prisoners.

Ah, fuck, no.

“He’s here, isn’t he?” she asked, studying them frantically until her gaze latched onto one, and she breathed in amazement. “My one true love.”

Whimpering, she grabbed my arm, her fingers biting in hard. “Oh God, Urban. What do we do?”

Groaning, I closed my eyes and shook my head. This couldn’t end well.

Her eyes were glassy and wide with fear and awe as she stared fixedly at one specific prisoner.

From his throne, Brentley’s voice boomed, “Now, ~kneel~. Or die.”

Immediately, all of the prisoners fell to their knees, except for four of them. Nicolette whimpered in distress. “No, ~no!~” she groaned, shaking her head insistently. “What does he think he’s ~doing~?”

“Let me guess,” I muttered dryly. “Your boy’s one of the four still standing.”

“Of course,” Nicolette muttered, narrowing her eyes and frowning. “The stupid, loyal ~idiot~. He’s the tall, brown-headed one on the end there. God, he’s so gorgeous. Thank you, fate, for making him gorgeous.”

I sighed. Nicolette might never forgive her brother if he had her one true love executed.

Making a spur-of-the-moment—and probably extremely idiotic—decision, I stepped away from Nicolette, calling, “Brentley!”

Brentley paused in surprise as if I were crazy for interrupting him in the middle of his death sentence—which I had to agree, I was.

“I’m a bit ~busy~ at the moment,” he bit out.

“I know.” I bowed slightly, cringing at him. “Apologies for interrupting, Your Majesty.” Shit, I’d even called him Brentley, not ~Your Majesty~, just a moment earlier, hadn’t I? That probably wouldn’t help matters for me. “But if I may… I need that one prisoner. Right there.”

Brentley blinked. “You...~need~ him?”

I gulped. “Yes.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“I, uh…” I shrugged. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to…to ~question~ him for a bit.”

The king stared at me as if I’d lost my mind. I didn’t have another excuse to give, so I just lifted my eyebrows and shrugged, waiting to see if he’d comply with my wishes or not.

He sighed in exasperation but then nodded, waving a few fingers my way and granting me my request.

As a guard unchained the brown-headed prisoner at the end of the line, I glanced behind me, peering questioningly at Nicolette. She nodded, letting me know I had the right guy.

So I turned back and thanked the guard who had separated the kid from the rest of the prisoners as he handed control of the chains over to me. With no idea how much the stranger might resist or fight now that he was free of the others and had a better chance of escape, I held on tight to his chains and marched him from the room, using another exit than the one Nicolette was waiting at.

I wanted a moment alone with him to determine if he was worthy of her or not before she arrived. But as soon as we entered the corridor, I didn’t get a chance to ask him shit. He reared his head back, cracking me in the face, which immediately made blood stream from my nose.

“Fuck!” Seeing stars, I wasn’t as prepared as I otherwise would’ve been when he whirled around to confront me, attacking with the chains that banded his wrists together.

Growling out a curse, I fought him off, kicking his knee until he buckled. Then I spun him away from me and shoved him face-first into the wall, pinning him there with my body.

“Behave,” I growled. “I’m not going to kill you.”

He shoved back, almost freeing himself, but I gritted my teeth and more aggressively pressed him forward, which caused him to smack his face into the stone wall, leaving him momentarily dazed.

“Now,” I panted, out of breath. “We’re going to have a little chat.”

But Nicolette had already found us, dammit.

“Urban?” Her worried voice came from behind me.

Shaking my head, I glanced at her and grinned through my bloody, fat lip and busted nose. “I believe you found yourself a handful with this one, kiddo.”

She darted forward, her eyes wide with fear. “What’re you going to do with him?”

“~I’m~ not going to do anything.” Digging into my pocket, I came up with the key the guard had given me to unlock all the chains. Then, with a wink, I tossed it to Nicolette. “You said he was yours, right? ~You~ deal with him.”

She scrambled to catch the key. When she had it securely in hand, I stepped back, releasing my hold on the prisoner, even as I inconspicuously pulled my sword from its scabbard, ready for anything.

The boy whirled, instantly crouching into a fighter’s stance, his eyes full of anger and fear but the tenacity to keep fighting.

When blood trickled from the cut he’d gotten on his forehead after I’d cracked his face into the wall, Nicolette gasped in outrage and rushed forward. “He’s bleeding! You made him ~bleed~, you big brute.”

I shrugged, unrepentant, and leaned back against a wall to fold my arms over my chest as I watched her deal with him.

When she reached for his cut, he hissed out a warning breath and shifted his face away from her seeking fingers.

She clucked her tongue soothingly. “No, it’s okay. I swear.” Murmuring softly, she reached out with more hesitation. “I won’t let anyone else hurt you.”

When the prisoner glanced skeptically toward me, she scowled my way and added, “Not even him.”

I sniffed my amusement, but said nothing.

