From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash Series Book 1)

“Rylan!” I rushed to his side, throwing an arm around him as his legs crumpled. His weight was too much, and when he fell, I went down with him, my knees cracking as they hit the pathway. The impact didn’t register as I pressed my hands around Rylan’s wound, trying to stanch the flow of blood. I opened my senses to him, expecting to feel pain. “Rylan—”

Whatever words I was about to say died on my tongue, tasting of ash.

I…I felt nothing, and that wasn’t right. He’d have to be in so much pain, and I could help that. I could take his pain, but I felt nothing, and when I looked at his face, I didn’t want to see what I saw. His eyes were open, gaze fixed yet unseeing on the sky above. I shook my head, but under my hands, his chest didn’t move.

“No,” I whispered, blood turning to ice and slush. “Rylan!”

There was no answer, no response. Underneath him, a pool of blood spread across the walkway, seeping into the symbols etched into the stone. A circle with an arrow piercing the center. Infinity. Power. The Royal Crest. I pressed down on his chest, my trembling hands soaked with blood, refusing to believe—

A footstep echoed like thunder behind me.

I twisted at the waist. A man stood a few feet from me, a bow at his side. A hooded cloak shielded his face.

“You’re going to do as I say, Maiden,” the man spoke in a voice that sounded like churning gravel. “And then, no one will be hurt.”

“No one?” I gasped.

“Well, no one else will be hurt,” he amended.

I stared up at the man, and…and Rylan’s chest still didn’t move under my palms. In the back of my mind, I knew it would never rise again. He’d been dead before he even hit the ground. He was gone.

Pain, so sharp and so real, cut through me. Something hot hit my veins and poured into my chest, filling up the empty space. My hands stopped trembling. The grip of panic and shock lessened, replaced by rage.

“Stand,” he ordered.

I rose carefully, aware of how my gown, tacky with Rylan’s blood, stuck to the knees of my thin leggings underneath. My heart slowed as my hand slipped into the slit along the gown’s side. Was this the same person who’d killed Malessa? If so, he was an Atlantian, and I’d have to be quick if I had any hope.

“We’re going to walk out of here,” he said. “You’re not going to make a sound, and you’re not going to give me any trouble, are you, Maiden?”

My fingers closed around the smooth, cool handle of the dagger. I shook my head no.

“Good.” He took a step toward me. “I don’t want to have to hurt you, but if you give me any reason, I will not hesitate.”

I remained completely still, the heat of my fury building in me, brimming to the surface. Rylan had died because of me. That was his duty as my personal guard, but he was dead because this man thought he could take me. Malessa had possibly been assaulted and then murdered, and for what?

If he was an Atlantian or a Descenter, he wouldn’t use me for ransom. I’d be used to send a message, just like the three Ascended who had been kidnapped from Three Rivers. They were returned in pieces.

At the moment, I didn’t care what the man’s agenda was. All that mattered was that he’d killed Rylan, who found the night-blooming roses just as beautiful as I did. And he might’ve been the one to kill Malessa, leaving her body on display in such a careless, disrespectful way.

“This is good,” he cajoled. “You’re behaving. That’s smart of you. Keep being smart, and this will be painless for you.” He reached for me—

Unsheathing the dagger, I shot forward, dipping under his arm.

“What the—?”

 I sprung up behind him, fisting the back of the man’s cloak. I thrust the dagger into his back, aiming where Vikter had taught me.

The heart.

Even caught off guard, he was quick, lurching to the side, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the dagger altogether. Hot blood gushed as the blade sank deep into his side, missing his heart by mere centimeters.

He yelped in pain, the sound reminding me of a dog. Jerking the dagger out, a vastly different sound tore from his throat. A rumbling growl that raised the tiny hairs on my body and kicked my instinct into overdrive.

That was such an…inhuman sound.

My grip on the dagger tightened as I moved to shove it deep into his back once more. He swung around, and I didn’t see his fist until pain exploded along my jaw and at the corner of my mouth, affecting my aim. I tasted something metallic. Blood. The dagger sliced into his side, cutting deep, but not deep enough.

“Bitch,” he grunted, slamming his fist into the side of my head this time.

