My body was frozen in shock, unable to move or speak, not as the pool of ruby spread beneath Orion's downturned face, seeping around in a halo of death.
A shift in the air caught my attention. I looked up to watch Erix lung forward, sword outstretched for the Hunter. Gyah moved too, hands like claws as she cleared the space, feet not touching the floor.
They were both screaming but it was hard to fathom if they made sense with words or just angered noises. All I could think about was the blood, dark and thick as it spread across the ground towards me.
I looked to Althea and my heart cracked clean in two. Her eyes were wide, both brows raised high and mouth parted in a small, unignorable o-shape. Surprise softened her face, whereas the burning of disbelief drained the colour from her cheeks and the glow from her eyes.
Then she snapped out of her daze, swinging an axe without barely making a sound. She caught Erix's blade with the curve of her own weapon, one large twist of her arm and the momentum tore the sword from his grasp and sent it surging off into the darkness. Gyah was next, stopped dead in her tracks by a flash of burning hot fire that exploded from the skin of Althea's outstretched palm. Both warriors stumbled away, missing the wild swing of the axe, as she spun to meet the Hunter who was caught in manic laughter.
Her cry split the night like thunder. The axe was the lightning, warning of what was to come as it turned on the Hunter. The murderer. I winced, expecting to see more blood, deserving blood, spill alongside Orion's, but I was wrong.
In a blink she had turned her wrist, angling the flat edge of the axe's body toward the Hunter's head. Metal connected with bone and flesh, the crack deafening as though the very mountains we had seen on our journey had fractured.
His head snaped back, eyes rolling to whites as a gash poured angrily over his left brow. The dagger, Erix's dagger, fell from his hand, embedding to the hilt in the bloodied ground.
The Hunter fell, alive, but unconscious, evident from the heavy rise and fall of his chest.
"Althea," I croaked, reaching a hand for her shoulder. Her back was to me, facing the Hunter, shoulders moving rapidly beneath her breaths. "I am so sorry."
It was all I could say. What else was there? I did not know Orion, nor like him, but death was death, and he was her family. She did not have to like him, but through blood and time she had loved him as her kin.
She was warm beneath my touch, or perhaps I was just cold now, having hosted untamed power of the Icethorn Court.
I waited for her to speak, giving her the time she needed as she regarded the unconscious Hunter beneath her. She had not once looked back to her brother, dead and bleeding. Instead her entire focus was on the human boy as though he held coveted answers to the universe and he was about to reveal them all.
Althea shrugged out of my hold. When she finally spoke her voice was rough like that of stormy oceans, harsh like winds through forests. "We need to return to Aurelia. Immediately."
Erix was beside us now, sword back in his hand, and the point held upon the unconscious human. "Then we kill him here. Now."
"No." Althea's answer was final, her voice void of negotiation or options. "I will not allow that."
"But he-" I wanted to reach a hand over Erix's mouth but Althea's retort silenced him before I could waste a second imagining it.
"I am well aware what has occurred, Erix," Althea snapped, eyes ablaze with the fire she held internally. "If we return, with my brother dead, and no proof of what had happened, then nothing is stopping Lady Kelsey from suggesting that his blood is on our hands. I do not know what she has planned, nor what collateral she is prepared for, but the Hunter comes with us. If Orion's death is questioned, they can rip his mind open and see for themselves what happened here."
"He is lucky if he lives that long," Gyah muttered, eyes hardly straying from the downturned body of Prince Orion.
"The boy lives as long as I command it. Only by my hand will he die for what he has done." I wanted to reach for Althea again, to comfort her with my touch.
"It is a long ride," Erix said, speaking aloud what thought filled my head. "And the night is even longer. Berrow is a shorter journey. Althea, you need to rest. We all do."
"Do not tell me what I need. My brother needs to be returned to his court, for his body to be dealt with accordingly. The boy needs to face consequences as urgently as my aunt. I will rest when I choose." Still Althea did not even spare the stiffening corpse of her brother a glance, not even a flick of her gaze. There was restraint there, in the way her neck was tall and sharp, her face angled awkwardly so she could not accidently skim her furious stare across him.
"I am merely advising, as you called me here to do," Erix replied.
"Gyah," Althea said, ignoring Erix. "Can you fly?"
