Ember of Hope

“So, I wanted to warn you in advance that she’s still unconscious, so don’t get your hopes up. I’m not trying to be an asshole here.” He said as he watched her scowl, “I just don’t want you to get hurt if things go south. She hit her head pretty damn hard and her body took a beating when she hit the water. She is not in a very good condition but the healer thinks she’ll get better by tomorrow”. He said while walking her towards the healing room Sarah was in.

“I can’t lose her too Adriel. I can’t lose her”. She whispered miserably, tears once again blurring her vision.

He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, “You’re not going to lose her Raegan. She’s going to pull through. I can just feel it. So keep your faith a little longer”. She nodded her head. She had to keep hoping.

As soon as her eyes landed on her best friend, she gasped in horror. Almost all of her body was wrapped in bandages. Her face was blue and purple with bruises and the little bit of clear skin left was so pale that it made Sarah look like a wax figurine. A sob escaped Raegan’s lips and she turned away. It was because of her that Tristan was dead and it was her fault that Sarah was fighting for her life… only if she could’ve held on to her dragon a little longer.

“Did you send the message to Valiance already?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Yes, I did. We’ll be hearing from them soon. Or if I know Valiance at all, he’d be on his way here as soon as he got the message”.

………………

Every lead had turned into a dead end and Damien was about to rip his hair out. And then there was Valiance who was slowly going out of his mind. Initially the king had suggested to keep Valiance sedated but Damien had declined. But now seeing the pain and frustration in his best friend’s eyes had forced him to start thinking it as an acceptable option and he’d thought about sedating Valiance too many times to count now. But he couldn’t go against his friend’s wishes in the current circumstances when he was already too much in pain.

They had to bind Valiance in chains infused with dragon’s bane to attend the funeral of the border guards. The very air after the funeral had turned gloomy and the roars Valiance let loose to break out of his binds were enough to bring everyone to tears.

Late into the night Valiance and Damien stood deep beneath the city in the hall of fallen heroes and the only sound that could be heard was the scratch of their knives against the stone while they carved the name of their brothers. Damien had asked their king to let Valiance have this because he knew Valiance needed it. He was still in shackles though and there were sentries at the mouth of the crypts. Even though Valiance had given up trying to convince Damien to let him loose, he still wasn’t taking any chances.

A commotion sounded from outside and one of the guards entered with his head bowed and hands respectfully tucked behind his back, “I’m sorry to disturb but there are dragons from Videen claiming to have some news about the Prince’s mate”.

And it was like hellhounds had attacked Valiance the way bolted towards the exit.

“Valiance wait, your shackles” Damien knew it was futile even before he had a chance to complete his sentence. Valiance would not be stopped now. With feet tied in chains, he hobbled as fast as he could. But even if he was Valiance fucking D’evreux, he could not reach the fortress with bound hands and feet. So shaking his head at his friend, Damien ran after him, got ahead, and shifted as soon as he hit open air. As Valiance came into sight, he snatched him up and flew hard towards the fortress. Saying that his heart was about to break free of his ribcage would be a severe understatement.

But what did they know about the girls?

Damien was even surer of the fact that Velarians were behind the kidnapping after knowing that they had sealed their border with Evreux. He didn’t get much to ruminate over the news before reaching the fortress. A sentry stood at attention outside the doors and Damien sent him to bring the keys for Val’s manacles. Damien hurried after Val to the formal drawing room. The king rarely used the throne room and he would, given his way, like to turn it into anything other than a throne room.

“Father” Valiance barely remembered to greet his father and turned towards the visitors like they held the moon in their palms for him. And considering what they had to tell about, they might as well be. If they found the Prince of Evreux’s shackled state any odd, they did their best to not let it on. Even before they had a chance to greet them both properly, Valiance asked them what news they’d brought. And Damien was kind of elated that Valiance did that because he didn’t want to be the one to ask and break protocol in front of his king out of sheer respect.

“Master Adriel of Astoria sent us. Our scouts found two girls washed ashore in the river Astor and brought them in for treatment. We weren’t told much about the situation, just to come to you and bring you to the capital”.

“What kind of treatment?” Damien beat Valiance to the question burning them both.

“They were injured, probably by falling in the river but as I said we don’t know any more details about them”. One of them answered politely.

“Let’s go” Valiance urged as soon as a sentry succeeded in letting him free of his binds.

“Wait son” the king spoke for the first time, “Our guests had a very long and tiring flight. Let them rest a bit”.

“Father please” Valiance begged.

“What if…” Damien cut in, finding himself as eager to leave as his friend, “what if we go ahead and these guys can follow in the morning? Besides Adriel’s a friend and mated, he would understand”.

Valiance shot him a grateful glance. King Dragomir looked at the messengers for their approval and as soon as they gave their assent, Valiance was in motion.

“Go and take Fenrys with you. Atleast someone needs to have a good head on their shoulders” the king muttered.

Both of them bid hasty farewells and left to prepare for the journey ahead.

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