Troubled (The Binding Chronicles #4)

13. They were Darkness

They were Darkness

W hen the humans had dragged Marius out of the prison a few hours ago, he’d known it was the end.

Death had been creeping towards him since he woke yesterday with a fever. One moment, it felt like he was burning alive. The next, he was so cold, it was like his entire body was submerged in ice.

The girl who’d brought Marius’s food the first day never returned, and no one else came in her place. Not until a pair of sneering men appeared and dragged him out of the prison. He struggled, but the fever and lack of sustenance had weakened him so thoroughly that his punches and kicks didn’t make a difference.

The pair gagged him, tied him to the stake, and forced him to watch as they pulled Vivienne’s unconscious body out of a nearby well. Their cruelty towards his bodyguard and the words they’d thrown at her had been so vile, he’d known they would die that night.

As expected, the trial was a mockery of justice.

Marius tuned out the villagers, taking the time to make himself right with the gods. He prayed that Luna would come to terms with his death and that she wouldn’t blame herself for his demise. He was prepared to die with dignity when the shadows appeared near the stage.

Most people would be frightened by those dark wisps, but not him. Peace settled in his heart at the sight.

He lifted his head, his lips twitching upwards as his sister and her husband stepped out of the Void.

Time slowed as the royal vampires arrived… or perhaps, it was simply bowing to the power they held. The king and queen of Eleyta were darkness, and darkness was them. It was nearly impossible to tell where they ended and where the night began.

Silence blanketed the square.

More shadows appeared, and two more vampires came out of the Void. Victor and Phyrra, two of Sebastian’s spies, stood behind the royals.

And then, Sebastian roared . The sound was fury and power and death. It was infused with the strength of the night, a warning to all who heard it.

Bow before the king of the vampires.

Shivers ran down Marius’s spine at the sound, and he fought the urge to fall to his feet and beg the royals for his life.

Darkness swept out from the king and queen in a wave. Shadows coated the square, obliterating even the memory of light.

Chaos descended as time resumed its normal pace.

The villagers screamed.

Someone wept.

Another yelled.

Grunts.

A cry.

Marius could no longer see, but he felt someone tugging at his bindings. The sound of a blade slicing through rope reached his ears, and then, his gag was ripped off.

A cool hand clamped onto his arm.

“We have much to discuss, brother.” Luna’s voice was sharp, and his stomach twisted at the sound.

Usually, she spoke to him with kindness, care, and love. He couldn’t remember the last time she’d spoken to him in anger.

It only made the fury tinging her every word hurt that much worse.

The problem was that Marius wasn’t surprised by Luna’s ire. He deserved it. He hated that she was upset with him, but even more than that, he hated that she had to rescue him.

Helpless.

Once again, he was helpless. It was the worst feeling in the world. He couldn’t even stop a feral vampire on his own.

Why hadn’t he been born a Death or Earth Elf? At least then, he could’ve used his magic to defend himself. If that had been the case, he never would’ve ended up in this situation.

Instead, he was left with Fortune Elf magic that didn’t even work half the time.

Luna tugged on his arm, and he stumbled over something as he followed her through the darkness.

More evidence of his inadequacies.

He’d never imagined that his first adventure would end in such a horrible fashion. His throat thickened and his limbs felt heavy with shame. He’d trained for years and spent hours working on his magic, all to fail in such a spectacular fashion.

It had all been for nothing, and now, it was time to admit defeat.

“I’ve got her.” The king’s voice came from in front of them, notes of darkness permeating his every word. “Phyrra will deal with this. Let’s go, darling.”

The queen didn’t respond, but her grip on Marius’s arm tightened. He drew in a breath as the world swirled. The screaming villagers disappeared, and the air chilled. Silence enveloped them, and no one spoke. Marius wasn’t even sure he could come up with words right now.

The weight of his failure pressed him down, down, down.

He sensed the king’s presence behind him but couldn’t see him. The Void was empty of both light and life.

His stomach churned, protesting this awful form of travel.

You failed.

The words echoed through Marius’s mind on a loop until they were the only thing he could hear. They suffused his mind, body, and soul.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed before the shadows slipped away and they stepped out of the Void.

Familiar, cold stone was beneath his feet. The darkness was replaced by glowing violet orbs. Frigid air poured through cracks in the walls, the wind howled, and two matching black thrones stood in the place of honor upon a dais.

As soon as Marius straightened, Luna let go of his hand. She retracted her wings and stepped away, her gaze never leaving his.

For the first time that night, Marius got a good look at his sister.

Instead of the gowns she usually wore, she was dressed in midnight fighting leathers. They hugged her form, her brown hair falling in gentle waves, framing her face.

