“Good.” I nodded firmly. “Then let’s go.”
“Brother…” Ruri said slowly, walking up to me as I grabbed everything I needed. I sighed heavily, closing my eyes briefly and wishing, for just a moment, that he’d just go get ready and leave this for later.
“Ruri—” I started, but he held up a hand, and I fell silent.
“Do you love her?” he asked quietly, the suspicion that had been in his eyes from the beginning was gone, and all that was left was concern and a sort of bewildered confusion. “Truly?”
“I do.” I nodded, my voice low as my thoughts went to wherever she may be right now. “More than I knew it was possible to love anyone. I didn’t understand before. Not really. But loving her? It’s changed everything, Brother. It’s changedme. In a way I can hardly explain, but that feels more momentous than any act I’ve ever taken as High King.”
Ruri nodded slowly and then smiled slightly. “Alright then, I’m with you.”
I let out a slow breath, clasping his shoulder in thanks. He returned the motion, and our foreheads thunked together. Something we’d done for years, but the gesture was more reassuring than I could express.
“I’ll go get ready,” he said as he took his leave, and I was left in my empty bedroom with only my weapons for company. I had lived alone for decades, but one night with her in my bed had left the place feeling hollow without her, much like myself.
The routeto Ruby Court was fairly direct, but we wanted to stay on backroads as much as possible. Both our horses and we ourselves were too recognizable. While Carnelian surely knew I was coming, he didn’t need to know precisely when. Alfrikr and Brokk had joined Alwyn, Arianell, Balthazar, Emrys, Ruri, and me, along with some of our other guards and members of our army.
I was prepared to destroy Ruby Court if that’s what it took. If stealth didn’t work then I had the backup necessary to ram our way inside with brute force.
We came across several Ruby Court guards that we had to silence as we made our way across the court. I felt bad that we had to kill them, but they’d chosen their side, and they knew the cost going in. Treason wasn’t something we could take lightly, and death was always the punishment.
But worse than even that, they’d taken Linnea. That earned them a fate worse than death. They were lucky I was in such a rush to get to her, or I would have taken my time with each and every one of them.
We left the main bulk of our force in the woods surrounding Carnelian’s castle. The gray rocks shimmered with ruby-red flecks, looking ancient and foreboding from where it loomed in the distance. We had to take a few guards patrolling in the woods out, but that was just as easily accomplished as the others. We inched closer to the tree line; the guards around the perimeter were clearly tripled, but that wouldn’t prove an issue as I nodded to the group of archers I’d brought along.
They pulled back their bowstrings, and a volley of arrows rained out of the forest and straight into each guard before they realized what had happened. With that, those of us heading inside ran forward, splitting up and making for each of the entrances. As I headed to the main door, I felt the haze of magicgrowing stronger around me. I raised my hand, letting it funnel through me, and the door blew open, letting us rush inside.
The clearly surprised guards raised their blades to keep us back, but with a few quick slices of our swords, they were each left in a pool of their own blood. Every door we went through seemed to have people waiting, and as more guards descended, I looked to Balthazar, who faithfully followed behind me. I nodded, and he nodded back with a deep sigh.
I remembered Linnea’s reaction to finding out about the powers I possessed, the understanding she showed, and with that thought powering me, I ripped off my armor and exposed my chest—shocking the men before me into stillness for a moment. A moment they’d regret, as it gave me enough time to summon the magic from my tattoo, the different magics of each court rising out of my skin and swirling together into a ball before me. Their eyes widened, and they turned to run, but it was too late.
I sent the magic flying forward, and it blasted through them, blood and guts splattering everywhere. I called it back to me and gathered it like a gauntlet around each hand, watching as it swirled and surrounded my forearms. The colors of each gem sparked around them, lines of pink and blue, green and red, white and black, amethyst and silver, all dancing and ready for what was to come.
When the next room was full of guards, I punched straight through the first one to attack me, creating a crater in his chest. I ripped my arm from the bloody mess left behind, ignoring the red splatter now staining my hand. The guards looked at me in horror, the truth of my power finally revealed, showcasing the magic their lord coveted even when he didn’t understand the depths of it. I gladly used the opportunity their shock presented to annihilate their numbers.
I blew the next door off and came to a room filled with yet more guards, but these ones were more prepared. They had potions in hand that they all immediately threw at me. I waved my hand in front of myself, putting up a barrier and watching as their potions rebounded. The result was just as catastrophic as if I’d used my magic on them. The potions were clearly deadly, and that death found them all quickly.
The next couple of rooms were empty, but when I entered the next, I found a smirking Casaan waiting for me. He clearly found my blood-soaked appearance unsettling, but it wasn’t until he saw the magic around my arms that his smirk fell entirely, his entire confident gait loosening.
“Casaan,” I rumbled, my voice deeper than normal from the magic coursing through me, and I was positive my eyes were pure molten silver death by now. “My betrothed has a particular bone to pick with you, and considering I owe her for being incapacitated while she was kidnapped, I think you’re just the apology gift I need.”
Casaan scoffed, but his eyes betrayed him, skittering to the door as he looked for escape. “If you speak of that little street rat whore who won your little games, there’s little point in that; she’s long dead.”
My eyes narrowed in rage, but my magic was shimmering in the air, and I couldfeelthe lie. The power of diamond lay in truth, and in this state, it was no problem to see right through him.
“Is that so?” I nearly purred, my magic flashing around me, likely pulsing in time with my eyes. Casaan gulped, staggering backward slightly as I advanced. When he tried to turn and run, I lashed out with onyx and dragged him right back.
“I canfeelyour lie, but just for attempting it…” his scream was music to my ears, and as I removed the dagger made of pure magic from his stomach, I turned him to face me. “Of course, after calling the future High Queen such names, you deserve—” another scream brought a wide smile to my face.
“Now, where is she?” I asked him and a sob left his mouth, making me roll my eyes at his pathetic response. I shook him, barking at him, “Where?”
“If I tell you, it’s all over for me anyway,” he hissed, before clamping his mouth shut. I sighed heavily before shrugging casually.
“Very well, we’ll just do this the hard way.” I smiled at him, making his eyes widen in fear. “Oh, don’t worry, I still need you in one piece for Linnea. I won’t damage you. Too badly, anyway.”
He tried to fight, but it was little use, and I held him to the wall before sending my magic into his head, his thrashing not impeding me at all as the magic sought the location of my beloved from his mind. When I found it, I pulled it out as painfully as possible, not blunting the edges at all as I could have. His cries soothed the raging beast inside that was not yet sated. The magic was a force all its own, and when I gave myself up to it, I never knew how lost I would get within it.
And yet, my mind remained focused on one thing today. My mission still crystal clear, no matter how much power I called.
