A Breath of Sunlight Page 23

  “Stay back,” he warned, moving slowly to put a table between them and their tormenter. “I will give you this offer only once. Step down from your throne, or I will make you do it.”

  Liam barked an ugly laugh. “You will make me do it? I may not know where the rebels are hiding, but I have a good estimate of how many there are. You cannot do what you threaten. Now, give Nyana back to me.”

  His grip tightened on his sister-in-law. “I won’t allow you to hurt her.”

  “You will take her instead? She’s my property. You have no right.”

  “She’s no one’s property. Especially not yours.”

  “She’s my wife,” he enunciated the word, slowly and clearly, with a grin pulling his lips into a lopsided smirk. “Those are my children.”

  The day he saw Nyana murdered by his brother’s hand flashed back to his mind. He now knew it must have been an illusion to make Calle suffer mentally and emotionally while his body suffered physically in the Pits. Nyana had been meant to become his own wife at the time. His heart ached at the thought of Liam beating and mistreating her. She deserved far better.

  “Why?” he rasped. It was as if a fierce, unyielding wind battered his heart. For what Nyana had endured. For her children who must have suffered so much already. “You had everything. You were the king. People flocked to you. You could have chosen anyone—”

  Liam snarled and smashed his fist against the wall. The nearby painting rattled at the impact. “People flocked to you. Everyone loved you. Even the woman I wanted. Tell him, my love. The night you met him. Tell him about us.”

  Tears trailed from Nyana’s bruised eyes, and she turned her face into his shoulder. She shook her head.

  “Tell him!” Liam shouted, his anger flaring so suddenly that spittle flew from his mouth.

  She began trembling in his arms, whether from a sudden chill, fear, or something else, he didn’t know. “Liam and I spent a little time together. We shared a kiss. But then I met you and you were the only one in my thoughts. I didn’t want you to know. I was afraid you would reject me.”

  A pit formed in his stomach, uncomfortable and nauseating. He’d had no idea. And now he felt like a fool. But still, he held her tighter against him. “It doesn’t matter. I’m getting you out of here. You and my nieces.”

  The two little girls clung to his legs. Fear emanated from them as they stared wide-eyed at their father. Liam’s fists curled and uncurled in sync with his snarling lips.

  “You have been a pain in my life ever since we were kids,” Liam said. Metal sang an eerie tune as he drew his sword from its scabbard. “I can either do this with Nyana in the way...or not. Your choice.”

  Disgust rippled through him as he stared back at his brother. “You would kill your own wife? Truly?”

  “She can’t produce me an heir. I have no further use for her. And when she’s gone, it would be far too easy to blame her death on you—the rebel prince who broke into the castle to assassinate the royal family. The people won’t love you so much then.”

  He backed away slowly, closer to the window. Two stories lay between the window and the ground, a dangerous feat for an escape. But enough magic swirling within his core remained to accomplish at least one more daring feat.

  “Calle,” Nyana murmured against him. “Leave me. Protect my girls.”

  “Never. I won’t let you die a second time.”

  As if outraged by the sight of him holding his wife, Liam released a war cry and charged forward with his sword poised over his head. Calle’s heart leaped to his throat, knowing he would never reach his sword in time when three people latched onto him. Burning hot magic boiled in his blood, and he managed to free one hand just enough to give the magic a channel for release.

  Orange flames spurted from his fingers and caught fire to the rug in Liam’s path. His brother leaped backward, which gave him enough time to break the nearby glass windows with a burst of golden flames.

  The glass shattered at his feet, and without hesitation, he carried Nyana and after coaxing the clinging children from his legs, he guided them through.

  A stairway made of gold magic and the blush pink of dawn greeted their feet. He urged it to crumble behind him as they ran down the length of the stairs and onto the grass of the courtyard.

  The clamor of steel on steel caused his heart to jump out of his skin. Soldiers surrounded the northern tower, attacking each other in a sea of metal and chaos. Thick, billowing flames reached toward the skies from the eastern part of the castle.