Her black crown rested on her brow, her cheekbones were stark, and her eyes…

Marius sucked in a breath and stumbled back.

An ocean of pain filled his sister’s black eyes.

He’d done that. Hurt her.

Holding his gaze, she didn’t conceal her anguish. She let him see everything, and by the gods, a knife to the heart would’ve hurt less.

He couldn’t bear it for long. After a few seconds, like a coward, he turned his head and studied his brother-in-law .

Like his wife, the king had donned fighting leathers. His wings were still out, shadows curled around his legs, and darkness emanated from him.

He, too, was staring at Marius.

Unlike the queen’s pain-filled gaze, Sebastian’s obsidian eyes were brimming with fury.

The king wasn’t alone. His fist was clenched around the back of Vivienne’s neck, and he held her like she was a rag doll, not a powerful creature of the night. Shadows bound her hands together in front of her, and she hung limply at the king’s side, her feet dragging on the floor. The only sign that she was alive was the single tear trailing down her pale, dirt-stained cheek.

Sebastian strode forward. Each step radiated with rage, reverberating through the empty throne room and echoing the too-loud beat of Marius’s heart.

When the king was a few feet away from Marius, he released his grip on Vivienne’s neck. She grunted, falling to the stone floor in a heap.

Marius’s heart ached.

The strong vampire who’d pinned Marius to the ground in Hoarfrost Hollow was nowhere to be seen. The black collar was still clamped around her neck, a gag was wrapped around her mouth, and fear shimmered in her black eyes.

He went to step toward his bodyguard, but the king barked, “Don’t!”

The command was laced with power and darkness, and it boomed through the throne room, freezing Marius in his tracks. He wasn’t a vampire, but the power in his brother-in-law’s veins would make anyone quake in fear.

Even though it pained him to do so, Marius dragged his gaze from Vivienne back to the king .

His head spun at the sight in front of him.

Luna had moved, and she stood behind her husband. Her wide, once-brown-but-now-black eyes were trained on Marius. A crimson tear trailed down her cheek. Her hand was engulfed in the king’s, who stood rigidly in front of her.

Protecting her.

From him.

The king’s stance was wide, shadows swarmed around him like snakes, and he had a wing curled protectively around Luna.

It was the anger rippling off the king in waves that had Marius’s breath catching in his throat. The air was thick, and breathing was practically impossible.

This was the first time Marius had ever been the subject of the king’s wrath, and it wasn’t an experience he would wish on anyone. To say that it was frightening would be a disservice to fear itself.

Now , he understood why Sebastian was called the King of Darkness. It wasn’t just because of his command over the shadows or the blackness of his gaze.

He was darkness brought to life.

And then, there was Luna.

If Sebastian Montquartier, King of the Vampires, embodied the night itself, his wife was pure, unadulterated power. It radiated off her where she stood, permeating the air. She was a queen in every sense of the word.

The king’s furious gaze was unwavering, and every part of Marius urged him to kneel before such power.

He did exactly that, shifting to his knees even as his weakened body protested the movements. Bowing his head, he dropped his gaze to the stone floor.

Death was in this room.

Could Vivienne feel it from her position a few feet from him?

Seconds ticked by, each one agonizingly longer than the last. Minutes passed before footsteps echoed through the throne room.

Marius didn’t look up.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” The king spoke slowly, enunciating each word with deadly precision. Every syllable boomed.

Marius swallowed and wiped sweaty palms across his thighs. He’d never felt more like a child in the king’s presence than he did at that moment. “I?—”

“You will not speak yet.” Sebastian’s voice rippled with power, and Marius clamped his mouth shut.

Luna softly said, “Sebastian, maybe?—”

“No, love.” The king’s voice was stern, and shadows swept across the stones. “He needs to understand what his leaving did to you.”

Marius flinched at the reminder that he’d hurt his sister. He lifted his chin, meeting the queen’s gaze.

“Lulu, I’m so sorry.” The words were inadequate, but he couldn’t keep them inside, even though they disobeyed the king’s command. “I just wanted to stop the First. I didn’t think?—”

“No, you didn’t. That much is abundantly clear.” The king snarled, and the sound was a predator’s last warning to its prey. “We aren’t discussing the First right now. That can wait. Right now, we’re talking about you .”

Marius’s shoulders came together, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

The king’s wings flared. “Your sister has done everything for you. She went to tremendous lengths to save you all those years ago. Everyone else thought you’d die from the Wasting Illness. And this is how you repay her?”

Marius’s head pounded, and he gripped the stones beneath him, refusing to give into his body’s urge to sway from hunger and weakness. At least now that he was out of the cold, his cough didn’t seem as bad as earlier. The silver lining was minuscule, and it did little to help his mood.

