Winter King by Sloane Murphy
5
Cade
Ishrug on my suit jacket, and sigh. I feel like I’ve aged a few years in the last few weeks. Between the stress of Emilia being gone, trying to organize help for the entire of Ringa, and working with Erion to make sure that Avaenora is coming together too. We’ve done some, but there is still so much left to do. We’ve barely scratched the surface. I never thought I’d say this, but I wish my dad was here. He might be a cruel son of a bitch, but this is stuff he was good at. People did what he wanted and quickly, he ruled with fear, and it was effective. I’d rather rule with respect, but those two old bastards on the thrones of the other Courts sure are dragging their heels with our requests for assistance. I know that’s something I’m going to have to deal with later, but for now, I have other things to worry about.
Ringa is basically back on its feet. Ninety percent of the misplaced residents have had their homes rebuilt, and are back home. Those who are still waiting should be back home within the next week, and I will finally get the palace back to business as usual, meaning I can focus more on finding Emilia. I just hope that she doesn’t think we’ve given up on her. I know that Cybil believes her to be dead, but I refuse to believe it. I can still feel her when I reach for her mind, I’m sure of it. I’ve been trying to reach her every day still, and I’m sure I’m getting closer to breaking through whatever magik it is that’s keeping me from her. I just need to focus more.
Emilia, can you hear me? I don’t know what to do with you gone, I’m losing my fucking mind. So much is happening all at once. It’s like someone knew my every weakness and broke down every damn door at the same time. I need you to hear me, to come back to me. I need you to try, Emmy. I need you. I wish I could tell you everything that is going on, you always knew how to soothe the beast inside of me. Your lightness kept my darkness in check, and without you, it’s clawing its way back. I managed to hold on just barely the first time I lost you, I can’t lose you again. I won’t survive it. I just need to hear your voice, that will get me through. I just need to know you can hear me.
I try to reach her, and still I feel like I’m getting closer to her, but like she’s getting further away from me too.
Each day that she’s not here, that so much else demands my attention while I rely on others to help me, I break a little more. The choice between duty and love is killing me slowly. I know that the needs of the many must come before the needs of the few, but when the few is the person you love, the person who makes up the other half of you, quite honestly I couldn’t give a fuck about the needs of the many. I toss and turn in bed each night as I try to sleep, making myself acknowledge that my duties come first, but every fiber of my being screams at me to be out there, tearing through the Hunters that have taken our lands, and to find her.
I have to assume that they have her, the timing is too coincidental, but I have no idea why, or how they managed to take her. It’s the only reason I’m still waiting on Lex bringing back the boy. They were meant to be back by now. I need to find out who betrayed me, so I can burn their world to ashes.
A knock breaks through the silence and I stop my pacing, my tasseled hair drooping into my eyes. I straighten my jacket before opening the door and coming face to face with Lex.
“You found him?” I ask, not bothering with pleasantries.
“He’s in the dungeons. He’s in a bit of a state, he didn’t want to come back to the palace. He struggled, I won. I found him trying to cross the lake to pass through the veil. He didn’t look like he was going for a short stay either, he had more gold than a little. Royal gold, Cade. Either the kid is a fucking stellar thief or this was definitely the work of someone close to you. I can’t help but think it’s all linked. It’s all happened too close together. The attacks, the Royals being attacked directly at both Courts, wiping out the existing structure, leaving the whole of Eressea in collapse while new Royals try to step up to reign as chaos descends, and then Emilia, meaning you’re going to be distracted. I also had another thought, about why her, but I need to go to Shani, to talk to my brother.”
“You think the Elves are part of this?”
“Not at all. But there’s something that the Fae aren’t aware of, something about Emilia, that even she won’t be aware of. If she was taken because of it, then my brother will want to know, and he’ll want to help. This could be bigger than any of us ever thought.” Lex looks almost afraid, which isn’t something I think I’ve ever seen on him. And we’ve walked through fire together.
“If you think it’s that important, then you need to go. Can you tell me?” I ask, knowing that the binding magik of the Elves is stronger than any other.
“Not yet, but know that it is only because I can’t that I don’t. If it is what I think it is, I will get my brother on board, and then I fear my worlds will come colliding together in a spectacular fashion.”
“Go, be careful, the narrow ocean brings many perils. And be mindful in Shani, just because the Queen is dead, doesn’t mean that your banishment has been lifted.”
“And you, brother. You don’t have many trusted friends left in the palace, watch yourself. I will go after the moonlight vigil tonight, and I’ll be back in less than a week.”
“Sounds good. I’m going to go and speak to our jeweler friend, see if he wants to be helpful.”
“Do you want company?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“No, you go and help Bray and Erion with the set up for tonight, come back and get me when it’s ready. I’ve got this.”
