A Court of Bones & Sorrow (Lunaria Realms #2)

Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Samara

“Where’d they go?” I frowned when we reached the surface again. There was no sign of Vail or Rynn anywhere. Rynn had been really pissed, so she probably just needed some distance between her and the Alphas to calm down. Vail would keep her safe.

Apparently not everyone shared my opinion, because Cade let out a frustrated growl and Ryker looked like he was on the verge of shifting again just as Vail appeared from the trees.

“She’s fine,” he said. “Just pissed off. I tried to calm her down, but I think she just needs time to cool off. She’s on her way home now.”

Not her home anymore. I closed my eyes. It was always expected that Rynn would go and live with the Alphas up north, but being exiled from her own fucking Order was an entirely different situation. I still couldn’t believe Cade had gone along with that plan.

“Princess needs to learn she doesn’t get everything she wants in life,” Bastian snarled and took off after her. Ryker shucked off his pants and shifted, and the enormous white wolf followed .

“You’ll never find her,” Vail called. “These are her woods.”

Cade snorted. “We’ll always find her. I’ll get the others to give her a little space. Just for the trip back. She’ll need to be with us tonight as part of the celebration.”

The muscles along Vail’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t argue. I didn’t like leaving Rynn here. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any other options.

“Come on,” I said to Vail. “We better get going.”

Draven was probably losing his mind in that cabin, and I wanted to return to him so we could figure out our next move. We had the crown, which meant Velika wasn’t getting it. For the first time in a while, I was starting to feel a little optimistic.

We parted ways with Cade and headed south. I allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts, and I put my trust in Vail to keep us undetected by Velesian patrols and safe from any monsters that roamed during the daylight hours.

We would need help to get the other half of the crown away from Velika. After my conversations with Aniela and Ary, I thought they made sense as our first potential allies to approach, but I wanted to wait until we’d destroyed the crown in our possession. I might have trusted them not to side with the wraiths or anyone working with the wraiths, but that trust didn’t extend towards Fae artifacts. They might argue that we should keep the crown or use it in the fight. Every part of my soul told me it needed to be destroyed, and until that was done, I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone enough to tell them about it.

Ary and Aniela would probably be pissed, but they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

We were halfway back to the cabin when several cloaked forms melted out of the trees like they were wraiths themselves. They weren’t, but they were something almost as bad. Sovereign House rangers. At least twenty of them, which was far more than Vail and I could fight on our own.

“Greetings, Samara Harker,” a tall, dark-haired ranger said, then he nodded at Vail. “Marshal, both of your presences are requested by Queen Velika.”

My heart hammered inside my chest. At least Rynn had the crown. Unless they had captured her too? No. She had three of the deadliest Velesians in existence with her, and they would have fought hard enough so she could have escaped. Rynn wasn’t a coward by any means, but she knew what was at stake. She wouldn’t let the crown fall into enemy hands, and no Moroi would stand a chance at catching her in the forest.

“Any particular reason?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice even. “This all seems a bit much.” I gestured towards the rangers surrounding us. All of them had their swords drawn, angled towards the ground, but the threat was clear. I was a little surprised Vail hadn’t sensed them closing in on us, but these were likely the best of Velika’s rangers.

“It is not my place to question the queen, nor is it yours.” His gaze hardened. “Your aunt is currently a guest of the Sovereign House. If you care about her health, you will come with us and not impede the journey in any way. Understood?”

“Yes,” I ground out. We should have rescued Carmilla first instead of leaving her as a hostage. I’d been so concerned about getting the crown before Velika that I’d left the last of my family at her mercy.

“Marshal,” the ranger addressed Vail, “we will leave you and the Heir with your weapons for now, as we will continue traveling through the night to make it back as quickly as possible. Do not make me regret doing so.”

Vail jerked his head in a nod. I could feel the fury rolling off him but didn’t think he was capable of speaking at the moment. He wouldn’t do anything to risk Carmilla, and neither would I.

I’d trust Vail to keep me safe on the way to the Sovereign House, and I’d be plotting how to keep both of us alive once we got there.

Two days later, we arrived at the Sovereign House. Usually, the trip would have taken twice as long, but there had been fresh horses waiting for us at each outpost, and we’d had extra protection at night . . . wraiths.

I hadn’t seen them clearly, but as we’d raced along the roads, I’d seen shadows keeping pace with us in the woods, keeping the worst of the monsters away. The only attack we’d suffered had been from some howlers during the day. They’d picked off the ranger at the end of the line and carried his screaming body off into the woods before anyone could intervene.

The other rangers hadn’t seemed all that upset. They’d just carried on like nothing had happened. I was pretty sure Velika had used the magic of the crown she possessed to bind them. During the journey, they’d rarely spoken to each other or displayed any sort of emotion. The man in charge had been the only one who had displayed the slightest amount of individuality.

