Morfram stared down at Bidelia’s tear-drenched face and smiled fondly. He laid a gentle kiss on her lips then shoved her toward Kyl. “Take her.”

  “You bastard!” She screamed, fighting Kyl’s grip. “We’ve been together for seventeen years! You can’t do this! I’ll kill you!”

  Morfram’s face was cold and composed again. “Take her and go.”

  Edana nodded and Kyl took a firmer hold on Bidelia’s arm as he dragged her from the cave.

  The Queen would probably try to throw herself off the cliffs, Phelan thought. They might all be better off if she did.

  “Phelan,” Ianna whispered, dragging his attention away from her screaming mother. She gestured a hand toward the surface questioningly. She began crawling back the way they’d come when he nodded.

  Phelan turned to follow her. He cast a look back at Edana. She leaned negligently against one of the cave’s gray walls of stone. Her small stature was deceiving. She would be fine on her own, he told himself. Besides, he’d made a promise to protect Ianna. He would keep his word.

  But he would be back for Edana.

  When they made their way up to the surface, Kyl was restraining a shrieking Bidelia. Her words no longer made sense, though she began to quiet when she spotted Ianna.

  Ianna marched forward until she stood toe-to-toe with her mother. She slapped her across the face with all the force she could muster. “You killed my father.” Her normally cheerful voice had turned cold. “I don’t care what you said back there. Cian was my father. And if my sister dies, I’ll kill you myself after you’re charged with treason and publicly humiliated.”

  Bidelia’s mouth gaped in shock while her tears continued to fall. The left side of her face was red from Ianna’s handprint.

  Phelan cleared his throat. “We need to hurry. Where’s my father being kept?” he asked Bidelia. She only sniffed. “Where?” he roared.

  “There’s an--an inn, just off the main road, northeast of here.”

  Phelan put his fingers to his lips and whistled sharply. After a few minutes, Alain, a tall, muscular man in his late twenties, with blonde hair and hard green eyes rode into the clearing.

  “We’ve captured the guards. There were only about twenty.” Alain grinned. “Mercenaries are overly concerned with self-preservation. Each gave us the location of the next when we threatened them. Not exactly a loyal bunch.”

  “And my father?”

  “Ah.” He gave Phelan a concerned look. “Well, they held him at an inn not far from here for a bit, but when we got there, the place was covered in blood and everyone was gone. The innkeeper, a little old lady, was trying to wash blood off the walls. It was a mess.”

  Phelan inhaled sharply. “Send men out to keep looking for him.”

  “Aye.” Alain saluted and galloped away from the cliffs.

  “Kyl. Ianna. You’re coming with me. There’s a barracks north of here in Ballyvorda. We need to gather more men and spread the word in case Morfram escapes. Let everyone know there may be more mercenaries in the area. We need to avoid all-out war if we can.”

  Bidelia chuckled softly, gaining his attention. The chuckle grew to delighted peals of laughter. “You stupid boy. The war’s already started.”

  Arrows began to rain down around them. Kyl protected Ianna’s body with his own as they ran toward an outcropping of trees. Phelan supposed he was more of a gentleman than he realized since he did the same with the mad Queen.

  When they reached the cover of the trees, Phelan was able to locate the source of the arrows. They were coming up over the cliff’s edge from the sea. “How many?” he demanded.

  Bidelia didn’t bother pretending she mistook him. “Twenty ships all along the coastline. Roughly a hundred men in each. You won’t last the hour, and I suspect Morfram already has the sword by now. Edana’s dead and my love will come for me.” Her voice was wistful, ignoring the fact that Morfram had handed her over to his enemies only a short time before.

  “You’re wrong,” Phelan told her. “You’ve known Edana her whole life but you’ve never seen what she is.”

  “She’s nothing!” Bidelia spat.

  Phelan shook his head. “She’s everything.”

  With that, he focused on Edana inside the cave. Pictured her leaning against the cold stone while heat glittered in her blue eyes. Then he pushed every bit of strength and power he could muster toward her with a power he knew he possessed but had never had cause to use.

