Foretelling, p.7
Foretelling, page 7
“What about Carpathia?” The head of Katerina’s own council, Abel Bishop, had raised the question, lifting aside papers as if it was merely the next item on the agenda.
“What about Carpathia?” she echoed sharply. There was no love lost for the Carpathians. She had no love lost for their queen. Then there was the fact that she’d recently set their palace on fire.
Bishop stared at her over the top of his spectacles, seemingly forgetting the part of the story where she’d had to escape from said kingdom in flames.
“Should we send an envoy to Queen Jazper?” His eyes flickered across the table to where Michael and Petra sat side by side. “You know her better than anyone. Do you think she’d be open to the idea of an alliance?”
As usual, Dylan hadn’t said much during the meeting. But he leaned forward now. “If I see the Carpathian queen again, she will kill me.”
There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she would do it. And there wasn’t a doubt that she could get the job done. Atticus and the rest of the Belarians were quick to get on board, and the matter was settled soon after it had been proposed. The council listened. No envoy was sent.
Now here they were, at her mercy all the same.
“My darlings, why the long faces?” She looked at each one of them in turn, her black hair drifting around her like smoke in the breeze. “Aren’t you happy to see me? I should hope so. After all, I’ve been so looking forward to seeing all of you.”
Katerina wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. She wanted to hide in the shadows, but she couldn’t get her feet to move. None of them could. They simply froze, staring up at her as the sun slipped quietly out of sight.
Finally, with great hesitation, Dylan took a step forward. “Jazper—”
She silenced him with a single look, eyes flashing like knives in the dark.
“I think not, beautiful boy. The time for all of that has passed. It’s you who will listen to me now. And I must admit, I have little interest in talking.”
Katerina was terrified.
What does that mean?
On the one hand, she would have moved heaven and hell to keep the woman’s icy fingers off the man she loved. On the other hand, the only chance they had was to make some kind of bargain. And if she wasn’t willing to talk, where exactly did that leave them?
But, frightened as she was, another emotion reigned supreme.
“Where’s Aidan!” She heard herself shouting, saw herself leaving the others behind and storming to the center of the cell. “What have you done with him!”
There was a muffled commotion behind her, but she didn’t notice. She had eyes only for the queen. And the queen couldn’t have looked more delighted by the question.
“Aidan’s with me. He’s alive. But you already know that, don’t you, darling? A charming young man, even under the circumstances. The two of us have been getting to know one another.”
Dylan made a compulsive movement and the queen smiled.
“Jealousy is an ugly emotion, my sweet. And you can hardly blame me for being interested in the boy. After all, it isn’t often one gets to meet their replacement.”
A sudden silence fell over the clearing, chilling each of the friends to the bone.
“Yes, I know about the prophecy.” Her eyes glowed like coals as she gazed down at them in the dark. “It appears I am chosen no longer. The fates have shifted and selected another. Naturally, I was eager to learn everything about him that I could. He’s been most...accommodating.”
A sudden fire raged up in Katerina, unlike anything she’d felt before. “If you hurt him,” she growled, glaring fearlessly at the queen, “if you even touch him—”
“Katerina.”
It took her a moment to realize the fire was real. Little curls of flames wrapped around her body, twisting and writhing in the night air. She tried quickly to direct them upwards at the queen but they vanished as soon as they appeared, leaving her shaking and cold.
Dylan was beside her the next moment, wrapping his cloak around her trembling arms.
“Ah, yes,” Jazper murmured, “the blood connection.” She’d watched the outburst with an almost impassive expression. Like it was something she’d seen many times before. “I know it well.”
For a moment, the fearsome veneer dropped. For a moment, the centuries of loneliness fell away, leaving a wistful woman in their wake, her lips curving with a sad, nostalgic smile.
“We shared blood—all five of us. Michael thought it would bring us closer together, but in the end it only drove us further apart.” She spoke with a quiet steadiness, resurrecting the memories from deep within. “That’s what happens, you know. It chips away at you. Drives wedges. Creates problems where none existed before. And it seems like you’re already a rather difficult group.”
The trance shattered as her eyes sparked back to life.
“Kailas Damaris.” She clicked her tongue with a chiding smile. “As someone who fought long and hard to destabilize the realm, I suppose I should be thanking you. Evil thrives where it’s planted, but it’s only planted where it can thrive. If I were you, I’d think carefully on that...”
The prince looked like she’d struck him in the face, but she was already moving on. Her eyes swept over Dylan entirely and landed on Tanya instead.
“I see the pretty shifter from before is gone, but you’re still here.” Such a casual reference to Rose, but it left each of them reeling. “How does that make you feel, little one?”
The shape-shifter looked almost green as she backed away, out of the patch of moonlight and into the shadows. Cassiel glanced at her swiftly, but he and his sister were up next.
“Those faces—I’d recognize you anywhere. The House of Elénarin.” The siblings froze as she gave each a bizarrely welcoming smile. “Your aunt was a great beauty, just like your parents. But you must scarcely remember them,” she added suddenly. “You two were the youngest, I remember that now.” Another strained silence as she looked them up and down. “Eliea tasted as lovely as she looked. I can only imagine the same blood runs in your veins...”
