Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,104

help her.”

“Save her life, Siobhan. She is not to suffer such a fate, especially since she saved my men.”

“As you wish, My King.” Siobhan turned to look at Bekkah. “Help me.”

“No. She’s my enemy,” the dark-haired woman hissed.

Knox touched my cheek, staring down at me as he nodded. “Do it, Bekkah. Lore, bring Aria’s cage so she can rest as we travel. We leave here within the hour.”

I felt Siobhan touching me, her magic pushing through my soul as she helped ease the pain. I still couldn’t move, couldn’t speak as what bit of magic she gave me wasn’t enough, considering the power I typically held in reserve.

My eyes closed on their own as powerful arms lifted me, holding me closely before placing me onto blankets. I sighed, hearing the metal lock clink closed, knowing it sealed me into my cage like a pet.

I fought against the overwhelming panic that rushed through me, wrapping around my throat, cutting off my air supply. The blackness that came with my panic saved me, enveloping me as I faded into unconsciousness.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Soraya

Sweat beaded on my brow, the night stiflingly hot while I watched the large army below the cliffs I hid upon, preparing to ride out. They had placed the silver-haired witch into a cage, and her body was limp from expelling too much magic to protect the King of Norvalla’s men, who would have died, crushed beneath the massive castle.

I’d been studying the witch for a few weeks, and nothing she did, made any sense, other than destroying keeps that belonged to the weaker witches. She had started with the lesser keeps, moving through them easily. Then, without reason, she’d come to a stronghold and Asil herself admitted her and several others she had with her.

It was the first time she hadn’t been alone, and those accompanying her looked closer than just a coven. They had laughed and acted like a family.

I had intended to rush off to Ilsa and report that they were all inside one of her strongholds together, but the sight of Esme on the battlements peering down into the sprawling courtyard stopped me. She’d hidden within the veil, moving freely around the castle as if she, too, was tracking the silver-haired witch.

No battle drums sounded as the army started up the curved trail that led away from the crumbling stronghold. There was no celebration of victory that normally clung to an army from setting siege on a fortress and leaving victorious.

Of course, the army themselves hadn’t had to lift a single finger to bring the stronghold to its knees. The witch had done that alone. The others with her had stood on the battlements, working a spell that had exploded away from the castle, spreading through the air until I’d felt my body jerk with the intensity of it moving through me. It had spread across the land, something Ilsa would have felt, and would expect answers.

I slipped into the shadows, watching the impressive king and his men as they led the army at the forefront. My stare slid over the men at his side. They were strong, hungry-looking men that made my body heat with need that had gone unsated since the day Julia had returned home with black, deadened eyes, turning my life upside-down.

I’d once earned a lucrative income by selling tonics, creating spells, and entertaining visitors from across the seas and lands of the Nine Realms. Countless people had come to our town to procure my remedies, to ease ailments, or remove curses, and yet that had stopped the day they built the palace.

Ilsa coming to town had run away my clientele, and then disaster had struck down against the village as darkness flooded into the souls of the weak. Those not inflicted, or that had willingly succumbed to the darkness escaped, leaving their homes behind.

Some of us didn’t get that choice before the men of Ilsa’s army sought to slake their needs, to rape, and take women brutally. Broken women were easier to control. I was away that day, seeking passage for myself and Julia on a ship in Dorcha to escape the palace and the Kingdom of Vãkya.

I’d returned to find my sister raped by a group of men, her arms and legs bound to her bed, beaten brutally. Julia’s vacant eyes had leaked tears, and yet she’d never spoken or whispered a word about what happened in my absence. I’d screamed and yelled at her to get up, fight the darkness I