Page 45 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

I inclined my head.

‘That’s why the empress…’ They stopped signing. ‘Is that why you married her? A guarantee of little Anomaly heirs?’

By Evella, this rebel was testing my patience.

‘I’m no Romero. Mercy was sold to the Thornes when just a child. I grew up with Sorrow. Shared everything with her. I had no choice in buying her hand in marriage when Romero made her his Tribute.’

‘Still.’ Raine relaxed as the final lines of cavalry, hauling creaking carts, faded into the night. ‘Worked out well for you.’

‘Yeah, look at me.’ I sniffed as another large raindrop fell from my nose. ‘Luckiest son of a Vyrus on the planet.’

‘Matthias,’ Mother chided. ‘Don’t be dramatic. It could be worse.’

I barked out a loud laugh. ‘Worse? Worse? There’s a deranged monster sitting on my throne – that’s if she hasn’t burnt it yet – who I’m obliged to follow because my traitorous brother put this damned tattoo on me and⁠—’

‘Take a breath, Matthias.’

Halting, I took a moment, all the various horrors of my newfound situation flitting through my mind. ‘Tattoos that leak poison are etched on my back. My mother is entangled with the leader of the rebellion. The rebellion we were told to have no communication with in any form or otherwise, I’ll lose the throne I’ve now already lost and my wife, the one I fought Vyrus to win back, hates me and can’t…’

My chest constricted, the words still unwilling to leave my mouth as the rebels shuffled along the side of the cliff, finally free to leave the shadows.

‘And my clothes are soaked.’

‘Oh, Matthias.’ Mother grabbed me and pulled me in. I breathed in the petrichor clinging to her otherwise familiar scent and wrapped my arms around her. ‘No matter how dark the night, you can always depend on dawn.’ She pulled back, reaching up to wipe the rain from my face. ‘You breathe still. That… your wife⁠—’

‘Sorrow.’

Her face twisted before she smiled weakly.

‘Yes, Sorrow breathes too. You’ll see her again, but⁠—’

The sudden cry of panicked horses cut her off. We stared down the cliff, the rain abating as the horses we’d just witnessed raged, tearing in different directions.

A smile tugged the corner of my mouth. Horses tore back the way they’d come, riders clinging on where they could, others dragging carts, spilling their goods everywhere. The organised lines were a memory as the beasts raced away.

‘What?’ Mother said, gripping my arm as the rebels halted their ascent.

I laughed, relief flooding through me.

‘What’s going on down there?’

Crossing my arms, I smiled, watching the panic course through the empress’s cavalry, through her horses. There was only one person I could think of who had the power to create this chaos. A person I was both cursed and blessed to see again. I could feel the darkness waiting in my veins. I couldn’t wait to⁠—

‘Fog!’

Mother swore as a cloud, swirling, tainted, deadly, swept over the horizon, heading straight towards where we clung to a sheer rock face.

CHAPTER 18

SORROW

Evella wandered amongst the people she loved. Watching. Learning. Her eyes tracked our movements till she found one mortal, his beauty greater than the stars, ensnared her. Unable to fight, unable to avoid his pull, Evella claimed him as her love.

​— ​REDACTED VERSES REMOVED FROM THE CHRONICLES OF EVELLA

‘Pablo?’ I whispered, squinting through the gloom, doing my hardest to ignore the goosebumps prickling across my skin as the dark devoured what little sight I had.

Huffing, I cocked my head as trickles of low laughter carried on the chill air when my stomach lurched. Someone was out here. A darkness within their tone warned me this was someone I’d no desire to run across. Turning back towards Hawk, I cursed under my breath as I stumbled, when a whine, faint and filled with pain, hit me.