She smiled again, like she didn’t think that was at all a strange thing to say. Cassiel’s lips parted as Serafina stepped behind him with a little shiver.
“Out of respect for the love I once had for your family, I promise not to touch a hair on your heads.” She announced it graciously, like it deserved commendation that she’d be willing to spare their lives. But it didn’t come without a twist. “That being said, my men have taken a great liking to both of you. Morale is important. I’m sure you understand.”
They were beyond anger. They were simply stunned. Staring up at her as if incapable of believing she would say such a thing.
“And then we have our little dragon.”
Now that she was temporarily satisfied as to Aidan’s safety, the queen’s rage had subsided and she was truly afraid. Jazper was standing well over fifty feet above them, and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that, at any moment, she might leap down and lay waste to them all.
Dylan was right. She was more than capable.
“Tell me, princess, had you shifted before or was that the first time?”
Katerina stared up at her, willing herself to be strong.
“How long have you been in league with the Red Knight?” A question for a question. At any rate, the longer she kept the demented queen talking the longer they’d all stay alive. “Does he know that you’ve brought us here, or is this a plan of your own making?”
A less experienced opponent might have blinked. Shown a spark of humanity. Given away some kind of clue. But the Carpathian queen did none of those things.
She stared at Katerina a moment, then her lips curled into a slow smile.
“I can see what he likes about you. You’re beautiful. Spirited. And unpredictable enough to keep him on his toes.” A hint of amusement colored her voice as she glanced between the stricken couple. “Now that I think about it we’re actually not so different, you and I.”
Katerina’s eyes narrowed to a steely glare. “I don’t think he sees it that way.”
The queen threw back her head with a burst of laughter. The kind that dropped the temperature and sent birds tearing from the decaying trees.
“You’re also weak, inexperienced... and very young.”
And reckless. You forgot reckless.
“Yet you’re the one who lost her palace,” Katerina countered, trying to tune out the way her friends stiffened warily beside her. “And he happens to be just as young as me.”
Jazper’s eyes glowed as they stared into the darkness. “I remember.”
At this point, nerves were stretched to the brink. The rest of the Carpathian horde was lurking in the shadows, just out of sight, and each of the six friends was swaying on their feet. If something was going to happen, it had to happen soon.
But the queen had one final card to play.
“Nathaniel doesn’t know you’re here,” she said abruptly. “But he cares not for your lives, only for what he was promised. Which means the rest of us are going to have a little fun...”
At this point, Dylan stepped forward. Fiercely determined to be seen. “All this because of me?” His eyes flashed as he struggled to rein in his temper. “Surely you can’t care so much about the opinion of one man, to risk the security of the entire realm—”
“How conceited we’ve become,” she chided with a teasing grin. “That crown they gave you must have gone to straight your head.”
“There are kingdoms at stake,” he pressed quietly. “Thousands of lives—”
“And that, dear boy, is the fundamental flaw in your argument.” The queen seemed to grow taller the longer they stared, stretching up into the clear night sky, her face as lovely and cold as the stars. “Some people want to save the realm. Others just want to watch it burn.”
There was a sudden noise from inside the pit. The friends whirled around to see a dim light flickering behind one of the doors. As they watched it grew brighter, casting long shadows over the walls of the cavern. Then, all at once, there was a deafening crash that dented it from the inside out.
Katerina leapt back, grabbing Dylan’s wrist.
What in seven hells was that?!
“Play nicely, children.” The queen flashed a parting smile, raising her hand in farewell. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
The door trembled again.
“...or not.”
Without another word she vanished into the night, taking the soldiers with her. Katerina stared after them, and for a split second she almost thought Aidan was the lucky one after all.
Then the entire cavern shook and she leapt back to attention.
“I don’t have a weapon,” Dylan was muttering, feeling his cloak while his eyes scanned desperately over the ground. “There’s nothing here but broken chains. Cass—”
“Use the rocks.” The fae took a quick step, then sank suddenly to one knee. “Also, I’m not entirely awake yet.”
“Fantastic,” Tanya muttered, dragging him back to the far wall.
“What is it?” Katerina asked fearfully. Between the ship, the village, and the impromptu banter with the Carpathian queen, she’d reached her psychological limit for the time being. “Do you think it’s another troll? What else could possibly break in the door?”
“Just stay behind me,” Dylan commanded, yanking her out of sight. “No matter what, you don’t leave my side, understood?”
She stared over his shoulder in a daze, trembling from head to toe. “I mean, that’s thick silver—”
“Katerina.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Her entire body was shaking as she angled behind him. Bracing for the worst. Expecting the worst. And still...not remotely prepared for what came through the door.
A hush fell over the cavern. Then Cassiel shot her a look.
“Katerina... that big.”
THERE WAS NOWHERE TO run. There was nowhere to hide. There was nothing to do but stand there in horror as a giant snake burst into the cavern, knocking the door clear across the floor.
