Hellebore gasped as Aunt Palladia’s voice filled the air. She looked to see they were at a small camp, and her aunt was standing by the fire, arms outstretched.
Callahan and Emerson climbed down while Hellebore hurried to the back, shooting out of it before either her brother or her former beau could help her. She went running toward her aunt, but instead of running into her arms, Hellebore smacked them out of the way. “No! Youdon’tknow what your plan has just done! As much as I want to be elated to see all of you—some of you for the first time in half a year—I can’t! You need to take me back.”
Palladia grabbed her by the arms. “Hels, you need to breathe. Sit down, and let me explain everything. Can you do that?”
Not when every second brought her husband closer to death and her family had just destroyed her hope of a solution.
“I don’t have time for this! I’m already at least a day away from the capital. By the time I get back I’ll only have four days at most to find another way to save him. I have to go now, just give me a horse.” Hellebore ripped herself out of Palladia’s grip and started back toward the wagon, ready to loose one of them, but Callahan and Emerson stepped in her way.
Callahan held his hand out. “After the trouble we went to getting you out, we can’t let you go running back in. Not to mention you’re not making any sense. Save who?”
Oh, if she had the time, she’d be tearing Cal to pieces for everything he’d done. Or asking him why on earth he was therekidnapping her when he had agreed to her marriage in the first place.
“I thought you were smarter than this, Hels,” Palladia said with a sigh, shaking her head.
“Smarter than what?” Hellebore turned back to look at her aunt.
“You fell for his lies, didn’t you?” She clicked her tongue, voice softening. “It’s not your fault, Hels. He’s very good at them.”
Emerson leaned in and whispered to Callahan, “Do you know what they’re talking about?”
Hellebore didn’t know what Palladia was talking about.
Palladia sighed, putting her hand on Hellebore’s shoulder. “Oh. He never told you, did he?”
Hellebore looked up at the moon, Taiyo’s voice whispering in her ears.
“I’m not innocent.”
Then…
“Told me what?”
Palladia gestured for her to come to the fire. “Come here, and I’ll tell you everything. He’s been keeping us from rescuing you since the day he kidnapped you and forced you to be his bride with his lies.”
Hellebore looked at Callahan, narrowing her eyes. “You agreed to the betrothal. That’s what he told me.”
Callahan stepped forward, glancing between Palladia and Hellebore before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Do you think I would ever truly let an elf run off with you as his bride without even speaking to you? You were supposed to be my alchemist, not some elf king’s consort.”
Callahanhadn’tagreed? He’d wanted her to be his alchemist?
In a daze, she let her brother lead her over to their aunt, who pulled her to sit beside her and by the fire. Callahan and Emerson took seats around her, so she was fully encircled by them. She whispered, “I don’t understand. Father sent a letter through Taiyo—”
“Hels, we’ve been trying to rescue you from him since the beginning,” Callahan said. “Emerson and I rode as fast as we could, trying to beat King Taiyo to the academy so we could find you first and get you out of there before he found you.”
Oh. She’d assumed they’d been riding ahead with a warning for her to prepare herself, but this whole time they’d been riding so hard to help her escape.
“But… the negotiations. Why didn’t you protest then?”
Callahan squeezed her shoulder. “I wanted to. I tried to reason with Father in private, knowing I’d only make things worse if I tried to defy him publicly, but he would not listen to me. You weren’t there. The Sun Elf king… he was ruthless. He swore that if we didn’t give him your hand in marriage, there would be war, and he would not be anywhere near as merciful as his predecessors had been. That first day, he looked right at our father and told Father that he owed him your hand. I couldn’t make any sense of it, but it was all set into motion before I could stop it.”
Was that what Taiyo had meant? He’d been bluffing, obviously—given their bigger concern was the Moon Elves, he wouldn’t start a war with the alchemists.
Callahan shifted so he was facing her, and she steeled her heart even though it had only been a few months ago she’d been sobbing, desperate to see her brother again. Now all she could think about was Taiyo.
“I didn’t stop there. We received word he’d found you and was taking you to Auror for the wedding, and I set off before the messenger could take even a step to carry the news to Father. Irode as fast as I could and I made it to Auror the night before, but I was foolish. I thought my standing as crown prince would at least get me inside the gates and a chance to see you where we’d find some way to escape. I was taken by the guards the second I gave my name and brought to a holding cell. At dawn, the Sun Elf king finally deigned to see me, but he refused to let me see you. He wouldn’t even let me attend the wedding. He kept me there until the next morning when his guards threw me out of the city.”
Taiyo hadn’t… No. It couldn’t be true, but…