  The rebels...

  When had they decided to attack? In his absence?

  Two Heulwen soldiers broke away from the others and charged in their direction, blades raised. Panic lodged in his throat when he realized very little magic remained without sunlight to refuel it. But before he managed to lift a hand to fight back, a golden-white shimmer of wings swooped down from the sky. Calle turned the children’s heads away before Skaja butchered the soldiers with her daggers.

  “I’m going to kill your sorry arse for your stupidity, fae prince,” Skaja growled as she provided a path forward.

  He flashed her a charming grin. “Love you too.” He motioned to the two children with a jut of his chin, both clinging to his clothing. “Can you carry them? And I’ll take her.” Nyana’s head rolled against his shoulder, as if too weak to hold it up when covered in so much bruising. Worry gnawed at him, but he refused to give it a voice.

  She nodded. Uncertainty, and perhaps envy, flashed across her eyes, but it disappeared quickly before she carefully picked a child up in each arm. “Together, they’re still heavier than you were when I found you in the Pits.”

  “I’ve put on a little weight,” he protested.

  “According to my mother, you are still too skinny.” A crash behind them. They continued their flight forward.

  “You don’t seem to think so.”

  No response, but he didn’t miss the way her gaze raked over his body, followed by a faint blush in her cheeks.

  “Keep moving, Calle, toward the gates. The caster moved the entrance of the fortress there. And I can’t imagine your brother is happy you stole his wife.”

  His eyebrows furrowed and his lips pinched together. “You knew?”

  They jumped over a pile of rubble. “I have known for less time than you, apparently. Your shock woke me up. Scared me senseless with your barrage of emotions. My father told me where he thought you might have gone, and I organized the attack.”

  The air rippled as they entered through the invisible barrier leading to the fortress. The guards ushered them inside. He noticed the insecure hunch of Skaja’s wings, and only after they deposited Nyana and her children in the infirmary did he pull her aside while Cian rushed to the queen’s aid. He cradled Skaja’s face in his hands and gave her a tender kiss. Nyana may have been close enough to see them, but he didn’t care.

  He felt both discomforted and relieved that he didn’t care. For years, he had mourned Nyana, wishing things had turned out differently. But he realized a life with her wasn’t what he wanted anymore. Skaja brought out the best in him like no one ever had. She encouraged him to be better, work harder, do more. She held every inch of his heart.

  “My niece called to me in my sleep,” Calle explained at Skaja’s accusing stare. “Said her mama was going to be killed if I didn’t show my face. I sought to rescue them. I thought I could slip in and out because I know the palace so well. Liam was waiting for me. I didn’t want you to get hurt, Skaja. I can’t bear the thought.”

  Fear and anger rippled across her features as she gestured with both hands to his chest. “So, you disappeared without a trace? No word? No note? I didn’t know where you were. Only that you were in trouble.”

  He sighed and caressed her jaw with his thumbs. “I admit I left hastily. I never meant to worry you. I’m sorry.”

  Her chin wobbled, but she still glared as if trying to hold onto her anger. “Are you going to go back to her?” She now gestured to where Cian treated Nyana’s broken leg. Both his nieces held onto each other, tears trailing down their cheeks. “Now that you know she’s alive? I know how you felt about her. Perhaps how you still feel about her.”

  He pulled her deeper into the shadows and lowered his voice. “I loved Nyana. But she’s different. And I’m different. I don’t feel the same way anymore. I love you, Skaja. If we manage to dethrone Liam, I still want you as my queen. And if we don’t manage it, I want you as my wife regardless.”

  “It’s too soon,” she said in a wavering tone. Nyana’s presence clearly affected her.

  “I know.” He kissed her forehead, her nose, and then her lips. “I only need you to know exactly where I stand with you. I won’t push you into anything.”

  “But if I don’t choose now, you will choose Nyana.” A sheen gazed back at him in her beautiful brown eyes, and her heart echoed a range of emotions back to him. Longing. Fear. Desperation. Love. Sadness.

