The Monster and His Queen

Chapter 25

After hours of debate, it was decided. A small delegation would travel to the Eastern Cities, Elaria, Draven, Amariel, Captain Ryver, and a dozen guards. They would have one week to negotiate peace before the armies would be forced to mobilize.

That night, as Elaria packed for the journey, Saphira came to her chambers.

"I don't want you to go," her younger sister said quietly.

"I have to. If we don't stop this, people will die. Thousands of them."

"But what if you don't come back? What if something happens to you?" Saphira's eyes filled with tears. "I already almost lost you twice. I can't—"

Elaria pulled her sister into a tight hug. "I'll come back. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Then I'll make this promise instead—I'll fight like hell to come back. How's that?"

Saphira laughed through her tears. "Better."

After her sister left, Elaria stood at the window, looking out at the moonlit city. Through the bond, she felt Draven approaching before she heard him.

"Second thoughts?" he asked, entering and closing the door behind him.

"Thousands of them. But we're still going."

"We could run. Just take horses and disappear into the countryside. Live quietly somewhere no one knows us."

"You don't mean that."

"No. But it's a nice fantasy." Draven moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I hate that every time we turn around, there's a new threat. A new crisis. Can't we just have one peaceful day?"

"Apparently not. We're too interesting." Elaria leaned back against him. "But we'll get through this. Like we get through everything."

"Together?"

"Always together."

They stood in comfortable silence for a moment. Then Draven's arms tightened.

"Elaria, if something goes wrong in the Eastern Cities. If we're separated, if we're captured—"

"We won't be."

"But if we are. I need you to know something." He turned her to face him. "The bond between us goes deeper than even Amariel understands. If one of us dies, the other won't last long. We're too connected now."

"That's morbid."

"That's reality. So we protect each other. No heroic sacrifices, no noble gestures. We both survive, or neither of us does."

"Deal." She kissed him softly. "Now stop talking about death and come to bed. We leave at dawn, and I want at least a few hours of sleep."

"Sleep wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"Of course it wasn't." But she let him lead her to the bed anyway.

They left at first light, riding out through gates lined with worried citizens. The journey to the Eastern Cities would take three days through increasingly dangerous territory.

On the second day, they were ambushed.

Bandits poured out of the forest, at least thirty of them, armed and organized. Too organized for common thieves.

"Protect the princess!" Captain Ryver shouted, forming a defensive circle with his guards.

Draven's shadows exploded outward, knocking back the first wave of attackers. Elaria drew on her new powers, feeling the void magic respond to her call. Shadows rose at her command, creating a barrier.

But then she felt it, these weren't ordinary bandits. They were marked. All of them. Touched by void magic.

"They're possessed!" she shouted. "Like Selene was!"

One of the bandits broke through their defenses, lunging at Elaria with a knife. Draven moved to intercept, but the bandit was faster than he should be.

The knife caught Elaria's shoulder, cutting deep. She cried out, stumbling backward.

Through the bond, Draven felt her pain and his control shattered. Shadows erupted from him with devastating force, tearing through the possessed bandits like they were made of paper. Within seconds, all thirty attackers lay dead or dying.

"Elaria!" Draven caught her as she collapsed. Blood soaked through her dress from the shoulder wound.

"I'm okay. It's not that deep." But she felt dizzy, and the wound burned in a way that normal cuts didn't.

Amariel rushed over, her face going pale when she examined the injury. "The blade was poisoned. Void poison."

"Can you heal it?" Draven demanded.

"I can try. But we need to make camp. She needs rest and treatment, not more riding."

They found a clearing and set up temporary camp. As Amariel worked on extracting the poison, Elaria felt consciousness slipping. Through the bond, she felt Draven's terror.

Don't you dare die on me, he sent fiercely. We had a deal. Both survive or neither does.

I'm not dying. Just sleeping. There's a difference.

But as darkness claimed her, she heard voices whispering from the void. And they weren't friendly.

When she woke, it was to chaos.

Their camp was under attack again. But not by humans.

Void creatures poured through tears in reality, dozens of them, all different sizes and shapes. The guards fought desperately, but normal weapons did nothing against shadow-beasts.

Elaria struggled to her feet, her shoulder screaming in protest. "Draven!"

He was in the center of the fighting, shadows blazing around him. But there were too many creatures. They were being overwhelmed.

Through her new connection to the void, Elaria felt why they were attacking. Someone was calling them. Someone was deliberately tearing open the barriers and sending creatures through to kill them.

"They're being controlled!" she shouted. "Someone's using them as weapons!"

"Can you stop it?" Amariel called back, her own magic creating barriers.

"I can try!"

Elaria reached out with her consciousness, finding the threads of control leading back to the void. She grabbed them mentally and pulled.

The void creatures stopped mid-attack, confused. Their controller tried to reassert dominance, but Elaria held firm.

"Stop," she commanded, putting all her will behind it. "Return to the void. You're being used."

The creatures hesitated. Some began retreating back through the tears. But others, stronger-willed, fought against her command.

Then she felt another presence joining hers. Draven, adding his power to hers through their bond. Together, they were stronger.

"GO!" they commanded as one.

The creatures fled, disappearing back into the void. The tears sealed behind them.

Silence fell over the camp. Everyone stared at Elaria and Draven, who stood in the center of the destruction, hands clasped, shadows swirling around them in perfect harmony.

"What just happened?" Captain Ryver asked, his voice shaking.

"Someone tried to kill us," Draven said. "Someone with enough power to control multiple void entities."

"The Eastern Cities?" one guard suggested.

"No," Amariel said, studying the residual magic. "This signature is familiar. It's—"

An arrow shot through the trees, aimed directly at Elaria's heart.

Draven saw it through the bond, felt Elaria's surprise. He moved faster than thought, shadow-stepping across the distance and taking the arrow himself.

It pierced through his shoulder, right where his heart would have been if he hadn't turned at the last second.

"DRAVEN!" Elaria screamed.

He collapsed, blood spreading across his chest. The arrow was black, forged from shadow-steel, specifically designed to kill void-touched.

Through the bond, Elaria felt his life force fading.

"No, no, no!" She ran to him, pressing her hands to the wound. "Stay with me. You promised. Both survive or neither does!"

"Breaking promises... my specialty," Draven gasped. His amber eyes were already losing their glow.

From the trees, a figure emerged.

It was Zevran, Draven's eldest brother, holding a crossbow. Behind him stood the rest of Draven's brothers, all armed.

"Finally," Zevran said with satisfaction. "The monster is dead. Or dying. Close enough."

"What have you done?" Elaria's voice was barely human, rough with rage and grief.

"Saved the North from its greatest shame. Our father will thank me once the shock wears off." Zevran smiled coldly. "And you, Princess? You're coming with us. A widow is much more useful than a wife, politically speaking."

Elaria's vision went white with fury. The void magic inside her responded to her rage, to her grief, to her absolute refusal to let Draven die.

Power exploded from her in a wave that knocked everyone backward. When it cleared, she stood in the center of a circle of destruction, her eyes glowing pure silver, shadow marks covering every visible inch of skin.

"You shouldn't have done that," she said, and her voice echoed with the voices of a thousand void entities. "You really, really shouldn't have done that."