Chapter 28:
Goodbye
I step through Nepolis’s gate and find myself in a small stone alcove. The ramparts continue over my head, and a short open courtyard lies before me.
The gate shuts with a clank, and three Mephian soldiers box me in the alcove. Lord Reger stands ahead, and two other men encroach from either side. All are clad in leather armor, with crossbows on their backs and daggers on their hips. They sport beards the length of my hand, a feature never allowed in the Versillian army. While they all have tunics covered in buckles, Lord Reger is the only one with gold. He has thick square eyebrows and a face tanned from a life under the sun.
My posture is as stiff as a board. A noise makes me flinch – it’s just the soldiers slotting the door beam back in place. With a glance backwards, it’s immediately apparent that I have no chance of moving it. I’m trapped.
“
Grand Mage Ametha
,” Lord Reger says. There’s a slight smirk on his face. His address sounds like mockery. Is my disguise falling apart already?
“Don’t leave my bodyguard out there. It’s dangerous,” I say in the sternest voice I can muster. All I need to achieve is to get Trevus inside.
The soldier to my left sniggers, and Lord Reger gives him a sharp look. They don’t believe I’m Ametha. They’re just playing along. I’m their entertainment.
“Isn’t she something,” says Lord Reger. He steps closer. I try move away, but my back bumps into the other two men. The three of them tower over my short frame.
Lord Reger looks to the soldier behind me. “Lucas, do with her as we discussed,” he says.
With a hand on my back, Lucas pushes me towards a staircase. I move without resistance. They wouldn’t push me if they believed I was one of their six rulers. Any semblance of them playing into my story has disappeared. Trevus only trusted the disguise to carry me through the gate before I was discovered. He’d be expecting that I would have connected to these men already.
The stairs take us to the top of the walls, Lucas’s hand not leaving my back.
My eyes try find Trevus through the crenellations, but he’s not visible. Why does my mind go to him? He can’t assist, and he won’t be my ally for much longer.
Reger and the other soldiers didn’t follow. The ramparts are empty bar myself and the large man, Lucas, shoving me forward. He’s going to carry out Reger’s orders, and his rough handling brings a fear that this walk will end with my body thrown off the wall.
Lucas grabs both of my wrists. I yelp as he twists them up behind my back, bending forward to relieve the pressure on my shoulders.
His rough fingers grab my bare hands, then his hold suddenly disappears. There’s a thud, followed by the sound of a metal blade bouncing off stone.
I whip around, and my hands snap to my mouth. He’s lying prone on the ground, still and unmoving. I stumble backwards, nearly tripping over a raised stone. I didn’t connect to him. I didn’t do this. It wasn’t me.
I fall to my knees and examine Lucas, afraid to touch him. His face is hidden between his arms, but his chest shifts up and down. He’s breathing, and that means I can breathe again too. He’s only asleep.
A horn blares in the distance. I leap up to my feet and peer between the crenellations. The Versillian army is here, and they’re approaching fast. There’s no more time.
I quickly check my surroundings. The crossbowmen that once lined the ramparts have disappeared. I don’t understand how Lucas passed out, but now there’s no one left to stop me. I rip the black ribbon from around my waist. Trevus already tied a loop at the end, making it easy to secure around a crenellation. I toss the long end of the ribbon over the wall before peering over and calling – “Trevus!”
He’s already below. The ribbon draws taut under his weight, and he climbs quickly. The Versillian army marches on the castle, soldiers seeping out of the forest like a living mass. There are more men than I have ever seen in one place, their emerald striped shields dominating the landscape. There must be hundreds, maybe thousands.
Trevus reaches the top of the ribbon. He takes my hands, and I pull him over the crenellations. His weight nearly topples my balance, but he makes it safely onto the ramparts.
Trevus straightens up and gathers his surroundings. His gaze falls on Lucas, still lying on the ground behind me. “Good work,” he says.
I take the ribbon in one hand, wrapping it around my arm just as he did. “I’ve done my part. I’m leaving,” I say.
“You have indeed, Jade,” Trevus says. “However, leaving now, you would fall into the hands of Regent Evecius’s men. Dressed as you are, you may not survive.” He yanks the ribbon up before the soldiers on the ground get too close. “Follow my lead, and you shall receive the protection of the king once he is freed.”
I glance at the mass of soldiers, then to Trevus, the man who until this point was keeping me captive.
“’Tis as I said – you shall not be left abandoned.”
I fulfilled my end of the deal. He will protect me – just as he has every day since we met. I drop the end of the ribbon.
