Blaine and Lord Damphries were still locked in combat. Despite the fact that Blaine had to contend with Bosch’s cane and Damphries sword, Emariya was confident that Blaine had the upper hand. Damphries perpetually called for his guards, either not realizing the entrance was blocked, or not caring.
“Milady, move!” Rink crashed into her, and a moment later Khane crashed into him. In her distraction over Old Man Bosch, Emariya hadn’t seen Khane charging at her. Although Khane was easily twice Rink’s size, the boy’s fury more than made up the difference.
Emariya didn’t see who’d thrown him, but she heard the wood of a table splintering as Alrec landed on top of it. Shaking his head as if trying to get his bearings, and perhaps not believing what had just happened, Alrec started back toward Reeve and Torian, who were now circling each other.
Terin, free of Alrec’s lethal grasp, flung herself at Torian, pounding her fists against him.
Torian, circling to keep constant eyes on Reeve, barely managed to keep his sword away from his sister’s flailing, out-of-control fists. Sweeping his arm harshly to the side, Torian caught his sister with the momentum and flung her away. Terin collapsed in a heap, unmoving.
“Garith, get her out of here.” Torian never took his eyes off of Reeve.
“My sister’s dog. Still following orders, I see.” Reeve smirked.
Emariya eyed the doorway. At some point during the fray, guards had gathered at both doors.
Feeling the heat, none dared breach the door, but they would be waiting. Garith looked to her and she nodded.
Gathering all the energy she could draw, Emariya sent a wave of fire rolling from the doorway they’d come in down through the corridor behind it, roasting the guards where they stood. “May The Three forgive me,” she muttered.
With Terin secure in his arms, Garith dashed out of the room through the charred doorway.
Seeing the princess carried away from him sent Reeve into a rabid frenzy, and he leaped toward the door, ignoring Torian’s hungry blade. Torian, not accounting for Reeve’s sudden lunge, missed.
The prince’s sword found flesh, but not victory, as it grazed off Reeve’s shoulder.
Reeve yelped and Torian smiled. “I will cut off each finger that you have dared touch my sister with.”
Alrec, sword drawn, rushed at Torian. The prince darted to the side, catching Reeve’s renewed attention. Circling, Alrec and Reeve stalked their prey.
Emariya’s chest tightened with worry for Torian. She unleashed a fiery blast directly at her brother. At the last moment, Reeve whirled away from Torian and the fire blew aside, shrinking as it did.
“Is that all you have, sister?” Reeve smiled the same irritating smile he’d always given her when he knew he was about to get his way. “Mother said you liked fire.”
Enraged, Emariya sent the flames surging again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Torian and Alrec locking swords, matching each other blow for blow.
Her flames should have hit her brother directly; instead they curved around him as if carried on a gust of wind. Frustrated, she tried again, with the same result.
On the other side of the room, Emariya saw Blaine lunge and Councilor Damphries fell unceremoniously to the floor. After taking a few ragged breaths, Blaine turned to Lords Felton and Bosch, growling. “If you hit me with that cane one more time, I’m going to make you eat it.”
A gale of wind slammed into Emariya’s side and she gasped for breath but managed to remain on her feet. By worrying about each of her companions, Emariya couldn’t summon the focus she needed to stop her brother. She’d have to trust them to handle themselves.
With renewed force, Emariya reached inside, feeling for the strength of the flame and sending it surging toward her brother.
Reeve’s eyes widened, and he backed up a few steps, moving away from her. “Stop her!” Reeve shouted as he diverted her flame.
At first, Emariya thought he was asking his allies for assistance. Blaine and Torian must have thought so too, because they both turned and started toward her side. But then the pressure started, a relentless pounding against her mental walls.
Emariya Warren, you stop it this instant,
her mother’s voice commanded.
Oh no, my mindroot,
Emariya remembered. She’d been locked in a cell with no access to it. Her knees weakened, and she felt the pressure at the base of her neck, pushing her toward unconsciousness.
No! She wouldn’t be captured by her mother again. Determined to retain her senses, Emariya leaned a hand against the wall and sent another burning surge toward her brother.
Torian was at her side. “Riya!”
“I have to hold her out,” she mumbled.
