Nollaig edged in close. “We’re going to have to attack them. If they won’t let us in, Reyna can’t get to the tower.”
“I don’t understand.” Reyna rubbed the back of her neck. “Lorcan was desperate to fight me this morning. He roared at me for leaving before we clashed swords.”
Nollaig sighed. “Unfortunately, there’s nothing else we can do.”
The guards shifted closer. Reyna had no choice but to draw her sword. The steel sang as it cut through the humid air, reverberating from the thrum of her magic.
“Right. We’ll do this, but I need all of you need to listen to me. If I tell you to step back, then you need to step back,” Reyna said in a quiet voice. “Remember the Battle for Fomorian Square. I don’t want to risk my magic hitting any of you.”
Nollaig gave her a solemn nod. Her own sword whistled through the night. Together, they rushed the gates, great cries of battle ripping from their throats. Reyna led the charge, the cloying taste of battle in her mouth.
The wood fae loosed a volley of arrows. Without even thinking, Reyna dodged left and right, slamming the arrows aside before they hit her friends. Any she missed, Wingallock got. The bows did nothing against her, and soon, they were amongst the fray. The guards yanked their swords out of their scabbards and struggled to find their footing as Reyna rushed toward them.
“Watch out!” Reyna shouted as she loosed a crystalline ball of ice. The magic shot toward the nearest guards. It slammed into their chests, freezing them instantaneously. Arrows rained down from above. Reyna shouted at her sister, knocking her of of the way. But Eislyn held her shield strong above her head and avoided the deadliest blows.
They pushed through the gates. More guards joined the battle. Reyna whirled and fought, throwing her magic when she could. Eislyn fought just beside her. Her swordplay was rough around the edges, but when she slashed down a towering male, Reyna gave her a nod of appreciation.
The guards soon fell.
Reyna took the lead once more as they stormed the city. No one came out of their homes to stop them. They stayed locked inside, peeking out of windows, just desperate to survive. When their company reached the end of the street, they all stopped to gaze up at the tower. Guards waited in the courtyard. Dozens of them.
Lorcan had not made this easy.
46
Mariel
The humans were relentless. No matter how many times she blew their damned ships away from the shore, they kept on coming back. Didn’t they realize it was pointless? Why hadn’t they guessed what was going on?
With a growl, she rushed up through the trees and shot another blast of wind at them. She could only do one breath at a time, still, so she had to time it perfectly. They needed to be close enough for her breath to hit them hardest, but not too close that they might spill out of the ships and reach the shore.
Shaking her head to rid her ears of the ringing, she landed beside the shelter she’d been building the past several days. She folded her wings into her back, stretching at the sensation of fresh, smooth skin. After she threw her tunic back on, she looked around.
Without an axe, the shelter was slow going. She needed branches the trees had already discarded, but she wouldn’t have cut into them even if she could. The trees of the Witchlight Woods did not take kindly to being chopped down.
Mavis had packed her some rope, but she was quickly running out. So, her task today would be to hunt for more fallen branches and some thick vines. She stomped through the woods, aiming north. So far, she’d stayed close to the shores to keep an eye on the ships. She didn’t fancy getting too close to the castle again either. If anyone found her here, she’d be dead.
Wings rustled overhead. Tipping back her head, Mariel looked up to see if she could spot one of Mavis’s old birds. But her stomach dropped when saw what it was.
A fae.
A deep crimson cloak billowed around her feet, two holes cut out for her wings. The color clashed with her silver hair and enhanced the paleness of her cheeks. Mariel swallowed hard. It had been a hell of a long time since she’d seen a fae with wings. Other than herself, of course.
The fae slowed when she spotted Mariel in the bushes. With a wicked smile, she darted to the ground, spinning so fast that her flowing hair became a whirlwind of silver around her face.
The ground shuddered when she dropped, a boom echoing from the force of it.
Mariel eyed her warily. “Who the hell are you?”
“Isn’t it fairly obvious?”
“Glencora Darragh,” Mariel said. “The third daughter of the High King of the Ice Court.”
“No.” Glencora let out a bitter laugh. “Gods. No matter what I do, I’m always sidelined. You’re speaking to the first daughter of Cos Darragh. The eldest. What’s more, I am the High Queen of the Air Court.YourQueen. Tell me what you’re doing out here.”
Mariel took a step back, her eyes flicking from Glencora’s face to her flared wings. So, Thane had gone and married an ice princess, after all. It was a smart move, if not entirely pragmatic and devoid of all emotion. But that was what kings had to do. Maybe he was beginning to learn.
Still, something troubled her about Glencora Darragh and it wasn’t her insistence to know why Mariel was in the woods. She could talk her way around that without ever letting on that she was the missing girl from the dungeons, if Glencora even knew about that.