Giant was understating it. Once the entire snake had coiled in the center of the room, there was scarcely any space for the rest of the prisoners. Katerina watched with a detached sort of horror, then in a childish act of contrition she covered the body of the tinier snake with her shoe.
Maybe it didn’t see it yet. Maybe it doesn’t know.
Its jaw unhinged and it let out an unearthly hiss, blowing back her hair and chattering her teeth while she held on to the edge of Dylan’s cloak.
“Honey,” she whispered, eyes wide as saucers, “do you have some kind of plan?”
He hadn’t moved a muscle since the snake burst into the room. He’d simply lifted his eyes, trying to see all the way to the very top.
“Yeah,” he breathed, holding tighter onto his rock, “stay alive until morning.”
That was the last of the talking.
The snake lashed out, faster than sight, lunging at whoever was closest. It happened to be Tanya. In a move so daring it burned forever into the queen’s brain the tiny shifter flipped into the air, vaulting off the back of its head before scampering down to the other side. She landed with a muffled gasp and picked up a severed chain, spinning it wildly in the air.
“Come on, you bugger!”
It jumpstarted the gang back to life, darting wildly around, yelling and screaming
Deadly as the snake was, it seemed confused by all the noise. Its head spun dizzily back and forth, trying to focus on one sound in particular, while the echoes dancing off the walls stalled its attacks and made it thrash around in frustration.
But the snake was thousands of pounds. The thrashing was a problem.
Kailas let out a sudden cry as the tail whipped out of nowhere and clocked him upside the head. He fell forward as the snake, sensing it had struck something hard, whipped around with a blistering roar. Thick drops of venom flung off its fangs, splashing on the ground beside him, sizzling their way into the dirt.
The prince scrambled back as quickly as he could, staring up into its hungry eyes.
“Guys—”
But Dylan was already there. The second the snake’s attention was diverted, he’d snatched the chain from Tanya and sprinted straight up the serpent’s back. He struck it on the head just as it was about to lunge for Kailas, and instead it went spiraling into the wall, trying to shake him loose.
“Dylan!” Katerina screamed, racing forward.
It had been suicide, plain and simple. But, impossible as it was, sedated as he was, the ranger was somehow managing to hold on. His fingers wrapped tight around the scales as he rode the beast backwards and forwards. As soon as he found his balance he crept up its neck, inch by inch.
It took Katerina a second to realize what he was doing. The direction he was headed.
“Are you crazy?!” she shrieked, ducking behind a pillar as the snake thrashed her way. “Get away from that thing’s mouth—”
But it was too late.
The second the snake spread its jaws with another hiss, Dylan kicked it as hard as he could right in the fang—yanking back his leg as second before its jaws could snap shut.
His plan was as simple as it was utterly absurd. The Carpathian horde hadn’t left him any weapons? Fine. He’d just have to commandeer one of the viper’s deadly teeth.
The others were quick to echo her sentiments.
“Dylan! Get off that snake right now!”
“Of all the attention-seeking thrills—”
“You’re acting like a child!”
He ignored all of them, but fired down a command of his own
“Cass, distract it for me!”
The fae ducked behind a pillar, trying to ignore the rodeo display behind him while slapping the feeling back into his lifeless arm. “Better to just let him die now,” he muttered to himself. “He got the crown, didn’t he? Came full circle? Besides, it saves me the trouble of killing him later...”
“Get it to open its mouth!”
That produced a reaction.
Cassiel looked out from behind the pillar, glaring at the ranger with all his might. “And how exactly would you suggest I do that?”
The snake reared up and Katerina could have sworn she heard a boyish laugh.
“Tell it one of your famous jokes!”
The fae had been serious. He fully intended to murder the man as soon as his feet touched back upon solid ground. But in order for that to happen, some skillful maneuvering was required.
“HEY!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “OVER HERE!”
The snake spun around, looking at him straight on. He took advantage of the moment to hurl a rock into one of its eyes, ricocheting it off the walls.
“THERE’S A GUY ON YOUR HEAD!”
Dylan’s grin faded as he cast a hasty look towards the ground.
“YOU’LL WANT TO EAT HIM!”
To be fair, Katerina was guessing that Hypache vipers didn’t speak the common tongue. But, judging by the look on Dylan’s face, that wasn’t going to matter. He cast a furious look at the fae, making the same mental promise to end his life before kicking out at the snake once more.
This time, it actually worked.
With a mighty scream, one of the curved fangs came loose—falling to the ground in a sea of venom. It bubbled into the dirt, leaving curls of smoke in its wake, as Serafina darted forth and picked up the tooth—holding it safely in the folds of her cloak.
“Do you want the honors?” she asked Katerina. “Or should I?”
The queen stared at her for a moment before glancing back at the snake. It was swaying wildly back and forth, whipping Dylan around like a rag doll as he tried to dismount. By the time he finally tumbled to the floor it was screeching uncontrollably, lashing out with blinding speed.
“Nah...you go on ahead.”
With a smile Katerina would always remember, the woodland princess streaked fearlessly to the center of the floor. Like they’d rehearsed it, the three warriors came together. Just as they’d done fighting in the rebellion, all those years ago.