“As long as you’re sure.” He eyes me, he knows better than most how much I hate this shit, but it’s Emilia. For her I’d tear the world apart.
“I’m sure. You go to the border, I’m going to go see if our new friend is feeling talkative.”
* * *
“Are you ready for tonight?” Lex asks, and I sigh. Tonight, Erion and I are holding a moonlight vigil for everyone lost in the attacks, including our parents. The pyres have been built on the border line, and an insane amount of security has been put in place to ensure the residents safety after we received word of more potential attacks. We’ve also stationed our most violent of forces around the border of where we know the Hunters are holding up, as a front line warning to them that we won’t give them an inch. The only problem is their sheer numbers. They made up a lot of our front line defenses, and so without them, they outnumber us two to one at the minute, and without outside help, we’re fighting a losing battle.
“Yeah, I’m ready. I just,” I sigh. “I wish that we were closer to finding Emilia, that we weren’t fighting a dozen different fucking fights all at once. The strategist in me is pulling his fucking hair out right now.”
“I know, I actually think I have a plan for that, but that can wait for tomorrow. Right now, let’s get tonight out of the way. Rohan went ahead of us, so he’ll probably be halfway there already, and I know he’s your brother, but I don’t trust him not to fuck this up somehow. There’s something off about him, and it’s been worse since the attack.”
“I know, I think losing our father, and everything going on with Mother is getting to him. He’s always been close to Mother, so I think it’s hitting him hard. Plus, we always sheltered him from the heavy stuff, more so after everything with Edimere. He’s not used to dealing with this kind of crazy, he’s probably just on edge.”
I run my hand through my long hair and add another point to my long to do list, because I need to check in with Rohan. I’ve been too distracted, and letting him run riot isn’t going to help anyone. The last thing we need is him having one of his episodes. He hasn’t had one since he was a young child, but I think Mother was giving him a tincture to help, and with her being MIA, I imagine he’s not getting that either, but I don’t mention this to Lex. I trust him with my life, but that’s not my secret to tell.
“Let’s head out anyway, are the horses ready?”
“They are, and waiting for us out the front. Is there anything else you need from me tonight?”
“Just blend into the shadows, and keep an eye out for any sketchy behavior. Someone, somewhere is working with the Hunters, and we still have no idea who it is. I think the jeweler was spelled, the gap in his memory… it’s too suspicious. It takes someone with either a lot of power, or links to someone with power to do something like that.”
“I can do that. I’m still waiting to hear back from my contact to see if there’s something we can do to unlock the memories in his mind. How is your mother coming along? We both know she would be able to get those memories in minutes.” I follow him out of my room and down towards the horses.
“She’s getting there, but she’s not back with us. The healers aren’t sure if she ever will be. And yes, she’d find it in minutes, but she’d ruin that boy. She’d tear his mind apart, without hesitation, but I’m also not convinced she’d give us everything. She’s not exactly Emilia’s biggest fan. If she thought that she’d be better off with Emilia gone, especially considering her rantings, I’m not sure that she’d actually help us find her.”
“What a fucking mess.”
“Tell me about it. Anyway, let’s just focus on tonight, we have enough to worry about with this, and the potential for further attacks. One thing at a time. I need to separate it all out and just focus for a minute. Plus, I have to give this stupid fucking speech, and I hate that shit and you know it! I know Erion will speak too, but we need to show a united front, and make sure that everyone is on board with us all.”
We mount the horses and make the ride to the border, it takes a few hours, but I’d rather do it this way than use magik. Plus, it gives me time to clear my mind and try to reach out to Emilia again. Yet again, I can feel her, but I can’t reach her. I break the connection and refocus on what I need to do tonight. We reach the border, and the pyres are already made, bodies places upon them and wrapped in ceremonial robes, as is our way. The Royal pyres are twice the height of the rest, and I roll my eyes. While it might be tradition, I’m no different to everyone else here, being out in the war taught me that more than anything I’d ever experienced before.
I catch Erion’s eye as I dismount and head to the side of the stage where he’s directing people around the craziness with Rohan.
“Hey man,” he tilts his head as I reach him, dismissing the rest of the people around us.
“How’s it going? Ruling as much fun for you as it is for me?” I laugh, and he rubs his hand down his face.
“Man, if we could go gray like the humans, I think I would have in the last few weeks alone. This shit is insane. My parents… I have no idea what they were doing while I was gone, but it sure as shit wasn’t ruling our Court properly. Thank you for giving me Bray, he’s currently sorting out the security for tonight, but he’s helped me rebuild our forces from what little we had left, while I’ve been trying to sort out the treasury and all of the other bullshit. I was not even slightly prepared for this.” I clasp his shoulder and smile at him.
“Once we’ve got this all sorted, we’ll put our heads together to make everything right,” I tell him.
