Chapter 14
Filwey had been a...touchy subject, for lack of a better description...ever since Jai had gone weeks before. If not for his father, he wouldn't be stepping foot in the northern-most Ethran city. Of course, he, Gideon, Thia, and Allel were being watched closely by every guardsman they got in close proximity to. How could he not be?
More than likely because the last time he was there, he threatened to take Emperor Hadix's head clean off his shoulders for even believing Jai would consider handing over Elys. He didn't think he'd even be able to see him without his hand twitching toward his sword.
But that's not why they were in Filwey now. They were there to ask questions and hopefully get the answers they were seeking. So far, though, they weren't having any luck. After an hour, the four of them decided to split up to cover more ground.
Jai stuck to the busy city center. With every person he asked about the Camdover Mountains and if they knew of anyone who had gone and came back, fear flashed in their eyes as they shook their heads. And it wasn't because it was the Crown Prince of Dalcaine who was asking. The genuine fear told him something none of them told him in so many words, something he already knew before.
No one ever came back from those mountains. And if they did turn up once again, they were just shells of who they once were, all dried up and devoid of blood.
It was more than frustrating, especially when hours passed with no leads. Jai was still asking, though, and even asking those he'd already talked to in hopes they'd remember something they hadn't before. They wouldn't even talk to him, pushing past as he watched them leave.
Hours and hours of nothing...and Jai felt his desperation begin to crest.
Boots stomping on the stone road, he stalked toward a tavern he'd never been to before. It looked even older than he was, with warped glass windows, a door that creaked open and sounded as if it would break off its hinges when he went inside.
No one sat along the bar in the worn leather stools or the tables where small lanterns sat in the center. Other than the sconces on the walls and the faded sunlight coming through the windows, they were the only source of light within the tavern. Bottles of alcohol lined the wall behind the bar, reflected in the mirror Jai looked at himself in as he sat. His expression was harsh and cruel, mouth turned down in a scowl that was seemingly permanent these days. Not to mention the weapons he had on him. No wonder no one wanted to talk to him or even look him in the eye.
"What can I get you, Crown Prince?" a gravelly voice asked from his right.
Jai started, not realizing someone had slowly made their way behind the bar and toward him. The Fae female who stared back was one of the oldest he had ever seen, movements slow and deep wrinkles creasing her dark skin. Her silver hair was piled on top of her in a knot and she wore a loose-fitting dress with sleeves that came all the way down to her wrists. She only wore two pieces of jewelry – a gold band on the ring finger of her left hand and a larger one that was threaded on a thin chain around her neck.
"The strongest of whatever you've got," Jai finally answered after staring for a moment too long.
She raised one gray eyebrow, a brightness in her honey-colored eyes that made her look centuries younger. "Are you sure about that?"
"Definitely, especially with how my day's gone. How the past several months has gone, really."
The female nodded slowly as she reached under the counter for a crystal glass she then set in front of him. When she turned, she didn't grab for a bottle along the wall, but rather one that was locked up in a hidden compartment right below. Jai watched as she put in a combination on the lock that sealed it before pulling out a black glass bottle.
"Arloerin Starlight," she grinned as she popped the cork that closed it. "I'm the only one who has it...other than Queen Kalla of Blackloch, I'm sure. She's the one who gave it to me."
Jai couldn't even ask his question as he watched her pour, never seeing the drink before or anything like it. And he'd seen a lot of alcohol in his time. The only thing he could compare it to was liquid starlight in the night sky, blue-black with swirls and bright specks of silver. Definitely a fitting name. And on the first small sip...he coughed at how strong it was, gasping.
The female grinned. "You asked for the strongest I had."
He coughed again, holding up the glass to look at it. "Didn't think you were trying to poison me, though."
Her laugh echoed through the tavern. "I did give you warning."
Jai reached over and grabbed for the bottle, looking for a label or something that would tell him where it was from. "Arloerin Starlight?"
