The Ice Diamond Cuff (Custodian Novel #4) (28 page)

"No," Vivianna uttered, realizing her
fate.

"No!" Zaven shrieked.

Faedra brought her eyes to meet the
Ambassador's. "Yes," she breathed, pulling back both hands before
forcing them forward with all the might she possessed, throwing her
baby's power at Zaven's chest.

Zaven was blasted backwards, his body made a
sickening crack as it was hurled against a tree. He dropped to the
ground in a heap at the same time Vivianna fell to her knees.
Faedra leaned down, scooped up the book with one hand, ran over to
her sister and pulled her from the ground with the other, dragging
her into the forest. She just prayed her army on the valley floor
was succeeding in its mission.

"Stop," Vivianna cried as they made their way
deeper into the forest. She was bent over, hardly able to stand,
gasping for breath. "I can't go on."

"We have to," Faedra insisted, tugging at her
sister's limp arms. "What I did won't hold him for very long. We
have to get as far as possible and hide."

Vivianna looked confused. "But you have
Savu's power. You can stop anything."

"No, I don't."

"What? Why not?"

"Vivianna," Faedra said, tugging again. "I
don't have time to explain right now. We have to move."

Unearthly shrieks echoed from the valley.

"What was that?" Vivianna asked.

Faedra didn't answer. She prayed it was her
plan working and those cries of pain were coming from Zaven's men
and not her own. She pulled Vivianna deeper into the forest until
the princess could go no further. She looked around, trying to find
a spot where they could hide. She found it behind a thick gnarly
bush.

"We should be okay to rest here for a while,"
Faedra said.

She watched her sister's body heaving with
the exertion and shivering uncontrollably with cold. Faedra drew in
a breath and huffed it out on a long sigh as she shrugged out of
her coat and laid it over Vivianna's shoulders. "Here," she
snapped, making sure Vivianna knew she was offering the coat
begrudgingly.

Vivianna lifted her head and looked up from
where she had her hands braced on her knees. Between gasps of air
and chattering teeth, she asked. "Why are you helping me?"

Faedra was asking herself the very same
question. She stopped her anxious scan of the vicinity and glanced
down at the person who she should let freeze to death at her feet.
"Because I'm not like you," she spat.

She cast another quick glance about their
surroundings, not that it would do her much good. She had covered
most of the forest with an eerie layer of fog. She looked back at
Vivianna and spoke softer this time. "And because I made a promise
to our father...before he died."

Vivianna's breath stopped rasping in and out
of her lungs. Her face froze. "Father is dead?"

Faedra narrowed her eyes. "You didn't
know."

"No."

Vivianna's face filled with pain and remorse.
If Faedra hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would not have
thought the princess capable of such emotion.

"How?" Vivianna asked.

Faedra looked away and stared at her feet.
She blew out a long sigh and closed her eyes. "It was me."

"What?" Who knew that one word could hold so
many feelings. Disbelief...surprise...fear.

Faedra brought her gaze back to Vivianna, who
was silently waiting for an explanation.

"No. Not really me, well, it wasn't my
fault."

Vivianna's lackluster brown eyes shone with
confusion.

Faedra really didn't want to relive those
moments, but whatever her sister had done to her in the past, she,
at least, deserved an explanation of how she lost her father.

"Zaven badly injured him." Faedra continued.
"Two Messengers brought him to the World of Men when Zaven
attacked. They knew he would be safe there. I can heal with Savu's
power, I can bring people back...or rather, I could."

Faedra held up her arm and pushed her thick
sweater down from her wrist to reveal the ice bracelet. "Zaven gave
me this as a wedding present. Pretty isn't it?"

Vivianna agreed with a subtle nod.

"When I tried to save our father, this cuff
absorbed all my power and father's energy. Once I had started,
there was nothing that could be done to stop it. Now, all my power
is stored in this pretty trinket."

"But, I saw you. You just used your power
against Zaven."

"It wasn't mine."

Vivianna shot her an odd look, but said
nothing more.

