Orion blinked and I could feel something seeping from his pores as a darkness wafted over my skin. “Ours,” he rasped.
For a moment, relief poured through me. “Yes,” I agreed. “She’s ours, and we need to get her back.” I took a deep breath and fixed him with a look. “Don’t make me do it alone. I need you.” I knew he cared for her as I did. There was no one else I would want at my back than my throne brothers.
“You are not going alone,” Sorrel said as he stepped up alongside Orion and me. His cool, icy gaze traveled over us both. “I’m coming as well.”
Orion didn’t look at him, not even when I took my hands back and released him from the wall. The three of us stood in a semi circle and there was a jagged piece of us missing—a piece I hadn’t realized was so important until that moment. Her. She was everything. And perhaps I’d just been claiming her as my fiancée and future Crimson Princess to protect her in the hostile frozen Court of Sorrell’s ancestors, but the truth was, I expected to marry her. I wanted her. They wanted her.
And there was nothing that would stop us from taking her back.
I dragged in a lungful of air. “We must speak to the Queens,” I said.
Sorrell and Orion both nodded, and together we turned and moved towards the throne room.
We stopped just inside the entryway and my eyes widened at what I saw. The Frost and Crimson Queens sat, side by side, entertaining their guests from their thrones, seemingly unconcerned, or perhaps unaware, of what had occurred at the Run of the Gods. It didn’t take long, however, for them to notice our presence.
“Roan,” my mother bid me, lifting her hand towards me as she beckoned me to her side. “Is the Run over already?” Her lips tilted up into a half smirk and already, I sensed her thoughts. She likely believed that our early arrival must have meant that I’d called off the engagement. That assumption was far from the truth.
“There has been a breach in our security,” I stated, not moving from my spot. Orion and Sorrell remained vigil at my sides. “Cress has been taken by Tyr into the human realm. He’s working with the humans.”
Gasps echoed up from those present in the room. Sorrell’s mother jerked her head towards me, her cold blue eyes narrowing. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.
“It’s exactly as he said,” Sorrell answered. “Cress has been kidnapped. We are leaving at once for our Court and we will be going after her.”
“All three of you?” my mother demanded.
“Yes,” Orion replied.
There was a moment of silent shock from both of them and before either could think to order us to stay, we turned as one and left. Orion went one way and Sorrell another. We didn’t have to speak to know our plans. Each of us would pack our belongings and leave by horse within the hour. There would be no sleep or stops along the way. We had to make it back to our Court with all haste.
I arrived at my chambers and was already beginning to pack when the door was unceremoniously flung open and the Crimson Queen came storming in.
“This is an absolute outrage,” she snarled as she approached. “How dare you come into my throne room and disrespect me by leaving without my leave—”
I turned and pinned her with a look. “It is not your throne,” I reminded her, my voice sharp with cruelty. “You chose to remain in Alfheim, and therefore, you hold a seat in that throne room, but make no mistake. This is not your Court, mother,” I said. “You no longer have one.”
She gasps. “I am your mother,” she said, shocked. “How dare you treat me this way? I demand that you stay here and apologize.”
I snorted, shoving another item of clothing into the bag in my hand. “You cannot stop my leaving,” I replied. “I will find my fiancée, and as soon as I have her in my arms once more, I will make sure that she is protected.”
The woman before me rolled her eyes. “That child does not deserve this level of loyalty, Son,” she replied. “If anything, this only proves that you should marry Ariana. It’s clear that your Changeling was likely having an affair with Tyr. You know how humans are, easily seduced by—”
A snarl worked its way up my throat and I dropped the bag in my hand, turning on her so abruptly that she stumbled back a step. “She is not a human!” I yelled. “We are leaving. We will find her. And when I do, I will marry her and make her the next Crimson Queen once I have come of age. I may be a Prince now, but make no mistake—unless you plan to kill me—there will come a time when my power far outweighs your own.”
"You would defy your mother, your Queen?"
"Without hesitation. No one takes what is mine and lives to tell about it. I will have her back and have Tyr's head on a spike."
"You wish to start a war between the Court of Crimson and the Court of Midnight? Fine. But do not expect any assistance from me or Adorra.”
“I never have,” I snapped, returning to my task.
“The Court of Midnight is dangerous,” she continued as though I hadn’t spoken. Try as I might to ignore her words, they pierced into my mind as she hurled them at me. “They will tear you apart as they do their own young!” she exclaimed. “And you would go willingly into the battle for a girl with no wealth or status or talent. You have lost your mind.”
The door to my chambers opened and Sorrell and Orion both stood there. Their packs rested against their shoulders as they looked into the room and spotted us. They must have heard her proclamations because, without hesitation, Orion stepped inside and fixed her with a look.
"We will tear my brother apart," Orion said, a dark sinister aura coating his skin like smoke as it twined around his hands and up his arms. His eyes practically glittered with the Midnight danger my mother spoke of.
In typical fashion, my mother ignored him and addressed me instead. "Is she really worth all of this? What is she other than the byproduct of a forgotten line? There is nothing special about her, no good breeding, no family to speak of, no money, no power. She's just a momentary entertainment. Now she's gone, probably run away with Tyr, and you should let her go. Please, for the love of the Gods, marry Ariana; she has everything that your Changeling lacked, plus she is an excellent example of how Fae women should behave, unlike that child you brought before us who talked back to her queens."
"She is not a child, that I can guarantee,” I said coldly, lifting my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. “And while she may not be the typical Fae noble, to us she's better, she's honest, and not trying to use us for her own gain. She's stronger and more special than you think, and that's exactly why we are going to get her back. Ariana has no place in the Court of Crimson. As of this day, she has been exiled. She will remain here in the Court of Frost and if you refuse to house her, you may cast her out, but she will never be welcome in my Court again.”
Sparks lit the ends of my mother’s hair as she scowled at me. "You are a fool,” she snapped. “You would leave The Court of Crimson open to a human attack if you leave to follow that girl.”
“That is no longer any of your concern,” I said, shouldering past her as I made my way to my brothers. “We can handle our Court ourselves.”