  He realized she felt pressured to make a quick decision...

  Gently, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “Listen to our soul bond, and know I speak the truth. I have never bound my soul to another before. I have never been connected to another person like this. I have never felt this way about someone else. I will wait for you, Skaja, however long it takes.”

  “You say that now...but what happens if or when Liam dies?”

  “Nothing will change.” Again, he kissed her lips to finalize his words. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I have a northern tower to take.”

  Her smile returned and her wings ruffled with excitement. She reached for the daggers at her shoulders and snapped them open. “You may need a guard at your back.”

  “Not a guard—an equal.”

/>   The expression in her eyes softened, and although she said nothing, he felt the stir of gratitude and happiness in her heart, linked with his.

  They rushed back the way they’d come, confident Nyana and the children would be safe within the fortress.

  Outside, sword fought against sword. Smoke curled into the dawn skies from where blazes caught fire. He and Skaja fought side by side until they realized gaining the tower looked more futile than possible.

  A nearby granary caught his eye, and without a second thought, he ran toward it and started climbing. Several men tried to kill him on the way up, but Skaja quickly dispatched them with her daggers.

  Using the last reserves of his magic, he created a golden, shimmering shield. He banged his sword against it as loudly as possible, and dozens of the “enemy” glanced his way. Some people stopped fighting altogether, their eyes wide as they stared up at him. The clamor reduced to cinders in comparison. Before it started up again, he called out to his people.

  “I see some of you recognize me,” he shouted to make himself heard. “Yes, I am Prince Calle. My brother, the king, sold me into slavery and lied to each of you about it, instead telling of my death. I am grieved by what has happened in Heulwen in my absence. High taxes. Unjust punishments. Fear day in and day out. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a happy life.”

  People shuffled their feet, now uncertain. The fighting ceased altogether, and he now had a captive audience. He continued. “Shift your loyalty to me instead. When I am King, life will be happier. More just. Without fear. You can raise your families in a safe place. Fight for me instead.”

  A murmur moved through the crowd like waves of the ocean. Heulwen soldiers cast uncertain and wary looks at each other, as if no longer knowing the difference between ally and enemy.

  “Kill them!” Liam shrieked near the castle, flanked by a couple harpy guards and several other regular guards. He pointed straight at Calle. “He’s lying. He tried to assassinate my family. He’s now holding them hostage.”

  Another murmur rumbled through the crowd. He felt their anger rolling off them like heat escaping a stove.

  “My sister-in-law and nieces are under my protection,” he corrected quickly. “The queen is currently being treated for injuries delivered by her husband.”

  The anger grew hotter, this time directed toward his brother.

  “Death!” Liam growled, his glare made more menacing with a couple hundred soldiers between them. “Death will be the punishment for any who defy me.”

  Fear and uncertainty rumbled through the crowd like crawling thunder. It stretched endlessly across the sky, moving from one horizon to the other. The sunlight behind the mountains stained the sky gold. Just a little higher, and the sunlight could rejuvenate his magic.

  Calle banged on his shield once again. “All who join me will be granted amnesty. You don’t have to serve a monster like Liam.”

  Slowly, soldiers began to turn their backs on Liam. His heart surged with hope at the addition of more brave men and women to his small army.

  He faced off against his furious brother in a deadly stare sharp enough to cut daggers.

  Perhaps less than a fourth of the soldiers joined Calle’s side. It would have to be enough.

  Without warning, Liam gave a signal with his hand and his army charged forward in a deafening crash. Metal clashed against metal, and Calle once again found himself in the throng of danger. Both Skaja and Typheal fought at his side. And once the sun peeked over the mountains and caressed his face, he breathed in the light through his nostrils and felt the magic churning alive within his core.

