Chapter 181: Chapter 181: How long do we have?

~ Liam's POV ~

I stood in the middle of Marquis Varian's destroyed chamber and felt like my whole world had fallen apart.

Dorian was gone with my wife's friend. Everything I thought I knew about my life was a lie.

My best friend. The man who saved me from the mines. The man I trusted more than anyone. He was the enemy the whole time.

"Liam," Raven's voice broke through my thoughts. "We need to leave. Now."

I turned to look at her. Her face was pale. Her eyes were red from crying. But she stood tall and strong.

"You're right," I said. My voice sounded empty. "We need to get back to Grok."

Duke Vincx was still holding Celeste. She was weak but alive. "I'm coming with you," he said. "If your advisor is working with King Alaric, then Belgravia is in danger too. We need to stop them together."

"So am I," Marquis Varian said from his bed. His voice was weak but determined. "That monster killed my daughter. I want revenge."

"You're too weak to fight," Ellie said. Tears still ran down her face. "You almost died."

"I don't care," Varian tried to sit up. "I'm not staying here while that creature lives."

"You'll die if you try to fight now," Raven said firmly. She walked over to his bed. "You need at least a week to recover. Maybe more."

"I don't have a week!" Varian's voice rose. "My daughter is dead! Burned to ashes because of that monster!"

"And you'll be dead too if you don't rest," Raven said. Her voice was gentle but firm. "Is that what Seraphine would have wanted? For you to die trying to get revenge?"

Varian's face fell. He started crying again. "She was my baby girl."

Ellie climbed onto the bed and held him. They cried together.

I looked away. Their pain was too much to watch.

"We need to move quickly," Amadeus said. He appeared in the middle of the room again.

Everyone jumped except Raven and me. "Dreculus is certainly planning something big. I can feel it in the air. Dark magic is gathering, everywhere."

"How long do we have?" I asked.

"Three days," Amadeus answered. His face looked serious. "Maybe less. He's been poisoning Grok's land for months. Killing Olu's power slowly. Your kingdom is weak now. Ready to fall."

"Three days," I repeated. My mind was racing. "Can we prepare an army in three days?"

"We have to try," Vincx said. He had laid Celeste down on a couch. She was sleeping now, exhausted from almost dying. "How many soldiers does Grok have?"

"About four thousand trained soldiers," I answered. "But many are stationed at the borders. It will take time to call them all back."

"That's not enough," Amadeus said. "I heard Dorian talking to Alaric through my connection with Annie. They have five thousand corrupted Darklings plus human soldiers. You'll be outnumbered."

"Then we need allies," Raven said. "What about Titan? Or Voss?"

"Titan might send soldiers," I said. "The new king owes me. But it will take time for them to march to Grok."

"I'll send ravens to Voss," Raven said. "King Theodore might help. He knows about the Darkling attacks. He knows how dangerous they are."

"We also need to warn the people," Vincx added. "If this Dreculus attacks in three days, civilians need time to evacuate or hide."

I nodded. "We leave for Grok immediately," I said. "Vincx, you and Celeste come with us. Marquis Varian, you stay here and recover. Protect Belgravia in case Alaric attacks from this side."

"What about me?" Ellie asked. Her voice was small and sad.

"You stay with your husband," Raven said gently. "He needs you. And you need time to grieve."

Ellie nodded. Fresh tears ran down her face.

"Amadeus," I turned to the World Tree, which seems to be our only hope now. "Can you track Annie? Find where Dorian took her?"

"I'm trying," Amadeus said. His face showed frustration. "But Dreculus is blocking my power. I can feel Annie is alive but I can't pinpoint where she is."

"Keep trying," Raven urged. She touched Amadeus's arm. "We'll get her back."

"I know, Master," Amadeus said. But his voice sounded sad and worried.

We gathered what supplies we could. Servants ran around packing food, medicine, and weapons.

I could barely walk with my wound. But I refused to stay behind. This was my kingdom and my responsibility.

Raven tried to make me rest. "You'll tear your stitches if you move too much."

"I don't care, my kingdom and its people are in danger. I'm not staying here."

"You're being stupid," Raven warned. But she didn't try to stop me again.

An hour later, we were on the road.

Vincx had changed into his travel clothes. He carried Celeste himself since she was too weak to ride a horse.

