The King's Cursed Bride

Attacking the Fortress: Part 4

            

As they followed Elon out of the fortress, Carissa asked, "So what happened?"

Elon turned a corner. "We went to the unmarked wing. I had a hunch that was where they were keeping the Nephesh." He glanced at Carissa's quizzical expression. "The Reapers either use Soul Pieces to empower themselves or to project their power over a particular area. When they combine Soul Pieces with blood, it creates a larger stone, a Nephesh."

Carissa nodded. "Which pushes the border forward."

"From what I understand."

If the Reapers were harvesting people for Soul Pieces and blood, that explained why the servants had been disappearing. "So we've pushed the border back?"

An unearthly scream echoed from down the hallway, and Elon picked up his pace. "A bit."

Carissa let herself feel the glow of triumph. They just had to do this a few more times, and the border would practically be nonexistent.

She glanced down at Algernon, his skin becoming pale and waxy. Or perhaps it wouldn't be quite that easy. After all, without Algernon, it's unlikely she would have made it out.

They descended down the steps to the passage, and after a few minutes of walking, Elon announced, "We're here. Carissa, would you mind helping Kybelle move the stone?"

Carissa moved forward, assuming Kybelle was Algernon's sister. They shoved against the stone, their grunts loud in the passage. It rolled away, revealing daylight so sparkling and bright that tears stung Carissa's eyes.

Carissa closed her eyes and let the warmth of the sun wash over her, the pleasurable sensation prickling her skin. She hadn't even realized how cold she'd been until now.

She opened her eyes in time to catch up with Elon as he strode through the forest, in the direction of Algernon's house. In the distance, she saw a Reaper crashing through the woods, his black robes tangling in the underbrush.

"Hey, I found him!" a servant yelled from deeper within the forest.

The Reaper freed his robe just as the crowd of servants began sprinting towards him.

Carissa glanced at Elon. "It seems the Reapers are quite afraid of the servants now."

Elon smiled, though from the tension in his forehead, she could see he was concerned about Algernon. "Actually, the Reapers are in pain this side of the border. Only powerful Reapers, such as Akasha, can remain in the light for an extended period of time. Even so, it drains them." Elon nodded towards the fleeing Reaper. "He's not so much running away from the servants as he is running to the border."

"The servants obviously think otherwise."

Elon shrugged. "But why ruin their fun? They obviously think it's quite amusing that the Reapers flee from their spoons and hair pins."

The trees vanished as they entered the clearing, revealing the lake and Algernon's cabin.

Kybelle smiled faintly. "I thought I'd never see this place again."

They rushed to the house, and Carissa held the door open for Elon. He set Algernon onto the bed.

Elon began to unwrap the strips of cloth from Algernon's torso. "Would you get some salve, Kybelle?"

Kybelle shoved the table aside, lifted the trapdoor, and disappeared into the cellar. She returned with a jar of deep green goop. As she unscrewed it, the pungent scent of the herbs within the salve hit Carissa, dragging her back to Viltus' tiny house within Zonah.

Elon sat at a chair and placed the salve on the table. "I'll need boiling water, more strips of cloth, a needle, and thread. And if you have something strong he could drink to take away the pain, I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

Elon was going to have to stitch Algernon back up. Carissa felt slightly ill at the thought and rushed to help Kybelle gather the requested items.

Kybelle approached her brother with a cup of wine.

Algernon pursed his lips. "I can deal with the pain, Kybelle."

Kybelle fixed him with a glare that would have made Carissa squirm. "Stop trying to salvage your over-sized ego and drink it."

"But—"

"If you don't drink this, you're going to make everyone listen to your girlish screams as you're stitched shut. Now which option do you think would best preserve your manly pride?"

Though his eyes glittered with stubbornness, he muttered, "Give me the drink."

Kybelle pressed the rim to Algernon's mouth, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. Carissa made a mental note to appeal to Algernon's pride if she needed to persuade him in the future.

Elon gestured to the dagger at Carissa's waist. "Dip that in the boiling water, would you? I'll need to cut out the blackened parts of his wounds."

As Carissa did as requested, Lyron said, "C–Cut out? I think I'm going to go outside for a bit, get some fresh air, scout the area." Before anyone could gainsay him, he darted out the cabin.

As Carissa handed the dagger to Elon, her stomach feeling like it'd been pulled through a wringer, she wished she could do the same as Lyron.

Elon cut slits down Algernon's pants, revealing black-scabbed cuts. Elon grimaced and glanced at Algernon. "You're ready?"

Algernon snorted. "Of course, I'm—" He gasped and grabbed fistfuls of the sheets on either side of him as Elon slid the dagger along the edge of a wound. Black seeped from the cut, sticky and fluid like pus.

A shudder gripped Carissa as her stomach heaved.

Elon squeezed the wound, causing Algernon to clench his jaw as his skin wept ink-black tears. "It's alright, Carissa. You can leave."

Needing no more prompting, Carissa shot out of the room. The contents of her stomach swirled and swayed, and she almost wished she could vomit and rid herself of the nauseous feeling entirely.

She walked to a skeletal tree and sank against its trunk. Even from this distance, she could still hear Algernon's pained grunts and gasps. She was so thankful Elon could simply heal her wounds, even those inflicted by Esmerian steel.

As the sun glided across the sky, the cabin became mute. The door swung open, and Elon approached her before sitting next to her, his shoulder pressed against hers.

Carissa glanced at him. "Well?"

"He'll live."

"Good." She tipped her head back against the trunk of the tree. "Now what?"

"We'll accompany the boy into Esmeray."

"He's remaining with us?"

Elon rested his head against her shoulder and nodded. "Yes. His family travels with a caravan in Esmeray. That's where he was stolen from."

"But what about the remaining fortresses?"

"Rest assured, we'll take care of them. You might be interested to know the next fortress is in Zonah."

All breath fled her chest, leaving a vacuum in its place. Zonah—where she'd been seeking freedom but had found imprisonment.

Carissa rested her cheek against the top of Elon's head. Also the place where she'd been trying to escape Elon but had married him instead. "When do we leave?"

"In three days."

***

Author's Note: While I know some of you don't read the sneak peek, I know many of you, so I typed another one up to last you until Wednesday ;) As usual, you can find the link in the bio on my profile.