To Kill A Kingdom | ACOTAR ✔️

Chapter 17 - "I'd sooner kill myself than stand beside you!"

On their way to the Winter Court, the Fey had got a little side tracked - both because they had to change course due to Hybern trying to attack them before they had chance to get to land - it was only a few of them and they managed to escape. And then one of them had got word of the fighting that was happening just a mile or so to their north-west.

So, they had gone to aid in the war immediately - they all joined the fight that the Summer and Night Courts were seconds from loosing.

But now it was after the fighting, and both Evette and Roan were still yet to arrive to them. They had assumed they had gone straight to where Kallias was expecting them. So, when they had gotten word from a Hollow of Tattoon that a sailboat was approaching, they all rushed to meet it.

And so Verbena, Caedmon, Kaladin, Evander, Aerlo, Valerian, Elexina, and Macaria joined Kaliis, Nicasia and Romulus at the edge where they could see the boat headed for them. Though, they all noticed that there wasn't anybody on the boat. No one voiced the confusion - they just waited until the boat got to them.

Nicasia used her power over water to steer the boat towards them, and she personally pulled it in herself. They watched as she froze at where she grabbed it, and then looked back at them with a look of worry and dread, before she pulled it in.

As she did, they noticed it was remote except for a laying down body. "Your Majesty." Nicasia said slowly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Verbena frowned and made her way over, and she only got a few steps away from the boat when she saw it. She froze, and a strangled cry made it from her lips as she saw her son's dead body. She rushed into the boat and pulled Roan's cold, dead body into her lap as she began to sob. She began to cradle her son in her arms, as she held him close to her. "No." Verbena cried softly. "No, no, no!"

Roan had an iron arrow through his chest, and his throat had been slit deeply - so deeply you could almost see where his windpipe was sliced in half. "My baby." Verbena cried, holding him closer and ignoring the way the iron arrow burnt at her chest. "No, no, no!"

Kaladin and Evander looked to one another - there were tears in Evander's eyes as he looked at his older brother, and there was just a pure, darkness made of wrath in Kaladin's. Their brother was dead, and their sister missing.

A scream tore from Verbena's throat - a scream that rumbled violently through the land, that made ripples in the sea. A wind tore through them all, and they all felt something tingly pass through them. Caedmon swallowed thickly before he marched over to his sister, and everyone watched as he pulled both his sister and dead nephew into him, and he held them. Verbena, while still clutching Roan into her, collapsed against Caedmon as she broke apart.

Kaladin knew he had to step up now - with his brother dead, his sister missing, his mother in shambles, and his uncle left to try and keep his mother together. "Right." Kaladin began slowly as he faced them all. "We need to find her - Hybern clearly has her. We need to find her so she doesn't end up..." he trailed off with a slight flinch, though they all knew what the end of the sentence was.

"I'll search through the skies." Romulus announced firmly, nodding his head to Kaladin. "I'll...I'll find their camp." Romulus then turned and strode away from them all, and went to find his dragon and take to the skies.

"We'll follow him." Valerian nodded between himself and Aerlo. "If he finds the camp, we'll be in the sea below ready to get to her."

Aerlo nodded, and faced Elexina and Macaria. "You're in charge of the Silver Court and Silver Soldiers in my absence. Do what you think is right, not what you think should happen!" They both gave him nods of understanding, before he and Valerian strode off together as they began to discuss their plans of action.