Between a wide alley, cutting through the mists, a swarm of people emerged. At the head, Niklas and Junie were there. Both wore black with kohl around their eyes and down their lips. Over his fingers, Niklas fitted gold rings, some with barbs on the tops.
Junius wrapped us all in a quick embrace.
Niklas looked to me. “I hear there’s a fight to be had.”
I clapped him on the shoulder and helped heave a crate of what I hoped was poison designed only for elven folk. Niklas was skilled enough with his mesmer, he could likely make a toxin that singled out male elven, leaving Skadi out of harm’s way.
Hooves pounded against the cobblestones. Shouts for the Black Palace, the king and queen, echoed through the streets.
A damn army wrapped in shadows filled the streets. A foreboding beat of drums sounded in the night, a tradition in our lands, a way to declare a battle was brewing.
I had not signaled my mother and father, all I could think was getting to the sea and Skadi.
Before his horse stopped, my father kicked his leg over the side. Five long strides had him in front of me. His eyes were pitch as the night when he tossed back a hood.
I straightened my shoulders. “They took Skadi, and I don’t know how. I’m going, Daj. You cannot stop me.”
He clapped a hand on the side of my neck. “Think I’m here to stop you, boy? Look around, we’re here to get her back.”
It was the kind of stun that robbed breath from the lungs, realizing the truth of what was in front of me.
Kryv, palace guards, even Frigg’s father was there, with swords, daggers, bows, and arrows arranged like war was at the gates.
Many faces were shrouded, and most wore dark tunics and trousers. They had blood painted down their cheeks as though fingers had clawed at their flesh. Others had thick kohl like the Falkyns, or blue and white stain. The drums faded when the final flood of horses joined.
All of them were here for Skadi.
My father was made of darkness, but it was darkness that had shaped me, loved me, and taught me how to stand on my own. When he pulled me into a brisk embrace, I felt like a damn sod for clinging to him until the fear below the surface lost its potency.
“We’re not returning without her, Jonas,” came his dark rasp, low and meant for me alone.
A promise. My father, in all my memories, had never lied to me. Tonight would not be the first.
My mother came to us, hair braided back, a frightening sort of violence in her gaze. She said nothing, merely pressed a hand to my cheek, then Sander’s. A silent assurance she was not missing another fight.
“Mira.” Daj gently took hold of Mira’s arm. She was dressed in a canvas coat and a little frantic as she helped load the boats.
“I tried to get to her, Uncle Kase.” Mira’s chin trembled. “I can’t lose another one.”
An ache cracked down my chest. No mistake, Mira alluded to the weeks Livia had gone missing when Bloodsinger took her for his own revenge.
My father cupped her cheek. “I need you to stay back.”
She shook her head. “I can fight.”
“I know, but I need you to send the warning to the other kingdoms. We may need the Rave to stand for our shores. You know royal blood ignites the call, so will you do it for us?”
Warning signals fueled by elixirs and natural magic in the soil were erected across the kingdoms. A blazing flame would spark atop towersin every realm in a shade of the distressed kingdom. The towers would burn blood red for Klockglas.
Our tower was tucked into a forest we called Limericks. Too far for us to reach while still having time to hunt the fading isle.
Mira’s bright eyes looked about, like she could not think how to walk away from us, but the truth of what my father said was there. Only the royal houses could declare war or troubles that would summon the full force of the Rave.
Aleksi could stay, but he was a warrior. Not even my father could keep him back.
“I’ll send the warning,” Mira said after a long pause. “I’ll do it.”
My mother turned over her horse to the princess. Two Black Palace guards and Frigg volunteered to guard Mira as she went, to ready our shores for elven armies if we did not succeed.