The blow was sudden, stunning. Staggering back, lights danced across my eyes as the corners of my vision turned dark. I almost went down, managing to stay on my feet by sheer will alone. If I fell, I knew I wasn’t getting back up. Vikter had also taught me that.

Blinking rapidly, I tried to clear the lights from my vision as the man whirled on me. The hood of his cloak had fallen back. He was young, probably only a handful of years older than I, and his dark hair was shaggy. He pressed his hand to his side. Blood seeped out between his fingers. It was coming out of him fast. I must’ve hit something vital.

Good.

His lips peeled back in a feral snarl as his gaze lifted to mine. Even in the moonlight, I could see his eyes. They were the color of frosted water. A pale, luminous blue.

“You will pay for that,” he growled, voice even more abrasive, as if his throat were filling with pebbles.

I braced myself, instinct telling me that if I ran, he would give chase like any predator would. And if I got close again, my aim had better not be off. “Take one more step toward me, and I won’t miss your heart a third time.”

He laughed, and a chill swept through me. It sounded too deep, too changed. “I’m going to enjoy tearing your skin off your weak, fragile bones. I don’t care what he has planned for you. I will bathe in your blood and feast on your entrails.”

Fear threatened to take root, but I couldn’t cave to it. “That sounds delightful.”

“Oh, it will be.” He smiled then, teeth smeared with blood, and he took a step toward me. “Your screams—”

A sharp, piercing whistle came from somewhere deep in the trees, silencing him. He stopped, his nostrils flaring. The sound came again, and he seemed to vibrate with rage. The skin around his mouth went white as he took a step back.

My grip was steady on the dagger, but a tremor started in my legs as I watched him, refusing to blink.

He picked up the fallen bow, wincing as he straightened. His gaze met mine once more. “I’ll be seeing you again real soon.”

“Can’t wait,” I gritted out.

He smirked. “I promise I’ll make damn sure that smart mouth of yours is rewarded.”

I doubted it was the kind of reward I’d be eager to receive.

Backing up until he was beyond the roses, he spun around and loped off, quickly disappearing in the heavy shadows that gathered under the trees. I stayed where I stood, breaths coming out in short, quick bursts, ready in case this was some trick where he waited for me to turn my back. I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, but the tremors had spread to my hand by the time I realized that he wasn’t coming back.

Slowly, I lowered the dagger, my gaze snagging on the spattering of blood where he’d stood. Another short breath left me as I lifted my gaze to the roses. Drops of blood glimmered on the onyx-hued petals.

A shudder racked me from head to toe.

I forced my body to turn around.

Rylan remained where he’d fallen, arms lax at his sides and eyes dull. I opened my mouth to speak, but there were no words, and I had no idea what I would’ve said anyway.

I looked down at my dagger, and I felt a scream building in my throat, clawing at me.

Get it together. Get it together.

I had to find someone to help Rylan. He shouldn’t lay out here like this, and they couldn’t see me with a bloodied dagger. They couldn’t know that I’d fought the attacker off. My lips trembled as I pressed them together.

Get it together.

Then, like a switch had been thrown, the shaking stopped, and my heart slowed. I still couldn’t take in a deep enough breath, but I walked forward, dipping down and wiping the blade on Rylan’s breeches. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my actions causing guilt to make my skin crawl, but it had to be done. Head and face throbbing, I sheathed the dagger. “I’m going to get someone for you.”

There was no answer. There never would be.

I started walking the path without realizing what I was doing. A numbness had invaded my body, seeping in through my pores and settling in my muscles. The lights from the castle windows guided me forward as I edged around the water fountain, coming to a sudden stop. Footsteps sounded ahead of me. My hand slipped to the dagger, fingers curled around—

“Maiden? We heard shouting,” a voice called out. It was a Royal Guard who’d often kept watch over the Ladies and Lords in Wait. His eyes widened upon seeing me. “Is that—good gods, what happened to you?”

I went to answer, but I couldn’t get my tongue to form words. Another guard cursed, and then there was a taller form with golden hair brushing past the two guards, his weathered face stoic. Vikter. His gaze swept over me, lingering on my knees and hands, and then the unveiled part of my face.

“Are you hurt?” He grasped my shoulders, his grip gentle, and his voice even more so. “Poppy, are you injured?”

