Eternal Destiny (6 page)

“Ethano!” one of the Immortals called.

He abruptly turned. “Yes?”

“Why does Gloria wear the ruby ring? I noticed she was trying to hide it, but I caught the sparkle from the gem for a brief second. She’s not married, is she?”

Ethano shoved Sarah toward another Immortal and walked over to Liz. He jerked her hand roughly up so he could examine the ring. “When did you get married, Princess Gloria?”

Liz raised her chin defiantly, her eyes sparkling. “Yesterday. The news was likely on its way to you already, before you burst in here like a maniac.”

He tapped a finger against his lips, regarding her intently. “Who is the lucky man, Your Highness?”

“Mano Fenithemos.”

The guy smiled. “And you said you were wed yesterday? To Mano?” He began to laugh in a most evil manner.

“Yes. What business is that of yours, and why so you find it so humorous?”

“Well, it’s only funny because Mano Fenithemos has been out of the country for over a week. Even on the fastest of steeds, I doubt he could have traveled here to marry you that quickly, milady.”

Liz and Sarah exchanged nervous glances. Obviously, their little scheme was failing, and it was time to change tactics, but she didn’t know how to communicate to Liz what they should do.

“Something doesn’t quite add up here, Highness?” the blond one asked, staring straight at Liz.

“I haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking about,” Liz said coldly.

“Oh, I think you do.” He smiled. “Did we make a mistake and kill the real Gloria instead of Elizabeth Larker? We know
she
wore a ruby wedding ring.”

“Elizabeth Larker
is
dead!” Liz yelled.

He smirked as his eyes narrowed dangerously. “Is she?”

“Yes!” Sarah yelled.

“Seize this imposter,” Ethano said. “It’s not my place to impose judgment. The Royal Court will decide if she’s telling the truth.”

An Immortal threw Liz against the wall and bound her wrists.

Guilt washed over Sarah. She had lured the army of Immortals to the castle; they were after Sarah, not Liz. Again, her sister was in danger, and again, it was all her fault
. I shouldn’t have come here. Liz was happy in this world. All I managed to do was show up and interrupt her perfect life, possibly sending her to her death.

A man led Sarah outside, where she was roughly thrown on a spotted horse as if she were a piece of luggage. She landed on her stomach, the impact knocking the air out of her lungs. For a moment, she was blinded by pain, making her forget everything else, and then realization kicked in again and her fear returned.

Ethano gripped her tightly with one hand and held the reins with the other. He whistled to his horse, and the army followed behind.

As much as she could turn her head to the side, she looked for Liz and spotted her to the right on another horse, behind a dark-haired Immortal who yanked her hair back and whispered something in her ear. Suddenly, Sarah was whipped forward again, blocking her view. Her heart hammered faster in her chest, and sweat started trickling down her back. Time was running out. If she didn’t come up with a way to escape soon, she and her sister might both be headless before sundown. The galloping of the horse did little to help her maintain her focus.

As they bolted through the clearing, Sarah heard neighs and screams behind her. Knights, swinging swords, attacked in full force: King William’s men. For the first time, they were actually helping her and not trying to kill her, which was nice, for a change.

From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed another rider approaching, brandishing a sword in his left hand. His face was obscured by the hood hanging low over his eyes, but the way he swung his arm left her no doubt that he meant business. Sarah covered her eyes but the blow never came. Instead, the rider jammed his blade into her horse’s side. The animal neighed loudly, then stumbled and fell into the grass, throwing her off. She rolled and quickly jumped to her feet, her wrists still bound. The same knight on a brown horse drew his sword high and roared, charging Ethano.

Sarah backed up a few steps and hid behind a towering tree. Her heart pounded hard against her ribcage as she peeked out. The scene before her eyes looked like something out of an epic film. Shrieks filled the air. Swords clanged, and horses neighed. An arrow whistled past her head as more shouts echoed in her ears. People were everywhere, running around, shouting and challenging each other, but she couldn’t see Liz. From the right, King William’s knights came full force at the Immortals. Sarah imagined this would stir a whole lot of trouble with the Royal Council. Not only was King William disobeying a direct order, but he was fighting against them. She had managed to put his life at risk as well, not to mention his kingdom. Sarah realized, if she hadn’t before, that it was a huge mistake to come to the castle. How could I possibly cause this much trouble? I must be jinxed, she thought.

A sword landed off to her left. She raced over and held it securely with her feet, then knelt down and rubbed her bindings back and forth on it. The rope cut into her skin, making her flinch from the pain. Eventually, her hands were released, and she picked up the sword, ready to join in the battle if she had to. Nobody was going to take her head or her life without one heck of a fight.

“Surrender to me now!” With long strides, Ethano moved in her direction, sword raised. Sweat bathed his forehead, giving him a concentrated, yet menacing expression.

She gulped hard, fighting the various emotions engulfing her. There was no way she was going to let him drag her off to court. Copying his movements, she lifted her sword, prepared to strike with as much force as she could muster. Everything moved in slow motion. She focused on the sword gripped tightly in his hands. A burst of heat flooded her head, and moved down through her body. Her world was now in black and white, everything except for the silver, gleaming sword. She imagined it flinging out of his hand. After another burst of heat, the scene came back to life in full color and at normal speed.

At the exact same time, Ethano’s sword flew out of his hands and soared hundreds of feet. He smiled. “Who needs a weapon? Human knights are no match for me, and neither are newly turned Immortals.”

