The mere thought of the woman I loved in the clutches of that man made me sick to my stomach. Aries had known perfectly well what he was doing all along. Had known that Elara would be enough to lure me out onto the battlefield where he could finish me once and for all. I didn’t allow myself to think of the possibility of him hurting her. She was alive. I knew she had to be, and I would find her. That was all that mattered now.
I clutched the sword and made my way towards the stairs that led back up to the lower floor of the palace.
My footsteps were heavy on the stone, echoing the dread inside my chest.
I wasn’t in the hallway for long before Alastor was at my side, clad in his Norrandish armour while still strapping more small weapons to himself.
“How are the preparations coming along?” I asked as he fell into step beside me.
“Quite well, Your Majesty. The horses are almost ready and so are Lord Burrow’s men.”
“Good. I want us ready to leave soon.” We would be travelling in the dark, hoping that it would keep us undetected until we reached the battlefield. If our army pushed through the cold weather fast enough, we might be able to strike around dawn.
“I’ll inform the men, Your Majesty.”
It had taken us more than a day to prepare. My mind was constantly on Elara, wondering whether or not she was still safe in the clutches of the Argonian king.
She was one of the bravest people I knew, stubborn and fearless. But Aries had ways to make even the strongest bend atthe knee and I had no doubt that he would use Elara to try to gain everything he’d been going after.
With every minute that passed, Elara and Norrandale were at greater risk.
“Alastor.” I stopped walking, turning to face him.
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“I know things haven’t been the same without Jack.” The mere thought of him made me clutch the hilt of my sword even tighter. “But I want to thank you for stepping up. You’ve been a great help to me in the past few months.”
“Nothing will ever be the same without him,” Alastor admitted. “But it’s been a pleasure to serve you, Your Majesty.” He gave a slight bow and hurried off to continue his duties, but his words haunted me. The way he said it made it feel like a goodbye. It was one of the many hard truths of what we were about to face. Alastor and I could step onto that battlefield tomorrow morning and neither of us walk away alive.
I’d almost reached the throne room when a servant came running up to me.
“A message for you, Your Majesty,” he huffed, out of breath.
I took the note and unfolded it with urgency. Based on how fast the servant had been running, it had to be something serious.
Meet me in the library as soon as possible.
—Rhen
He wasn’t the first person I wanted to talk to. Not when there were so many important matters at hand. But if Rhen wanted to see me then it must have had something to do with the Myrgonite objects.
I thanked the servant and started towards the library. According to Elara, Rhen had been spending most of his nights in there, reading and rereading the old Evernean king’s diary. Itwas able to confirm what Elara and I had long suspected two of the objects were. But it left the third and most important one unidentified.
I figured if there was anything else noteworthy in the diary, we would have found it by now. But if Rhen was seeking my presence, maybe there was some important information after all. Something we’d missed before.
Elara believed that destroying the magic was the answer to everything for us. And true as that might have been, right now I was more concerned with a few thousand Argonian soldiers camped in the mountains of Norrandale, who were keeping her as prisoner. For all I knew, Aries was torturing her for information.
The thought made me feel sick. I quickened my pace.
The library was quiet in comparison to the hustle and bustle of soldiers and servants in the rest of the palace. No one was bothered about books when we were about to march into battle.
Rhen stood by the table, half-burnt candles surrounding the books and pages before him. He was rolling up a scroll when he noticed my presence.
“You’re here quicker than I thought you’d be, Your Majesty.”
“Your note suggested this was important?” I kept my voice calm and cool. Whatever he had dragged me all the way here for, it had better be worth it.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” He picked up King Evrin’s diary, binding it with a leather strap before he placed it inside a satchel.