  He would strengthen her by temporarily weakening himself, and he would pray to the gods that it would be enough.

  CHAPTER 29--EDANA

  Edana stood before the dark stalagmite and stared down at the iron crosspiece and hilt erupting from its top. Warmth hummed under her skin. The sensation was familiar, like Phelan had wrapped an arm around her shoulders. As she felt it she was comforted.

  She remembered the strange writing that covered the sword’s hilt. Even knowing it was the language of the gods didn’t stop her from trying to decipher it.

  Perhaps if she could, she would find a way to survive this. She knew as soon as she pulled the sword free, Morfram would stab her in the back and take it from her dead hands.

  But she had no choice. Even if Phelan managed to find Aral, it could be too late. She needed to at least try.

  Morfram stood a few paces behind her. Giving her room to work, or so he’d said.

  Edana scoffed. Giving himself time and room to use the amount of force to deliver a killing blow when the time came. Phelan told her to buy them some time. They would need as much time as possible to deal with whatever reinforcements Morfram had brought along. Ianna’s plan was working. Somewhat. How could they have known their mother was a traitor? Did they ignore the signs? Were there signs?

  “You must have been planning this for a long time,” Edana said into the silence.

  Morfram grunted. “It’s taken nearly eighteen years for all the pieces to fall into place.”

  “Seems like a long time to wait for a throne.”

  “Not just a throne. An entire kingdom. For as long as I want it.”

  Edana raised a brow questioningly. He sounded completely serious.

  “The four treasures of the gods.” He spoke to her in the tone he had used when she was a child in need of a lesson. He sighed. “When I heard about the treasures, I knew that I had to have them. Whoever possesses all four will gain indescribable power. It’s taken me this long to find them.”

  “This is only one of the four,” Edana pointed out. “And everyone already knows the location of the stone.”

  Morfram’s smile troubled her. “I wouldn’t have made my move if I weren’t completely prepared.”

  “So you had to kill my father, your best friend, to do it?”

  “It wasn’t about him. It was about power.” Morfram looked down at the sword as if to emphasize his point. “I’ll never go back to being powerless again.”

  Edana watched his eyes cloud. Before she could ask him what he meant, his eyes focused and he gestured to the sword. “No more stalling. Let’s get this over with.”

  He was right, she couldn’t wait any longer. She reached out and touched the hilt of the sword, gently brushing her fingertips down the metal. Despite being trapped in the cave for gods only knew how long, the sword’s hilt was warm. Almost too warm to the touch.

  Taking a steadying breath, Edana got a firm grip on the hilt and pulled. It moved slowly at first--barely an inch. Then, as Edana’s will firmed, the shining blade with the same mysterious marks down its length slid free.

  Morfram was forgotten as Edana stood immobilized by the sword’s beauty. Her heart raced and her body felt somehow lighter--almost as if her soul was reaching out to it. The humming along her skin intensified and she came back to herself.

  The inside of her wrist was burning. She looked and saw a mark, a word, branded there. Teine. Fire.

  “What are you doing?” Morfram growled behind her.

  Edana turned to see him with his dagger drawn, hacking away at a barrier of light that separated them. Edana smiled. She knew in that moment that the gods had taken additional steps to ensure their treasures wouldn’t be left in the wrong hands. “This is interesting. Isn’t it?”

  “Give it to me! Give me the sword!” He continued to strike against the barrier.

  “I don’t think so. Morfram, you’re guilty of conspiracy to commit regicide and treason against the royal family of Eire. You’ll return with us to Tara where you’ll face judgment for your crimes. Put the dagger down.”

  Madness burned in his eyes. His smile was horrifying and twisted. He used the dagger to slice open his palm then placed his bloody hand on the barrier. His scream echoed throughout the space.

  The light barrier began to fade. Even faded, it still held him away.

  With a bellow of rage, Morfram hurled his dagger at it. It crossed through and Edana lifted the sword to prevent the blade from striking her face. She barely succeeded and the hurled knife opened a shallow cut along her cheekbone.