“Emilia not coming, brother?” Rohan interrupts, and Erion’s face distorts. I shuffle us behind the wall to the side of the stage, hiding us from the sight of everyone else.
“No, she can’t come,” I tell him tightly. I know we need to tell people the truth, but saying it out loud to everyone means I’m failing because I haven’t found her yet.
“How is that going?” Erion’s voice is clipped, and Rohan’s gaze bounces between us.
“It’s a fucking shit show,” I admit. “Emilia’s not ill, she’s gone,” I tell Rohan, and his shock is instant.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” he asks, looking angry.
“I mean, Erion went to get her the morning of the wedding and she was gone. We know she was taken, we assume by the Hunters, but have no real leads. Believe me we’ve been trying,” I explain, hanging my head.
“And you’re only telling me now? It’s been weeks!” Rohan shouts, and I glare at him.
“Keep your fucking voice down!” I growl.
“Is she even still alive? Do you know anything at all?” he hisses.
“She’s alive,” I tell him, hoping that I’m not lying.
“We hope,” Erion adds.
“You should’ve told me, I could’ve been helping rather than twiddling my fucking thumbs, you never trust me with shit. Fuck sake, Cade. We should tell our people. Lying to them is a shitty way to start your reign. Plus, that’s a whole fucking island of people who could have seen something, or know something!”
“He’s right, Cade. We need more help,” Erion agrees.
I sigh and shake my head as Lex and Bray approach.
“Everything okay?” Lex asks, his face tight.
“Rohan knows about Emilia.”
“You mean they fucking knew but not me? Nice, Cade. Real nice,” Rohan hisses.
“Look, we’ll deal with this later,” I tell them. “We’ll tell the people, Rohan’s right, we could use all the help we can get. Then the five of us will put our heads together and work out an actual fucking plan. But right now, we have to honor our dead. Let’s get our game faces on and get through this.” They all nod in agreement.
“Bray. You and Lex are obviously running point on crowd control and security. I don’t want any sort of fuck ups tonight. If you see Hunters, kill on sight. I don’t care who they are or if they might have information, I am not having tonight ruined by them.”
“Consider it done,” they agree, before taking off around the outside of the huge crowd in this clearing. The sheer numbers of the people here overwhelm me. We lost so many, but we still have so much, and we need to remember that.
“You want to head out there together?” Erion says, and I nod.
“Sure, united front and all that.”
“I’ll just wait here,” Rohan says, still pissed off, but there’s nothing I can do for him right now.
I realign the crown on my head, heavy as it is, it never stays put, and take a deep breath before stepping out on to the stage, Erion a step behind me, and the roar of the crowd quiets to nothing. It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“People of Rivinea, we are gathered here tonight to release our fallen loved ones to the fates,” I say, projecting my voice.
“Our people have suffered so much loss of late, but tonight signifies the start of new beginnings. The start of healing. The start of new possibilities. New friendships,” Erion’s voice projects across the crowd.
“We are all Fae, regardless of our Court. We have known times of war, and times of peace. It is time for something new. A time for us to all work together. We face threats now we have not faced before, and to overcome this, we must unite.”
“Tonight, we mourn, we celebrate the lives of our fallen, but we will not grieve their deaths. They gave their lives so that we could go on. Some sacrificed, some were taken, but the loss is the same regardless,” Erion steps forward as he speaks, and I can see the people, all of our people, a sea of Winter and summer, taking our message on board at his words.
“Those who fell in war, will rise in peace. They will pass through to the world of the fates and live on until we can see them again, but let us hope that reunion is still far from now. We have much to do, but for now, we celebrate. With these flames, we cleanse our brethren, so that they may join our ancestors.” I step forward off of the stage to the first pyre, where both the Summer and Winter Royals lay. Erion is at my side, and we’re passed the flames from the soldiers at the pyres.
“May you live on in our memories forever. Our lives are long, but those that fall are never forgotten. In this life and the next, may you love hard and be at peace.” I step forward at Erion’s words and light the corner of the first pyre, with Erion stepping round and lighting the one opposite, before we pass the flames on to those around us to light the other pyres. Cries ring out as the fires rise, the smoke thick, but we stand, the quiet broken by those who mourn their losses. The roar of the flames is so loud, the sheer number of pyres would worry me if I didn’t know that Lex and Bray have everything handled.
The fires burn bright and quick, burning hotter thanks to the magik of those gathered here. When the fires burn out, Erion and I return to the stage.
“Those who we lost would not want us to mourn their passing, so tonight we will celebrate the lives that they lived,” my voice carries across the crowd and is met with cheers. Food and drink appears on the tables surrounding the gathering, and music begins to play. “Let us celebrate tonight, and then tomorrow we will move on with all that lies ahead of us.”
