Someone thrust a drink into Daniel’s hand when he passed and slapped him on the back as they greeted him. He took a sip of the hard liquor. It made his eyes water and his throat burn, but it hit the spot. He watched his sister settle onto a chair and hold herself as if it pained her to move even a centimeter.
He’d almost hoped there would be some way to save her if Braith remained dead, but as he watched her now, he realized it was more than the humans around her that had her so on edge. She was in pain, and it was a pain so deep it had become physical as well as emotional.
***
Aria
Aria held herself stiffly in the chair to face the person who had said her name. Won’t break. Won’t break. She kept telling herself this, but her body felt as if it would fracture and fall apart at any second. Seeing Sabine, or whoever the hell she was, earlier in the forest had rattled the walls she’d worked so carefully to craft this past week.
It didn’t help that she hadn’t expected all of these humans to arrive while she was gone. Their hearts thumped and their pulses raced as drinks were passed around the room and Daniel explained to the group what they’d seen in the forest with Sabine and her followers.
“How can we ever expect to withstand so many?” a man inquired. “We will surprise them, yes, but that surprise won’t last long.”
“They’ll be focused on the palace,” Aria forced herself to say. She had to respond, had to be normal and in control. They were wavering; they needed a leader. Rising to her feet, she kept her head held high and her glasses in place, as she turned to face the room. “They’ll have their backs to us when we attack them. When they turn to come at us, they’ll make themselves vulnerable to the palace guards and they will panic. The surprise won’t last long, but we can drastically cull their numbers before they get over their panic, and by then, it will be too late.”
Aria paced over to stand in the doorway leading out and turned to face them with her hands clasped behind her back. She couldn’t allow them to see that her clenched fingers wouldn’t open.
“She is arrogant,” Aria said. “So arrogant she has her followers dressed in brown cloaks now, to blend in, while she strolls about in a vivid red one. It marks her for all to see because she believes there are none who can beat her. The mad king, Atticus, believed the same thing, yet he is no more. This threat will be met the same way as we met him, and she will be taken down with the same ruthlessness, because she has underestimated her enemies.”
“And the king, when will he be joining us?” a woman asked, and Aria somehow managed to keep herself from flinching as if she’d been slapped. A fresh knife drove through her heart and twisted there at the reminder of Braith.
“When he is able to,” Aria managed to get out.
“Will it be before we approach the palace?” another asked.
Daniel stepped forward. “We will be leaving soon to carry word back to the king about the advancements we have made in gathering troops. We will have a better idea of what will happen then.”
Aria cast him a grateful look; she’d had no other answer for them. Technically, Jack was the king now, so Daniel hadn’t lied to them. If Braith wasn’t awake by the time they returned to tell Jack about what was going on, Jack would have to leave him in the cave. She may be the queen, but a member of the royal family had to be there when this fight started. One who could assume the rightful role of king if they defeated their enemy and Braith didn’t rise, because she wouldn’t be here to do it.
She fought the urge to rub at her temples in frustration. It could be construed as a sign of weakness or stress. Right now, she couldn’t afford the smallest chink in her armor to show through. Not when they were asking these humans to follow her into battle, to lay down their lives. Everything they’d worked for would vanish like dust in the wind if she did.
Murmurs ran through the crowded room. “We can defeat her,” Aria said loud enough for her voice to carry over theirs. “We will defeat her. I will not let my father’s death be in vain—” or Braith’s “—and I will not allow us to be returned to a time when humans lived in fear and violence was an everyday way of life. William and I may be vampires now, but we have never forgotten our roots, nor will we ever forget them, and we will fight for every one of your lives. I will die to give your children the better lives they deserve.”
The crowd nodded excitedly as they talked eagerly with one another. They were going to touch her again; she knew it before the first woman stepped forward to approach her. Xavier made a move to block the woman from coming closer. Aria subtly waved him away before she forced her hands out from behind her back to take hold of the woman’s hands.
Won’t break. Won’t break. Then why did she feel as if she would shatter into a million pieces right now?