Raven rode next to me. She kept looking over to make sure I wasn't falling off my horse.

Behind us came fifty of Grok's soldiers. The ones who had survived the Darkling attack.

We rode hard through the night.

Nobody talked much. We were all thinking about what was coming.

War. A war that would decide if our kingdoms survived or fell to darkness.

"Liam," Raven called softly after hours of silence.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

I almost laughed. "Am I okay? No. I'm not okay. My best friend is actually a thousand-year-old monster who's been manipulating me my whole life. He poisoned my kingdom. He gave Julie the potion that made me hurt you. He tried to have you killed. And now he's going to attack with an army of corrupted Darklings. So no, Raven. I'm not okay."

She was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "I'm not okay either."

I looked at her. "Your father is King Alaric."

"Yes," she whispered. "And I would never have guessed. No wonder I looked so much like Ellie.”

"I'm sorry," I said. "That must be hard to learn."

"It is," she admitted. "Part of me always wondered who my father was. I had so many dreams about him. Maybe he was a good man who didn't know I existed. Maybe he was dead but he loves me.”

She laughed but it sounded bitter. "Instead, he's a monster working with another monster to destroy everything."

I wanted to reach over and hold her hand. But we were both riding horses and my wound hurt too much to move that way.

"We'll stop him," I encouraged instead. "Both of them. Dorian and Alaric. We'll make them pay for what they've done."

"Will we?" Raven asked. "They have five thousand soldiers. We have four thousand. They have dark magic and corrupted Darklings. What do we have?"

"We have Amadeus," I answered as if I knew the world tree all my life. "He is the only world tree with divine power. That has to count for something."

"One World Tree against five thousand corrupted Darklings and dark magic," Raven said. "Those aren't good odds."

"No," I agreed. "They're not. But we don't have a choice. We fight or we die. There's no third option."

We said nothing to each other again, both of us lost in our thoughts.

The sun started to rise. Golden light spread across the sky.

It should have been beautiful. But all I could think about was that in three days, that sky might be full of smoke and fire.

"There," one of the soldiers called out. "I can see Grok's borders!"

I looked ahead. In the distance, I could see the flags of my kingdom. The golden eagle on a blue background.

We reached the border by midmorning. The guards there looked shocked to see us.

"Your Majesty!" The captain of the border guard ran forward. "We didn't know you were coming! We didn't receive any messages!"

"There was no time for messages," I said. "I need you to send riders to all the border posts. Call back every soldier to the capital immediately."

"Every soldier? But Your Majesty, that will leave the borders undefended!"

"The borders don't matter if the capital falls," I said. "Do it now. That's an order."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The captain ran off shouting commands.

We continued riding toward the capital city.

The closer we got, the worse everything looked.

The fields that should have been green with crops were brown and dying.

The rivers that should have been clear and full were low and murky.

Even the air smelled rotten. How had it gotten to this?

"This is what Dorian did," Amadeus said quietly. He rode his horse next to ours. "He's been poisoning the land for months. Killing Olu's blessing little by little."

"Can you fix it?" I asked.

"Eventually," Amadeus said. "But not quickly. It will take time to heal this much damage."

We entered the capital city in the afternoon.

The people looked sick and thin. Many houses were quiet. The markets that should have been full and loud were nearly empty.

My kingdom was dying. And I hadn't even noticed because I was too busy looking for Raven.

Guilt ate at me.

"This isn't your fault," Raven said. She must have seen my face. "Dorian hid this from you. He made sure you didn't see it."

"I'm the king," I said. "I should have seen it anyway."

We reached the palace. The guards there looked shocked and relieved to see me.

"Your Majesty! Thank the gods you're back!"

"Gather the council," I ordered. "Every noble, every general, every advisor still in the city. I want them in the throne room in one hour."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

I turned to Raven. "You should rest. You've been healing people for days without sleep."

"I'll rest later," she said. "Right now, I need to send those messages to Voss and check on the people who are sick."

"Raven…"

"I'm a physician, Liam," she said firmly. "These are my patients now. Let me help them."

I nodded. "Thank you."

She rode off toward the city's hospital. Amadeus went with her.

Vincx carried Celeste into the palace to find her a room to rest.

I got off my horse carefully. My wound hurt so much. But I ignored it.

I had work to do.