CHAPTER TWENTY
ROMERIA
“What’s going on?” Only a moment ago, I heard a man’s laugh. Now the three soldiers who accompanied Telor are closing in. It’s difficult for me to see in the growing darkness, but I didn’t notice Telor beckoning them.
“Pups who do not follow orders,” Jarek says.
“We should go in, too, then.”
“He would signal us if he were concerned.” But Abarrane’s horse dances in place.
Zander is alone, too far from a flame. Still, he hasn’t drawn his weapon or hinted that anything’s off. Maybe Abarrane is right, but I don’t like the ratio. “Can you place a shield on him, Gesine?”
“Not from this distance. Especially not when I have this bird in my head. It is distracting.”
I forgot. She shares the taillok’s vision, and it’s in flight. We should have waited to send the message. She’s virtually useless to us when we need her most.
“I don’t like this. Something feels off.”
“Who is that male?” Kienen asks. “The one leading.”
“Lord Braylon Telor,” Jarek answers. “Telor’s son.”
“Why?” I ask.
Kienen meets my gaze, assessing me as if I’m a puzzle he can’t solve.
“What is it?” I snap.
He pulls his horse up, filling the space Zander once took. “The elven who met with Tyree was wearing that helm.”
“The one with the horns. Are you sure?”
“I am positive.”
Alarm bells ring. I kick my heels into my horse’s flanks, launching it forward. Behind me, hooves thump, but I can only focus ahead, my heart walloping inside my chest.
Is Braylon working against his father?
Or with him?
Neither scenario plays out well for our cause.
For weeks now, Zander has held out hope that he could sway Lord Telor, that Lyndel is the start to winning back loyalty and his throne, one house at a time.
All four affinities crackle under my skin, waiting to be unleashed on these traitors. I will scorch the earth where they stand if anything happens to Zander.
I’ve closed half the distance when the approaching soldiers draw weapons. My fear surges. I launch an air shield in front of Zander a split second before an arrow flies toward him. It strikes the invisible wall and ricochets away.
Metal rings as Zander draws his blade.
But it’s Lord Telor who roars. “What is the meaning of this!” He spins his horse, rearing on his men. “Stay your—”
My jaw drops as Braylon Telor drives his sword deep under his father’s arm where the armor has an opening before dragging it clean.
“No!” Zander yells as his longtime friend and ally topples off his horse to land on the hard ground.
Braylon and the others are already charging back toward their camp. “They’ve killed Lord Telor!” a frantic voice calls out in the night. They’re too far for their shouts to be heard, but it won’t be long before that lie catches ears and spreads. No one from their camp will have seen Braylon’s attack unfurl from this distance, in the dark, to disbelieve his claim.
“Telor must not die! Save him!” Zander urges his horse forward. It rears on its hind legs, kicking at the shield. I release my hold on my affinity and Zander rushes away, Abarrane, Elisaf, Kienen, and Radomir on his heels moments later.
Jarek stops at my side. “That was a merth blade. He will not survive a wound like that.”
I drop from my horse and stumble to where Lord Telor’s limp body lies, blood pouring freely from the gash in his side. “Let me worry about that. Help them.” When Jarek falters, I scream, “That’s an order!”
He spurs his horse into a gallop without another word.
Zorya slows long enough for Gesine to scramble from their horse before speeding off with the others. “Does he have a pulse?”
I press my fingers against his neck. “Yes.”
“Then it is not too late.”
“Fix him!” I plead with the caster.
Gesine hovers a hand over the wound. “It is deep. I will have to release my hold of the taillok, and we will lose it.”
“I don’t care. Telor can’t die.”
“Then you must do this, Romeria.”
“I can’t!”
She guides my hand and places it on Telor’s failing body. “You have done it before when it mattered. It matters now.”
Right. Elisaf. Adrenaline pounds in my ears. “I’ll try. But if I can’t, forget the stupid bird and save him.”