The moment the last creature drifted away in white wisps and ashes, Razik let the ring of black flames extinguish. He immediately shifted, dropping to the ground halfway between Cethin and the females.
Relief was palpable among the forces, and many collapsed to the ground, weapons clattering, as they fought to catch their breath and keep their composure. They hadn’t lost as many as last time, but even one loss was too many. They were friends. They had families and loved ones. Some children would now know life with one less person to care about them; some children only had one of those people to begin with and now they had no one.
Razik barked orders to start Traveling the wounded back to the castle. Turning to the females, he found Ariadne and Fallon handing what he assumed were the arrowheads back to Kailia. They were speaking, but Kailia didn’t seem to be paying any attention. Her stare was aimed across the way, and when Razik followed it, he found it on Cethin once again. His gaze was just as fixed on hers, a smirk as arrogant as he was tilted on his lips. Razik didn’t know what the fuck was going on between the two of them, but he did know this was not the place for… Well, whatever the fuck that was.
Planning to simply ignore the king like he usually did, he turned and began making his way to his Cadre family. He offered words of encouragement to warriors as he passed them, moving slowly. Fallon and Ariadne met him, Kailia still several feet away.
“Did you keep any of them?” Razik asked, his voice low, but they knew what he meant.
Fallon shook her head, her blonde hair half out of her plait from the fight. “She demanded every single one back. We tried to ask her about them, but she didn’t say anything. Only made them disappear within her power. She’s…”
She trailed off, ending with a shrug.
“An excellent fighter though,” Ariadne offered, pushing back the longer portion of her hair. There were splatters of gold on her brown skin and across both females’ leathers. “If she’s sticking around, she should be watched for the Cadre.”
“If she’s sticking around, I don’t think it’s to join our forces,” Razik said flatly as Cethin stalked past them, still homed in on Kailia.
The females both turned, watching the king cut a path to her. Kailia didn’t move an inch. Her feet were planted, shoulders squared, and hands loose at her sides. Razik swallowed his amusement at making the king come to her.
Cethin stopped directly in front of her, and the way they were standing, Razik had a perfect view of both of their features. The king’s gaze raked over her from head to toe before he leaned in and reached for a pendant of some sort hanging from her neck. Even in the bustle of the battle aftermath, Razik could hear them perfectly with his enhanced hearing.
“Pretty necklace,” Cethin drawled. “Where’d you get it, tiny fiend?”
This time, Razik didn’t hide his huff of laughter because even he could hear the hint of jealousy in his words.
Kailia finally moved then, and so did Razik and the females. They were running as Kailia struck, the movement a blur that happened too fast. One moment she was still, glaring up at Cethin; the next, she had her hand wrapped around the hilt of the king’s own dagger, and the blade shoved into Cethin’s thigh.
“Fucking Sargon!” Razik barked, reaching them within seconds. He looped his arm around Kailia’s waist, lifting her off the ground and pulling her away from the king.
If he thought she was violent on the battlefield, it was nothing compared to what happened next.
An ear-piercing shriek of what he could only describe as panicked madness pierced the air.
Kailia was flailing in his hold. A hold he tightened as her limbs kicked and struck out at all angles. Her body swirled, as if she was trying to leave in her smoke, but she didn’t go anywhere, as though her magic indeed wasn’t working properly.
“Kailia!” Cethin yelled, his eyes wide. He tried to take a step towards them, but Fallon and Ariadne stopped him, the former pressing a hand to his leg where blood was dripping in a steady stream to the ground.
Kailia tried to move in her power again, and when it still didn’t work, she switched tactics, still screaming as if she was the one who had been stabbed. Scratch that. She was carrying on asif she were dying. Those ashes she wielded became something much more solid, dragging along his body like claws. He was already bare from the waist up from his shift, and now he was bleeding too. Not only that, she was tearing her own clothing to shreds in the process.
“By Arius and Serafina, calm down,” he grunted, jostling her as he tried to get a better grip while simultaneously trying to keep her from going for the daggers strapped to her thighs. She only twisted and flailed and screamed more.
“Put her down!” Cethin demanded, breaking free of Fallon and Ariadne and stalking over to him as though he wasn’t bleeding all over the place.
But Razik twisted away from him, holding Kailia out of reach. His other hand shot out, fisting into the front of Cethin’s tunic. “She stabbed you in front of your forces. People who would die for you. Some whodiddie today. I’m not going to put her down and release her. Get your head out of your ass and be a godsdamn king,” he growled, the words low so they stayed between them.
Still holding Cethin’s tunic, he glanced over at the females. “Fallon, go find Wren, Jarek, and Bram. Meet us at the castle in the Healers’ wing. Ariadne, send a message to Niara that we’re on our way. Then stay here and take over command until the area is cleared. I’ll send Jarek and Bram to help.”
The females nodded, and that was all Razik waited for before he Traveled to the castle, Cethin and Kailia in tow. He took them straight to the Healers’ wing, all the Witches jolting when he appeared with a tiny screaming thing and their king bleeding steadily. The Healers scrambled, jumping into motion, but also clearly not sure what to do.
“Where is Niara?” Razik barked, scanning the large circular room for the best Healer on the continent, despite being far younger than most of the Witches in this room.
“Here,” came a voice that was both soft and stern, somehow carrying over the chaos.
The other Healers parted, leaving a path as Niara strode calmly forward. Earthy brown eyes darted from Cethin to Razik to Kailia. Her tight black curls were piled atop her head, and when she reached them, she lifted a hand. Her dark ebony skin was stark against Kailia’s brown complexion when Niara cupped her cheek.
Faint green light pulsed as the Healer whispered, “Somnia,” and then Kailia was limp in his arms, falling into a deep sleep.
He slipped an arm beneath her knees, adjusting his other arm at her back so he cradled her against him. Turning to Cethin, his lip curled back. “Either clear this room or find us somewhere else.”