Nicolette gently pressed her fingertips against the cut, and the boy’s gaze went weary, but he at least let her touch him this time.

“Oh, you poor thing,” she murmured. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

The prisoner only blinked at her.

She glanced at me. “Does he understand me? Which language do they speak in Far Shore?”

I grinned, highly entertained. “Oh, he understands you just fine.”

“Good.” She turned back to the boy. “Are you okay?”

The kid shook his head slowly before saying, “Who ~are~ you?”

“My name’s Nicolette,” she said, smiling widely as if trying to charm him. “I’m the king’s sister, and I’m not going to let him kill you. Okay? I’ll get you out of here. You’ll be just fine. I swear it.”

“Princess,” I growled in a warning voice. “Are you sure you want to tell him ~all~ that just yet?”

She hissed a scowl my way. “What do you think he’s going to do? ~Hurt~ me?” With a disbelieving snort, she turned back to the boy. “Ridiculous. He would never hurt me.”

I sighed. “He and his buddies just attacked us, kidnapped Anniston, and tried to overtake our kingdom. You have no idea what he’s capable of, what he might do to you if I weren’t standing here right now.”

Her gaze turned dark. “He’s my ~one true love~,” she growled from between clenched teeth.

“He doesn’t know that,” I reminded her softly. “He doesn’t have the mark. He’s not feeling what you feel. He is experiencing ~no~ loyalty to you whatsoever. So I guarantee you, if he had half the chance right now, he’d slit your idiot little throat open and mine too before going after Brentley, and then freeing all his friends back there.”

Nicolette drew herself up taut, glaring at me before huffing out her anger. Then she muttered, “I don’t care.” And turned back to her one true love to start unlocking his chains. “I’ll have you free in a moment and show you the safest way to escape without getting caught.”

The prisoner gaped wildly between me and Nicolette as she rushed to free him. I could tell he didn’t trust this; he thought we were somehow trying to trap him. When I caught his gaze, I sighed. “Your mate is quite an impetuous little thing,” I informed him.

The prisoner just blinked. “My… My ~what~?”

Nicolette released the last lock, and the chains fell to the prisoner’s feet like limp, abandoned rags. For the longest moment, he just stood there, gaping at her, before he glanced down at the chains on the floor and shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Nicolette smiled warmly and touched his face, making him jump but otherwise remain still under her tender regard. “You don’t have to understand. Just know that I love you with every breath of air in my lungs, and I’ll do everything within my power to make sure you live through this night.”

While the prisoner merely blinked at her with his mouth fallen open, Nicolette clasped his face between both hands and rose up onto her tiptoes to press her mouth to his.

“Oh, brother,” I muttered, glancing toward the ceiling.

When I checked on the kids again, they were still kissing. Nicolette’s one true love was so stupefied by the action, he just stood there and let her do as she wished without a fight.

“By the way,” she said when she pulled back. “What’s your name?”

“F-Farrow,” he uttered in a daze, still blinking from the thrall she’d put him in.

Her face bloomed with pleasure. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Farrow. Now, let’s save your life before my brother tries to have you beheaded, shall we?”

He glanced back in the direction of the Throne Room. “What about the others? My friends…”

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head, her eyes filling with true regret. “I can’t help them.”

“But—”

“Come on.” She tugged on his arm, leading him away. “Most of them kneeled; they’ll be fine. But you didn’t, so we have to hurry before they catch you.”

As she dragged him down a hall, I moved in behind them to follow, but she paused, scowling back at me. “You don’t have to tag along.”

I snorted. “Oh, I think I do. Don’t worry, Nicolette,” I assured her, lifting a hand in surrender when she scowled, all the while deliberately hiding my other hand—which held my sword—behind my back. “I won’t hurt your man.”

“You already made him bleed,” she growled, tossing me a vulgar gesture.

I chuckled, amused by her protective instinct. “That was a freebie. He’ll have to work for the next one.”

“There won’t be a ~next~ one.” Scowling at me, she tugged on Farrow’s hand and led him away.

“I’m following, whether you like it or not,” I said, moving in behind them. “So just lead on.”

And she did. I planned to trail behind silently, so the two kids could have a few last moments alone together, but then I realized where Nicolette was taking him.

“Wait. You know the secret way out of the castle?” I spoke up in alarm.

~Vienne’s~ secret exit.

“Of course,” she started. “Vienne showed it to me once. It’s the fastest, safest way to—”

“No,” I growled. “You’re not showing a Far Shore enemy the secret way into and out of this castle and then just letting him go free.”

“But—”

“I said no!” It would put Vienne and everyone else in the castle in danger.

She scowled mutinously. “Then how the hell are we supposed to safely help him escape?”

Setting my hands on my hips, I cursed liberally at the ceiling before scowling at both kids. “Fine,” I muttered. “But we’re blindfolding him so he can’t find his way back in.”