Sarah held her sword high when he lifted his hand and waved it. Invisible hands wrapped around her throat. Somehow, he was choking her. Her vision blurred, and her lungs screamed for oxygen. She tried to draw in her breath, but only a gurgling sound came out of her mouth. Struggling to remain conscious, she dropped her weapon as her muscles weakened. The guy was tough, and Sarah knew he was right: There was no way she was going to win a fight against him. She turned to run, but instead, she dropped to the ground. Gripping her throat, she tried to unwrap the invisible fingers. Her lungs burned in agony, and her head ached.

She took a deep breath.
Air
? He’d released her. Looking up, she watched him grimace as he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. William pulled out the sword from his back and wiped the blood off his blade in the grass.

Sarah sucked in gulps of air. “Thanks.”

“I didn’t kill him,” William said, re-sheathing his sword. “I don’t believe in killing our own kind.”

Sarah shot him a glance. “Except for me?”

Liz approached. “He thought it was the only way to end the war. You were the exception to the rule. But he changed his mind, remember. You didn’t meet on good terms, but my father is an honorable man.”

If you say so.
“If you wouldn’t have come, I’d be dead, Liz.”

“We’ll discuss it more later.” Liz looked at the spotted horse lying helplessly on the ground. She slowly opened her hand, and a red light glowed all around it. Where she touched the horse’s wound, the long gash miraculously closed, only to disappear a second later. The animal stumbled to its feet and neighed, and Liz patted its side, satisfied.

Sarah gasped. “What you just did…it was beautiful.”

Liz jumped on the horse, and Sarah hoisted herself up. William grabbed another stray horse and motioned them to follow. Sarah gripped the sword tightly, and Liz led them through a tangle of bushes, deep into the woods.

William stopped and turned his horse. “We can’t go back to the castle. Immortals are waiting for us to return. We’ll head to the next city, where we’ll be safe.”

“You can put down the sword, sis,” said Liz.

“I’d rather keep it, if you don’t mind. What about Charles?”

“I used the power of the ring to warn him to leave. Otherwise, they’d drag him to court and question him about the marriage. They’d interrogate him about whether or not his real wife died that night at the ball.”

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” Sarah said.

“It’s okay, sis,” Liz said, leaning over to give Sarah’s hand a squeeze. “The Larker sisters are going to get through this.”

Sarah nodded, her mouth pressed into a tight line. It wasn’t okay, but they had no more time to waste worrying about their missteps. The Immortals wouldn’t give up, and it was only a matter of time until they gave chase. She focused on the scenery to either side as they rode for miles, navigating through towering trees and vegetation. The trees grew denser there, their thickets building a canopy above the travelers’ heads. The leaves were deep green, filtering the morning light. It all seemed so serene and quiet, were it not for the thumping of hooves on the ground, stirring up the leaves in their wake.

Eventually, William stopped, quite suddenly.

Sarah turned to face him, only then noticing that his eyes were closed. “What’s he doing?” she whispered to Liz.

Liz just shrugged.

William’s eyes fluttered open as he said, “We need to move faster. The Immortals have picked up our trail.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Sarah said. “How do you know that?”

Liz nodded. “We’ll move faster, Father.”

They picked up their pace through the woods, and a few minutes later, William motioned for them to stop.

Sarah strained to listen. Coming from her right, she thought she heard the soft thuds of hooves, then a cough, barely louder than the whispering wind.

William pushed a giant fern out of the way and peered beyond. “We’ve got trouble. It’s King Victor’s camp.” His Immortal vision was amazing, and in that moment, Sarah envied it.

“He told me he was meeting up with his army,” Sarah said, pushing the thought out of her mind. Nothing made her wonder anymore.

Liz sighed. “Well, I guess he got what he’s always wanted, his free pass. Now he’s come over into our territory to throw it in our faces. We can’t touch him.”

“Or kill him,” added William. “If we do, it’ll kill you.” He looked at Sarah and frowned. “He didn’t get my daughter like he intended, but he got the sister of my beloved daughter-in-law, so I’d say he accomplished his mission. My men and I will never be able to touch him now…never.”

“Thank you for everything you’ve done, for sparing my life by sparing his,” Sarah said.

“Don’t think for a minute that I did it for you, miss. I did it for my daughter-n-law, whom I love deeply. She doesn’t need to lose the only biological family she has left—the sister she’s longed for since the day I met her.”

Sarah touched her temples. Behind her mind’s veil, she could feel him beckoning to her, calling her even though he didn’t speak out her name. Something drew her to him, forcing her to obey his unspoken command. “He’s here,” she whispered. “I can feel him.”

“In that case, we’re trapped,” William said. “Either we take on King Victor’s men or we deal with the Immortals from the Kardashian Court.”

“Listen, Sarah,” Liz said. “We have absolutely no chance with the Immortals. We might have a good chance with your husband, because he cares about you. It’s time to face him.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. “You want me to surrender to him?”

“Absolutely not!” roared William. “I watched him nearly destroy the last woman he loved.”

“Sarah’s the reason he’s here,” Liz said. “He won’t hurt her.”

“But he wants to keep me from ever going back to our world, and that isn’t going to happen. I want to go home.”

“Would it be so awful?” Liz asked. “To be here stuck with me?”

William whipped out his sword. “I say we have a better chance facing a few Immortals than King Victor and his army.”

Liz shook her head. “The Immortals will drag us to court and then kill us.”

William steered his horse toward Liz. “King Victor will kill me without a doubt. I stole the love of his life all those years ago. He’ll never stop until I’m dead. It’s why I’ve been trying to kill him first—to end this ridiculous war that’s been going on for ages.”

“So Victor started a war over a woman?” Sarah asked.

Liz shot her a glance. “This war isn’t just over Della. After my father won her heart, he took over two of Victor’s most prized countries in his kingdom. That’s what really started it. They’re fighting over property lines.”

“This isn’t the time to discuss this,” William said.