A bolt whistles past my ear. The Mephian crossbowmen are back at their posts on the adjacent wall. Why did they leave to begin with? Trevus grabs my arm and pulls me down the stairs. I leap down three steps at a time. Trevus is my best chance out of here alive.
We rush together through the courtyard towards an inner gate. The soldiers on the wall rewind their crossbows, but their attention is back on the Versillian army outside.
We pass under the arched gate into a second stone quad. Tall walls surround us, but there isn’t a single man stationed on them. Stone homes are built into each of the four walls, but the doors are shut, and every window is boarded. The whole place is empty. Were there no more than ten men garrisoned in this castle?
Trevus pulls me towards a barred gate. My bare hand is in his, but he hasn’t fallen asleep like Lucas. It couldn’t have been my fault he lost consciousness. Every time I’ve connected with someone, it was an intense feeling impossible to miss. When Lucas touched my hands on the ramparts, I felt nothing beyond his rough skin. It doesn’t make any sense.
The barred gate ahead of us is closed, but there’s another courtyard on the other side. The castle has been built into three compartments, and their battlements face both outwards and inwards towards us. This is nothing like Antiock’s castle. It’s designed like a prison.
Trevus grips both of the bars. “Tytius!” He tries to lift the gate with all his might, but it won’t budge.
Peering through the gate a second time, I spot a figure. An old man lies flat on the ground – King Tytius? Ten years in captivity has left him feeble, far from his image depicted in paintings.
There’s a carved stone beside him. A sinking feeling washes over me at the sight of maroon streaks on the stone’s surface. Its crescent cutout is designed to hold a victim’s head – an execution block.
“Here.” Trevus grabs onto a wooden wheel mounted on the wall. With strain, he begins turning it. The attached rope pulls taut, and a series of pulleys and levers creak above us. The gate groans, and its daggered feet begin to rise out of the dirt.
I hurry to the other side of the wheel and help Trevus turn. The gate rises further and further. Soon it’s at shoulder height. “Come this side,” he says.
He positions me beside the wheel. “There is no ratchet.” He allows it to turn until a handle rests on my shoulder, but he doesn’t let go. “You must hold it open until I retrieve Tytius.”
I nod and latch onto a handle near my hips so I can keep my arms straight. Trevus loosens his grip, and the weight of the gate burdens my shoulder. “I’ve got it,” I say between breaths. “Hurry.”
Trevus shoots under the barred gate and rushes to his father. I barely have a view as he helps the old man sit up. The king is in bad shape, but he’s conscious.
A pair of hands yank me backwards off my feet, dragging me away from the wheel. “Let go!” I scream. The wheel spins freely, and the gate crashes closed.
I writhe against my captors, fighting them with all my strength. Trevus runs back. It’s too late. The gate is sealed. He tries to lift the bars, but the heavy metal frame will hardly budge.
Two men have me by the biceps. I swing my head back. The man on the right dodges, but the top of my skull finds the one on the left. He shouts and cradles his nose. With one arm free, I’m able to regain my balance and face my foes.
Both men are dressed head to toe in navy robes, with only a small slit open for their eyes, like a cloth suit of armor. I dig my feet into the ground and battle against the man’s hold on my arm
A staff swings past my ear, narrowly missing my head. My eyes jump to the man wielding the weapon – Lord Reger. “That’s enough,” he says.
I still at his warning. A hit from that rod could leave me bedridden. The navy-clad soldier wipes his bleeding nose and takes a hold of my arm again. They twist my arms behind my back at a sharp angle, and I groan from the ache. I step closer to them to relieve the stress on my shoulders. They’re much rougher now.
Trevus has his sword drawn, and he’s facing three men on his own. His back is against the sealed gate. He’s trapped.
“Drop your weapon,” Reger says. Trevus glances back at him through the bars. “Or I’ll tell my men to remove it from your hand – perhaps taking a few fingers off as well.”
Trevus glares at his opponents. Even if he won against three men, he’d be left trapped in that courtyard. Crossbowmen on the ramparts reveal themselves, aiming down at his position.
Trevus drops his sword and raises his hands. The three men pounce on him, throwing him to the ground. An armored boot slams into his stomach. He groans, and I wince at the sound. They kick him, striking his body again and again. They’ve won. Why are they still hurting him!?
“Stop!” I scream. “Stop! Stop! Stop!”
Reger raises his hand, and the men halt their assault. Trevus is lying still. Please let him be okay.
“You worry about the Versillian man that kept you prisoner?” Reger raises an eyebrow at me. “I’d expect you’d want to get a few kicks in yourself?”