"Yes."
"Where is it made?"
"That's a secret."
"But you know."
"Yes. I've never been there, though."
Jai huffed out a sigh...before taking another small sip. "So, who are you? Especially since we have a mutual friend in Kalla."
"My name is Solandis," she answered. "It's very nice to meet you Crown Prince Jai."
He lifted his glass to her. "Same to you. Thank you for the...interesting drink."
"You're welcome. And it's on the house."
"She doesn't do that too much, you know."
The voice came from the doorway and both Jai and Solandis looked over to find Allel. A breath rushed from Solandis's chest as she held her hand over her heart. As she slowly made her way out from behind the bar, Allel rushed forward to meet her before she even made it. Jai stared as they hugged fiercely. He barely caught any of their conversation, even as Solandis cradled Allel's face in her hands, wiping away her tears as they both smiled.
Allel looked over at Jai, catching sight of his confusion. "Of course, you would come to Solandis's."
"Obviously, you know each other."
"He's a preceptive one, huh?" the Fae female snorted.
"He's not just a pretty face," Allel laughed.
"Thanks," Jai replied dryly. "You sound just like..."
He swallowed Lyv's name before he said it, closing his eyes as a wave of sorrow and rage crashed over him. Being so close to where she was...it only intensified his need to find her. But when no one would give him any information, that made it worse. Though it was nothing compared to what she went through three years before when she thought he was dead, he still couldn't help but feel the immense regret because of it. How did she manage to survive it when he could barely survive this?
Allel caught on to his sudden silence, sending an apologetic look his way. She then came over and sat on the chair beside him at the bar as Solandis went back behind it. She started mixing another drink, one made specially for Allel. For the most part it was clear with just hinted at a greenish color. And when Allel took the first sip, she closed her eyes and smiled.
"Just like I remember."
"Nothing's changed in my drink making skills," Solandis replied with a smile that dropped slightly as she looked around the empty tavern. "Other than this place has lost quite a bit of business over the last century. My association with you all didn't help, especially when you left for Palrion right before..."
Allel winced after downing the rest of her drink. "How are you still here then?"
Solandis leaned forward against the bar counter, threading her fingers together. "Kalla. She comes by every few months, makes sure I have enough money to last me until the next time she comes by. She's actually due back in the next few weeks. She takes her ships from the northern shores since it's easier, though I don't know why when she has to pass the Camdover Mountains, but she's been on the lookout recently..."
At the mention of the northern-most Ethran mountain range, Jai sat up straighter and glanced over at Allel. She looked over at him just as he did. It wasn't just the mountains that perked their interest, but also what Kalla was doing. She'd always mentioned going to visit a friend...
"Sol, you remember when Mik, Kalla, Faraine, and I used to go up to the Keep, right? We would always stop by here for a few days to visit."
"I do," she nodded...and then her eyes darkened. "And I remember the last time you all came here with those friends of yours. You should have listened to them. You all thought you had the world in the palms of your hands. Untouchable."
Allel visibly winced. "I know. We were stupid."
"Stupid doesn't begin to describe what happened when you all went beyond the Wilds, Allel Sibrian. And it definitely doesn't describe what happened in Palrion."
Jai knew only a few knew what really happened past the Wilds and in Palrion just before the Arcane Blood Plague wiped out a third of the population. Solandis was obviously one of those people. But what she said next after turning to meet Jai's eyes...
"I knew your brother back then, too. I'm so sorry for your loss," she told him, reaching up to clutch the golden ring hanging around her neck. "When I knew him, he seemed extremely happy. Maybe it was that female he had at his side..."
"Solandis," Allel hissed, shaking her head once.
At the mention of his brother, Jai tried to think back. Back to a little over a hundred years before, back to what Destan had been doing then, what Jai himself had been doing. That time in his life seemed insurmountable with Lyv not in it. Like it was a completely different Jai all together.
