A Veil of Blood and Bravery by Analeigh Ford

Author:Analeigh Ford [Ford, Analeigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

19

DELPHINE

Not for the first time, I wondered if this was the right thing to do—sending Nyx into the shadows.

But one more look at Sol, at Caldamir, at Armene, and then back at the fae of the Sand Court dutifully, patiently watching as the high kings’ armies advanced in the distance, and there was no more hesitation, not on my end. I had more than my own interests in mind, my own desires to fulfill. This was more than condemning Nyx and saving my brother. This was saving all of Avarath, all of Alderia, all of Elysia and every realm that Deimos and Mordrigal’s greed could one day touch.

Because it wasn’t just about fulfilling the deal between Nyx and Deimos, in ending the cycle of betrayal that Nyx had begun.

It was all a part of the game. The farce. The dance that Deimos didn’t yet know we stepped together.

I wished I had another day, another hour, another second alone with Nyx. I wished I could express to him all of the gratitude, all the thanks, all the forgiveness that welled up inside me as I looked down at him where he stood at the base of the steps, facing my brother still chained by Deimos’ magic—but I didn’t have that luxury.

I didn’t have to reach deep inside myself to pull out the magic as I once did. I barely had to think of it, barely had to will the magic to rise to the surface of me, before I felt the tug of the Afterworld at my fingertips. It was all I could do to keep the glamour from pooling out of me, from overwhelming and pouring out of me to swallow Nyx and drag him down into the Afterworld in an instant. It was a struggle to pretend I struggled, that it was a challenge for me to reach down into the depths of Avarath to that other realm and pull the shadows out to wrap around the fae prince. Careful as I was, I still felt the shift in the balance as I accessed my powers, saw Deimos and Mordrigal register it even more than the others. A slight hint of surprise crossed Deimos’ face before it was replaced, shortly after, with an even more smug smile than before. I’d forced myself to falter, for a moment, drawn back the shadows so it seemed like I struggled to hold on to Nyx long enough to complete even the most basic of my magic as the Judge of the Starlight Fae.

But even I couldn’t keep up the farce forever. I couldn’t look so incompetent that Deimos didn’t bother with his own army. So, though it made something inside me die, too, I strengthened my hold on the shadows and let them tighten around Nyx. Tighter and tighter they grew, darker and darker, slithering over his ankles, his calves, his knees and thighs until they wrapped around his waist like a strangling corset.

It was then, as my glamour wrapped around him

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