  “This isn’t over!” Morfram pounded once more on the barrier, his eyes burning with hatred and madness, before he turned and ran from the cave.

  Edana stood for a few seconds before following. She exited the cave in time to see him hurl himself off the ledge to the sea below. By some miracle, he managed to miss the jagged rocks. When his head broke the surface, he began screaming for one of the ships to come to him.

  Only then did Edana notice the strange fleet spread out in the waters below. She’d been so focused on Morfram that they hadn’t even registered in her mind. Even now, archers fired arrows over the cliffs’ rise. Edana could hear Phelan bellowing orders to his men above. She ran up the narrow path to find her friends already engaged in battle.

  Dozens of men fought on the surface. Ianna stood near their mother along the sparse tree line and shot anyone who came near with Edana’s bow. She hadn’t even known her sister could shoot, and she hadn’t noticed Kyl pick it up when he left the cave.

  Kyl, Phelan, and a large blonde man who could only be Alain were trying to fight their way to Ianna. Arrows continued to fall, taking down men indiscriminately--allies and enemies alike.

  Edana flowed forward and engaged in the fight. It made little difference. Even with the ease in which she handled Nuada’s sword, she couldn’t do anything about the archers’ deadly assault. She tried her best to ignore them and the cries and groans of the dying.

  They fought on. Hacking and stabbing. Slicing and swinging at any enemy soldiers still standing. It seemed like hours instead of mere minutes before the arrows stopped.

  Kyl was struggling with the last of the enemy. When the man fell to his knees with Kyl’s sword buried in his chest, Edana began to look around. Bodies littered the ground.

  Phelan was removing an arrow from Ianna’s upper arm while Bidelia looked on. Edana made her way toward them.

  “Are you alright?” She laid a gentle hand on her sister’s uninjured arm. Ianna was shaking.

  “I’m okay.” Her voice was more controlled than her body. “Phelan says it’s just a flesh wound.”

  Edana smiled gratefully at Phelan. “He would know. Why don’t you go sit down and rest. Get some water,” she told Ianna. She gestured Kyl over. He would take care of her. The love gleaming in his eyes every time he looked at Ianna guaranteed that.

  When they had gone some distance away, Edana’s gaze roamed over the men. Phelan’s men, along with many of Aral’s most trusted, were scattered, cleaning weapons, and checking the fallen for survivors. “Morfram got away.”

  “I see that.” Phelan wiped the blood from her cheekbone, causing her to wince. “It isn’t too deep.” He glanced down at her hand. “You managed to keep the sword.”

  Edana glanced down at the blade she hadn’t bothered to sheath. “It protected me, but it doesn’t work the way I thought it would.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “After all of Fal’s talk and all this,” she gestured around them. “I assumed it would give me some…I don’t know, godlike fighting ability. But it’s not like that. It didn’t improve my abilities or give me greater strength. It formed a shield around me that Morfram couldn’t get through. And he certainly tried.” She gestured to her face. “He managed to do this much by smearing his blood on the barrier. I could actually see it weakening.”

  “Well, it’s good that it protects you.”

  “That’s not the point, Phelan. It doesn’t help us defeat Morfram. It’s for an individual fighter. It’ll protect you.” She tried handing him the sword.

  He held his hands up defensively. “What do you mean, it’ll protect me?”

  “It’s yours.”

  “No.” He shook his head and reached down to grip her sword arm. He ran his thumb over the fresh word branded into her wrist. “You lifted it. It’s yours.”

  “Phelan, you’re more important to Eire than I am. We need to keep you safe. Especially since Morfram’s still out there.”

  He gripped her shoulders as he looked down at her. “You’re more important to me.”

  Edana’s mouth dropped open. Phelan grinned before laying his forehead to hers. “Please keep it. I’ll be fine. I’ve got enough demigod blood to protect myself.”

  Edana jerked her head back. “Which reminds me.” She hit him lightly on the chest. “What did you do? I felt you in the cave.”

  Phelan looked away sheepishly. Suddenly, his eyes opened in shock, and he spun her around. It took Edana only half a second to realize what he’d done.