Through a fog of pain, as it felt like her head was splitting in two, Emariya saw Khane slam into Rink and then raise his knife. Rink, being smaller, twisted and slipped through Khane’s legs. A look of utter disbelief crossed Khane’s face and he dropped to his knees, clutching at his side.
Darkness was still threatening to press her into submission, and her mother berated her constantly from inside her head.
Blaine grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. “Block her out. Do you hear me? Block her out.
Put up your walls, just like we practiced.”
Numbly, Emariya nodded.
“We’ve got to get her out of here,” Torian’s distant voice tugged at her heart. It was so raw with worry. She wanted to tell him not to worry, but she couldn’t find the words. Maybe after she slept...
Torian tossed Rink his sword and then lifted Emariya in his arms. He eyed Reeve over her limp form, praying that her brother wouldn’t finish them both while Emariya was unable to magically guard them. Reeve clenched his hands into fists and Torian turned, hoping to shield Emariya with his own body. But instead of the blast he expected, Torian watched the fire in the opposite doorway diminish, allowing the guards to flow freely into the room. Then, Reeve did the last thing Torian expected. Instead of attacking, he charged, rushing past while yelling for Terin.
“I think it’s time to go,” Blaine said. “I’ll cover you.” He raised his sword, fending off Alrec’s advance.
“Stand down! Stand down I say,” a man Torian assumed was a Councilor yelled at the guards. The guards surged past him, ignoring his directive. A few rushed toward their fallen Councilor in the back, where Blaine had struck him down. The rest headed toward Torian.
“Rink, guard my front. To the tunnel. Go!”
Swords clashed behind him as Blaine protected their retreat. Ahead, Rink brandished his borrowed sword, and Torian tried not to worry that the boy might fall over from the weight of it. Although Emariya was limp against his chest, her eyes frequently fluttered, giving him hope that she hadn’t yet again succumbed to her mother’s clutches.
Torian’s heart sank as three guards rounded the corner ahead of them. Rink conducted himself bravely, but Torian didn’t fool himself into thinking Rink could handle all three. With Emariya in his arms, he was next to useless. Just when the three newcomers were almost upon them, Garith crashed into the hallway from a side corridor, clutching at his stomach. After a single moment’s hesitation, he joined Rink in forcing back the three guards.
“Your sister fights like a banshee,” Garith said, wiping his brow as the last of the guards in front fell.
Stepping over their fallen bodies, Torian nodded. “You should have seen what she did if you took her dolls.”
Garith snorted and shook his head. “She woke up and came at me, knees and nails flying. I lost her, I’m sorry Torian.”
Torian briefly closed his eyes. “It’s not your fault. You tried. We can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.”
Fewer and fewer guards came to attack their rear, and with Garith and Blaine working together they easily held them off.
Just when he thought their escape was assured, Torian’s heart plummeted to his feet. Coming out of the tunnel ahead of them, Reeve led Terin by the hand.
Icy hatred flowed through his veins as he looked at Reeve, diminished only by the burning sadness he felt for his sister’s choice. Was she truly going to stand against him? The hurt coursing through him strangled his resolve. A solitary image flashed through his mind, forcing him to remember the girl she’d been—happy, innocent, and carefree. By The Three, he loved her. No matter what she might do, or her child might do, he loved her. Did he love her enough to save her?
“Let them go,” Terin tugged on Reeve’s arm. “Please, you have me, you don’t need them. Let them go.”
With a long glance at Terin, Reeve stepped aside. “I won’t make her watch,” Reeve jerked his head toward Terin, “but the next time we meet, you won’t walk away.”
The last of the attackers from behind fell, and Garith rushed to Torian’s side and put a hand on the prince’s shoulder. “Torian. Let’s go. Rink, go on, we’ll be right behind you.”
Torian wanted to grab his sword and run Reeve through, but the weight of Emariya in his arms reminded him of his priorities. “Next time, you’re right. One of us won’t walk away.”
I could hand
Riya to Garith, and finish this.
His fingers twitched, and he opened his mouth but then closed it, not sure what he intended to say. Flicking his eyes to Terin, he swallowed, remaining silent.
Time was running out. He needed to flee, or act. But which? Emariya stirred in his arms, and Torian glanced down. He had to get Emariya to safety. Whatever gifts Reeve had used against Emariya had been immense; if Torian attacked now, there was a good chance one or more of them would fall. His resolve solidified. Emariya had to come first.
