This scene contains spoilers if you haven't finished reading book two, Shadows & Secrets. This goes more into detail on when Soran first meets Jade in Layol. Enjoy! :)
There were no crickets tonight. The world stood silent. Did they all know of the betrayal that was being committed tonight?
Soran's only companion was the wind and it was frigid in the silhouette of darkness that enclosed him. It was surprising icicles hadn't formed on the roses behind him or the barbs of the thorns pressing into his backside.
He had all the music he needed tonight. The slices and slaughter of the help being slain in their beds filled his ears. He closed his eyes, dipping his head back, as the smell lingered to his nose. Blood. He had starved for years. Tonight, he would feast. Tonight he would drain the last light in Layol.
His smile hooked to one side. After all these years, the family that took everything from him would crumble like he had. They would taste death.
Even though the wind whipped at him, chilling his bones all the way outside, he still heard past the thick stone of the castle walls, the doors unlocking and the raid that was tearing down the Solarian empire. She laid in her warm bed completely unaware. They all did, but she was the only one that mattered. The only one that caused him pause when she kicked up her blanket in haste to the screams down the corridor.
His heart skipped a beat as the door to a back corridor slammed open. His pulse stayed even. There was no surprise they picked this avenue as an exit. Soran had anticipated it. The gardens offered the most coverage to escape. It also added enough coverage to mask what he needed to accomplish.
One more death on his hands would be nothing. He’d barely noticed the amount of blood he’d spilled over the years. Blood. He could practically taste it. It was all that mattered now.
What difference was the last living heir to the Solairain reign? A part of him thought he might actually enjoy it after what all these royals had done to him. They deserved to bleed. They deserved to know what it felt like to not be able to breathe as terror filled their lungs. It was the one gift they deserved.
He carried no weapons. He didn’t need them. His bare hands would suffice. It would be quick and like the wind, he would disappear into the night.
Swords clashed in the distance and a man shouted “Run!”
A light tumble occurred a few paces off before footsteps rushed toward him. This was it. His back tensed. They sounded lighter. One more death. He braced himself for the moment she would rush past him. A quick snap. The wind chilled his backside. Then you’ll get everything you want.
He lifted his hands for the embrace around her neck as her footsteps were mere feet away. One less Solaire and no more Layol.
She tripped rushing over a raised root in the dirt, as she entered the castle’s renowned rose garden. Dirt kicked up as her dress swept over her legs, specks of blood and mud caked throughout her royal blue tulle. Long brown curly locks covered her face as she scurried for her life, stumbling over uneven cobbled stone and dodging thorn filled branches. She swept the curls from her face, stopping mid step as she noticed a pair of boots peeking out from the rose bush.
Soran’s entire body went numb as the wind prickled his skin. She was a child. Not more than six, maybe seven. His stomach flipped. This made no sense. He was imprisoned for decades. There was no way the Queen waited this long to bear an heir. She should have been grown.
He cursed in his head as the situation he was stuck in settled in his bones with an unbearable weight. He had one task: kill the last heir of Layol before the bond. It was an easy job.
A life for a life. That was the deal.
“Don’t be scared.” She attempted to soothe him and he stepped back, taken off guard. “It’s okay. It’s safe outside. Layol is in the wind,” she whispered and glanced back to the castle as if to check it was safe.
She should have known it wasn’t safe. He shouldn’t have been considered safe to her at all.
Soran lowered, bracing his arm on his knee. “Is that so? The wind?”
She nodded. “My mother told me.”
Stop dallying. This is a mission like any other. He pressed his thumb hard into his palm. Soran made a deal. And he never broke deals.
“Is your mother still inside?”
She nodded. “I lost everyone.”
Swallow the bile and get on with it.
“Are you scared?” He asked, shaking the thought.
Water formed at the bottom of her eyes. “A little. I’ve never been outside the castle grounds before.” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and said something he hadn’t expected. “If we stick together we can help each other not be afraid, right?”
She wasn’t afraid of him.
“We have to hurry. They are coming.” She lifted her hand for him to take. “Please, I know the gardens.”