They stood silent for a moment. Faedra didn't
wonder what must have been going through Vivianna's mind. She had
far too much on her own mind to worry about, least of all, what she
was going to do with the very person she had just rescued.

"How did Zaven get you out of your cell,
anyway?" Faedra asked. "I thought it was impenetrable."

"The magic was attached to me. Zaven realized
if I became weaker, so did the magic around me. He didn't feed me
or give me water. I haven't eaten for days."

So, that was why she looked like a bedraggled
kitten instead of a powerful predator.

"What do we do now?" Vivianna asked after a
moments more silence.

"To be honest, I don't know."

All Faedra could think of was how the
counter-attack was going. Were her friends and family safe?

***

The fog bank lifted, and Faen's eyes alighted
on row upon row of Zaven's men. Their bodies looked distorted
behind the curtain of water, but the Ambassador had certainly put
together a sizable army.

"Now!" Faen hollered.

Each of Derian's men thrust their hands
forward. The wall of water surged. But, instead of crashing over
the army, they walked forward, step by step, pushing the wall
towards the Alsians on the other side.

"Charge!" Faen heard over the roar of the
huge wave. He smirked. They still didn't have a clue what was
coming at them.

The first row of Alsians hit the water and
tried to push through. As they did, their bodies deformed, and
unearthly shrieks echoed through the wall. Faen hadn't been sure
what it would look like to see a body melt. It wasn't
pleasant...like candle wax melting in a fire.

They were able to destroy three rows of men
before the Alsians realized what was happening and started to
retreat. It was now or never. They had to release the wave and take
out as many of Zaven's men as they could. The dragons would have to
help keep the others at bay until Derian's men could reform the
wave and repeat the whole process.

"Let it go!" Faen shouted.

Derian and his men dropped their hands. The
wall of water wavered for a second before crashing down to the
ground. The Alsians turned and started to run in the opposite
direction, but for many of them, it was too late. Their legs melted
from underneath them, bringing them crashing to the ground, only to
have the salt water consume everything that was caught in its
path.

The valley filled with more cries of despair
before they were swallowed up by the salt water. The remaining
Alsians looked over their shoulders as they ran back towards the
city walls. Some of the side-liners decided they may have a better
chance if they split to either side of the wave, only to be met by
the ferocious flames of the dragons that ambushed them from
above.

Derian's men drew the water back, reshaping
it into another enormous wave. This time they were drawing closer
to the castle. Faen had a twinge of remorse as he ordered the wave
released again. The damage to the city would be colossal but he was
determined that he would flood every building if that was the only
way to insure Azran's safety.

Water crashed over the wall and spilled
through the arch. It sluiced down every alley and lane, snaking its
way into the heart of the city and sweeping with it everything in
its path that wasn't a permanent fixture. Everywhere the salt water
touched, the ice melted. Their plan was working.
Faedra's
plan was working. Faen turned to look up at the ridge where his
wife would be watching her city being liberated. His heart hitched
a ride to his throat.

"What is it?" Rowan asked, noticing Faen's
expression darken.

"Faedra. She is gone."

Rowan followed his son's line of sight. "Go.
I will continue here."

Faen beat his wings. "Jocelyn!" he called.
"Come with me."

Jocelyn nodded and joined her brother in the
air.

Faen looked around him for another ally close
by. "Ignis!"

The red dragon finished melting the Alsian he
had cornered before turning.

"Faedra is missing. Would you come with
us?"

Ignis looked to the top of the valley wall
where the Custodian should be spectating. His eyes narrowed. He
gave a curt nod as he joined Faen. The three of them took off
towards the ridge.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Faen scanned the area as soon as they landed
on the ridge. It was hard to tell if there were any extra
footprints or a struggle with all the disturbance their group had
made prior to descending to the valley floor.

Jocelyn touched Faen on the shoulder.
"Brother," she said, pointing to the binoculars on the ground. Faen
walked over and dropped down on one knee. He picked up the
binoculars and examined them. "Something is wrong." He stood up and
handed the broken binoculars to his sister to inspect. "Faedra!" he
called. Silence answered him. "Faedra!"

