Blood of the Guardian Page 14

  Where did the Guardians go? Maybe Emery knew. He entered the castle, but before he turned to Emery’s room, he hesitated. Surely he wouldn’t want to be bothered on his wedding night.

  Nolan could help him, but his power was already low. Nolan needed to rest.

  Then he considered Rayen’s tea. It had helped him before. He clenched his hands into fists, uncertain whether he wanted to see Rayen or not. He didn’t quite know his feelings for the girl, so he avoided thinking about her at all. Besides, who knew how much longer the Talasians would stay, especially since Emery turned down Kamalin’s proposition. They might match her to someone else in the kingdom, a duke or someone in position. Alec tensed, not wanting to even consider the possibility. Even as he fought with himself, his feet led him to the blue wing where the Talasians were staying.

  The first thing Alec noticed when he stepped into the hall was the absence of light. The flames from the lanterns, which typically lit the hall, were gone. Maybe the Talasians had put them out. Were they afraid of the fire? Alec descended one floor, where nobody currently slept, and borrowed a lantern from the wall.

  As he ascended the stairs, he noticed another oddity. He hadn’t seen a single Rol’dan guard. He at least expected some of Kamalin’s warriors. But there wasn’t a sign of them. Maybe he’d misunderstood and Emery had put them somewhere else.

  Alec grunted. He remembered Emery saying they would be placed in the blue wing. Or maybe they’d rejected his offer and returned to the boat. He held the light high, inspecting the empty hall one last time. Then he caught sight of a thin trail of dark liquid leading across the floor. It disappeared behind a closed door.

  Alec froze, listening. The castle droned with eerie quiet. He bent and swiped the stain, examining it next to his lantern. Blood coated his fingers.

  Alec shifted the lantern to his other hand to free his sword arm. He slid out his weapon as quietly as he could and followed the trail, his heart thundering a heavy cadence. At the end of the blood trail, a door hung loosely closed, latch broken.

  He nudged it, and it opened silently. The lantern light splashed across the floor, first catching on a boot, then a leg, and then it revealed both Rol’dan and Talasian bodies piled, one on top of another.

  Blood pooled under them like a large rug. Their faces were so distorted and crushed in they were unrecognizable.

  Alec turned, his stomach rolling. He swallowed back bile. What the Darkness had happened? Fear spiked, and he jerked his head around, looking for the murderer. But the hall still lay in silence, undisturbed, except for the mutilated bodies. He sucked in a breath. Rayen!

  Heart thundering, he scanned the corpses. All men. He dashed into the hall, pushing open each broken door as he passed. Dead warriors lay in each of the beds. His head swayed with dizziness. He had to find her. Oh, Brim. Don’t let her die too.

  As he reached the end of the hall, he heard voices. He pushed the door open and froze.

  Two Rol’dan soldiers held the Talasian king between them. A shirtless Rol’dan, with a long beard, pinned a struggling Rayen to the ground. He was removing his belt with one hand and holding her with the other. He hadn’t noticed Alec.

  Alec’s vision clouded with rage as he flared his Speed. How dare he touch her! Then a memory flashed in his mind, freezing him in place.

  Another time … another place … a different bearded Rol’dan taking off his clothes … another woman being held down. His mother. He sucked in a breath as long-suppressed memories forcibly ripped free.

  White-hot rage swelled. It abruptly ended with pain erupting through Alec’s head and a curtain of darkness yanking over his mind.

  Chapter Seventeen

  ALEC GASPED, FILLING HIS ACHING LUNGS. A scream choked from his throat as cracking bone reverberated through his skull. Greer squatted over him, his large hands pressed to either side of his head. Worry melted from the Guardian’s angular, glowing face.

  “He’s alive!” a voice said.

  Alec blinked back the darkness threatening to close in. His head throbbed as if his father had knocked him in his temple with a blacksmith’s hammer. Somehow, he’d survived.

  “There’s another in here!” a voice yelled.

  Greer disappeared, and Emery replaced him in Alec’s vision. He looked haggard and pale.

  “Alec,” Emery said. “Can you hear me?”

