Authors: Liia Ann White
Dark Waters (8 page)
Stepping back into
Adora
,
Randor
turned his head and whispered, low enough so the elf
and
Fae
wouldn’t hear them, “We need to make
ourselves known. Are you ready?”
Without waiting for an answer, he pulled the magical cuffs
he’d placed on her yesterday out of his pocket and placed them around her
slender wrists. “They’re not charmed and you’ll be able to break the chain with
a hard pull. Remember, if I tell you to run, run.”
“I will.” Her reply was soft yet steady.
He smiled quickly. She was definitely a warrior. “Okay.” He let
go of her hand.
“Now.”
The two of them removed their invisibility magic
simultaneously. Seeing
reaction to their sudden appearance,
Randor
grabbed
the chain connecting
Adora’s
wrists roughly, pulling
her with him as he approached.
“Well, well, speak of the devil,”
Randor
? You get tired of the princess already?”
Randor’s
eyes narrowed at his friend
and hostility rose, warming the blood in his veins.
front of kingdom staff. “She was trying to play me a fool.” He turned to glare
at her, hoping it was convincing enough. “Nobody takes advantage of me. You know
that.”
and let out a harsh laugh. Stepping closer, he assessed her, his eyes
travelling up and down her body. “Her attire seems a little unsuitable, don’t
you think, my friend?”
With a wave of his hand and a rush of magic,
Randor
made her combat gear disappear, replacing it with a
short strapless dress made of light cotton. This time he included underwear.
Randor
watched as
Adora’s
body.
spreading over his lips.
A smile that
Randor
knew all too well.
Before he could react to his friend’s seedy advances,
Adora
did. Her arms swung up, catching his arm in the chain
as she twisted and let her leg fly out, wiping
as he lay on the floor, too stunned to speak, and glowered.
“You do
not
touch
me without permission,” she growled before looking back up at
Randor
. “I may not be a member of your royal family, but I
am a royal.”
Randor
couldn’t hide the smirk on his
lips. Nobody touched a royal without permission. To do so was a crime
punishable by death. As an extended member of the
Unseelie
royal family,
Not wanting to blow his cover,
Randor
grabbed
Adora
roughly by the chains, securing one
hand on the back of her neck.
“You’re a fool,
Randor
said and laughed as his friend stumbled to his
feet. Had he been in human form,
face would have been bright red with embarrassment and fury. “Now where is the queen?
I need her witch’s help.”
regarded his friend for a moment. “Why do you need Maleficent?”
“This one,”
Randor
nodded toward
Adora
, “is more powerful than we’d ever thought. Her magic
rivals
Maleficent’s
. I need her to bind the
princess’s powers before I lock her in the dungeon for the queen’s use.”
“Fair enough,”
quarters.”
****
Adora’s
heart raced and her breath
came in short, sharp movements that made her chest ache. The way
Randor
had grabbed her had been a little too convincing. As
she walked with him and
she wondered if she’d made the wrong choice. Had she placed her trust in the
wrong person?
Relax,
Adora
.
Randor’s
voice rang in her mind.
It’s all for
show. You were right to trust me, Princess.
The way he said “Princess” this time was as a term of
endearment. His words calmed her and she tried to keep her fearful resolve. Inside
she was collected and alert, prepared to fight any second.
When the elf had touched her skin, she wanted to throw him
on the ground and snap his neck before ripping his heart out. He was lucky she
just threw him on the ground. The last person who touched her without
permission was currently sitting on the bottom of the
“What took you so long to bring her in,
Randor
?”
The elf spoke to
Randor
like he was interrogating
him.
Randor
scoffed. “I was convinced we
were soul mates”—he flashed a quick glance at her—“then I realised she was
using her magic on me from the moment she woke in our holding area.”
“Which is why you need Maleficent,”
“I barely had to use any magic,”
Adora
laughed. “His mind is so weak it was like controlling a child.”
Randor
backhanded her, just enough
to sting. Though his face showed fury, his eyes showed remorse. When they got
out of this,
Adora
would thank him for his show. She’d
rather be manhandled by him than the elf.
“Why so defensive, Assassin?
Do you not appreciate your
masculinity being rivalled?”
“You will speak when spoken to, you piece of
Seelie
filth,”
Randor
and opened the door. “Here we are.”
Adora
had never seen the
Unseelie
queen before. She’d heard she was beautiful, but
those rumours had been definitely exaggerated. With a crooked, pointed nose,
thin lips that were pursed into a straight line and the big eyes of an owl. Nobody
could call her beautiful. The wiry black hair piled on top of her head did
nothing but accentuate the hard angles of her face.
“
darling,” she spoke in a soft, almost peaceful voice as she approached the elf.
