“Fassa and Friano will take me through. Lead the army to the bridge,” Carrick commands. Then he pauses. “The faction is waiting?”
I see the Badge give a tight nod. “Yes, Your Majesty. We confirmed that they just arrived.”
“Good. Meet up with them and ensure they fall in line. I want them bringing up the rear. They can enter Orea after we’ve cleared the bridge.”
“Of course, my king.”
I watch Carrick and the twins take off on their horses, steering deeper into the deadlands. I frown, wondering where they’re going.
The Badge turns to the soldiers lining up, which unfortunately, includes me.
“Forward march!” he shouts, voice rattling through my brittle nerves and making them snap.
Everyone starts to move in their neat rows, while I’m stuck in the front lines. As a Stone Sword soldier. Marching toward the bridge of Lemuria.
Unless I can get away, I’m going toOrea.
I’m quite certain it’s the pounding panic that’s messing up my thoughts, but all I can think about is how badly my feet are going to smell once I get there.
Badly.
Very, very badly.
CHAPTER 48
QUEEN MALINA
I’m jolted awake by adeafening crash.
I tear my eyes open in a panic, and Dommik jerks upright beside me. My heart slams inside my chest, and we take one look at each other and start yanking on our clothes as fast as we can.
Fear grips me around the throat, crushing it under its merciless hold.
The ice walls of the house have frosted over, making everything opaque. It’s stopped snowing, but the morning air is chilled and stark, which for some reason, seems to make the noises in the air extra sharp. As soon as we’re clothed, Dommik grips my hand and we slip out of the open doorway and around the stone part of the wall.
“It’s the bridge,” I say, shaking my head with utter dread. “We need to get back now! We never should have left.”
I can tell by Dommik’s darkening expression that he doesn’t like to hear me say that, but it’s true, and we both know it.
That cracking noise is unmistakable. The fae are breaking through my barriers, and I’m not there, because I selfishly took the opportunity to come out here with Dommik last night. I should have stayed closer to the bridge. Monitoring it and making sure I was ready. Instead, we’ve been caught unawares.
I’m so angry at myself I could scream.
“Hurry, take me there. I might be able to defend the barriers before they break through them all!”
He pulls his shadows in and then begins to leap us in that direction. We stop just outside the castle walls, standing in view of the bridge.
The bridge that’s full of fae soldiers.
Fear and anger burst through me, and ice crystals stab up through my palms.
I follow their trail on the bridge to the mouth where my barriers begin, and my stomach drops like a brick in a bucket. In front of it, not behind it, stands the Stone King, his formidable form unmistakable.
My body impulsively tightens with muscle memory, as if reliving the way he pinned me beneath the weight of the stone table and threatened to squish me like a bug.
I have a feeling he’s come back to finish what he started. Not just crushing me, but all of Orea.
There’s another resounding crack, and the third layer of my barrier crumbles. The king is here, on Orea’s side, using his magic to rip through my barriers with boulders.
