Page 103 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen
“Brace for impact,” Vidar said. Shadows shivered around his outline, and Baldur picked up speed, aiming straight for the palace.
Kolfinna’s magic sprang to her hands and she steeled herself. Baldur didn’t stop as they drew closer, and closer, until she was certain they would crash into the stone walls. But at the last second, he careened up. Her head whipped back and if it weren’t for Vidar’s shadowy harnesses, she would have fallen right off his back and plummeted down below. Aslaug gripped onto the dreki’s scaly body for dear life as Baldur landed on top of one of the sections of the palace. He spun around, whipping his tail at the guards stationed on top of the walls.
Other drekis and their riders joined them on the roofs, the fae and elves hopping off the creatures and dashing into different sections of the palace. Vidar’s shadows leaped over the distance between them and the guards, engulfing them in black and shoving them backward until they tipped over the edge. Kolfinna’s mouth went dry, her limbs trembling.
Vidar scanned the rooftop, then swept his gaze over the chaos exploding behind them on the sprawling city. “Let’s see what the flame captain will do,” he said with a dark chuckle. “Will he protect his king and let the city burn, or will he save the citizens and let his king fall?”
Kolfinna’s attention was drawn to the distance, where towers crumbled in fast succession. She recognized Agnarr flying in the sky, magic thrumming from his body in shockwaves. Giant, gnarled roots snapped from the earth, clawing at the buildings and tearing it down. She had known the male fae was powerful, but she hadn’t expected him to bethislethal on a catastrophic level.
“You’re trying to draw Fenris out?” she whispered, the pieces fitting together. Vidar was going to attack the palace and the king, while Agnarr waited for Fenris. He would be caught between his duty to the king and to the people, and regardless of which he went to, there would be a large-scale fight that could devastate the entire capital.
Floki dropped from the sky, his sharp verdant wings furling as he landed on his feet. He placed a hand on his chest, his pale eyes flitting to Aslaug, and then to Vidar. Gone was the easygoing fae she had met in the fortress; he was all rough angles and sharp teeth, his face aglow with mischief and intent. “All the escape routes have been compromised. We are taking care of the other royals, but the king is headed to the north wing underground tunnel.”
“Good. Move as planned.” Shadows rippled from Vidar’s hands and engulfed his skin in black as he headed toward one of the double doors leading into the palace. Kolfinna and Aslaug followed after him, while Floki went into another direction.
“This is wrong!” Kolfinna shouted; she couldn’t find anything to focus on, as there was too much happening. Buildingsexploded, people screamed, Royal Guards fought, steel clashed against steel—all of it flooded her senses. “Vidar!”
“You made a decision,” he growled, red eyes gleaming as he turned to her sharply. “Stick to your choice, Kolfinna. This is the price of war.”
She flinched. His words hit straight into her chest and she averted her gaze. She had chosen to free Aesileif … but this … just seemed wrong. Or maybe it was hard for her to see this battle. She had participated in battle before, when the humans and the fae had fought against Vidar’s forces, but she hadn’t felt this conflicted. Maybe it was because civilians were involved.
Vidar increased his stride and they both trailed behind him. Kolfinna fought the desire to run in the opposite direction. She had decided to free the fae queen, but she hadn’t agreed to join the fae side. But … But he was right.
She needed to choose a side. And she needed to stick with it. Being wishy-washy would only confuse her further, and make it more conflicting for both sides.
She would free Aesileif, she decided. Then she would decide which side to join.
Aslaug clenched her fists together, her reddish-brown hair whipping in the wind. In the flight, it had come undone from its bun and silver threads glinted in the light with her every movement. “You promised I would watch him die if I told you the locations of all the secret escape routes, and I have. Youpromised.”
Vidar didn’t look at her. “And you shall.”
“You cannot let him escape?—”
“I won’t.”
Kolfinna shadowed Vidar when they entered into one of the wings of the palace; even though she had been a Royal Guard, she’d rarely visited the palace, and even then only to meet with Fenris, so she wasn’t well acquainted with its layout. Asthey made their way down the hall, her attention shifted to the familiar décor—the golden frames holding portraits of long-dead monarchs, the marble floors partially covered with plush rugs, the gilt doorknobs and side tables.
Shouts could be heard from throughout the castle and the streets; three Royal Guards swarmed the corridor, running toward them. Vidar’s shadows launched through the space between them in seconds, covering the men in inky tendrils that wrapped around their necks so tightly, so quickly, that Kolfinna only had to blink before the men crumpled onto the floor with snapped necks.
She wiped her trembling hands on her thighs, her stomach twisting into knots with every traitorous step. Was she making the right decision here? She wanted to free her mother, of course, but … but it wasn’t even that long ago that she had been a Royal Guard herself. Those soldiers were nowdead.
She released a shuddered breath. “Do we really need to kill them?”
“This is war,” Aslaug said with a snarl. “And besides, these guards who protect the king chose this profession. They chose to follow and protect a tyrant.”
They went down another bend of the hallway, and Vidar shot beams of light at more guards that sprinted toward them. Kolfinna’s mana warmed her fingertips, but before she could even use her magic, Vidar had already left gaping holes in their chests, blood spraying the once-pristine gold-leafed walls.
Her stomach twisted and she couldn’t look at the dead bodies as they passed them. As more guards came at them, and Vidar took their lives with haunting ease, the same question thrummed in the back of her mind. Was she making the right choice here?
She hated how indecisive she was. She hated how she couldn’t just make a choice and stick with it completely.Whether with the humans, or the fae. What would Blár think of her if he saw her here right now, following Vidar as he killed these guards and searched for King Leiknir?
At the thought of Blár, Kolfinna turned to Aslaug, a creeping realization dawning on her as she remembered the book the older woman kept, and how Blár’s name was in the list inside.
“Aslaug, do you have any children?” Her voice wavered when they entered another corridor, this one wider than the others, and with more guards.
Aslaug turned to her sharply. “I did.”
“What happened—” A blast of water shot toward them, and Vidar threw up a shadowy shield that captured the attack. He unhooked a dagger from his thigh and launched it at the furthest guard, while slamming the rest with thin arrows of light. Kolfinna’s own light magic singed her fingertips and she trained them on the closest guard, but he, along with half of the guards fell to the floor, screaming before she could attack. Vidar’s shadows swallowed them up, then spat them out. Their bodies were covered in purplish, inky stains, and their eyes stared lifelessly ahead. The others quickly died by his light magic.
