“Is the entity free now?” I whispered.
“I don’t know.”
None of us knew enough. I felt like we were completely unprepared despite the fact that we’d been hurtling toward this inevitability ever since the emperor had taken the stone and placed it in the Hellswan sword. One action—one seemingly insignificant action—taken by a foolish, arrogant old man, and now we were facing a terrifying and uncertain future.
I looked around the temple. Nothing felt that different. If anything, since Benedict had collected the last stone, Hellswan had felt almost peaceful…if you didn’t count me trying to syphon off my friends.
“We should return to the castle,” Lieutenant Ragnhild announced, his fingers tracing the glowing runes that surrounded the table. “If the entity is coming, then we should all be somewhere safe.”
I didn’t know how safe I considered Hellswan castle, but I was eager to get Benedict away from here.
“Tejus, will you take Benedict?”
I had agreed with Ruby when she’d suggested that Ragnhild take Benedict, but I realized that there was no one else I trusted with my brother’s safety. Tejus would protect him with his life—and anything less than that was unacceptable to me right now.
“Of course,” he replied.
We walked out of the temple, and made our way over to Ruby and Julian, who were still hovering over my brother. Ruby was stroking his forehead and muttering to him.
“How is he?” I asked.
“I think better—his heartbeat’s getting stronger,” Ruby replied, smiling up at me. “I think he’s going to be all right.”
Suddenly I felt lighter, and along with an overwhelming surge of love for my friend, my perspective shifted. The uncertainty and fear around the rising of the entity suddenly felt manageable. Maybe it was the peaceful night and the stars shining down on us that encouraged my optimism, but I felt like the danger had abated—and as long as my friends were alive and well, and we were together, then we could overcome the obstacles Nevertide threw our way.
“Tejus is going to take him back,” I replied, smiling back at Ruby.
“Okay,” she replied, and both she and Julian backed away from Benedict so that Tejus could pick him up. He bent down, cradling Benedict’s head in the crook of one arm while the other went under his knees. Rising, he held my brother against his chest as if he weighed about as much as a bag of feathers.
“Thank you,” I sighed, my insides turning to goo.
He nodded, and turned toward the water. The vultures had reappeared on the shore, and Lieutenant Ragnhild stood waiting with them. He was shifting from foot to foot with impatience. I assumed that he was eager to get the castle on security lockdown, as I belatedly realized that the guards and ministers would have no idea that the entity had seemingly completed the unlocking of his own prison.
We all climbed onto the birds, and soon the cove and its unnatural green glow was out of sight. I hoped I would never have to return to that place; I never wanted to see that temple again—I never wanted to be in the presence of something built for the sole purpose of worshiping something so dark and evil.
I couldn’t see much of Nevertide as we soared back toward the castle; most of the land was in complete darkness, other than the small clusters of light still burning in the villages and the almost welcoming glow coming from the windows of Hellswan castle.
We landed in the courtyard of the castle. Two of the guards waiting at the door strode forward to greet us. I thought they were coming to receive their orders from Tejus, and I was momentarily surprised when he didn’t start barking out commands…
Right. No longer king.
That would take some getting used to.
Lieutenant Ragnhild took over, instructing the men to step up their security detail, but without divulging what we’d discovered in the temple. The guards didn’t ask any questions, and hurried off to do his bidding.
“I’ll take him to the human quarters,” Tejus said to Ruby and me. “You’ll need ministers to aid him though. Tell Ash when he returns from the trials, if he’s not back already.”
“I don’t want ministers near him,” Ruby interjected, and I looked at her in surprise—I completely agreed, but it was usually me being stubborn about the ministers.
“I’ll let Ash know who’s safe,” Tejus replied. “You might need one, trust me on this.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. There was something going on here that I didn’t quite understand.
“Do you have the letter?” Ruby asked Tejus as we hurried along the main hallway.
What letter?
“No.” His reply was abrupt, and he avoided making eye contact, picking up the pace as if he wanted to outrun both of us.