They’d also kept Vail and me apart as much as possible, so we’d barely been able to speak the entire time.

I didn’t know what Draven had done when I’d failed to return to the cabin. He’d surely looked for me, but where? Had he tracked down Rynn only to learn that I’d parted ways with her already? Had he returned to House Harker to let Kieran and the others know that something had gone very wrong?

Dread coiled in my gut. Or had he returned to the Sovereign House despite the pain and misery that awaited him there, because he knew that was where I’d likely been taken? I’d promised him I would keep him safe, and I’d failed.

I shoved back the grief and despair that had been building the last couple of days. They would do me no good, and I still had friends and family to protect. The situation wasn’t ideal, but the other half of the crown was out of Velika’s reach for now. If she suspected I knew where it was, she wouldn’t kill me, which meant I had something to barter with. I’d never give up its location, but she didn’t know that, so I could string her along while Vail and I figured something out.

Curious stares fell on us as the rangers marched us through the halls of the Sovereign House. This Fae fortress was similar to the other Houses but considerably larger. The main tower alone was the size of all of House Harker. Whispers echoed off the walls as the courtiers and advisors took in our state. Vail and I were both covered with a fine layer of dirt and probably looked a little worse for wear given how hard we’d been traveling the last week.

I hoped the queen choked on my stench.

Two guards stood in front of large double doors that I recognized immediately. They were gilded in silver and had an enormous tree engraved on them. We’d been brought to the throne room.

“Queen Velika wishes to speak to Samara first,” one of the guards said at our approach. “The Marshal will wait out here.”

“Not a chance,” Vail growled. The rangers escorting us tensed, and the guards at the door reached for the swords at their hips.

“It’s alright.” I slid between Vail and the guards, placing my hands on his chest. He tore his gaze away from the guards to look at me, his eyes dark grey storm clouds with silver dancing amongst them. I stood up on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his. “I’ll be okay.”

We may not have had a choice in coming here, but we hadn’t been dragged here in chains either. That could mean any number of things. Velika could still be feeling us out to find out exactly how much we knew. In that case, she might pretend like nothing was wrong at all and come up with some cover story for why she’d wanted us brought here so urgently. Or maybe she’d just wanted to rattle me, having me brought to the Sovereign House like this, and now wanted to separate me from Vail while she questioned me about the crown.

As much as I wanted Vail by my side so I could draw strength from his presence, he was absolutely terrible at hiding what he was feeling. She’d see every emotion written on his face, not to mention, he might let something slip in anger if he spoke. Between the two of us, I had a better chance of playing this game with the Moroi Queen.

Assuming she didn’t just kill me as soon as I walked in. That would be unfortunate.

Vail’s expression softened, and he cupped my face with his left hand. “I’ll be right here. Just yell if you need anything. These guards won’t stop me from getting to you.”

The guards in question shuffled nervously before opening the door for me.

I kissed Vail one more time and then took a deep breath before turning and striding into the throne room with my chin held high. The door clanged shut behind me, and I let my gaze skim over the dozens of courtiers and advisors standing around, talking softly.

The throne room was not particularly large, but it made up for that in opulence. The walls and ceiling were made of white marble with silver running through it all, creating elegant patterns. A deep blue stone made up the floor—so shiny, you could almost see your reflection in it.

What truly made it extraordinary was that everything appeared to be one piece. There were no visible seams anywhere. No imperfections. We struggled to keep the wards operational while the Fae had probably created this gorgeous room in an afternoon with barely a thought. I wondered what they would think of this beautiful space they’d created being used by the descendants of humans. Maybe I could ask Erendriel someday .

The exhaustion and stress must have finally gotten to me because I laughed at the thought.

“Something funny?” a light, breathy voice asked.

A tall, slender, fair-haired Moroi female strode into the room, her light blonde hair falling down her back in a wave of curls and her blue gown flowing around her with each step. She took a seat on the throne made of the same blue stone as the floor that rested on top of a dais. The Moroi Queen always did love to make an entrance.

My breath caught in my throat when I spotted the silver crown that rested on her head.

She can’t use it on you, I reminded myself. Without the other half, anyone who belonged to one of the House bloodlines couldn’t be controlled by its magic. We could be driven insane until we became Strigoi, but that took time. So that was a tomorrow problem. Right now, I just needed to survive this encounter.

“It’s nothing, my queen,” I said lightly. “Just silly musings about the Fae. I find myself rather exhausted from the ride here, as you can probably tell from my appearance.”

She smiled at me, but it didn’t reach her golden brown eyes. I saw very little of Draven echoed in her.

