The Monster and His Queen

Chapter 26

"She's going to kill us all!"

Kael scrambled backward as Elaria advanced, power radiating from her in visible waves. The ground beneath her feet cracked and blackened with each step.

"Subdue her!" Zevran commanded, but his voice shook. "We need her alive!"

Two of the brothers lunged forward with shadow-steel weapons. Elaria raised her hand and they flew backward, hitting trees hard enough to c***k ribs. She didn't even look at them.

Her attention was fixed on Draven, lying motionless in a spreading pool of blood.

No. Not like this. Not him.

Through the bond, she felt the thinnest thread of life still connecting them. He wasn't dead yet. But he was dying, the shadow-steel arrow poisoning his system from the inside.

"Amariel!" Elaria's voice cracked with desperation. "Help him. Please."

The priestess rushed forward despite the danger, kneeling beside Draven. "The arrow needs to come out, but pulling it will kill him faster. Shadow-steel spreads poison with every heartbeat."

"Then stop his heart."

Everyone froze.

"What?" Amariel stared at her.

"Stop his heart. Stop the poison from spreading. I'll keep him alive through the bond while you remove the arrow." Elaria's hands shook as she placed them on Draven's chest. "It's the only way."

"That's insane. You don't have enough control—"

"I don't have a choice!" Silver tears streamed down Elaria's face. "Please. You said you've studied void magic for twenty years. If anyone can do this, it's you."

Amariel looked between Elaria's desperate face and Draven's dying form. "If this goes wrong—"

"Then we both die. But at least we die together." Elaria's voice was steel. "Now do it."

Captain Ryver and his guards formed a protective circle, keeping Draven's brothers back. Zevran tried to order them to stand down, but Ryver's loyalty was to Elaria now.

"If you interfere," Ryver said coldly to Zevran, "I'll cut you down myself. Prince or not."

Amariel worked quickly, placing her hands over Draven's heart. "This is going to hurt him. His body will fight to restart."

"I'll hold him." Elaria pressed her consciousness into the bond, feeling Draven's fading presence. Stay with me. Just a little longer.

His response was barely a whisper. Elaria... run...

Not without you. Never without you.

Amariel's magic flared, and Draven's heart stopped.

The bond screamed with alarm, but Elaria held firm. She poured her own life force through the connection, keeping his consciousness tethered to the world. Through her, his brain stayed oxygenated. Through her, his soul stayed anchored.

"Arrow's out," Amariel said, pulling the black shaft free. She immediately pressed healing magic into the wound. "But the poison's already in his bloodstream. I need to—"

"I've got it," Elaria said.

She reached into Draven's body through the bond, finding the poison spreading through his veins like black ink. Using her void connection, she called to it, commanding it to return to her instead.

The poison responded, flowing backward through the bond. It entered Elaria's system, and she gasped at the burning agony.

"What are you doing?" Amariel's eyes widened. "You'll kill yourself!"

"Better me than him." Elaria gritted her teeth against the pain. "I can process void magic. He's dying from it. Just restart his heart once the poison is clear."

She pulled more and more of the poison into herself, feeling it try to destroy her from within. But her void-touched blood fought back, breaking down the toxin, neutralizing it.

When the last traces left Draven's system, Amariel restarted his heart.

It beat once. Twice. Then settled into a steady rhythm.

Elaria collapsed, the effort of keeping him alive while processing deadly poison taking its toll. But through the bond, she felt him stabilize.

He was going to live.

"Touching," Zevran said from where the guards held him. "Stupid, but touching. Now you're both weakened. Makes capturing you easier."

"You're not capturing anyone," Captain Ryver said. "You just attempted to murder a prince of the Northern Territories. That's treason."

"Treason?" Lucien laughed from where he was being held by two guards. "We're eliminating a threat. Father will understand."

"Will he?" Amariel stood, her hands still glowing with healing magic. "Because from what I understand, King Tavian made it very clear that Draven is under his protection. Killing him directly violates your father's orders."

"Our father is weak. Sentimental. He's forgotten what the North stands for." Zevran spat on the ground. "Draven is a monster. Everyone knows it. We're doing what should have been done at birth."

Elaria forced herself to stand, swaying with exhaustion. "You're doing this because you're jealous. Because despite everything, despite all your advantages, Draven is still more powerful than all of you combined."

"Powerful?" Kael struggled against his restraints. "He's a freak. An abomination. He should have been killed twenty-six years ago."

"But he wasn't. And now he's my husband. Which means any attack on him is an attack on me. On Astoria." Elaria's eyes still glowed faintly silver. "Do you really want to start a war with the South?"

"There won't be a war if you're our prisoner," Zevran said confidently. "Your father will negotiate. He'll give us anything we want in exchange for your safety."

"You're assuming you'll leave here alive to take me prisoner," Elaria said softly.

The temperature dropped twenty degrees. Shadows began rising from the ground, responding to her barely controlled rage.

"Elaria," Amariel said carefully, "you're not in control right now. The void poison, the effort of saving Draven, your anger—it's all pushing you toward losing yourself. Step back."

"They tried to kill him."

"I know. And they'll be punished. But not by you. Not like this."

"Why not? They deserve death."

"Perhaps. But you're better than that." Amariel moved between Elaria and the brothers. "You're not a killer. Not like them. Don't let rage make you into something you're not."

Elaria's hands clenched into fists. Every instinct screamed to unleash the void magic, to tear Draven's brothers apart for what they'd done.

But Amariel was right. Killing them in rage would make her no different than they were.

She forced the shadows down, pushed the magic back. It fought her, wanting release, wanting vengeance. But she held firm.

"Tie them up," she told Captain Ryver. "We're taking them back to both kingdoms. Let their father and mine decide their fate."

"You're making a mistake," Zevran said. "We'll escape. And next time, we won't miss."

"Next time, I won't hold back," Elaria replied. "Pray there isn't a next time."

Draven regained consciousness an hour later. The first thing he did was reach through the bond for Elaria.

You saved me, he sent, wonder and confusion mixing in his thoughts.

Of course I did. We have a deal. Both survive or neither does.

You took the poison. I felt it through the bond. You could have died.

But I didn't. Neither of us did. She squeezed his hand. Rest. We have a long journey ahead.

My brothers?

Alive. Unfortunately. But prisoner.

Through the bond, she felt his conflict—relief that she hadn't killed them, mixed with disappointment that she'd stayed her hand.

"You should have let me die," he said aloud, his voice weak. "Would have been easier. Cleaner."

"Nothing about us is easy or clean. Get used to it." Elaria helped him sit up carefully. "Besides, I like you alive. Call me selfish."

"Selfish. Reckless. Terrifying." Draven touched her face gently. "And mine. Always mine."

"Always."

They resumed traveling, though at a much slower pace. Draven needed time to heal despite Amariel's magic. The brothers were bound with shadow-proof chains and kept under constant guard.

On the third night, Elaria woke to find Kael had somehow escaped his bonds.

He stood over her with a knife, his expression twisted with hate.

"You should have died with him," he hissed.

The knife descended.

But before it could connect, shadows erupted from the ground, wrapping around Kael's wrist and squeezing until he dropped the weapon with a cry.