He raised a hand and clenched his fist, strengthening his magic’s crushing hold on me so that I dropped right to my face. Albus snarled at him, stalking forward a few strides to place himself between the king and me. That’s when someone else stepped out of the line of men, raising a crossbow at Albus.
“Back off, Albus,” the soldier warned.
“Silas,” I pleaded from my paralyzed spot on the ground. “You’re making a mistake.” Albus snarled again, but Silas ignored me and just stood there, holding the aim of his crossbow steady. And I knew if Albus attacked Hazlitt, Silas would fire.
“Call him off,” Silas warned.
I shook my head. “What are you doing?”
Hazlitt took a confident step toward me, ignoring Albus’s growls. “He’s helping his king win a war,” he said. He strode all the way to Ava, who was too grief-stricken to have moved from where she fell off the horse. He grabbed a handful of hair at the back of her head, pulled her off the ground, and retreated with her to the line. “Silas,” the king began as he motioned to another soldier, who came over to clasp a heavy set of chains over Ava’s wrists, “is this the same girl we sent to retrieve Avarona?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Silas answered.
Hazlitt peered at me, watching me for a long few seconds with an almost confused look in his eyes, like he didn’t recognize me. Maybe it was my magic he didn’t recognize. Then he turned to Ava, seized her by the chin and turned it to the side, scowling at the dark bruise in her neck. The one I’d put there last night. With an irritated huff, he let her go, raising his hand toward me and squeezing his fist again. But I was already incapacitated, and it hurt so bad that I cried out in agony.
“Stop!” Ava pleaded, but she was weak with emotion, and Hazlitt was so large that when she slammed her fists against his steel shoulder, it did nothing. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and tightened his hold on me. I curled into a ball, in too much pain now to make a sound, but Albus barked, taking another stride forward before setting his teeth in a ferocious snarl.
Hazlitt pointed an annoyed glare at Albus. “That racket is fucking tiresome.” He motioned toward Silas. “Shoot the beast.”
“Your Majesty,” Silas protested. When Hazlitt turned a fierce look on him, he sighed, raising his elbows to take a more accurate aim.
“Silas, no!” I forced out through the crippling pain. “Albus, down!” Albus stopped snarling, though his upper lip was still curled menacingly. “There,” I begged, tears flooding my eyes at the fear of losing more than I already had. I couldn’t lose Albus. He was family. “I called him off. Please.”
Silas passed an almost equally pleading look at Hazlitt, but Hazlitt’s eyes narrowed. “I gave you an order!” he roared.
Silas’s brown eyes scanned the expanse of soldiers around us, and then met mine, full of remorse and apology.
“Silas, no!” I screamed, but he raised his weapon once more, and Ava began to fight in Hazlitt’s grip out of protest of her own. “Silas!” Silas’s eyebrows furrowed sadly. “Please, NO!” He was going to shoot. “Albus, run!”
It was no use. Silas pulled the trigger of his crossbow, and the bolt hit Albus so accurately in the heart that he only got out half a yelp before collapsing in the dirt. I screamed again, so incoherently and full of fury and pain that my throat was instantly raw. I tried to channel it. Tried to turn the tears streaming down my face into that uncontrollable magic I’d lost myself to the first time, but it wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t consume me, and all I got was a pitiful jump of current in Silas’s direction. He skittered sideways so it missed him and then looked at me, his eyes wide with shock.
I wanted to create another spark. I wanted to kill Silas for what he’d just done, because he’d done it knowing exactly what Albus meant to me. He’d done it knowing that I’d raised Albus since he was a week old, knowing that Albus had been my closest companion for years and years. Every day since he was a pup, Albus had spent at my side. Every single day. He’d been loyal and loving. He’d saved my life more than once, been my partner in caring for Mother and Nilson. Albus was family. And he was gone.
I couldn’t do any more. Hazlitt’s grip on me, and the emotional anguish in my stomach and head and heart… it was too much. I was useless with grief and had too little control over my power. I hadn’t just failed Brande. I failed Albus, too. I’d never get to look in his big, gentle eyes again. Never get to brush his coarse fur, or hug him and feel how warm he was. Never again know how safe it felt to have him lay his head in my lap, and look at me with his soft brown eyes full of that godlike devotion so unique to dogs.
Hazlitt stomped to where I was lying and squatted down. “I believe it was you who wanted me to find another way,” he said with a jarring amount of taunting in his voice.
I roared a miserable holler of nothing at him, feeling a current of sparks in my throat. He stood and took a hasty step back, eyes briefly wide, but the sparks never reached him. They died on my tongue as the shout was broken by a sob.
“You’ll want to hear what I say next,” Hazlitt growled. “Time is of the essence.” I craned my neck to scowl upward at him, but he was blurred with the tears in my eyes, and Ava had fallen to her knees behind him, her gaze locked on Albus’s limp body. “Your cottage outside Wicklin Moor,” the king began, “your mother and brother live there.” And my scowl faded as all the blood drained from my face. “I sent three of my riders just before you arrived. They’ve orders to kill them both.” I let out a sad cry, and through the water in my eyes, I saw Silas’s face fall too, like he had no idea. The king motioned to another man, who led a horse forward to give him the reins. “This is my horse. The strongest, fastest horse in the kingdom.” With a flick of his wrist, the grip he had on me released. “Probably even the world.”
I wanted to fight back, but I needed to hear what he’d say about my mother and brother, and as hard as it was through the emotion and fading pain, I struggled to my feet.
“You’ve been a pain in my ass, Kiena,” Hazlitt said. “But you know what? Take the horse.” He shrugged like it was nothing, but his voice was bitter and taunting. “After all, you’ve already taken my gold. You’ve taken the lives of my men. God be damned, you even took my daughter. Why not take my best horse?” Hazlitt laughed dryly, stomping closer to get in my face, because at his derision and jeering, my gaze had dropped to my feet. “Perhaps you could reach your family on time.” I sniffled, holding back more tears. “Tell you what,” he continued. “I’ll give you a choice. We can trade so it’s finally even. Take the horse, and all you have to do is leave Avarona with me. Or you can stay. Join me, lend me your magic and help me win this war. I’ll give you land, and a lordship. You can have Avarona too, if you want her.”
I whimpered a tragic cry as that proposition pierced straight through my chest. The three people I loved most in this entire world. I didn’t think I could live without a single one of them. I could never cause any of them pain, and Hazlitt was making me choose. He was going to make me hurt Ava, or he was going to make me hurt my mother and brother. I had no other choice. I wasn’t strong enough to fight. I had nothing to negotiate. This was it.
This was him dangling everything I wanted right in front of me. With land and a lordship, I could have my surname back. I could have honor in the eyes of the law. With a lordship, I could be with Ava. I could marry her. I could have the comfortable life I’d always wanted, but I’d have it without my family. I’d have it knowing I’d supported a man who’d killed Brande, Albus, Mother, and Nilson, and thus stolen vital pieces of my very soul.