Page 201 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Eris stepped closer still, until her lips hovered only inches from Ylva’s ear.
‘I don’t know what you said to Hagan,’ she said softly, ‘or what you did. But I know it was you. And I do not trust the hold you seem to have over him.’ Her voice lowered further, edged with cold warning. ‘You will soon learn that playing games with gods comes with consequences.’ Then she straightened and turned sharply on her heel, calling the witches and warlocks back to their duties. The injured ones groaned as they pushed themselves upright, rubbing their necks and backs where Ylvaand Arden had struck them, before hurrying forward to bind their prisoners again with fresh threads of magic.
Ylva exhaled shakily with relief when Arden’s body finally stopped twisting in pain. Yet the tears refused to stop falling.
‘Don’t cry for me, little wolf,’ Arden said quietly from where he still lay on the ground.
Ylva sniffed and wiped at her face with the back of her hand.
‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ she said between uneven breaths. ‘I was scared for myself.’
‘Of course you were.’
He smiled up at her.
And despite everything, Ylva found herself smiling back.
…
Hagan frowned the moment Eris appeared beside him.
He knew she was plotting something. He could feel it in the subtle tension that followed her presence, but he could not yet see the shape of it. A part of him wanted to summon Ylva to his side, if only to ensure she was unharmed. Yet he forced himself to remain still. Any sign of interest in the prisoner might provoke Eris into doing something far worse.
The witches and warlocks had left the jungle behind hours earlier. Now they stood arranged in disciplined ranks across the barren stretch of land that separated the forest from the mountain rising ahead, where Velunthar lay carved into the stone like an ancient crown.
And then they had begun their march.
It had taken them hours to cross the empty expanse, but at last they halted close enough for the Fae upon the mountain to hear them. Eris had insisted they pause there. She wanted to put on a show for the defenders of Velunthar before the assaultbegan, and Hagan knew better than to defy a goddess when she had already made up her mind.
Meanwhile, he had sent a large contingent of witches back towards the witchlands to guard their territory. Eris had warned him that the wyverians would soon be marching there.
Hagan had no intention of leaving their homeland undefended.
The front of Velunthar opened into an enormous entrance carved into the mountain itself—two vast doors as tall as towers, framed by colossal pillars of pale stone. High above them stretched a wide balcony, and upon it now appeared the Fae queen, her daughter, and several others, stepping forward to observe the disturbance gathering below.
Eris clapped her hands together, her laughter ringing bright and delighted.
‘My dear Fae,’ she called, her voice carried effortlessly across the distance by magic so that every ear could hear. ‘We have come bearing gifts for you. We do not wish to harm you. Quite the contrary, we wish to make this world better. Not worse.’
From the balcony came nothing but wary, sceptical expressions. Confusion rippled across the watching faces.
‘Princess Willow Hawthorne,’ Eris continued, her hands slowly curling into fists. ‘I have been so eagerly waiting to meet you.’
Hagan caught the fear that crossed the princess’s face. He couldn’t help the faint smile that tugged at his lips.
‘Oh,’ Eris added lightly, her gaze drifting across the balcony. ‘And I see you have taken in a stray.’ Her finger lifted, pointing directly at Bryn Wynter. ‘I have brought you gifts.’
At her command, the witches and warlocks parted like a curtain being drawn aside.
A small group stepped forward, dragging two prisoners between them.
Hagan froze.
Ylva.
Her cheeks were streaked with dried tears, though fresh ones had already begun to replace them.
His gaze snapped to Eris, a cold knot tightening in his chest. She had said nothing about this, nothing about offering Ylva to them.