“I was wondering where you’d gotten to.” Her red gaze landed on
Adora
and
Adora
felt as though
her eyes were burning. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Randor
let go of her and stepped
forward, hands behind his back as he bowed quickly. “
Your
Majesty.”
“My dear assassin,” she walked in front of him and touched
the side of his face gently. “What took you so long?”
“This…princess”—there was that sneer again—“tried to escape
by using her magic on me.” His eyes almost glowed as he looked at her. “I
request the services of Maleficent. Her magic needs to be bound before I can
hand her over to the guards.”
“Oh?” The queen raised her brows and sat on a nearby lounge,
holding a hand out as a servant brought her a drink.
Adora
scoffed. The woman seemed
exactly like
Adora’s
father. She couldn’t even manage
to get a drink for herself.
“Shut your mouth,” the queen snapped at the sound of her
scoff. “You think you can just waltz into my castle…”
Adora
blocked out what she said
next. Overcome with an overwhelming sense of power, she couldn’t concentrate.
Someone was using an enormous amount of magic as they approached the room. It
had to be the witch. She was coming.
Chapter Seven
All hell broke loose around
Adora
.
Guards stormed the room, half guarding the queen, half aiming their weapons at
her and
Randor
. He grabbed her and pulled her against
his back before handing over her sword.
Adora
grabbed
her sword, snapped her cuff chain, and called to her magic, forming a defensive
barrier around the two of them. The shimmering black aura shifted around her as
she moved into a defensive position.
A whirlwind entered the room and encapsulated
Adora’s
entire body, ripping her from
Randor
and shutting down her defences. Acting on instinct, she used her magic and
counteracted the whirlwind until it stopped. Standing before her was a wiry
woman with long black hair and emerald eyes that sparkled like the gem.
“So you’re the one causing all the trouble,” she commented
with as much interest as most people would give a blade of grass. “You’re a
mere child.”
“I am Lady
Adora
Belira
, Princess of the
Court
daughter of King
Polara
, and future ruler of the
Water Lands,” she recited her entire title as she prepared to either fight or
take the witch captive. “Either you step down and we take you into custody of
the
Court
A half smirk spread across the witch’s thin lips and
Adora
tensed her muscles, holding her magic to the surface
as she prepared for the onslaught.
“You’re just like your father,” the witch sneered as a bolt
of light shot from her fingers.
Ducking and rolling,
Adora
managed
to avoid the bolt aimed for her chest and crouched, glaring at Maleficent. “I’m
nothing like my father.” Maybe talking to her wouldn’t completely distract her,
but it would make the witch think she had the upper hand. “I take after my
mother.”
A circle of flames appeared and closed in on
Adora
. Concentrating her energy, she tried a trick her
mother taught her.
“If you concentrate hard
enough, you can feel the energy that controls the opposing magic. Pull on it.
Bring it toward you and combine it with your magic.”
She smiled momentarily at the
memory. She’d managed to feed off her mother’s magic and knock down an entire
wall with the flick of her finger.
Closing her eyes, she listened to the crackle of the flames,
feeling for the underlying energy. Like water in the air, it was always there.
She just had to look and feel really hard to find it. A tingling in her
fingertips told
Adora
the magic was connecting with
her. She focussed and pulled on the energy, almost sucking it into her body.
When she opened her eyes at the startling shriek Maleficent
let out, she noticed the flames were almost gone.
It worked!
she
thought
triumphantly.
“Foolish girl.”
The witch laughed and took a
threatening step toward her. “You think that will work? Your mother tried that.
Moments before I killed her.
She had the same proud
expression on her face that you do now.”
Adora
froze. The mention of her
mother could have just been an effort to distract her. “You know nothing of my
mother.
Or her death.”
“Oh, but I do, child,” she said in a condescending tone.
“She died in battle, not at the hands of you.”
“Is that what you were told?” Maleficent laughed. “She was
caught in battle. The soldiers brought her back here so I could study her. Try
to steal her magic–if it were possible. Unfortunately, she kept fighting my
magic so I had to kill her.”
Adora
grimaced and clenched her
jaw, watching as the witch inspected the staff she held in her hand
Adora
hadn’t noticed the staff before.
With two loud thumps to the ground, Maleficent looked at her and gave an evil
grin.
“And I’m going to kill you just like I did her.”
Fury rose in
Adora’s
chest,
warming her from the inside out. Magic tore through her veins like a bushfire,
ready to destroy everything in its path.
Before she had a chance to attack, guards
burst into the hallway followed by
The elf sneered at her before
ordering his guards to attack. Wielding her sword,
Adora
spun in a circle, her trademark move, taking down two guards and slicing the
head clean off another. Before the others attacked, she sped to
to his throat, sure to bring up her defensive barrier as well.