“It’s Rylan. He’s…” I stared up at Vikter, suddenly stopping as what Hawke had said about death surfacing without warning. It was something I’d already known, but it still managed to shock me.

Death is like an old friend who pays a visit, sometimes when it’s least expected and other times when you’re waiting for her.

Death had indeed paid an unexpected visit.

“How did this happen?” Duchess Teerman demanded. The jeweled flower securing her brown hair glittered under the chandelier as she paced the room usually reserved for greeting guests. “How did someone get into the garden and come that close to taking her?”

Probably the same way someone got into the castle and killed the Lady in Wait the day before.

“The others are scouting the inner wall as we speak,” Vikter said instead. He stood behind where I sat perched on the edge of the velvet settee, half afraid that I would get blood on the golden cushions. “But I imagine the culprit came through the section that has been damaged by the jacaranda trees.”

The very same section Vikter and I used to leave the castle grounds unnoticed.

The Duchess’s dark eyes flashed with anger. “I want them all torn down,” she ordered.

I gasped.

“Sorry, my lady,” the Healer murmured, dabbing a damp cloth under my lip and then handing the material to Tawny, who provided him with a clean one. She’d been summoned as soon as I’d been placed in the sitting room.

“It’s fine,” I assured the silver-haired man. What had caused the reaction wasn’t what the Healer had been doing. Granted, the astringent stung, but it was what Duchess Teerman had demanded. “Those trees have been here for hundreds of years—

“And they have lived a long, healthy life.” The Duchess turned to me. “You have not, Penellaphe.” She strode toward me, the skirt of her crimson gown gathering around her ankles, reminding me of the blood that had pooled around Rylan. I wanted to pull away but didn’t wish to cause offense. “If this man had not been scared off, he would’ve taken you, and the last thing you would’ve been worried about is those trees.”

She had a point there.

Only Vikter knew what had happened—that I had managed to wound the man before he’d been signaled off. While the details couldn’t be shared because we’d run the risk of exposure, Vikter would notify the Healers in the city to keep an eye out for anyone wounded in such a manner.

But the trees…

They may have caused the deterioration of the wall, but it had been like that for as long as I could remember. There was no doubt in my mind that the Duke and Duchess knew about the wall and simply hadn’t ordered it repaired.

“How badly is she injured?” she asked the Healer.

“Superficial wounds, Your Grace. She’ll have a few bruises and some discomfort, but nothing lasting.” The old Healer’s long, dark coat hung from his stooped shoulders as he rose on stiff, creaking joints. “You’re incredibly lucky, young Maiden.”

I wasn’t lucky.

I had been prepared.

And that was why I sat here only with an aching temple and a sore lip. But I nodded. “Thank you for your assistance.”

“Can you give her something for the pain?” the Duchess asked.

“Yes. Of course.” He shuffled over to where his leather satchel sat on a small table. “I have the perfect thing.” Rooting around until he found what he was looking for, he revealed a vial of pinkish-white powder. “This will help with any pain but will also make her drowsy. It has a wee bit of a sedating effect.”

I had absolutely no intention of taking whatever was in that vial, but it was handed over to Tawny, who slipped it into the pocket of her gown.

Once the Healer had left, the Duchess turned to where I still sat. “Let me see your face.”

Exhaling wearily, I reached for the chains, but Tawny moved to my side. “Allow me,” she murmured.

I started to stop her, but my gaze caught on my hands. They’d been wiped as soon as I was placed in the sitting room, but blood had made its way under my nails, and flakes of it still dotted my fingers.

Was Rylan’s body still in the courtyard by the roses?

Malessa’s body had been in that room for hours and then removed. I wondered if she had been returned to her family, or if her body had been burned out of precaution.

Tawny unhooked the veil, carefully removing it so it didn’t tangle in the strands of hair that had escaped the knot I’d gathered it into that morning.

Duchess Teerman knelt before me, her cool fingers grazing the skin around my lips and then my right temple. “What were you doing out in the garden?”

“I was looking at the roses. I do so nearly every night.” I glanced up. “Rylan always goes with me. He didn’t—” I cleared my throat. “He didn’t even see the attacker. The arrow struck him in the chest before he was even aware that anyone was there.”

Her bottomless eyes searched mine. “It sounds like he wasn’t as alert as he should have been. He never should’ve been caught off guard.”