Nothing could.

The king was right. Luna had saved his life and taken him in, and he’d thrown that back in her face. And for what?

Failure .

There weren’t enough apologies in the world that could adequately convey how deeply sorry he was. No words that could repair the damage he’d done.

But he had to try—for Luna.

“I was trying to help.” Marius met the king’s furious gaze and somehow managed not to flinch. “I thought if I did this… if I came back victorious, you’d let me have the adventures I’ve always dreamed of.”

It sounded so stupid now. So reckless and idiotic, just like Vivienne had said. And he had nothing to show for his efforts.

He’d failed spectacularly, and his chance to experience the world outside these frigid stone walls, purple lights, and constant surveillance had slipped through his fingers.

“Your sister wept.” The three words, whispered by Sebastian, slammed into Marius like thousand-ton bricks. “My wife was in agony because of you.”

Marius dragged his gaze to Luna, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Even now, the remnants of pain, grief, and sorrow were etched onto her face.

He’d done that.

“She sobbed for days because of your foolish decision.” Sebastian balled his fists, shadows flitting through his eyes. “Did you even think about the pain that your disappearance would cause? You’re her only remaining family, and you left her. ”

The king wielded his words like knives, twisting them deeper and deeper into Marius’s heart.

Sebastian seethed, “You abandoned her without so much as a word.”

“I left a note,” Marius said weakly.

It wasn’t enough, though. He knew that. How could he ever have thought it would be enough?

The king snarled, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a crumpled parchment. “This? You thought this would be enough?”

He threw the paper at Marius’s feet.

Marius stared at the note. Gods, how had everything turned out so badly?

“I was wrong,” he admitted, his voice breaking as a cough crawled up his throat. “I should have spoken to you both. I just… I didn’t think you’d let me go.”

“And you were right.” The king’s ire was as sharp as any sword. “In leaving, you hurt my wife. She was in agonizing, soul-deep pain as we flew over Ithenmyr and Eleyta, searching for you.”

“I’m sorry.” He would apologize a thousand times over if necessary.

Shadows streamed from the king’s hands, blotting out the violet lights. The air thickened, and seconds that felt like hours passed.

“Do you know what I do to people who hurt my wife?” Sebastian asked. His voice was soft, but he might as well have screamed the question.

Was that a real question? Did he actually want Marius to answer? Of course, he knew what the king did to people who harmed Luna.

Marius had been a child when the last queen died, but he’d heard rumors of Sebastian’s fury. He’d heard about the way the then-prince had dealt with the People of the Night, how he ripped through the cult members as though they were made of paper and dispatched their leader before he Made Luna and saved her life .

Sebastian Montquartier was the King of Darkness, and his kindness only extended to Marius because of his relationship with Luna.

He couldn’t seriously be asking Marius to vocalize that, could he?

Long, excruciating minutes went by, where the only sound was Marius’s ragged breaths. The three vampires were statues. Vivienne’s forehead was pressed against the stone, and both royals were staring at Marius.

It took him far too long to realize the question wasn’t rhetorical.

His heart thundered as he sucked in a breath and whispered, “You kill them.”

His words echoed through the throne room, as loud as any clap of thunder. Marius’s palms grew slick. Up until that moment, he hadn’t actually believed the king would physically punish him for leaving.

Be upset, yes. Kill him? No.

Now, he was coming to the horrific realization that he might’ve been wrong. Maybe this would be the end.

Marius should probably be horrified by that, but he couldn’t help but think that death might be better than returning to life the way it had been. He’d been little more than a prisoner, unable to truly live.

“Wrong,” the king growled. “I kill people who hurt me . Those who harm my wife do not deserve a quick end. I ensure they feel every ounce of pain they inflicted upon my beloved a hundred times over before finally allowing them to feel death’s cold embrace.”

Goosebumps peppered Marius’s flesh. The king was serious.

His gaze swung from Sebastian to Luna. Crimson tracked down the queen’s cheeks, and she appeared to be holding back sobs as she remained by her husband’s side.

“You should die for this,” Sebastian proclaimed.

Luna sucked in a sharp breath, and she grabbed her husband’s arm .

“But for her,”—the king looked fondly at his wife, as if she was the center of his universe—“I will spare you. For her, I will let you live.”

Marius’s shoulders loosened, and he dipped his head, pressing his forehead against the floor in a mirror of Vivienne’s position. “Thank you, my king.”

“Don’t thank me,” Sebastian practically snarled. “I’m not doing this for you, but for her. I know what it’s like to be alone, and I would never wish that on my beloved. You, I’ll let live. But her…”

The king strode towards Vivienne, and his voice dropped an octave. “She failed me.”