I studied the Eldrae whose own stare seemed full of calculation. Her hand became a fist as she placed it above her heart, eyes wet with tears. "I will do my best for you."
Althea nodded, huffing in relief as though she expected resistance. "Thank you."
Erix shook his head in frustration or disagreement, it was hard to determine one from the other. "Gyah is strong, far more than me. But she cannot lie to please you, Althea. Do you truly believe she can take us all to Aurelia? With the added weight of your prisoner and your..."
He couldn't say it, and it did not need to be said either as his attention looked back to the body of the Cedarfall prince.
"We will wait then," I added, voice cracking with desperation to fill the silence before another argument broke out. I held Althea's stare, sensing gnawing sadness within the depths of it. "If it means you can take him home, I will stay back."
"It is not safe." Althea spared me concern, eyes darting to Erix who shadowed me.
"It is safer being here, in... my land. If Lady Kelsey is behind all of what has occurred, then surely it would be better for me to return once she is accosted? I do not doubt Gyah's strength and ability, but it does not feel right asking such a thing of her."
"And I will stay with Robin," Erix added, in almost a rush. "I will ensure his security."
My chest warmed. I wanted to look at him, as I knew he looked at me, but I kept my focus on Althea who pondered the suggestion.
"I permit you to find shelter in Berrow. No further. Gyah will collect you there tomorrow." It was done. Agreed without further contemplation or discussion. I felt both relief and some puckering of discomfort for splitting from the group. But it was the right thing to do, solidified by the physical relaxing of Gyah's shoulders knowing she had less people to carry. Gyah gifted us a smile of thanks, although it did not reach her eyes. There was a slight limp as she walked to the unconscious Hunter. Erix noticed it, silently offering his help in preparing him for the journey.
I wondered if the Hunter would be tied up, but Gyah shifted her form smoothly, and laid a large claw over his chest and arms, keeping him pinned within her taloned grasp.
"Robin, help me will you?" Althea said, braving a look at the final body remaining to collect. Her brother.
I nodded, biting the insides of my cheeks as I finally watched her acknowledge the dead beneath her.
Althea knelt beside him, hands resting upon her lap and fiddling with the material of her tunic to keep them occupied.
"Tell me what I can do," I said, voice a whisper as though I feared to disturb Orion in his endless slumber.
Althea finally reached out a hand, resting it upon the tousled red hair of his head. "He did not deserve this, and now it is my responsibility to relive what has happened and admit my careless lack in judgement."
"This is far from your fault." I said it quickly as though it was the most honest thing that had ever left my lips.
"Is it not?" She looked at me with wide, unblinking eyes; they glistened with tears that she did not dare loose. "Because you may not think so, but my family will certainly question how it occurred. Why I let a small, insolent boy slit the throat of my own brother when I was inches away. It is my fault, and I do not wish to hear you say otherwise again."
"What happens now?" I asked, a question for myself more than anything.
"I return Orion's body to our court where he belongs. Lady Kelsey may not have held the blade, but she nudged the hand in that direction. She will pay a far greater price than the Hunter."
"You believe she truly is behind this?"
Althea blinked, keeping her eyes closed for a paused moment. "Maybe. And if not, I will find out who is, for his sake." She ran her hands down her brother's back, a muscle feathering in her taut jaw. "His life, no matter his name, is only one. More will die, known and nameless, if you do not claim what is rightfully yours."
An overbearing weight rested across my shoulders. Unseen, but there. "Orion wanted war. I do not believe that wish has changed."
"He wanted war, and his life paid for it. So ask yourself what it is you want... and if you will allow anyone else to perish whilst you ponder your decision."
I swallowed hard, unable to conjure words as Althea studied me intently. She was not angry at me, although her comments suggested otherwise. She looked exhausted, eyes rimmed with shadows and shoulders hunched forward, her frame smaller than before. I thought of the taster, Briar, and now the body laying between us.
"How do you not hate my existence after what I have caused you to lose?"
"Because the outcome I wish for requires you to be alive. And hating you will not aid my hopes, it would hinder them." Althea levelled her gaze, lifting her chin as she rolled back her shoulders. A single tear fell from her eye, trailing a river across the sharp edge of her cheekbone and down towards her nose. She did not reach for it to clear it from her face. "He will not be the first, nor the last to lose a life to this conflict. And who am I to hate you when I see a boy who has lost far more than me. Make the choice; for not only your sake but those around you."