“Rylan was very skilled,” I said. “The man was hidden—”

“Your guard was so skilled that he was felled by an arrow?” she asked softly. “Was this man part ghost that he made no sound? Gave no warning?”

My back stiffened as I thought of the sound the man had made and how it hadn’t resembled anything human. “Rylan was alert, Your Grace—”

“What have I told you?” Her delicately arched brows lifted.

Struggling for patience, I took a shallow breath. “Rylan was alert, Jacinda,” I amended, using her first name. She sporadically required this, and I never knew when she would want me to use the name or not. “The man…he was quiet, and Rylan—”

“Was unprepared,” Vikter finished for me.

My head cranked around so fast it sent a flare of pain across my temple. Disbelief seized me.

Vikter’s blue eyes met mine. “He enjoyed your evening strolls in the garden. He never thought there would be a threat, and unfortunately, became too complacent. Last night should’ve changed that.”

Last night had changed that. Rylan had been scanning the grounds constantly. My shoulders slumped, and then my brain switched gears. Ian. “Please don’t say anything to my brother.” My gaze swung between the Duchess and Vikter. “I don’t want him to worry, and he will even though I’m fine.”

“I will need to inform the Queen of what has happened, Penellaphe. You know this,” she replied. “And I cannot control who she tells. If she feels Ian needs to know, she will tell him.”

I sank further into myself.

Her cool fingertips touched my cheek, my left one. I turned back to her. “Do you understand how important you are, Penellaphe? You are the Maiden. You were Chosen by the gods. Ascensions of hundreds of Ladies and Lords in Wait, all across the kingdom, are all tied to yours. It will be the largest Ascension since the first Blessing. Rylan and all the Royal Guards know what is at stake if something were to happen to you.”

 I liked the Duchess. She was kind, nothing like her husband, and for a tiny moment there, I thought she was actually worried about me as a person, but it was what I signified that concerned her the most. What would be lost if something were to happen to me. It wasn’t just my life, but the future of hundreds of those who were about to Ascend.

The worst part was the twinge of sadness when I should’ve known better.

“If the Descenters were to somehow stop that Ascension, it would be their greatest triumph.” She rose, smoothing her hands over her gown. “It would be such a cruel strike against our Queen and King and the gods.”

“You…you think he was a Descenter, then?” Tawny asked. “That he wasn’t trying to take her for ransom?”

“The arrow used on Rylan was marked,” Vikter answered. “It carried the Dark One’s promise.”

His promise.

Air lodged in my throat as my gaze swung to Tawny’s. I knew what that meant.

From Blood and Ash

We Shall Rise.

It was his promise to his people and his supporters, to those scattered across the kingdom, that they would rise once more. A promise that had been scrawled across vandalized storefronts in every city and had been carved into the stone shell of what had remained of Goldcrest Manor.

“I must be blunt with you,” the Duchess said, glancing toward Tawny. “And I trust that what I’m about to say won’t become whispers on the lips of others.”

“Of course,” Tawny promised as I nodded.

“There is…reason to believe that the assailant from last night was an Atlantian,” she said, and Tawny sucked in a sharp breath. I had no reaction to the news since Vikter and I had already suspected as much. “It’s not news we want spread widely. The kind of panic that could cause…well, it would do none of us any favors.”

I glanced at Vikter and found him watching the Duchess closely. “You think that was who came for me tonight? The same man responsible for Malessa’s death?”

“I cannot say if it was the same man, but we do believe the one responsible for the disgraceful treatment of our Lady in Wait was a part of a group that visited yesterday,” she explained, walking toward the credenza along the back wall. She poured herself a clear drink from the glass decanter. “After the castle was checked for any persons who didn’t belong, we believed that the perpetrator had left, and that the act was to show how easy it was for them to gain access. We believed that the immediate threat had passed.”

She took a sip of her drink, her lips twitching as she swallowed. “Obviously, we were wrong. They may no longer be in the castle, but they are in the city.” She faced me, her already alabaster skin even paler. “The Dark One has come for you, Penellaphe.”

I shuddered as my heart skipped a beat.

“We will protect you,” she continued. “But I would not be surprised if once the King and Queen learn of what has happened, they take drastic steps to ensure your safety. They could summon you to the capital.”