  His soldiers managed to get through the northern tower, kicking and fighting their way in. Metal clashed against metal. Weapons met blood and bone. Several bodies flew from the top of the tower and hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

  Cheers lifted into the skies, and hope surged through Calle as he rushed toward the tower. But before he managed to reach it, Avonia grabbed his arm, pushed him hard, and he suddenly found himself sprawled on velvet carpet instead of rough cobblestone.

  He was back at the underground fortress instead of the Heulwen castle. The invisible entrance swallowed him whole and spit him back out. Despite the eerie quiet, the crashing metal still echoed in his ears.

  “What are you doing?” he growled, annoyed at being taken out of the fight when they’d found success and irritated at Avonia’s secrets and lies.

  “Hurry,” she said, ushering him forward. “Our forces have found victory, but now we need your aid elsewhere.”

  He glanced behind him, and to his relief, he found Skaja following him with both daggers drawn. Wariness sat on her hunched shoulders, irritation in her brow to match his own. She was a fighter and being pulled early clearly irked her.

  But still, he followed.

  Avonia led him to the council chambers, but they stopped just outside the doors, her hand on his arm. “The council is holding an emergency meeting. We need the queen’s input, but no one can convince her to attend.”

  In other words, she wanted him to do the convincing.

  Anger coursed through him as he yanked his arm out of her grip. His expression wavered between a glare and devastation. Tears leaked from his eyes as he recalled Nyana’s bruised and broken body, and the fear in her children’s eyes. Yet, he stood tall and unbending.

  “Is she the reason you and the council insisted so heavily that I marry? Tell me why.”

  The harpy’s voice shook as she answered. “We didn’t tell you she still lived because we feared you would do something rash and ruin everything we have worked for all these years. And if you were married, we thought finding out the truth would hurt less.”

  Skaja squeezed his hand comfortingly as more tears trailed down his face. He knew there was truth to Avonia’s words, but he felt like her pawn. The council had used him and tricked him and once again, he felt like a fool.

  “You have absolutely no idea the horrors I endured in the Pits. But one of the worst was hearing an alarming tale of my brother beating his wife so hard that she lost her child. I am disgusted and angry, and I feel betrayed. By the people who were supposed to be my support. My family. I haven’t trusted anyone for six years. Not until I met Skaja. Quite frankly, I trust Inari more than I trust you. At least she’s honest in her desire to take my life. You on the other hand...”

  “Forgive me, Your Highness,” she murmured with a bowed head.

  “I am not your pawn. You don’t get to decide what to tell me and what to hide.” He turned to Skaja and held out a shaky hand. “Will you please come with me? I’m not sure I have the strength to face this alone.”

  Skaja’s eyes widened, and he felt her heart beat with trepidation. “But...but don’t you want to be alone with her?”

  “It’s been six years, Skaja. I meant everything I said to you yesterday. Today.”

  “Are you sure?” Her voice quivered.

  “I’ve never been more certain in my life.”

  Finally, she nodded and slipped her hand into his. Together, they made their way to the infirmary where Cian and a couple other women rushed to and fro, one carrying bandages, another an elixir and healing herbs.

  Calle found Nyana lying on a cot in another room, staring at the wall while her girls lay on another cot sleeping. She glanced up when they entered, but quickly returned to staring at the wall. The bruises appeared lighter as if in the process of healing, and her face no longer contorted with pain.

  “Please leave,” Nyana rasped as if she’d recently been crying. “I cannot bear for you to see me like this.”

  Ignoring her request, he pulled up two chairs beside the bed, and he and Skaja took a seat. “Like what?”

  She swiped at her eyes. “Dirty. Broken. Defiled. Shamed.”

  He swallowed as his gaze passed over her. As if feeling his scrutiny, she pulled the sheets higher over herself. “I felt the same way, Nyana. Just in different ways. My imprisonment ended a few months ago. I’ve had that much longer to heal. Yours ends now. You’ll recover. I promise.” He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  Finally, she turned enough to face them, and her gaze flitted from him to Skaja. And then to their intertwined hands. He swallowed as he waited for her reaction. But instead of crying or shouting, she smiled.