Page 18 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Faythe

They gathered around a table in the main room of the inn, but heavy silence lingered, with no one knowing how to begin their tale.

Faythe swirled fingers around the rim of her tankard until Nik, seated beside her, placed a hand over her other on the table.

“We heard news in some of the towns that Ellium has been invaded,” he said gently, trying to ease into the story she couldn’t bring herself to explain.

Her lips parted a few times, trying to arrange the words and be able to deliver them without breaking down again.

“The king?—”

“I know,” Nik said, and her brow pinched, unable to meet his gaze.

“I couldn’t stop them. I couldn’t save him or Reylan. She has him, Nik. Marvellas took him, and I haven’t been able to figure out where.”

His fingers squeezed hers. “You will. The war isn’t over yet.”

“It’s barely begun,” Kyleer muttered.

“Where is Tauria?” Faythe dreaded to ask, still clinging to the hope the fact Nik was here without her didn’t mean something awful had happened.

But it seemed they were both walking in their worst nightmares.

“Mordecai has taken her to Fenstead.”

Faythe sat back. “Mordecai,” she repeated, the name uncoiling something dark and foreboding in her spine. “Then why are you here?” she asked.

“We were looking for you,” Lycus answered.

Nik said, his shoulders deflating, “Our resources are limited. I have High Farrow’s armies ready to march, but it will not be enough. We’ve always known this.”

That caused her to flick an expectant glance at Tarly, who sat silently, close to Nerida.

“You have Olmstone’s army too?” she inserted, figuring now it made sense why the prince was with them.

“No,” Nik said.

Faythe’s head whipped back to him, confused. He dove a hand through his inky black hair in exasperation.

“We came to ask you for help, actually, hoping you might be able to assist knowing what is left—and what has been rebuilt—of Fenstead’s armies is in Rhyenelle too. Then we heard what happened. We were already close, and I had to see for myself you’d made it out.”

Faythe’s gut sank with his explanation. She couldn’t help him. She couldn’t help anyone. “What’s the plan now?”

“I’m going to Tauria regardless. I’ve been able to Nightwalk to her, but I won’t leave her with Mordecai no matter what she was planning in going with him.”

Her relief at that enlightenment quickly faded at her sorrow. Nik could still reach Tauria through Nightwalking, but Faythehad failed to reach Reylan that way. He knew exactly where she was, while Reylan remained lost.

“She is well then?” Faythe asked.

Nik gave a bittersweet smile. “They haven’t harmed her, and she’s coping just fine given the situation. I shouldn’t have had any doubt. She’s come up with a clever way of keeping me informed. Though it’s not the same as when you and I meet each other in Nightwalking. Tauria can’t interact with me that way.”

“She hasn’t told you why she went with him?” Kyleer cut in.

“Tauria has always been fiercely spirited, especially when it comes to her people. She hasn’t been hiding in High Farrow—she was biding her time. When the opportunity came to be taken into the heart of her kingdom, I’m not surprised she took it. It kills me she’s in the arms of the enemy, but strategically, it’s smart. She can learn a lot within those walls. I believe in her.”

So did Faythe. As long as Tauria wasn’t being harmed, they had time.

Nik drummed his fingers on the table, staring at nothing in particular as his thoughts turned.

---