His words make me sick. I look back at Trevus. He’s still on the ground. What kind of person does Reger think I am? And how does he even know I was Trevus’s prisoner?
The two men grab Trevus by the arms and haul him upright, while a third man presses a blade against his back. Trevus spits out blood. The hard expression on his face shows he’s in pain but still present. He’ll be okay.
Following Reger’s gesture, two other soldiers wheel up the barred gate. Reger steps under the gate to Trevus’s side, and the men in navy robes shove me through after him.
King Tytius is still lying on the ground, this time with his head facing away from us. He’s not as old as I first thought, but the guard’s mistreatment has left him sickly. He shares Trevus’s black hair, though Tytius’s is a little grayer.
The men push Trevus before the block, and I’m held off to the side. Ten soldiers surround us in the courtyard, and two dozen crossbowmen line the ramparts above. The once vacant castle is now inexplicably packed with soldiers.
The shouting of men and clashing of steel flows over from outside the walls. The Versillian army must be mounting a siege.
Reger circles Trevus, but Trevus keeps his eyes straight forward, not acknowledging him. “Trevus of Cerillis, I am Lord Reger of House Morvain.”
“I had believed that you were Lord Reger, House of Hiding behind stone walls, for that is how you are known on the battlefield,” Trevus says.
Reger’s brows twist up. “Soon I’ll be known for killing the Versillian king and his bastard son. Even the arrogant Six will feast at my table in celebration. Your death is no more than a steppingstone in my grand design.”
Kill him!? I push forward, but the soldiers tighten their grip on my arms.
“Wait!” a man shouts – I know that voice. I turn my head and find a familiar face with brown hair. I can’t believe my eyes. Giddius steps out of the shadows. He’s come to rescue us?
Giddius approaches Reger. “Our agreement was that the sorceress was delivered to your gate, nothing more.”
Their agreement?
“The deal will be honored,” Reger says. “You will leave here a vassal of Mephia, with the title deed to Akeldama in your pocket. But the arrival of Tytius’s son was my good luck, and it’s beyond the bounds of our deal.”
My mouth hangs open at his words. Giddius wanted me in Mephian hands?
Trevus scowls. “Traitorous swine.”
“My lot was cast with favored odds,” Giddius says. “Had you been wiser, you would have done the same.”
Trevus tests his strength against the men holding his arms behind his back. They don’t budge. “How far back does your deception stretch?” He looks at Reger. “Do I lay my eyes on the informant now – the one who provided the knowledge of the sorceress in the tower?”
Reger is the reason I’m here? What does he want with me?
Giddius points in my direction. “The Mephian girl was to be delivered to Lord Reger’s hands. This venture was his from the beginning.” He frowns. “Trevus, your fate is, unfortunately, collateral.”
Trevus shakes his head, disgusted.
Reger steps closer and touches my cheek. I jerk away from him, causing the grip of the navy-clad men to hurt my strained shoulders. “Don’t worry sweetheart. If I were to kill you, your magic would jump to a new host, and I’m not interested in another decade-long manhunt. The information Giddius shared on how to secure you will ensure you remain safe in my possession.” He gestures to the two navy-clad men. “We had these robes sewn just so we could handle you.”
Handle me?
– as if I’m some kind of animal. He may be Mephian, but he speaks just like the guards in Antiock.
Reger returns to Trevus, his dagger in hand. My stomach tightens. “You’ll have to forgive Lucas’s theater at the gate. I can’t help but revel in watching my foes realize that victory was an illusion and death is imminent – though perhaps
foe
isn’t the right word for you. In part thanks to your effort, I finally have the Seventh and an audience with the Six. It was many years ago when I read the old texts that foretold of her existence, and now she’s finally mine.”
“When the Versillian footmen breach this castle, they shall not learn your name before running you through. My life is your only leverage,” Trevus says.
Reger laughs. “You and the Six are the same – self-important rulers who see nothing beyond Mephia and Versillia. The magic these mages host is far more important than the border disputes you all obsess over. I serve a power far greater than either nation, a power that will make those names long forgotten.”
Reger raises both hands to the sky. “Besides, have you not been listening to the wind? The Mephian fifth army is already here, and I hear two of the Six walk with them.” He looks at me, wearing a smirk. “Including the
true
Grand Mage Ametha. Your Versillian footmen shall be scattered to the hills.”
The sound of the fray is unmistakable. He’s not lying.
Reger points to the block. The soldiers shove Trevus to his knees, setting his neck over the half-crescent cutout.
“Stop!” I shriek. “If you hurt him, I’ll never help you! I’ll fight you as long as I breathe!”