* * *
I caredlittle for the ache in my legs, nor the stinging of cold winds that ripped across my face and any unlucky part of skin which was exposed beneath ripped clothing, not when all I could think of was Althea holding the limp body of her brother across her lap as Gyah's proud wings flapped wildly as they sliced off into the night.
The vision followed me all the way to Berrow, Erix leading ahead as we battled the thick darkness. I could have walked like that until morning rose, lost in a storm of thoughts. They were so consuming that I hardly noticed as the ground smoothed out to old stone and the outlines of buildings stood guard on either side of us.
It was as if Berrow slept, no glow of fire to be seen in the shattered windows, no noise beside the slamming of doors in the wind, hanging from rusted and forgotten hinges. There was no life here, only Erix and I.
Looking up I took in the buildings, crumpled and ruined, beneath the weight of winter. Snow layered across concaved roofs, walls covered in frost that caught glints of the only light brave enough to be here. The moon had split through the thinning of clouds, a thankful guide, making it bearable to put one foot in front of the other.
"Robin," Erix called, demanding my attention. He had deviated from the straight and sure path he had walked. Now he waited beside a cottage-like building to my side; like the others it looked as though one good gust would blow it down. "We stop here for the night."
What was left of it. "Not that I do not trust your judgement, but are you certain it will be standing by morning?"
A weak smile found itself across Erix's face. "Only one way to find out."
He reached for the door and wrestled it open. The screech of wood and worn metal had me cringing as it seemed to shatter all silence of the darkened village. Wrapping my arms around my waist, I followed Erix into the shadowed building.
"What happened here?" I asked, following him into a connecting room down the narrow hallway we had entered. Even here evidence of destruction littered the ground, furniture toppled over, items of clothing and other objects discarded willingly across every inch of flooring.
"Winter," Erix said, voice quiet and steps steady as though he expected someone to jump out of the shadows and attack. Not once did his hand leave the warm leather hilt at his waist.
"It's like it's been ransacked." I stepped over a toy bear, seams torn and features distorted by years of neglect.
"When your mother and her court were killed the magic of the land was left without control. It took days to spread. A storm so great that it left homes and towns, villages and hamlets in tatters. Berrow is the furthest west, and likely the most well off from the horror. This is nothing in comparison."
"This is what will become of Durmain." My body tensed at the thought, imagining my home like this, trampled by a storm until it was nothing but ruins.
"What may become." Erix stopped in his tracks, face shrouded in the darkness of the home. He was so close, hands brushing either side of my hips as he urged me before him. "I think we should start by making a fire, then we can talk."
I nodded, wondering if his piercing gaze could see the reddening of my cheeks. "That would be nice."
He breathed out slowly. "Yes, little bird. It will be."
The hearth was unusable, piled up with spilling snow which likely filled every inch of the wonky chimney. Instead, beside a bed in the far back room, Erix piled armfuls of forgotten items into a pile before striking flame from a small piece of flint that he had hidden in his breast pocket.
Convenient. I wanted to admit but as the halo of warmth sparked across the pile washed over me I did not care.
"Looks like you have been pulled through a bush of thorns," Erix said, studying me from his perch on the edge of the bed we had uncovered through our exploration of the home.
The glow of fire gave me a look of the many scratches and cuts across his face as well. "And you look as though you lost a fight to one."
Erix dragged a finger and thumb down the side of his face, barely wincing as he ran over the ridges of the many marks the Gryvern had left on him. "Do yours hurt?"
I shook my head, holding a breath as his finger reached for the side of my face. Closing my eyes, I readied myself for it, the warmth of a fingertip as he trailed the line of my jaw. But it didn't arrive. Opening my eyes I saw his lips, one side curved upwards into a smirk that longed to be wiped clean from his face. "I thought I had lost you for a moment."
"You are infuriating," I admitted.
Erix rocked back, resting on both arms which propped him up. I was surprised the bed did not give away for it screamed and creaked as though it wanted to. "I have been called worse. When we return to Aurelia, I want you seen to by a healer."
