It was a quick death. Deserved, yes, but not nearly enough. He did have some truth to his statement. The only reason he wasn’t dead before this was because I had some fucked-up notion about him being my only living family left. I thought I’d be more devastated about his death, but all I felt was cold indifference.
Tears were running down my face, though I couldn’t remember when I started crying. I wasn’t crying for my father, that much I knew, but I couldn’t tell if it was from losing the only family member I had left, from the pain of the sword protruding from my belly, or if it was from how close Vada hadcome to death herself. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have remembered that Vada could not die. Either way, the emotions I’d tried to hide from the Fae in Underhill couldn’t be contained.
Vada slid over to me as I dropped toward the floor, my breathing labored. I wasn’t going to last much longer in this state. She cradled my head in her lap, tears running down her face. I wondered to myself if this was the first time she had shown any emotion in my presence other than her fastidious calm, and my heart shattered that we wouldn’t get to find out where this thing between us could’ve gone. The prophecy would end with my death, and the worlds would likely end, too. Power didn’t always equate to winning. Neither did planning, since this was worse than the worst-case scenario we had planned for.
The crowd had begun to stir. I was losing what little power I had left, and I wasn’t sure I could prevent them from bombarding Vada. I wasn’t worried about myself in this moment. I was worried about her. I couldn’t fight. There were plenty of sycophants in the crowd who fully supported my father’s reign of terror. I was sure there were still Fae left in this court who also saw through his bullshit, but I wasn’t sure they were here.
Vada ran her hands over my face, through my hair, and down my arms. “You will not die today, my love. Not when I just found you. I will not allow it.”
I focused on Vada’s face as my vision blackened around the edges, concentrated only on the pain and devotion there. “My only chance is to get this iron out of my body. I can have my shadows help until we can get out of here, but I’m afraid that—” I gasped for breath, then coughed up more blood.
“Shh, sweet girl. We’re going to pull this blade out, then we’re going to staunch the bleeding. I need you to stay with me.I need your shadows to help stabilize you until we can get you help. Are you ready?” she asked.
I nodded weakly, trying with everything in me not to pass out.
Vada moved down my body, lifting my hips into her lap so that my head was below my heart—likely to get more blood flow to my brain—then rested her hands on the sword. Even that small movement had me crying out in pain again. She pulled in one swift move, and I screamed with everything I had, back bowing off the floor. My vision went entirely black, and I passed out.
Underhill
The moment that Adaela passed out, I broke down completely. I screamed louder than I ever had in my entire life. I held her limp body tightly in my arms, sobbing into her neck. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to let go. This fucking idea had gone to shit faster than I could even process it, and I only had myself to blame for jumping through that fucking portal.
I wasn’t sure she was going to make it. Her heart was beating, but it was faint and stuttering. Quickly, I got up, removing the tunic I borrowed from Yaga, and tore some strips from it. Since Adaela’s shadows couldn’t help in time, I hastily began packing her wound with the fabric, hoping to staunch the bleeding until we could get her help. I was so focused on my task that I forgot Adaela’s powers vanished when she passed out. The sound of movement behind me was getting closer, and my stomach dropped.
Somehow, I was going to have to try to fight our way out of here before Adaela was gone for good. I took one last look at my sweet girl, laying a gentle but lingering kiss to her cooling lips, and finished packing her wound as best as I could through thetears streaming down my face. I laid her gently on the dais floor, grabbing the sword that might have killed my mate to protect the both of us to the best of my ability. There were hundreds of people in this crowd, and I was going to be enemy number one with a dead king and a dying princess laying at my feet. I stood up slowly as guards grabbed their weapons and began shouting at the same time, making it nearly impossible to decipher what was being said.
The alarm had been sounded, though. More guards would be here soon. I didn’t think either of us were going to make it out of here alive, but I made Adaela a promise that I would keep to my dying breath. I just had to hope that she could make it through this. It was the only hope I had left.
With despair and rage fueling me, I stepped down to join the fight—our best chance of getting out of here alive. My heart was shattering, and I was standing with the sole focus of someone ready to avenge her mate.
She will make it out of this.
I lifted my sword as the first guard moved my way.
She will make it out of this.
I stood with my borrowed sword in a fool’s guard, waiting to see how the first sentry would respond. They came at me in an Ochs stance, ready to deliver a devastating blow. They weren’t fucking around. They meant to kill me. I shifted my feet as they maneuvered their sword, and I lifted mine, going on the defensive. I stepped to the left, quickly circling out of their way, hand movements somehow steady as I went on the offensive, thrusting my sword toward the soft skin under their chin and helmet. It connected, pushing through to their brain, and they fell to the ground.
She will make it out of this.
I raised my voice to be heard over all the yelling. Citizens of the Autumn Court were trampling over one another to getout the doors while more guards piled into the room from the same door. It was a nightmare situation. “I am not here to start a war. I will fight to defend myself and Queen Adaela ÓDubhlaoich. If you’re not with us, you’re against us. We did not come here to kill King Cernunnos. He delivered a death blow to Queen Adaela. She is alive, but barely. Unless you want to start a civil war for the throne, I suggest you let us pass.”
Yells broke out amongst the crowd. I could no longer hear Adaela’s heartbeat over the noise. I glanced back, seeing that she was still breathing shallowly, and when I turned my head back around, there was a wall of guards battling a different set of guards on Adaela’s behalf. It restored some hope in me that we might make it out of this alive.
She will make it out of this.
It gave me space to breathe, and time to figure out our next move. I wouldn’t normally feed from my mate’s people without their consent, but I was severely depleted since the king was immune to my powers. I used everything I had on him in a last-ditch effort to prevent what happened to my mate. The lust for battle was heavy in the air, and so I fed with abandon. Power began to hum through me, and I rushed back up the stairs of the dais toward Adaela. Lifting her in my arms, I tried to find any way out of here. A tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Ceridwyn, the fire sprite who Underhill sent to me all those years ago. I remembered her well. She pointed in the direction of a door behind the dais I hadn’t seen, and we quickly made our way toward it.
Ceridwyn, even with her tiny stature, opened the door to let us in. I checked my mate over again, confirming that she was still breathing, then to the wound in her abdomen to confirm that the bleeding had in fact slowed. Adaela was deathly pale, and the pit in my stomach sank even further. “Hold on for me,sweet girl. We’re almost to safety,” I told her, choking back on the tears again.
She will make it out of this.
Ceridwyn was hovering nearby, wringing the hem of her skirts. “How did you know to find us?”
“Underhill felt the energy of the king leave this land and directed me to find out what happened. Underhill has never liked King Cernunnos, but what little power he had helped sustain the realm—especially since Adaela left. It needs someone in this seat to prevent the collapse of this land,” she said.
I didn’t have time to think this over. Adaela was once again left in an impossible situation. She was the head of the Unseelie Fae already for thePax,and now, due to her bloodline, was the Queen of the Autumn Court—if she could survive this wound. I’d have more certainty if it hadn’t been an iron blade. “Is there anything Underhill can do for Adaela while we find a healer?” I asked.
Ceridwyn, likely speaking directly with Underhill, flew to the other side of the room. “Underhill cannot heal the Queen, however, it will feed some of its powers to her to get her where she needs to go. Underhill is suggesting your next stop be Alfhame. They have the most complex healers and are the closest in magic to the Fae. With their neutrality, it may also be the safest place for the Queen to heal,” she replied.