"Faen," Ignis beckoned from near a tree
several feet away. He was back in human form, looking intently from
the ground, then up into the branches.

"What is it, Ignis?" Faen asked as he and
Jocelyn strode over to where the red dragon was examining the
trunk.

"Something hit this tree with tremendous
force. See, here," Ignis said, running his fingers down the trunk.
"All the ice has been dislodged from the bark. And down there..."
he pointed to the ground, then up into the canopy. "...Icicles from
those branches are all over the ground. Something hit this tree,
shaking it enough to dislodge the icicles."

Faen's face paled.

"Brother, I know what you must be thinking.
But, I do not think it was Faedra who was thrown into the
tree."

"How do you know?"

"Because there are three sets of footprints
heading into the forest over there." Jocelyn pointed to the
footprints in question.

Faen ran over to the edge of the forest and
crouched low, examining the prints.

"These are Faedra's. She is wearing her
hiking boots, no one else in this realm would leave a print like
that. But whose are those?" He ran his fingertips over the petite
print next to that of his wife. Whomever the print belonged to,
they were barefoot. He would hazard a guess they were also female.
This was not making any sense. Who in their right mind would be out
in the freezing cold with nothing on their feet? Although, he had
to admit, that was the least of his worries. His fingers trailed
next over the print that bothered him the most. The third, much
deeper impression belonged to a larger, heavier owner, also
barefoot.

Faen looked deeper into the forest. Something
caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes, then stood, dusting the
ice off his hands. "Come on. We have to get to her before Zaven
does."

"How do you know it's Zaven?" Ignis
asked.

"A hunch," Faen threw over his shoulder as he
darted into the forest following Faedra's footprints.

"I'm guessing from the look on your face,
your brother doesn't usually believe in hunches."

Jocelyn clacked her mouth shut and looked up
at the red dragon. She shook her head.

Ignis smiled. "Didn't think so." He gestured
with an open palm towards the forest. "Shall we?"

***

Faedra paced back and forth, chewing on her
thumbnail. It was probably not the most sensible thing to do. The
sound of crunching frozen leaves under her feet was the equivalent
of posting a neon sign with a big arrow pointing to their location.
But, not knowing what was going on in the valley was eating her
alive. Were those screams from her people or Zaven's? After a
moment Faedra stopped, her shoulders tensed. Even without her
powers she could feel an intense gaze boring into her back. She
turned and glared at Vivianna.

"What?" she snapped.

Vivianna was seated on a boulder several feet
away. Her eyes did not avert from Faedra's when they met. Faedra
had a hard time believing this was the same woman who'd had her
mother killed, who'd tried, and failed three times, to do the same
to her. She found it hard to hide the animosity in her eyes as she
raked a glare over the frail body of her foe. Even the woman's
wings were limp and lackluster.

Vivianna said nothing; she just continued to
watch as the Custodian started pacing again. Faedra's mind was
blank. What good was she as a queen when she couldn't even decide
on the next course of action to take? They couldn't stay there all
day. For one, it was freezing, and, for some unknown reason, Faedra
had felt charitable enough to give Vivianna her coat, though she
was still trying to figure out why. What Faedra wouldn't give to
have her fire back right then. If she ever got it back, she vowed
she would never complain about it again.

Faedra massaged her forehead with her
fingertips. She needed to get help, alert the others to Zaven's
whereabouts. She couldn't do that with Vivianna in tow.

She stopped pacing again and looked down at
the woman she was supposed to despise. Why did she only feel
pity?

"I'm going to get help."

Vivianna's blank expression turned to one of
panic. "What about me?"

"What about you? I saved your life, Vivianna.
That's as much as I promised to do." Faedra turned to leave.

"Faedra?"

Faedra stopped but didn't turn back.

"For what it's worth," Vivianna continued,
her voice a timid whisper. "I'm sorry."