“Silence her,” Reger orders. A gloved hand snaps over my mouth. “You mages all have that arrogance in common,” he says. “Don’t assume your magic serves you. Your cooperation is not required.”
Trevus twists his head to look at me. The empty expression on his face rips my heart to shreds. He doesn’t have a plan. He doesn’t have a way out of this. He’s defeated.
A dark column of smoke rises from the battle outside, and the sky reddens.
Giddius averts his eyes.
Reger picks up a large black axe resting against the wall. I lurch forward, but the two men yank me back. Trevus can’t die. He’s the only one who’s cared for me, the only one who’s seen beyond my connection, the only one who considers me a friend, the only one I’ve ever wanted to kiss.
Reger approaches the block with the axe. “This is the end of your story.”
I wail under the soldier’s hand. Trevus’s gentle hold in the attic last night still lingers on my skin. My tired body yearns to rest against his comfortable side again. My chest is still warm from when he said I was beautiful in our candlelit room, and again when we fantasized about being friends while eating krons. The safest I’ve ever felt was when his hard chest was against my back in the sleeping pouch. The relief when he pulled my panicking form out of the raging Merk is unrivaled. He’s the only person to ever come to my defense from the harsh words of Versillian soldiers, the only person to bring the feeling that I wasn’t alone. No one has ever grown angry for my sake like he did when the wild men held a knife to my neck. He never abandoned me, even charging back when there were horsemen on my tail. He was the first to make sure I was included. I was a part of his party, all their games and conversations. When I was forgotten by the world in that tower, Trevus came to set me free.
The sky turns blood red. My hands tingle, and my eyes burn. I scream at Reger to stop, but it comes out muffled.
If Trevus dies, I’ll be isolated again. I’ll be locked in a dungeon, and the only person I truly know will be dead. The only person to know me for more than my connection will be dead. The man who shared every good moment in my life will be gone. It’ll be like turning back time to when I had nothing and no one. I can’t go through that again after tasting what it felt like to belong. I’m not strong enough. I love him.
Trevus’s gaze doesn’t leave mine. “I am sorry,” he says.
Reger raises his axe.
No! Enough! Enough! Enough! Enough! Enough! I scream at the top of my lungs. Enough! The glove over my mouth falls away. Enough! My hands burn like fire. The axe tumbles to the dirt. Enough! Reger falls to his knees, collapsing onto the ground. Enough! The navy-clad men lose their grip on my arms, falling over. Enough! The soldiers holding Trevus collapse. Enough! Every man falls to their knees, every man hits the ground. Enough! Every man is asleep. I feel each and every one of them, connected without a touch.
Trevus rises to his feet. He takes in the sight of the soldiers – every one lies still in the dirt. The crossbowmen on the ramparts have collapsed between the crenellations. His mouth hangs open. He’s frozen in shock. His gaze finds the only other person standing – me.
Every breath scrapes my throat like a sword on stone. I’m connected to each and every one of them. They are asleep because I willed it. My hands never left my sides, and my feet didn’t move.
Trevus takes a step closer before hesitating. “Your eyes…” he says.
I touch the burning ring around my eye with shaky fingers. My image reflects off an iron shield mounted to a sleeping man’s back. An inky black shadow surrounds each eye, filling in the gap left in the red paint.
Trevus closes the distance and holds my shoulders. Through my connection to him, I feel the warmth of my own body on his hands.
The column of smoke that reddened the sky beckons me. It heats my body as if I was standing beside a campfire.
The rough feeling of gravel under the king’s hands draws my attention to him. With all the might he can muster, he’s struggling to sit up. Trevus hurries back to the king and cradles him in his arms.
The king looks at me, his head supported in Trevus’s hand. He has a wide face with a long thin mouth. Gray creeps up his sideburns and streaks his short beard. His eyes widen at the sight of me, and I feel his spine stiffen with fright through my connection.
I glance down at my hands. They’re hot like fire, but there’s no pain.
“Tytius, where is my mother?” Trevus asks.
The king continues to stare as if I’m a ghost.
“Tytius.” With a nudge to the cheek, Trevus turns the king to face him. “Where did you send my mother?”
The king opens his mouth and speaks in a dry, strained voice. “Mehlia was murdered. She was murdered!”
My heart thumps so hard it could bruise my chest. Everything Trevus has worked for has been in vain.
“Salt,” Trevus spits. He doesn’t believe it. How could he?
