Kono's first thought was to charge and attack the amorphous cloud of death. She knew this was not a good idea, but she still took several steps toward the growing trouble before Ryson and Callum both caught hold of her.
"Have you gone mad!" Ryson demanded as she shook her. "What do you think you were going to do?"
"This is all madness! What do you expect me to do?"
"We expect you to stay out of trouble," Callum replied, and grabbed her other arm as if she were still trying to get away. "Did not occur to you that if something happens to you, then all the alliances fall apart?"
In fact, it had not occurred to her, and the shock made her stop all motion. She looked out at the battle with renewed fear. There had to be something more she could do than just stand here and hope for the best.
Magic suddenly swept through the entire area, and it was not just the dragons coming in closer to see what they could do. Kono, Callum, and Ryson all stood still as if waiting for some orders. Kono wondered if that wasn't the truth. If they didn't know what was going on, maybe somebody else did.
Tsak? She found him at the edge of the battle, directing others and occasionally fighting off something that came after him. The death cloud had seemed impossible to fight, but now a group of fae began shooting fiery arrows into the mass of cloudy darkness. Pieces of the cloud creature broke away, tumbled, and disappeared. Where normal fire did no harm at all, the magical tricks of the Fae had a much better result.
"When did all these fae arrive?" Kono asked, realizing there were at least a hundred throwing themselves into various battles.
"They followed Lady Bear as soon as she headed into battle," Ryson said. "They are the elite warriors of the Bear Clan."
Ryson waved an arm in that direction, and Kono could see that the Fae lady had many guards. She was glad to see it, and the sight gave her a new idea.
"I am going to join Lady Bear. She has several guards, so I don't think I will be a problem for them."
Kono had expected a disagreement. Instead, Callum nodded, and Ryson took her by the arm, leading her over to the other group. She didn't even get her breath back before Ryson spoke a long line of fae, lifted her hand to kiss her fingers, and rushed away.
"Well, that can't be good," she mumbled.
Lady Bear had moved up beside her. The Fae woman gave a slight laugh, even as she destroyed three berserkers who dared charge at them. Kono took down another and considered herself lucky to have done so well.
"Oh, yes, you are much as Ryson's words painted you for me. He said you and I are sisters of the heart."
"Did he?" Kono asked. That didn't sound like something Ryson would say.
Or maybe it did when they were younger. Ryson had been their poet. She still expected such words from Callum, but he'd never grown that bold. Neither had she.
"You think Ryson changed because of his time with us?" Lady Bear asked. Her guards spread out around them, and no one was getting through that line. Kono felt unusually safe with the Fae, even in the heart of this battle. "It was not us. Even though my life mate wanted Ryson as his heir, we never would've harmed him. You have not asked about his injuries. Berserkers might've done such a thing, but they were still under Lord Bear's command."
"I never asked Ryson. I felt it was his tale to tell when he was ready."
"And that saved his sanity." Lady Bear paused to watch the battle, but everything appeared to be in hand right now. Even the cloud backed away, and the Fae still sent magical arrows into it. "Even though you could tell he had been through something horrific, you still trusted Ryson. You let him work out his problems while still keeping him busy with his own work, as if nothing had changed."
"Was it the berserkers who harmed him?" Kono demanded, feeling the same anger she had first felt when they found him at the doors to the castle.
"They harmed him before we knew Ryson was in their hands. They were not the ones who betrayed him. That, I fear, came from a matter of trust."
Kono paused for a moment. "Not trust. Misplaced trust. Where is Callum?"
Lady Bear looked at her with dismay. "You cannot mean you mistrust Callum!"
"I would never mistrust him. Neither would Ryson, who might confide a secret – or a worry he can't prove – to him. Where is Callum?"
He was in the middle of the battle, of course. Kono and Lady Bear darted that way without comment.
Sisters of the heart.