  Alec touched his face and came away with blood-coated fingers. More blood pooled on the floor around him. Memories of what happened flared back to life. The soldiers were gone, along with Rayen and the king. The blood he lay in was his own.

  “Alec,” Emery said, “what happened?”

  He remembered the trail of blood and the dead warriors. Then he envisioned Rayen and the soldier hovering above her, a man just like the one who had murdered his mother; he’d replayed that moment in his dreams for years.

  He met Emery’s concerned eyes, but Alec’s emotions seethed. Emery had let the soldier defile her. He’d let him kill her. His mother was dead because of him. Finding a burst of strength, Alec punched Emery square in the face.

  Emery grunted, falling backward into Alec’s blood; Megan gasped and went to his side.

  Arms grabbed Alec, hauling him to his feet, holding him roughly.

  General Kael Trividar stepped to him and leaned in. “What in the Darkness was that about?”

  “He killed her!”

  “The princess?” Kael asked. “She’s dead?”

  “No.” Alec’s breath came heavy, his anger swelling. “My mother. The soldier killed her, and he watched her die!”

  Emery’s jaw fell, then he shook his head, regaining his composure. “He’s hallucinating.” He rose, with some help from Megan, and motioned toward Alec. “Let him go.”

  “Are you certain, Your Majesty? We can lock him in—”

  “Let. Him. Go.”

  The soldiers jerked back, surprised. Reluctantly, they released Alec’s arms.

  Alec staggered, only then realizing how much the men had supported him. And the pressure in his head throbbed like a small drum against his skull.

  Emery approached him, staring him in the eye. “Alec, we talked about this already. That man is dead. Alcandor killed him years ago. If you need to, we can discuss it again. But for now, we need to know what happened tonight. We need to find the Talasian king and his daughter. What happened?”

  Alec blinked back a wave of dizziness, past and present meshing into one horrific memory. His mother. No, not his mother. Rayen. Rayen is in trouble.

  “Take Alec to a room upstairs,” Emery said. “Let him rest. Hopefully, he’ll gain back some—”

  “Rol’dan!” Alec blurted out. “It was Rol’dan.”

  Kael cursed and spat on the ground. “Which ones?”

  “A b-beard. He had a long beard.”

  “Well that helps a lot,” Kael said, sarcasm thick in his voice. “Narrows it down to half the Strength Rol’dan.”

  Alec blinked, his vision clearing slightly. “A p-patch, over his eye.”

  “Ekon,” Kael sneered.

  Alec examined himself. The stain on his shoulder looked like a minor scratch compared to the gore covering him now. He reached for his empty sheath. His sword was gone.

  A soldier approached Kael and saluted.

  “Report,” Kael said.

  “General, sir.” The soldier’s mouth pressed into a tight line.

  “What is it, Lieutenant?” Kael pressed.

  “We’ve found the Talasian king.”

  Silence hung heavily over the group.

  “Your Majesty. He’s dead.”

  Alec’s head spun. Why had I hesitated? I could’ve saved the king! Instead, I just stood there gawking. And what happened to Rayen?

  “His body hangs from a tree near the docks.” The lieutenant hesitated. “They sliced him open and let him bleed to death.”

  “And the girl?” Alec blurted.

  The lieutenant pulled his gaze from the king to Alec. “
We didn’t see anyone else. Only the king.”

  “And the Talasian ship?” Kael asked.

  “Gone, my lord.”

  Emery ran a hand through his dark hair and paced. He scanned the room until he found Maska, who’d been standing toward the rear of the room. “Maska. What does this mean?”

  Maska frowned. “They will return to Talasi. And most likely return with their army. We must prepare for war.”

  “How does succession work, Maska?” Emery asked. “Who leads them now?”

  “His children are his heirs. If the girl lives, then the rule belongs to her. If she’s dead as well, leadership passes to the war commander.” He frowned. “And if it’s the same man who commanded the army when I left … he isn’t one who promotes peace.”

  “We must find the girl,” Emery said.

  “What if she left on the boat?” Kael asked.

  Alec’s stomach dropped. “I don’t see how she could’ve escaped.”