“You are looking rather ragged,” Lucian said in a bored tone.

I glanced at the consort standing at the bottom of the dais. Despite being with Velika for almost three decades, she had never married him or allowed him to stand by her side. I’d never liked Lucian. He represented the worst side of the courtiers. Someone who thought their elevated status made them better than everyone beneath them . . . and enjoyed reminding them of that.

There were whispers of cruelty that had befallen the staff and lower-ranking courtiers, but I’d never been able to confirm anything for sure. Despite keeping Lucian in his place, Velika clearly favored him, and no one wanted to go against the queen.

Instead of responding to Lucian’s comment, I ignored him, and his mouth tightened at the dismissal. Velika’s lips twitched in amusement, and tension roiled in my gut. Considering how little I knew about this situation, I had no idea how to play this other than to continue pretending everything was normal. Or as normal as it could be when one was summoned to the Sovereign House by twenty armed guards.

“Why were you in the Velesian realm?” Velika asked. “Seems odd for you to leave your House unattended since Carmilla is here with me.”

The reminder that she had my aunt sent a chill down my spine. I’d been subtly looking around the room but hadn’t seen Carmilla’s face amongst those gathered.

“I’m working on arranging a larger trade of malachite with them, my queen,” I answered smoothly. “Several of our outposts have been dealing with increased attacks, and we may need to expand the wards that protect them.”

“Interesting.” She hummed. “That’s not what I heard.”

I sunk every ounce of will I had into forcing my heartbeat to remain steady as she raised her hand and flicked her fingers forward. Then my resolve broke when the guards dragged a bloody and beaten Draven into the room.

“No!” I cried and stepped forward, only for strong arms to yank me back against a hard chest.

“Don’t make a spectacle of yourself, Samara,” Demetri purred into my ear, and I went absolutely still. “Good girl.”

Then I twisted free and slashed my claws across his face before he could react.

“Fuck!” he screamed as blood streamed between the fingers he’d pressed against his cheek. Damn it. I’d been hoping to scratch his eyes out. I lunged towards Draven, but two guards rushed in and restrained me. No matter how much I struggled in their grasp, I couldn’t break free.

Demetri straightened, his hand falling away from his face to reveal three deep gouges. The bleeding had already slowed when he stalked towards me, eyes burning with fury. My head snapped to the side as he backhanded me hard, and I saw stars for a few seconds.

Then a growl rumbled throughout the room.

“Restrain him!” Velika ordered.

I raised my head despite the blinding pain shooting down the left side of my face to see the guards clamping thick, iron chains onto Draven’s wrists and attaching them to the nearby pillars. The chains forced him to stand, and the way his arms were pulling against them, I suspected they were all that was keeping him upright. One of his beautiful eyes was completely swollen shut, his face a mishmash of bruises and cuts, and the dark tunic he wore was nothing but blood-soaked rags at this point.

Nobody in the room moved to help him. They just looked at him with amusement or disgust. Sometimes both.

“What did they do to you?” I whispered in horror before turning my wrathful gaze to Velika. “He’s your fucking son!”

She shrugged one dainty shoulder. “Technically, this is your fault.”

“Bullshit.” I seethed. “You’re just a sick, twisted fuck with too much power.”

A fist slammed into my jaw, and I heard something crack. The guard who had punched me yanked me back when I leaned over and spat out a mouthful of blood. “Do not speak that way to our queen,” he warned.

“No.” Lucian grinned at me. “By all means, keep going. This is fun.”

“Just don’t damage her too much,” Demetri said mildly as a servant handed him a wet cloth so he could wipe the drying blood off his face. To my annoyance, the gouges I’d inflicted on him had already healed. “She is to be my wife again after all.”

“You’re fucking delusional.” I stared at him in disbelief.

“The two of you can fight about that later.” Velika rose from her throne and stepped down the dais to stand in front of me, Lucian moving to stand behind her like the obedient consort he was. “This”—she gestured at Draven, who looked like he was on the verge of passing out—“is your fault because you allowed him to drink from you. He has too much Harker blood in him right now for me to compel him to answer me.”

I deliberately kept my gaze on her face, refusing to look at the crown on her head.

“You can stop pretending.” She laughed. “I know you’re aware of what this crown is, and more importantly, what it does. Just like I know that you’re searching for the other half.” She reached forward and twirled a loose strand of my hair around her finger. “And I suspect you’ve found it.”

My face hurt from where I’d been hit, twice, but that didn’t stop me from raising my chin and spitting in her face. Her hand froze where it had been playing with my hair before moving it to slowly wipe away the blood-tinged saliva.

