Page 36 of Cold Hearted
The stench of burnt flesh filled the air, making me choke. Half the rondak’s head was missing, burnt off by my magic.
I felt a moment of satisfaction before a pounding at the door snapped me into motion.
“My lord, are you all right?” a soldier shouted from the hallway, and then banged on the door again.
I cast my gaze around the room, looking for another exit, but soon realized there was none. I grunted in frustration. So much for my plan to escape through the hidden tunnels below the castle. It was clear the only way out of the castle would be the way I came in: through the window. After retrieving my bloodied dagger and sheathing it, I started toward the window but then swayed on my feet, realizing I’d used up more power on that last blast than I had intended.
The pounding on the door only intensified, and I guessed that the soldiers were about two seconds from trying to break it down. Dizzy or not, I had to scale down the side of the castle or I’d be captured.
I reached the window in a few steps and flung open the curtains to find the windows barred. Another precaution the rondak took but that did him no good in the end. Thankfully, the latch was on the inside. I yanked the barred grate back. Gusty winds slapped me in the face, which were welcome, as the chill would keep me sharp.
Just as I pulled the curtains shut behind me, I heard the crack of wood as the bedroom door splintered open. I ignored the shocked yells and shouts of the guards when they discovered their leader’s nearly headless body and that of his dead dog, and climbed over the windowsill, starting the slow descent to the ground. I knew they were searching the room for whoever had murdered their leader,but I couldn’t focus on that. The rondak’s room was at least seven stories in the air, and I needed to concentrate on descending the stone walls without falling.
It was the slowest climb down of my life. At one point, one of the rondak’s guards checked out the window and I had to flatten myself against the stones to keep from being seen—thank the stars for a moonless night. At least three times I almost lost my grip and plummeted to my death, but an eternity later I made it to the ground. I wasted no time running through the darkened streets of Noreum toward the secret passageway Zander and I had used to get into the city.
I caught sight of the market we’d first entered straight ahead when horns started blaring throughout the city and troops started shouting behind me, looking for whoever had assassinated their leader. I sprinted toward the hidden door in the wall, only just reaching it and tucking myself inside before soldiers on horseback entered the empty marketplace. The guards shouted to one another to check every stall and household, and I prayed Zander was still well hidden and safe. Without a leader, a resistance would crumble quickly, and Zander was well poised to take back his lordship in all the chaos.
I leaned my head against the passageway wall, closing my eyes and taking in a couple of deep breaths as I fought off the exhaustion that threatened to pull me under. I couldn’t succumb now, not when I was so close to escaping. Forcing my muscles to comply, I shoved off the wall and staggered through the tunnel, relieved to find I didn’t need a key to exit out the opposite side.
By this time, the city was on high alert. I didn’t waste any time as I ran through the open area toward where we’d left Omen and Luna grazing. It felt like it took hours, but was probably only minutes to reach the horses. Omen came right up to me and nuzzled my neck in greeting.
“Hey, boy, you ready for another adventure?” I asked him as I stroked his fur. He let out a soft whinny that I took as affirmation.
Leaving Luna tied to a tree so she wouldn’t follow us, I tried to mount Omen. It took me two attempts to swing up on him, but when I finally mounted the black stallion I had the good sense to use a bit of rope Zander had in the saddlebag to tie myself to the saddle horn. It wasn’t the best job, but it should keep me from falling off, or at least wake me up before I did if I passed out.
I could feel the energy bleeding out of me, on top of my actual bleeding neck. I’d never been more grateful for my royal status and the healing powers that came with it. It would use more energy, but my neck would heal on its own without intervention. Though it would scar.
Clucking my tongue, I pointed Omen toward the south and spurred him forward. We took off at a run, the rhythmic movements enticing me to sleep, but I fought the temptation. I had to get as far away from Noreum as I could, as fast as I could, and knew I needed to head south before I would reach the border to the Western Kingdom and then cut farther west to reach the castle there and the lord who sat on the throne.
I was acutely aware that every beat of Omen’s hooves against the ground took me a little farther away from Zander. It felt like there was an invisible cord connecting the two of us that was growing tauter by the minute.Part of me worried that our connection would snap at the distance, just as part of me welcomed it.
I still couldn’t believe that he was the Ethereum lord I sought the entire time… and that I’d kissed him, fallen for him. He was not at all the monster my mother made him seem, which made me apprehensive about what I was setting off to do. What if the next Ethereum lord wasn’t evil either?
I shook my head to dislodge the thoughts. Evil or not, it didn’t matter. The fate of my kingdom, of my people, relied on me cutting out the black heart of an Ethereum lord and bringing it back to Faerie. A second failure wasn’t an option.
My thoughts grew sluggish with fatigue, so I sucked in a deep breath of frosty air, letting the chill settle into my lungs and limbs. If only there was another way to save Faerie from the curse that was overtaking it, I’d take that option without hesitation. Even if it meant sacrificing my own life. My life to save my kingdom was a trade I was willing to make. But there wasn’t another way. Thousands of years living under this same curse proved that bringing the heart of an Ethereum lord back to Faerie was the only way to push back against the curse ravaging my lands and people. And so I did what I knew I had to do and locked my feelings and my heart away, imprisoning them in an impenetrable cage of iron inside me.
Numbness settled over me even as bitter cold wind slashed at my face and Omen and I raced through the night. It wasn’t until the sun crested the horizon and started to warm my face that I realized the wetness on my cheeks were actually tears.
With the brightness of a new day lighting our way and replenishing my energy, I let Omen slow to a trot and finally relaxed,falling asleep with my arms around his neck and thoughts of Zander tucked into the far recesses of my mind.
* * *
I was roused from sleep several hours later with the sun high in the sky, the sound of rushing water in my ears. Omen had pulled us off the trail and was walking toward a creek.
“Good boy.” I petted him and then reached up to touch my throat. There was a thick braided scab at the nape of my neck where the rondak had pierced me, but it was healing.
I untied the rope around my waist and slipped off of Omen, going into the saddlebags to get the both of us some food. After giving him an apple and some oats, I sat beside him and chewed on a piece of smoked meat.
“Where do you think we are, boy?”
He blew air through his lips but said nothing helpful. I had no idea how long we’d ridden, but the weather was much warmer. Not like Summer, but it reminded me of my visits to Fall Court. No more icy patches on the ground, but there were dead leaves all blown from their trees and a cool wind in the air.
I thought of my people then, my only reason for pushing on and abandoning Zander. Were they suffering? Was my mother worried, or maybe even mad that I hadn’t arrived yet? Was she scared? The heart of Ethereum she wore around her neck had such little magic now. Would she even be able to push off the destruction? Maybe, but for how long?
I placed my head in my hands.
Think, Dawn.