  “Then we’ll assume they took her,” Emery said. “General Trividar, prepare a rescue team.”

  Kael saluted, flared his Shay, and disappeared.

  Emery strode from the room, followed by the Rol’dan soldiers.

  Alec jogged to catch up, but by the time he reached them, his head was swimming.

  Emery caught his arm. “You need to rest.”

  He yanked away. “No. I need to find her.”

  “You aren’t in a condition to do anything.”

  “I’ll take the stone. It’ll restore my strength, and then I’ll be fine.”

  Emery’s gaze flicked to Megan, and an unspoken conversation passed between them.

  “What’s wrong?” Alec asked.

  “The stones are gone.”

  Alec stared. “But … Nolan has the … ” His voice drifted off. He turned, searching for his friend. Where was Nolan?

  “We went to get Nolan when we heard the commotion,” Emery said. “His belongings are gone, as well as him and the stones.”

  “He left?” Alec said, stunned. He knew he’d been in a bad mood, but why would he run away? “Where’d he go?”

  Emery shrugged. “Don’t know. We would question the gate guards, but they’re dead. Nobody saw Nolan leave.”

  Why would Nolan leave when they need him? He must’ve gone before this whole mess started. If he’d been here, it would not have happened. Nolan would’ve heard it with his sharp senses and come to the rescue. Instead, he had crept away without telling anyone? Why?

  “We’ll have to make do without him,” Emery said, his face tired and pale. “I’m sure the General will have Perception Rol’dan tracking them soon.”

  “I can run ahead and have a look—”

  “No, Alec. You can barely stand.”

  Alec’s fists tightened. He remembered what that monster tried to do to her. It might already be too late.

  “We’ll do everything we can,” Emery said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  “Will you?” Alec shrugged his hand away. “Like the way you helped my mother?”

  Emery sighed. “Alec, that was a long time ago.”

  Alec knew Emery didn’t deserve his harsh words, but the horrible memory was too fresh in his mind. He couldn’t go upstairs and calmly lay there—no matter how much Emery tried to convince him everything was under control. As Emery opened his mouth to make another irritating comment, Alec flared his Speed and sped away.

  He rushed past the armory, zipping in to grab a sword. His father was equipping a group of soldiers and barely noticed Alec’s arrival and departure. He waved as Alec left.

  Alec headed for the gate; a group of Rol’dan tended to the dead. Greer stood among them, apparently healing someone who’d been lucky enough to survive. He eyed Alec as he passed but said nothing to stop him.

  The moon hung lower in the sky than what he’d remembered when going into the castle. Ekon and his friends had probably gained some distance. Alec detoured, heading toward the gypsy camp. He doubted the others had bothered to think of them. They might’ve seen Ekon. If not, maybe they’d seen Nolan leave.

  When he reached their camp, wagon tracks led away. The gypsies were nowhere to be seen. Useless gypsies. The one time they could’ve been helpful, they’d made themselves scarce. He’d have to search for Rayen and the traitorous Rol’dan on his own.

  For the next several hours, Alec scoured the forest around Faylinn. He had to stop frequently. His head would cloud over, and his knees trembled. Most of the time, he could only walk, not using Speed at all.

  When he found nothing, he headed west. The forest grew thicker, obscuring any sign of travel—not that he’d be able to tell. He’d never been good at tracking, even during the day.

  Lightness hovered in his brain, as if he’d had too much drink. He wondered if Emery had been right after all. He hoped he wouldn’t collapse in the forest. He’d hate to have survived the soldiers only to be eaten by a wild animal while lying unconscious in the woods.

  Finally, he spotted light: a campfire. He reluctantly blew out his lantern and set it at the base of a tree. He took a step and a branch cracked under his feet. He cursed under his breath and crept forward with as much stealth as an ox in heat. Voices drifted, followed by a round of raucous laughter.

  Alec pushed aside a branch and saw a group of Rol’dan soldiers gathered around a campfire. Most of them had discarded parts of their uniforms. One threw his red cape into the fire, nearly snuffing the flame. The flames broke through, licking higher, lighting the area brightly until it returned to its normal flame. Alec scanned the camp, noticing only five soldiers. For so few of them, they’d certainly caused a lot of deaths and trouble for Faylinn.

