Page 37 of A War of Three Kings

The magic that courses through my veins whispers to me, telling me it could take hold of that life force and snuff it out. I ignore it.

On his knees, Silvan holds his blade out in offering, laying it flat across both hands. Even his head bows in submission.

The entire courtyard explodes with applause as the fight ends. The guards look upon both fae with awe. I jolt at the sudden deafening sound, but I don’t drag my eyes away from Silvan.

Those tendrils of magic whip away from him, snapping back to Aldrin. Silvan’s body immediately goes loose. He spits at the ground and stands up, staring daggers at Aldrin for a long moment before walking over to his king and shaking his hand.

The clock tower chimes twelve times, and the entire crowd funnels out. Emerald tunics sewn with iron discs move across my peripheral vision as the guards swirl around me, but I only have eyes for the two fae in the courtyard.

Aldrin took control of Silvan’s body against his will.

The thought of someone being able to do that sends shivers down my spine. I don’t know how he did it, but I plan to find out.

Chapter 9

Aldrin

Keira descends the staircase and makes a beeline straight for me. It has my heart leaping with joy, though my stomach tumbles nervously at the frown pinching her features and the set line of her lips.

I already know I am in trouble, and the gods know what I have done this time.

Every time I try to steal a moment with her, her father manages to break us up. How can I clear the air between us if I cannot talk to her? How do I win her back, or wade through the bitter anger and betrayal welling within, threatening to consume my very soul, if I cannot ask her where she was while I suffered? Or whether she truly hunted and needlessly killed nymphs that wandered into these lands?

“You just forced your will on Silvan!” She walks right up to me and pokes a finger in the center of my chest. “That is terribly rude, Aldrin!”

I almost smile like a fool at the touch, but she turns away and places an arm around Silvan’s shoulders.

“You’re still bleeding!” Keira pulls a handkerchief from her pocket and dabs at the blood. “He is a brute for roughing you upneedlessly to prove a point. I don’t like to see you in pain. Will you be okay, or should I call for a healer?”

“I’m not sure if I will make a full recovery.” Silvan shoots me a snickering look that Keira misses. “I think he broke something inside my head.”

I roll my eyes. “I assure you, your head was already broken long before I entered it.” Keira’s eyes widen as they fly to me, and I raise my hands in the air. “He is joking. Silvan, tell her you are joking.”

Silvan glances between us with a growing smirk on his lips. “I’m not getting involved in this lovers’ tiff.” He is getting me back for slamming him into that wall. Perhaps it was a touch too far.

“How did you do it?” Keira takes a step closer to me. “I could see the tether between the two of you.”

“You witnessed the wield?” I say, a little impressed. “The ability runs in the same vein as my healing magic, which connects to a person’s life force. Through it, a healer can access their body to knit wounds back together. My power allows me to use it to take control of a person’s muscles. It’s not particularly useful on a large scale, like a battle. It takes far too much concentration and energy. Hand-to-hand combat is a different story.” I shrug, trying to make light of it.

Keira’s eyes widen. “Have you ever used it on me?” There is such horror in her expression. It is like she has stabbed me in the heart, thinking I would be capable of such a thing.

“You’d bloody know about it if he did it to you,” Silvan grumbles. “Could you not see me fighting it?”

Her eyes slide to Silvan and all the tension flows out of her body.

I hold her by the arms, so damned afraid she will slip through my grasp again. “I’m not a monster, Keira. You know me better than that. At least, you did before they filled your head with lies.”All the passion that has been eating away at my insides boils to the surface, making my voice harsher than I intended.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I thought maybe—I don’t know, that you could have used it to contain me during the battle when we first met, or just after.” She shakes her head. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t know you at all, Aldrin.”

“You do. Nothing has changed.”

Silvan looks between us, grumbles about fools in love, and stalks off like a riled-up puka.

A tear falls down Keira’s face, but she doesn’t pull away from me. She peers up at me with huge hazel eyes that are leached of anger, replaced with a bottomless sadness. I don’t know which is worse.

“Everything has changed, Aldrin. I deserved to know that you battled my father. That you asked for my hand in marriage decades ago. How can I trust that there aren’t other secrets you haven’t told me?”

“I tried to tell you! Right before I was taken,” I snap. “Don’t you dare forget that detail.”

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