“Ten years ago-” The king chokes. “Ten years ago, I campaigned into Mephia to take vengeance on the nation that killed my beloved Mehlia-” A painful cough interrupts him. “I strove to punish the land that fostered
that witch
.” He points his shaking hand at me. The fear his eyes once held has turned to rage.
Trevus follows his fathers pointed finger to my frame. I have lived a lie.
The king glares like I’m his lifelong enemy. “I could never forget your face,
witch,
” he spits the last word. “You murdered my Mehlia.”
Trevus stills. His gaze doesn’t leave me. His mouth is open. He grabs the silver locket under his shirt, snapping the thin chain that held it in place. He focuses on the portrait, and then back on my face. His brow wrinkles up in sorrow as he begins to put the pieces together – the story I told him about the day I was taken, the way I reacted upon seeing the locket.
The monster I am is laid bare before him. I’m naked. I’m ashamed. I’ve ruined his life. The world would be a better place if I’d never been born. Trevus could have been happy if I didn’t exist.
“J-Jade-” his voice is broken, shaking. He’s devastated. I’ve hurt him more than any weapon made of steel could. He thinks I’ve taken away the only person who truly cared for him, but it’s not true – I care for him. I care for him more than he could ever know, but how could he ever believe me now? My throat chokes up, hitching my breath.
He’s looking up at me, as if waiting for me to answer. As if somehow, I could say anything that would make this better. I’ve lied to him enough.
I can’t bear to look at him anymore. I can’t bear to witness the destruction I’ve caused. I- I think it’s time to say goodbye.
I turn my back to him. Goodbye, Trevus. Goodbye.
With one foot forward and then the other, I start walking.
“Jade,” Trevus says.
Goodbye.
“Jade!” he cries out. He pushes himself to his feet.
Goodbye.
“Jade, say ‘tis not true!” His footsteps hurry after me.
I keep walking, as an empty shell of a person.
Goodbye.
I feel his shaking body through my connection. He reaches out for me. I wish his legs would tire, that he wouldn’t come any closer. With just a thought, his legs fall to exhaustion, and he collapses to his hands. I’m sorry, Trevus. I’m so sorry.
Goodbye.
“Jade, s- stop.” His voice is barely holding together. Grief consumes his words. “It cannot be!”
Goodbye.
I pass under the barred gate.
“Jade!” he calls again. I’m out of his sight.
Goodbye.
“Jade!” He shouts louder than ever before.
Goodbye.
“Jade!”
Goodbye.
I know she was a bad bitch from the begining🥹im so proud
I knew it was him that ratted them out
Love your writing, the story is really compelling. Small remark; isn’t this our first encounter with Lord Reger? the introduction feels sudden to me as if he is well known to us. Like why does he wear gold? Is he Royal? Keep up the great work!
☹️☹️
that locket chain is holding on for dear LIFEEEE
AWWWWW🥹
wow what i thought he already knew what jade did to mehlia
😢
amazing chapter
@CandyWest95 Oh, I never meant her fear was unreasonable, it completely was, I’m just moreso back seat commenting, because it’s such a sad and terrible situation
@iceheartgoldsmile She was afraid he might kill her if he knew that she killed the mother he loves so much. Her fear was reasonable
@CandyWest95 I meant her fault for not telling Trevus and avoiding this, not the traitor stuff
👏👏👏 what a chapter
awww
,how is it her fault?! Geddius or whatever his name already had that plan
The pain of guilt will linger, whether you stay or go
Guilt
If he couldn’t identify a trap, maybe he isn’t thinking that far
Honestly living for this drama
Welp, now he knows
actually touched it
I thought she touched her eye 😭😂
There’s a reason they are looked at so highly
To being alone
Comfort person
Attaching yourself to the first person to see you
Girl, this is your fault, not that you intended the results
Patronising dick
I mean… She would have gotten back there either way!
what is this? the consequences of your own actions!
This is a dangerous game Trevus
Because you’re the reason they caught the king! I don’t actually know that, but that’s just a theory, a sorcerer theory!
All this screaming for a series of events that was were completely avoidable with honesty lol
A trap I say sir!
Sounds like a trap
Probably not honestly…
Leaving to where?!
Is a battle
This is such a dangerous fools errand
This is such a dang
ferrous fools errand
he’s only knocked out or asleep? You didn’t use your power, and being knocked out won’t last long
Yeah, I really don’t see why he would lol
NO NO NO NO😭😭😭😭😭
IM CRYING
no😭 I’m about to cry bro
OH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THIS😭
NO.
no NO I don’t feel like crying today man😭
EXCUSE ME
fuck fuck fuck 😭😭😭😭😭