If I was standing, I would have put my hands on my hips as I scolded him. "Not even my dad speaks to me with such demanding tones."
"Well your father is far from here now which leaves you in my hands."
"Oh lucky me," I said through a yawn that had been impossible to keep away.
"It would seem that sleep is needed too." Erix shifted his weight, hands on knees as he pushed himself to standing. "For both you and me."
I was tired, exhausted more like, far greater than I had ever been before. Even without moving my legs I knew they would not cooperate even if I willed it. All I wanted to do was lay back on the cold, dusty sheets and let my heavy lids close.
But what waited in the dark of my eyes sent a burst of fear through me.
Before Erix even took two steps from the bed I spoke up. "Where are you going?"
He put a hand on his hip and pointed towards the shadowed doorway. "There is another bedroom down the hallway."
I couldn't explain it, nor did I want to, but the thought of him leaving me in this place was... unnerving.
"Well," I said, looking around me as though the excuse I required was hiding among the messy room. "What is wrong with this bed?"
"It is occupied." Erix's stare pinned me to the spot. Then he turned his back again, steps towards the threshold of the room slower than before.
"But the fire. You have just made it and barely warmed up and you will be cold if you go somewhere else and..."
"Little bird." He turned on his heels slowly. "If you are asking me to stay with you then say it."
"I don't-" His body shifted an inch. "Okay, stay."
The smile Erix gave me lit another fire deep within me. I tried not to let the creeping heat add colour to my face, but there was nothing he could not see with those storm-filled eyes.
"Not even a please?"
If there was a pillow to throw, I would have done so.
I kicked my boots from my feet, one after the other, and swung my legs over until I was lying down, facing the low ceiling. Erix's footsteps did not grow quiet. Instead he walked to my side, looking down at me, his back haloed in firelight. "Infuriating, am I?"
Yes. My mind screamed. But it also wanted a distraction, and I needed that now. With the images of Althea and Orion, the Hunter and the Gryvern plaguing my thoughts, I needed a distraction. And the comfort of his presence.
"Just get in before I change my mind."
His grin told me that he did not believe a word I said, but he did not speak again, not as he tugged at the belt around his waist, pulling it through the loops of his breeches until the sheath and sword was discarded to the floor.
Once Erix clambered onto the bed beside me, I felt greatly overdressed. I praised myself for not watching him undress, so much so that I was surprised by the brush of bare skin against my arm. His torso was exposed, skin taut as he lowered himself down. There was no time to count the ridges of muscles that lined his stomach.
My breath hitched as I saw the dark material of his trousers. I looked away quickly before he could notice my wandering gaze.
Was it disappointment I felt? Or relief?
Here is the distraction you longed for.
"Are you not going to be cold?" I asked, rolling over so I faced the small bundle of flames in the middle of the room. I shivered, although the fingers of heat reached for me without restraint.
"Do not worry about me," Erix said, breath brushing against the back of my head. On my side I fit him around me like the piece of a puzzle, his tall, broad body folding around mine, so close that I was certain he saw the shiver of hairs standing to attention across my neck. "It is my job to be concerned about you."
"Well I give you an order to cease that for one night."
"It sounds like you are beginning to grow used to a future of demands and commands."
I folded an arm beneath my head like a pillow, trying anything to get comfortable but failing. "Can we not talk about that?"
"Is that another command?" Erix's voice was riddled with teasing.
"A request, nothing more. I do not want to think of anything right now. Not of tomorrow, or what has happened tonight. I just want to sleep."
An arm folded over me, strong and grounding. Erix's fingers trailed close to my stomach, hovering inches away from touching the loose material of my tunic. "Then sleep."
There was no conversation left to be had. I could not move beneath his entrapment, and nor did I want to. This was exactly why I did not want him to sleep away from me. Not because I cared for him being cold. It was my own selfish want to feel... guarded. We had seen so much darkness tonight and I was not ready to battle the shadows that waited when I closed my eyes. Not alone.
I closed my eyes, welcoming the flicker of red light easing me into the darkness. Part of me wondered if my mind would become the next hurdle in keeping me awake. I focused on Erix's breathing, counting in my head each inhale and feeling each warm exhale on the back of my neck.
Before I could reach the count of ten I was claimed by sleep.