Had his brother come to Ethran without telling him?
Had he...found a female that loved him and he loved in return?
Lyv...Lyv mentioned months before about being able to see Destan whenever she was under after Mik's attack on her where Jai almost lost her. She told him about seeing Destan with a female who had to have been his mate just by how they were with each other.
Did he not tell him?
Jai's hand grasped at his glass before he drank down the rest of his Arloerin Starlight, burning white-hot down his throat and sending a burst of silver light flashing through his mind.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned him," Solandis apologized.
"It's all right," Jai said, shaking his head. "I'm sure there was a lot of things I didn't know about my brother. I just wish he was still here for us to grow close to each other again. But that's not why we're here now."
"Then what are you here for?"
"Information," Allel stated, leaning forward against the bar. "Do you know of anyone who's been across the mountains north and come back alive?"
"You know that will be a no. And if someone finds them, they are just a dried-up shell of themselves. That is, if they find the body. It never used to be that way you know. A little over a hundred years ago, there were a lot of people who would hunt game in those mountains. Why do you think so many lost their livelihood? They're scared for their lives."
Jai leaned back in his chair, trying not to let out a string of curses at the lack of information from anyone in this godsforsaken city...
"But I know that's not really why you're in Filwey, Crown Prince," Solandis said then, her eyes back on Jai.
"Then what do you know?"
"Do you want the information I have regarding your mate before or after she was taken by the Dark Mage Corliss?"
Jaw tight, he ground out, "Both."
Solandis nodded as if she knew he was going to say that. Why wouldn't he, though?
"I was there when she saved the young Seer of Ikreus. His whipping and beating in the street...that was one of the most heinous things I've witnessed in my many centuries. The moment your mate stepped up to claim him was like nothing I've seen before either. She's powerful, that one. The way she turned the Seer's master to ash..." She shook her head and smiled. "Good riddance to him, though. How is he, by the way? The little Seer?"
"Perfect," Jai replied. "He's back home, worrying over us all and defending all of Dalcaine with my little brother Eamon."
Allel snorted out a laugh. "Jai got him a sword and a dagger, which he's been training with nonstop. Not to mention the dragons love him and would do anything for him should he command it."
"He'll be a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure," Jai agreed. He couldn't help but give a hint of a smile at the thought of the little boy waiting in Ayveri for them to get back with Lyv.
Solandis didn't let him keep those happier thoughts for long, though.
"And as for after your mate was taken by Corliss...well, I have a few pairs of eyes and ears who had gone to those villages she'd slaughtered at the Dark Mage's command. I know you saw what happened, too. One village disappeared in a river of blood and the other...the bodies were drained and left to rot. The advantage now, however, is that no one knows is her who's doing it. The people hear of rogue bands of gypsies or a reemergence of the Arcane Blood Plague. They don't know it's actually Crown Princess Alyvia Deverell of Dalcaine, the heir and savior of Asturia, Princess of Escarral, the protector of the Seer of Ikreus, and the mate of Crown Prince Jai."
Flashes of what they'd seen in that first village went through Jai's mind.
The rivers of blood.
The cold.
The silence.
The overwhelming horror and rage that burned through him at the fact that Corliss made Lyv do it all.
Solandis reached forward and took one of Allel's hands in one of hers while grasping Jai's with her other. Looking between the two of them, she gave them a sad smile. "You already know what lies in the Camdover Mountains, why those who venture into them never come back. And you know what is beyond them, hidden in rocky shoreline along the northern coast."
The last sentence was directed at Allel, whose eyes widened.
"Then I was right. About the Keep."
"You were," she nodded. "And I know Kalla might be upset with me for telling you this, but she's been keeping her ships just out of sight of the shoreline to watch it. I don't believe she's there now, but she's kept that bit of information to herself. I think she hasn't told you because she didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, including her own. I know you've brought your dragons with you...but still be careful should you decide to cross those mountains."
