Rylo nodded and said the words of the oath. “I, Rylo Finnian, swear to remove you, Morgan Hollis, from Orofine and give you safe passage to Nephel immediately.”
As soon as he said the words, Rylo’s hands began to grow black veins across his glowing skin. He held the injured hands to his chest like a broken thing. Susan grabbed Morgan’s hand like a lifeline.
“Let’s go!” Susan shouted.
“If you truly value your life, you will fly,” he said as he mounted the empty seat on the eagan’s back. The other birds followed their lead as they took to the vast, empty sky above.
Morgan looked back at the stunned shock on Susan’s face and the growing agony on Rylo’s. The blackened veins were up to his elbows.
“Can I do anything for that?” Susan asked.
“Are you a healer?” Rylo grunted out.
“Well, I am from Bayberry,” she said with far too much optimism in her tone. “Oh and Morgan, can you share that spell you used when we get back?”
Rylo groaned in quiet agony. “Can you heal me or not?”
“I can try, but shouldn’t we land?” Susan asked. “I don’t want to fall off the back of this bird.”
Rylo’s tone was tense. “Keep your balance, you ridiculous woman! The Latians will likely go to war over this mess. We can’t safely land in the middle of their nation.”
Morgan turned to see Susan wrinkle her face at the Sun King. The black veins were spreading quickly. “It’s almost past his elbows now,” she said.
“Not helpful, unless your plan was to become a kingslayer twice over, possibly thrice since we don’t know if your sister’s mate survived whatever you did with your shadows,” Rylo bit out.
“It was only an observation,” Morgan muttered.
She watched as Susan unstrapped from the chair and cautiously made her way forward to Rylo’s seat. She touched his shoulders and began working her magic. Morgan hadn’t heard of Susan’s healing skills, but whatever she was saying seemed to at least be stopping the spread of blackness up Rylo’s arms.
“There. That’s all I can do. I’m not exactly a skilled healer, but at least the damage isn’t spreading,” she remarked before she crawled back to her seat.
“Will it go away?” Morgan asked. She looked at the throbbing black veins against Rylo’s golden skin.
“No, it’s not going away. I broke a bargain. I will be forever marked as deceitful.”
Morgan grimaced. “So that’s why you didn’t want to take my oath?”
“No, and if you had just acted on your own accord I wouldn’t have had to. Susan could have flown you to Bayberry for a month, or wherever your hearts pleased. Now I’ll bear these marks for the rest of my days.”
“Well, you could have said so!” Morgan protested, but Rylo just gave out a bitter laugh.
“You wouldn’t let me get a word in,” he argued.
“Enough!” Susan shouted in a squeaky voice. Clearly the woman wasn’t used to shouting.
They all settled into an uneasy silence. Morgan wondered what had happened to Avery during that mess of a situation. She hoped she hadn’t hurt her or their friends in the explosion.
Avery
Savine was pulling Avery to the safety of the palace, but she kicked at him, trying to break free as he hoisted her into his arms. “Morgan!” Avery shouted for her sister, but she couldn’t see her through the impenetrable darkness.
“Shh…. Little Flower. Don’t fight me,” Savine whispered as he carried her up the stairs. But this was wrong. It was all wrong. Where was Morgan? One moment Avery saw her watching as she ran for Savine, and the next the world was cast into dark shadows with an explosion that sounded like a bomb going off.
“Where’s Morgan? Someone needs to get her! And Susan! Where are they? Is Rue here?” Avery said as she stopped kicking.
“Rue and Kyla were already at the stairs when the darkness settled in. Ave, I think that was from your sister,” Savine said gently as he set her down into a large room made of carved wood.
“You thinkMorgandid that?” Avery asked incredulously.