  He’d used himself as a shield.

  The point of a sword erupted from his chest. His body jerked and blood poured from the wound. Bidelia’s smile was pleased.

  “He gave his strength to you,” she said before she turned and ran.

  Time slowed for Edana as she lowered Phelan to the ground. Her pulse jumped and she could feel her heart shattering at the sight of Phelan’s wound. Without realizing what she did, she held her arm and the now vibrating sword out. With a cry, a line of fire shot out of its tip and struck her mother’s retreating back.

  With a cry of pain, Bidelia fell to the ground and was still. Edana dropped the sword in horror. She turned back to Phelan and dropped down by his side. His face was a study in agony.

  “Get a healer!” she screamed. She looked up to see Alain, Kyl, and Ianna.

  Alain crouched down to examine the wound. “It won’t do any good at this point.”

  “He’ll heal.” She had to believe he would. “He heals quickly.” Tears were flowing down her cheeks. She sat on the ground and laid his head in her lap. “Please don’t die.”

  Phelan’s smile was more of a grimace. “Only a week ago, you wanted to kill me yourself. She just beat you to it.”

  “Don’t joke.” She stroked his face. “Fal said this would happen. That we’d weaken each other. We should have listened to him!”

  “Fal always told me you’d weaken me and make me stronger than I’ve ever known.”

  “I hate you. If you die now, I really will hate you. We’ve got too much left to do. Morfram’s still out there.”

  “You’ll have to kill the bastard without me. On the bright side,” he paused to cough. Blood stained his lips. “It turns out the sword is a little more powerful than you thought.”

  Helpless, Edana sat as Phelan’s lids drooped over the luminous gold of his eyes.

  “You two have made quite a mess of things.”

  Edana jolted back to find Fal standing over them. “Help him,” she demanded.

  Fal quirked a brow at her.

  “Please.”

  Fal smiled warmly. “It is necessary.”

  “It’s necessary for him to die?” She brushed a dark lock of hair away from his face.

  “It is not death. His powers are being unlocked.”

  “So he’ll be alright?”

  “It will require a great deal of pain. He was already weakened before he was stabbed,” Fal told her.

  “What can I do?”

  He regarded her for a moment. “Fire is fitting,” he said. Edana didn’t have the slightest clue what he was talking about. “Take his hand,” he directed. “When his heart stops beating, will him your strength. He will need it for a few moments to bring his body back.”

  “Do you hear that, Phelan? You’re coming back. You’re stuck with me for a little longer.”

  He didn’t open his eyes, but his lips quirked up at one corner. He coughed again and blood trickled from his mouth. Seconds later, his heart went still.

  For a moment Edana panicked. Focus, she chided herself. Looking down at her greatest irritant and the man whose strength and determination, whose courage and humor had quickly become one of the bright lights in her life during this dark time, Edana focused and willed him everything she could--her strength, her desire for him to survive, and the fiery passion of her anger at Morfram.

  Phelan’s body bowed and Edana grew lightheaded as she felt her strength leave her.

  The mark on her wrist burned, and she fought to remain conscious by focusing on the pain there. It was a losing battle. As her head fell forward on his blood-covered chest, the last thing Edana was aware of before the dark took her was the steady thump-thump of Phelan’s heart, beating once again.

  CHAPTER 30--PHELAN

  He was freezing. Phelan felt as if every single inch of his body was coated with ice and that if he tried to move he would shatter. His mind was too full of pain to wonder why he was this way.

  Then he felt it.

  Just a small trickle of warmth at first, then strength--the heat of Edana’s strength flooded into his mind before flowing out and settling over the rest of him. The pain slowly died away. After what seemed like days, Phelan opened his eyes. Sunlight burned brightly. He squinted his eyes and flinched away from the light.

  “Ah. You’re awake,” Fal said merrily. “I’m pleased you survived. I’m told it can be a painful experience.”

  Phelan opened his eyes slowly this time before turning his head to look up at his grandfather. “What are you talking about?”

  “I told you one day you’d achieve your full powers. Today is that day.”

 

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