She pondered it, looking more curious than angry before glancing at Draven and then back at me. “Figures my son would fall in love with the only other Moroi in existence foolish enough to spit in my face.” Then her lips curved into a cruel smile. “Demetri was with the guards who captured him leaving the Velesian realm. He confirmed that my worthless son smelled of you. That he never broke while we ripped his body apart is only a testament to how much he loves you.”

Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them as I looked at Draven. His wounds weren’t healing—blood still leaked from all of his cuts, and the bruising looked even puffier than it had when he’d been dragged in here. I didn’t know if it was because his magic was taxed out or if something else was at work.

Where the fuck was Vail? There was no way he hadn’t heard the commotion in here. Had they done something to him? No. There was no way they could have hurt him quietly, and I hadn’t heard a fight. Maybe he was just biding his time?

I didn’t know what one person could do against all this, but I was desperate for anything at this point.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, my pet.” Velika wiped her hand on my clothing, drawing my attention back to her. “I’m going to bring some of your friends here, starting with that pretty blond courtier, or maybe the advisor with the pretty eyes. By the time they get here, your blood will be out of my son’s system.” She clapped her hands together excitedly. “And then I’m going to command him to inflict every bit of pain on them that we’ve done to him over the last two days. Now, for all his shortcomings, the prince is quite hardy, so they probably won’t make it the full two days.”

“Doubtful they’ll make it more than a day,” Demetri said, and Lucian laughed with him.

A bloody and broken version of Kieran flashed before my eyes, followed a second later by Alaric. I’d have liked to pretend that I would remain strong, that I wouldn’t give over the knowledge of where the crown was, and that I wouldn’t put Rynn and the rest of Lunaria in danger, but I would break. Even knowing that we were all damned regardless, I would break eventually.

“Ah.” Velika gripped my chin, and I stared hatefully into her beautiful face. “Now you get it. There is no one who can save you from this, so you best cooperate with me, and I’ll spare you some pain.” Her nails shifted to claws, and I felt them bite into my skin. “But trust me, there will be pain.”

Devastation and hopelessness threatened to break the strong front I was trying to present. I had no chance of fighting my way out of this. I was good at plotting, but Velika was better. She’d outmaneuvered me, and there was fuck all I could do about it now. The chains rattled again as Draven stirred enough to pull against them.

“I’m sorry.” I looked at him through tear-filled eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Lucian opened his mouth, likely to taunt me again, when the doors to the room slammed open and Carmilla stormed in with Vail following her.

Hope rallied inside me, followed immediately by confusion. I’d assumed Carmilla was being held prisoner and Vail restrained . . . but the rangers who had been guarding the door made no move to stop them. Instead, they followed after Carmilla and Vail at a respectable distance. What the fuck was going on?

“Carmilla.” Velika released my chin and shot my aunt an annoyed look when she stopped a short distance away from us, Vail standing just behind her, his eyes on the queen. “I thought we agreed I would handle this? You’re too sentimental.”

What?

Velika glanced back at me, and I realized I must have said that out loud. She frowned and returned her attention to Carmilla, her eyes drifting to Vail behind her and then to Demetri, who had casually strolled over to stand beside them. “What is the meaning of this?”

“I’m sorry, my friend.” Carmilla shook her head ruefully. “I’ve always stood by you, but I can’t any longer. You never should have bargained with the wraiths. I cannot abide by that.”

For a moment, Velika stood completely frozen, her mouth parted slightly as she stared at my aunt—her friend. Then she pursed her lips into a hard line. Fury fed by betrayal burned in her eyes as she stalked towards Carmilla. I tugged against the grip of the guards, but they held me firmly in place so all I could do was watch this unfold.

“You treacherous bitch!” Velika’s eyes sparked with rage as she stopped a foot away from my aunt. “All these fucking years of me helping you, and this is how you repay me?” She scoffed. “It doesn’t matter. All of the Sovereign House is bloodsworn to me. You have no power here, friend .” She bit out the last word.

I tried to catch Vail’s eyes, but he wouldn’t look at me. Instead, his gaze was fixed straight ahead . . . on Lucian.

“No.” Carmilla shook her head slowly. “Everyone in the Sovereign House is loyal to the crown . . . and the head upon which it rests.”

A gurgling sound came from in front of me, and I tore my gaze away from Carmilla to find Velika clutching at the sword protruding through her chest. Blood dribbled out of her lips as she gasped, and Lucian wrapped an arm around her like a lover before twisting the sword more as he yanked her back onto it.

The Moroi Queen’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor as blood pooled around her. I stared in stunned silence as Demetri strolled forward and took the sword from Lucian before swinging it down. The sound of metal slamming against the hard marble floor echoed across the room as Velika’s head rolled away.

Then Lucian knelt down, picked up the crown, and then walked over to Carmilla before kneeling in front of her and offering it up. “Your crown, my love.”