“Watch out,” Karwyn yelled. Rhay barely avoided being struck by a sword. A furious fae had picked up a fallen sword and was ready to strike again, rising up to his impressive height. Rhay stepped in front of Karwyn on instinct.
“You should respect your king,” Karwyn hissed at the fae, brushing past Rhay before using his air magic to push the assailant away.
The tall fae barely moved. “I intend to beextrarespectful when I bury you alive,” he hurled back at the king.
Another fae soon joined him. Rhay and Karwyn stepped closer together, back to back, as if they were children again, fighting imaginary monsters. Karwyn used his air powers, but he was weakened by his almandine inflicted wound.
Maybe everyone would benefit if they were taken out now. Just as the dark thought hit Rhay, he saw the tall fae collapse on the ground, a throwing star embedded in the back of his head. Rhay looked up and noticed a familiar human girl.Amira’s maid.He hadn’t realised back then that she was human. She had another star in her hand and pretended to aim at Karwyn, but Rhay knew that her first hit wasn’t a mistake.
Using the distraction, Rhay quickly impaled the other fae they had been fighting and took Karwyn’s hand again.
“Let’s go, we can’t fight them all,” Rhay said to Karwyn, exchanging a quick, knowing look with the human girl. She went back to fighting a guard, but he saw the hatred-filled look she gave Karwyn.
“Where is everyone? Where is Loraine?” Karwyn asked, his tone strained. Rhay scanned the platform. Lora and Amira were gone, waiting for them in the secret location.
“They went through the tunnel to the palace,” Rhay lied, feeling the bitter taste of it in his mouth. “Let’s go.”
He dragged Karwyn through the chaos. The guilt slowly ate its way to Rhay’s heart, but he still led Karwyn to the other passage. The one leading to his doom. But maybe, just maybe, losing his power and his title would help Karwyn get back to the person he used to be, the person he could’ve been if his life had taken another path.
Karwyn didn’t question it at first. He ran through the passage with Rhay, clearly still reeling from the attack on the plaza. When they reached the unfamiliar door under the temple, Karwyn stopped and turned to face Rhay. He saw a silent question in the king’s eyes. Feeling nothing but pain, Rhay faced Karwyn and let his eyes lie.
Karwyn opened the door and walked into the room, Rhay right behind him. The space was large and dimly lit, cave-like, with multiple tiny alcoves lining the walls. It looked utterly abandoned. There was no exit other than the one they had stepped in from.
“What is this place?” Karwyn looked around the room, confused. And then realisation seemed to hit him as Lora and Amira came out of one of the alcoves, quickly followed by the two men who had attacked Karwyn in his room.
Karwyn turned to Rhay, and the hurt in his eyes sank into Rhay’s chest like a knife, twisting his soul. Karwyn’s lips curled in rage. He made an attempt at the door, but Tarnan stepped in front of it, coming out from another shadowed alcove. Varsha followed him. Karwyn was surrounded and clearly outnumbered.
Karwyn’s witch, who Rhay had only seen twice, was hiding in one of the shadowed alcoves. She quickly stepped further into the shadows, probably so that Karwyn couldn’t use his witch against them.
“What is this?” Karwyn sneered at the other king before turning to Lora and Amira, skipping over Rhay. “You think you can trap me here?” He laughed as his eyes bore into Lora’s. “I am sure my dear cousin would not like the outcome of whateverplanyou have envisioned here.”
Fear shone in Lora’s eyes, yet she stood tall as she calmly replied, “I think you’ll find that it’syouwho will dislike the outcome, cousin.”
Karwyn’s breathing seemed to quicken as he took in his situation. Then, with no warning, Karwyn whirled around, throwing air at the group standing by the door, knocking them over. Tarnan scrambled to get back to his feet.
Before Karwyn could run to the door, fire shot towards him. Karwyn barely avoided Lora’s attack, jumping to the side while trying to hold on to his weakened power. Lora’s lover took advantage of Karwyn’s distraction to punch him in the face.
“I was waiting for a rematch,” the fae said, watching as blood ran down Karwyn’s face. He pulled back his arm for another hit.
“You said you weren’t going to hurt him!” Rhay yelled. They were here to break Lora’s contract and force Karwyn to abdicate, not execute his friend.Right?
Nobody listened to him as Karwyn made another attempt to escape, quickly foiled by Lora’s lover pulling him back and Lora hitting her cousin in the gut.
“Be careful, I think the merge will start if you mix your blood with his,” Lora’s other friend, who appeared to be human, warned from the sidelines. What was he talking about?
Lora moved away just as Karwyn looked up, spitting blood on the ground. Varsha, who Rhay should’ve known was involved, helped Lora’s lover shackle Karwyn’s hands behind his back with almandine.
The look in Karwyn’s eyes was heartbreaking. Rhay lowered his gaze, unable to face his friend.
“Look at me, Rhay,” Karwyn spat out.
Rhay kept looking at the ground, guilt now fully ingrained in his heart.
“Look at what you have done,” Karwyn yelled.
Rhay heard the shackles behind his back rattling loudly.
Fighting his guilt, Rhay raised his head, finally meeting Karwyn’s gaze. He only saw the pain of betrayal. He had deceived the one friendship he had fought so hard to preserve. His oldest friend. Karwyn couldn’t have looked more upset if Rhay had stabbed him in the heart.
