The citizens paused, snapping free of the compulsion. They looked around in confusion.
I lowered my hand, the lingering heat fading from my fingertips as I turned back to Iona. Her expression hadn’t changed, though her eyes glimmered.
“Efficient,” she murmured, as if I’d merely swatted away a nuisance.
The people in the streets began scattering.
As we stepped back into the empty alleyway we had come from, I asked, “Do you want to come with us?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“I am needed here.”
“Needed?”
She crossed her arms, her gaze shifting toward the looming silhouette of the mountain walls in the distance. “The people within the capital walls fear Clause. But they aren’t desperate enough to flee or overthrow him. Not yet.” She changed the subject from herself onto the issue of the citizens, and the reason for our retreat.
“And outside the walls?” I pressed.
“Different story,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “The citizens beyond the mountains, those who aren’t gifted, they have nothing to lose. They’d gladly join your forces if you reached them. They hate him for what he’s done.”
“And you?”
She smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I have my own path to follow.”
As Iona began to turn away, she hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder.
“One last piece of advice, brother,” she said, her tone deceptively light. “Stay away from the girl. Ariana. She’s Clause’s. Not meant for you. Never will be.”
Her words hit like a blow to the gut, and my anger flared before I could stop it. “Ariana is owned by no one,” I snapped, heat burning through my restraint. “Not by Clause. Not by anyone.”
Iona tilted her head, studying me with a smirk that made my skin crawl. “You seem awfully certain of that. Certain enough to march into a Sidhe city to reclaim her.”
“This isn’t about laying claim,” I growled. “She’s not a possession.”
“Isn’t it?” Iona countered, her smile widening. “Tell me, Erik, if she were anyone else, if she weren’ther, would you have done the same?”
“I would have still come here. For you. For our stolen people.”
She snorted. “But would you have risked this much? Risked your life with such recklessness? King of the Lysians entering the Sidhe strong hold, a land teeming with conjurors, all on his own.”
Her words hung in the air between us, and though I wanted to deny them, the truth in her implication was impossible to ignore. Iona’s smile softened into something more unreadable, almost pitying.
“Be careful, brother,” she said quietly, her voice losing its edge. “You may not believe she’s owned, but Clause does. And beasts like him don’t let go of what they believe is theirs.”
Before I could respond, she slipped into the shadows, her presence vanishing as quickly as it had come.
I stood there for a moment, my fists clenched at my sides, her words echoing in my mind. My blood boiled with a mix of anger and something else. I shook it off, turning back to rejoin my retreating forces.
Whatever claim Clause thought he had on Ariana, I would burn it to ash.
35
ARIANA
Fire ignited, dancing over Iver’s fingertips. It was the only movement within the hall’s stillness. Flame light flickered along the blade of Gregory’s sword as it remained poised.
