Page 159 of Faeling
Vallek’s gaze flicked up to meet the formless shadow lurking above him. Too quickly. The shadow laughed without a mouth.
From the darkness came a withered hand the ashen color of aspen bark. Claws with blackened beds just touched the scar on his bare chest, where his mate had set her fangs. Her claiming mark.
Another laugh in Amaranthe’s dull, dusty throat as thoseclaws found familiar tracks. Vallek clenched his teeth as they raked slowly down his chest, reopening the fresh scabs. Blood dribbled down to his abdomen to soak the waistband of his trou.
Chained still in the spelled manacles, he hadn’t the strength to do much more than glare defiantly at the faceless shadow.
“An orc king and a halfling fae. How ridiculous. And they say I usurped the natural order.” Through the hazy darkness, he could just see the curve of a wicked smile. “I will set the world to rights when she comes to save you.”
Vallek turned his face away, bored of her threats. There was nothing she could do that would hurt him more than seeing his mate harmed. And she well knew it.
They came the next day, at dawn. Two fae ships. Skimming the water as elegantly as dragonflies, hardly needing to part the waves. As they neared the shore, Ravenna descended the grassy slope, Asta, Mattias, and a cloaked Leita behind her.
A dozen fae jumped into the shallow water to walk ashore. At their head was the messenger who’d come before, his light hair again pulled back in a long tail.
“Our esteemed queen agrees to your terms,” he said in orcish.“You will come with us to Fallorian.”
“We will have our king first,” countered Mattias.
“He remains in Fallorian.”
“Then we’ll all sail there,” said Ravenna. “Together. When the orcs have their king, Amaranthe will have me.”
The messenger didn’t like it, his lips thinning as he glanced behind Ravenna to assess the berserkers at her back.
Knowing he and his forces were outnumbered, there was no other answer for him to give than, “Very well. We will escort you.”
38
It took the better part of a day to travel up the coast to Fallorian. Aided by a southerly wind and the strong arms of the rowers, the orcish and fae ships cut through the water, foam and spray splashing off the sleek hulls.
By the time the tallest spires of Fallorian rose above the sea cliffs, it was late afternoon. The saturated orange light bathed the city, making it gleam like polished abalone shell. The ships followed the rocky coast, a wall of black cliffs topped in swaying grasses to their right and the vast ocean to their left, until white limestone jutted out from the cliffs.
They followed the harbor walls instead, great curving things that reached out into the sea like open arms. Or pincers.
The sea was something the fae had never been able to control. Although they had several legendary shipwrights, the extent of their maritime adventures was to the Twins and back. Severed from the land, any fae felt unmoored at sea.
Fallorian, with its fae-made harbor, was no exception.Lacking a natural bay, the city instead extended out into the depths, forcing a large pool of calmer water for its docks and ships.
The cliffs too had been carved into submission. The dark stone had been chipped away to accommodate the pale limestone the city was renowned for. Nearly as white as marble, it shone in the late-day sun, a blinding beacon. Flecks of crystal in the stone caught the light, making the city glitter. Most commanding of all was the sight of the palace, layers and layers of it standing as some great bird of prey on the edge of the dark cliffs, just waiting to tip over into the open air and take flight. Its spiraling citadel stood tallest of all, overlooking a dangerous, swirling span of water just outside the harbor, littered with jagged rocks.
Ravenna gazed upon it all, the heritage of her father’s people, and saw nothing but exposed ribs, bleached by the sun.
The city’s façade was beautiful, to be sure, but in the way crystal or snow was. Pale. Cold. Forbidding.
Her gaze traveled up the many looping levels of the city, fixing on the great citadel at the top. She’d heard of the palace, how its architecture, gardens, and pavilions were rivaled nowhere on the continent. That was where her parents had been slaughtered. It was where she’d find herazai.
As the ships sailed into the harbor, the bond inside her drew taut. Just a little longer, a little closer.
There was no one to greet them. The docks were abandoned, the other white oak ships pulled to the perimeter of the seawall, allowing the captains to steer their ships up to the docks for disembarking.
For all the cacophony they made, the full force of berserkers marching from their ships, the city met them with an eeriesilence.
Are you ready, Crow?
Ravenna looked up at Oberon solemnly. He’d refused to let her leave without him; he, his younger unicorns, and Leita’s Thailia had all boarded her ship, determined to protect her for as long as they could.
I’m ready for it to be over.