***
As soon as Jai and Allel stepped out from Solandis's tavern into the crowded streets of Filwey, he wanted to run and find Gideon and Thia, get to the dragons, and fly off in the direction of the Camdover Mountains. If it weren't for Allel's tight hold on his hand, he would have stalked off without her.
"We need to pause and go over everything Sol told us with Gideon and Thia, Jai," she told him when he glared back at her. "You can't just go charging off without a plan."
"Yes, I can."
"And going in blind won't help either. We need to get in touch with Kalla, learn what she knows and what's she's figured out. The Keep...we called it that for a reason. It's in a perfect place for secure wards to go up all around, plus it's on the edge of a rocky shoreline that drops about a hundred feet into the waters of the Whelm. Keeping out of sight isn't the only reason Kalla's got her ships far out. There are rocks below the surface that can rip apart a ship in minutes and mermaids below the waves to drag sailors into the depths. So no, Jai, you can't just go charging off without a plan."
"Then we find Gideon and Thia."
Allel nodded. "We find Gideon and Thia."
Jai wouldn't let go of Allel's hand even as they started walking back through the streets of Filwey he'd already been through twice over now. Allel was giving him the strength he'd forgotten he needed, strength he had taken for granted with Gideon and Thia. The strength his friendships brought him.
But, of course, the friendship he missed the most was Lyv's.
Every passing minute brought him closer to her, though.
And every step made their mating bond glow just a little brighter.
Before it was blinding the next moment.
Jai's heart raced as he held tightly onto that bond, one that was humming with light and just a little bit of darkness.
Then Lyv whispered his name down it.
He looked up.
And there she was, burgundy hair hidden under her hood and emerald eyes bright as they met his.
Everything tunneled as Jai let go of Allel's hand and flew in Lyv's direction, boots pounding on the stone road as he pushed through the crowds of people. He didn't care, not when his Lyv was right there.
She started laughing, a sound he thought he wouldn't get to hear so soon. Their bond hummed contently between them, even as another something was there with it. Holding something down...
But Jai didn't care. Not as he reached her, wrapped his arms tightly around her as he lifted her off her feet. She laughed again, which he smothered as his lips descended on hers.
And he was kissing her with everything he had after months and months of searching for her.
Lyv kissed him back, laughing against his mouth, before letting out a moan when he deepened it.
As she clung to him, revealing in being together again, something pulled taunt on their bond.
And someone screamed.
Except no one else heard it. Only Jai.
Lyv wasn't stopping their kiss, though, just held on tighter...and bit down hard on his lip, teeth cutting into his skin.
Jai immediately pulled back, dropping her back to her feet as her hood fell off her head. Her eyes were closed as a smile hinted at the corners of her lips, which had a smear of his blood along the bottom. Her tongue darted out, tasting it.
And finally – finally – he was able to pull more on their bond to realize it was his Lyv that was the one screaming. His Lyv, still trapped within the darkness that held her captive, both with the obsidian stone he now saw pulsing beneath the skin of her forearm and the golden cuff locked around her wrist.
Not this Lyv who stood in front of him, tasting his blood and the tiny drop of magic it held.
"It's no wonder she always seems to dream of you and your taste," the dark Lyv chuckled, running her tongue over her lip once more to get the remaining blood.
And opened her black eyes to meet his.
***Hi, guys!
Can I start off by saying I loved this chapter? Especially with Jai and Allel. They've got so much in common, especially with what's going on with Lyv and Mik. Their friendship's going to develop more throughout this book and it already reminds me of Lyv and Gideon's.
Now, as for why it took me so long to upload...
I might have gone a little crazy...deleted my entire outline for the fifth and final book for this series...and completely rewrote it.
Let me just say, I'm beyond excited for it and the rest of this book, so get ready for some crazy!
So, what did you think of this chapter? What do you think is going to happen in the next?
Comment and vote!
Happy reading!
- Ansley***