  On the outskirts of the fire’s light, Alec saw her. With hands and feet tied to a tree, Rayen couldn’t move. She tried to speak around the gag shoved in her mouth, but she hardly made a sound. At least she was dressed. Hopefully, they hadn’t yet done anything to her. Her eyes were red, as if crying. Apparently it had been too much; she’d let her Talasian guard fall.

  Ekon tossed his cape on top of the other one, and a roll of dark smoke rose into the air. He slapped his hands together, cleaning off the dirt.

  “Wonder what’s going on at the castle?” a man said.

  Ekon grinned behind his shaggy beard. “We’ll go check in the morning when we leave the little wench’s body there.”

  The men laughed.

  “Too bad the boy interrupted us. We could’ve gotten it all over with by now.”

  Ekon ran a hand over his beard, pulling. “Aye, true. But now we can take our time.”

  Alec gripped a branch, anger rolling inside him. His land sickness and lightheadedness were gone. Or, if they were still bothering him, he couldn’t tell. The emotions pulsing through him were far stronger than anything else.

  Ekon undid his shirt and turned toward Rayen. She whimpered and yanked against her bonds. Alec pushed down his panic, remembering too well what happened last time. He doubted he could survive another crush to the skull, especially now when he had so little left to bleed.

  The party consisted of three Strength Rol’dan, one Precision Rol’dan, and one with Speed. He didn’t know this Speed fellow, but he knew he’d be the one to strike first … after he stopped Ekon.

  Just as Ekon reached for Rayen, Alec summoned his Speed.

  Time slowed.

  Alec burst from the trees, catching the eye of the Speed Rol’dan. He raced to Ekon, jumping over the reclined figures of the other two Strength men. Swinging back—Ekon hadn’t seen him yet—he thrust his sword into Ekon’s ribs. His arm vibrated like he had struck his father’s anvil.

  It should’ve skewered him like a wild boar. Instead, it only gouged him. Ekon yelled out, growling, and turned. Their eyes met.

  Rayen yelled behind her gag.

  Alec spun, yanking his sword from the groove in Ekon’s flesh, and he met the Speed man’s blow. Fear flicked in the man’s eyes with recognition. There were positives to having a reputa
tion.

  The battle didn’t last long, for the man had few skills. Alec killed him quickly, trying to make it hurt as much as he could.

  He paused only briefly, but enough to allow an arrow to slam into his side. Alec screamed, and his Speed abruptly left him.

  “Kill him!” Ekon said.

  Alec turned toward the Precision soldier who frantically loaded his bow. Alec flared his Speed and took him out quickly, slashing him across the throat.

  The three remaining soldiers, all bearded and ugly, glared at him, lining up side by side. Their eyes glowed brightly with red light.

  Ekon smiled. “Didn’t we kill you, boy?”

  Alec snorted. “You tried.”

  With a flick of his hand, Ekon signaled the other two men. They separated, surrounding Alec.

  Alec’s side twinged with pain, the arrow wound now oozing red. It would be hard to fight them like this. He broke the protruding arrow shaft off—he’d deal with it later. Turning toward his attackers, he assessed the situation. Their Strength-enhanced skin was too strong to take them all down. He locked sight on Ekon. He’d at least take this one.

  Diving toward Ekon, he put everything behind the strike. It hit and deflected off his throat, leaving a nasty scratch.

  Ekon’s eyes flicked upward, over Alec’s shoulder. Alec ducked as a Rol’dan fist came toward his head and then he enjoyed the view as the man slammed into Ekon instead.

  Alec flashed into normal speed, watching the spectacular crack as the soldier’s Strength-enhanced fist struck bone. He flared Speed again, observing in slow motion as Ekon’s nose flattened. Blood spouted, cascading, staining his shirt in brilliant red.

  Remembering the third soldier, he turned and gasped as a large rock swirled toward him. He dodged, barely, and it passed him—heading straight for Rayen.