As Torian slipped into the tunnel, with his companions going before him, he glanced back one last time at his sister. In her eyes waited a heartbreaking goodbye. Her tears spilled over as she said,
“Forget me, Torian. Don’t look for me again.”
In their goodbye, something triggered a replay of his last vision. It was only a quick glimpse, but it was enough. Seeing his sister, helplessly watching while her child destroyed everything they built between now and then...
Torian turned, intending to call out a warning to her. If he couldn’t save her, he could at least warn her. He owed her that much. He owed her more.
The tunnel door slammed shut before he could say a word, blocking out not only his sister’s face, but their light as well. Her last words gave him hope. She didn’t sound like a girl in love. No, her tone had been resigned and full of sorrow. In her surrender, she was gifting him time. By staying with Reeve, she bought Emariya’s safety. Torian nearly choked on a sob. Was he buying his wife’s life with his sister’s? Somehow, he’d save her from herself. He’d save all of them from the horror she wouldn’t mean to unleash. But not today. Maybe Emariya was right, and they would find another way. Maybe.
He couldn’t get the image of her tears out of his mind.
Garith lightly touched his arm, feeling for Emariya’s hand. “Riya, we left a torch here. Can you light it?”
Emariya stirred against Torian’s chest. Feeling her, solid, real, and counting on him helped jerk Torian away from his mental anguish. “Are you with us, love?”
Her head bobbed against his chest, acknowledging his question.
“Garith’s going to put a torch in your hand; can you light it so we can see our way out of here?
There should be a campfire at the end of the tunnel for a source.”
Once more her head bobbed and after a few moments, the tunnel lit up around them.
Coarse, rocky soil formed the walls of the crude tunnel, and dust perpetually fell from the ceiling above them while they made their way through the winding turns.
“I think I can walk,” Emariya said when they’d gone a short way from the entrance.
Part of him wanted to protest. Having her close, safe against his chest after spending the entire night separated from her, worrying if she was all right locked in the dungeon, was deeply satisfying.
The other part of him was happy to agree. As light as she was, his arms had started to tire, not that he would ever admit it.
She steadied herself against him and flashed him a grateful smile. “Thanks for coming for me.”
“I came as soon as I could. I hated leaving you alone in there.”
Emariya bit her lip, and Torian had the incongruous, unexpected thought that he’d like to do that for her. Given their current situation, he put that thought aside. “I’m just sorry we didn’t finish what we started. We accomplished nothing.”
“I wouldn’t say nothing,” Garith said, up ahead. He carried the torch while Rink carried their weapons.
Blaine, nearby, chuckled.
“I’m only sorry it was Rink, not me, who got Khane,” Garith said.
Rink flashed a boyish grin.
Emariya’s eyes darkened. “Don’t be so eager for violence.”
Her rebuke did little to dim his smile, but he nodded. “Yes, Milady.”
“Is Khane actually dead?” Emariya asked, sounding like she wasn’t sure which answer she wanted.
Torian didn’t have to wonder what answer he’d prefer. “I saw him fall.”
“We got Councilor Damphries, too.” Blaine looked pleased with himself. Torian noticed that Riya didn’t scold him. He wondered what had changed her perspective on Blaine. Before their night in the dungeon together, Emariya wouldn’t have missed the chance to antagonize him.
Torian found himself continually glancing to Emariya, making sure she was all right. He wanted to ask her so many things, but they’d have to wait.
“We’re almost to the end of the tunnel.”
Emariya suddenly stopped firmly, letting go of his hand. “Wait! Where’s Terin? I thought Garith brought her out?”
Garith turned to face her with guilty eyes. “She fought me off, and got away. She ran back in.”
Torian’s heart broke as sorrow filled her blue eyes.
“We really did fail,” she whispered.
In failing to save his sister, had he lost them both?
Even as light blossomed at the end of the tunnel before her, Emariya could feel only darkness.
They’d been so close to rescuing Terin, and yet they’d left without her.
Garith lightly touched her arm as they stepped into the dusk-lit forest. “I’m sorry, Riya. I tried to get her out. Truly, I did.”