Soran’s feet stayed planted. He had never killed a child before and the idea still made his throat burn. This hesitated him enough. His hand stayed at his side unable to move. It had been so long since he had met anyone who stared at him without their eyes trembling, especially one so young and he was unable to understand it.
Heavier footsteps rushed toward them, of men roaring with a thirst for vengeance.
It was then a realization flickered on the young girl’s face. “You’re with them.”
Yes. Maybe? No. He wasn’t sure where he stood in this world anymore. He hadn’t known for a while.
She screamed a piercing shriek. At first Soran thought she was screaming to alert guards to her aid, that she had finally realized he was the villain and she should have screamed for help the moment she noticed him.
It wasn’t the reason.
Her hand reached up to a burn forming at her neck as her skin began to glow.
He was about to miss his chance.
The queen was dead and Layol was beginning to form her bond with her. He had a few moments at best. Then, who knew what power she’d possess. A child would be easy. One attached to a god, it was a toss up.
The girl’s eyes clenched shut in pain as her hands wrapped tightly around her neck. The metal Solairian signet started to appear out of thin air at the dip in her neck and he couldn’t help but be mesmerized by it.
A sword sliced some of the roses just above her, swinging at her head. This was his last chance to take her life. If the signet formed, the deal was off and he would lose all he strived for. A life for a life. If he wanted to die, she was his only ticket there.
She took a step back, tripping on another root. His hand reached out for her, gripping her dress to stop her falling as the men rushed in and the roses fell to the floor. Soran tossed her to his side, swinging her away from them. A blade swinging at her from one of the men barely missed her as Soran shoved her into the rose bushes. By the time her cheek was slammed into the many thorns poking out, he had already lunged at one of the men at the front.
The blood spatter that hit his face was more what he had grown accustomed to. It came easy to him to sink his fangs deep into the soldiers neck. The thrill of the hunt rushed through his veins as he snapped his neck and broke another’s arm before another heart beat.
Before she even had the chance to push herself up out of the thorns. He had ripped out another’s heart. He glanced back at the glare of the light glowing from her neck as he kicked the knee cap in of the last raider, listening to his screech. The last of her signet formed to her neck. It was like nothing he had even seen before.
As the last man dropped to the floor. Soran wasn’t sure why he chose the path he had. All he knew was she needed to be protected and it was the path he always should have chosen.
He dipped down to his knee and reached a hand out to her. “Are you alright?”
She nodded.
“Don’t be afraid.”
She wasn’t. Blood splattered on his face, death circled around her, and she wasn’t afraid.
“You’re eyes.” She squinted like the darkness was deceiving her. “That’s a funny trick. I like blue.”
His fingers touched his face, feeling the warm blood speckled on his cheek. What was she on about?
“There isn’t much time.” Soran started.
Her nose scrunched up. “I can’t go back can I?”
“I need you to do something for me. Can you do that for me?” He didn’t wait for a response. He heard panicked footsteps heading towards them. Someone was searching for her. “Run.”
Her face went blank.
“Run as far away from here and never look back. Forget this place. Forget me. Forget all of this. It’s the only way you’ll be safe. Do you understand?”
She stood staring at him. She was unphased. He was unsure. He couldn’t read her. How could a child understand all that had befallen her, all the darkness that was about to come? So he did something that soured his stomach.
He hissed at her, bearing his fangs as he pushed her to the darkness that engulfed the garden. “Run.”
She darted toward the darkness without a second's waste.
Soran watched from the hill as she exited the rose garden, sprinting to the forest. He killed the raiders exiting out through the door, searching for her. He watched as her guard scooped her up and rushed her into the darkness. Soran swore he saw her glance up at the darkness where he stood, with that same expression she met him with. One that had still been so foreign to him. One that said he wasn’t a monster; he was a man yet to be judged.
The guard tripped, having both of them tumble to the ground. She laid in the grass, limp. Soran’s blood ran cold for a heartbeat until he heard her pulse. A blue swirl formed in front of them. As they stepped through, he said into the wind before disappearing into the darkness, “Run, princess. You'll be safe now.”
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