All Things Wild and Beautiful

29. Destruction of Innocents

    Nascha was silent as she followed Fenrys through the halls of the palace. They had wasted no time in changing and hurrying to Orynth after Rowan spoke with them. Nascha wondered what could have happened to send Rowan searching for them so quickly and to put Fenrys on edge like this. He was growing more agitated with every footstep.

    They hadn't so much as glanced at each other since they reached the palace, but Nascha couldn't erase the memory of what had happened from her mind. If Rowan hadn't shown up when he did, what would she be doing now? Would she have actually let Fenrys do more? She had wanted to. She still wanted to.

    Fenrys entered an office and Nascha pushed her thoughts aside. Aedion, Aelin, and Rowan stood behind a large mahogany desk. A map was spread out before them. A few specific locations had been marked by tacks. Nascha noticed that Arcelia happened to be one of those locations.

    Slowly, Aelin lifted her gaze. The gold around her pupils almost seemed to glow with fire. Fenrys blinked three times. Aelin blinked twice in response. She turned to Nascha and Fenrys tensed, but didn't move from his spot.

    "A group of rebels from Arcelia attacked a small village in the Perranth Mountains," Aelin said. Her voice was little more than a growl. "This village was made up of refugees. Only children, young mothers, and widows left behind after the war. They had no trained soldiers to protect them and barely any weapons, besides tools for cooking, groundwork, and hunting. They were a peaceful settlement of eighty-two souls. There are fifteen of them left, and only three cottages remain standing."

    "I don't understa..." Nascha began.

    Aelin slapped several crumpled sheets of paper onto the desk and pushed them towards her. Nascha lifted them and read as the Queen continued. "Read what they were chanting as they burned the village and slaughtered innocents." Fenrys moved closer and read over her shoulder. Nascha fought to keep her hands from trembling. "What does it say?"

    "Independence for Arcelia. Freedom for her people," Nascha murmured.

    "Is it the same group who has been attacking other villages lately?" Fenrys asked.

    Rowan shook his head. "No other group has attacked with such brutality before. They only raided weapon and supply shacks and left warnings for us. They never killed anyone."

    "This must be a mistake," Nascha protested, holding up the report. "Arcelians aren't capable of this."

    "Apparently they are," Aedion retorted as he paced across the room.

    Fenrys shot him a glare. "They could be imposters. Outlaws pretending to be Arcelians to throw us off their trail."

    "No," Aelin interrupted. "Lorcan and Elide are already in the village. They arrived just as the group was leaving. Lorcan confirmed it. They were from Arcelia. He managed to capture the man who appeared to be their leader. The man said 'Long live Queen Nascha.' before poisoning himself. "

    Aedion paused and pointed an accusing finger at Nascha. "You could have prevented this! Do you know how many of those children were Evangeline's age? Imagine if this group chooses to attack Caraverre, or other refugee camps? How many people must lose their lives now, and later on the battlefield because you can't stop being a selfish bitch?"

    "There is no guarantee that the violence would cease even if Nascha agreed to become Lady of Arcelia," Fenrys snarled. "As she has said many times before, not everyone will be content to go back to the way things used to be, now that they've caught the spark of war. More people must think like that group did. They are already beginning to see themselves as an independent kingdom, and they view Nascha as Aelin's equal. Perhaps her rival!"