Chapter 397

As a sword descended out of nowhere, Elain was forced to release her hold on Ashk. She squealed as the blade ripped though the air between them and she needed to jump backwards out of the way as several bodies engaged in a vicious fight pushed between them and through the crowd. Before Elain could reach Ashk again, however, somebody collided with her and pushed her further into the crowd. Elain struggled to remain on her feet, slipping in what she assumed was blood, but didn't really want to look to check. The force of the fight had pushed her into the far wall before she even knew where she was and she inched sideways along it, trying to avoid getting caught up in any more battles.

She could hear Lucien's heart, beating in time to the rhythm of the fight around them, and she knew that he was alright. If he was focused on what he was doing, then she didn't need to worry. When she saw the two guards who had been with him, however, worry began to creep into her anyway. They had been protecting him earlier, and now she couldn't see him anywhere near them. They stood nearby, one bleeding from his side and the other hovering around him protectively, and Elain leaned back against the wall, her eyes sweeping the hall, searching for that ruby hair she loved so much. There was more red in the room now, and Elain felt a little sick to the stomach when she noticed that it was on most of the faeries in the room. It wasn't the shiny metallic flame colour of Lucien's hair however, but darker and stickier, and on the clothing and bodies of most of those present, smeared on the floor nearly everywhere she looked. It was metallic in scent however, and Elain tried not to breathe too deeply.

There were fewer faeries than there had been, and she wondered if some of the battle had spilled out of the Throne Room and into the rooms and hallways nearby. More likely, she thought, many had fallen and it would only continue in that manner until someone put a stop to it. She looked for Helion then, spotting him near the dais, duel blades in his hands now as he carved his way through Colm's soldiers as if they were nothing more than untrained villagers. But where was Lucien?

Elain took a step away from the wall, intent on finding her mate when rough hands grabbed her, and she couldn't choke back a panicked scream. Rian grinned at her, hands clenching tightly around her wrists as he yanked her toward himself. "Thought you were going to sneak away from this?" He asked, "When your mate will be quite interested in where you are?"

"Lucien?" She breathed, looking for him. Did Rian know where he was? "Where is he?"

"Why don't we find out?"

Drawing a deep breath, Lucien reached for the bond. Elain was in the room, he was sure of that. His metallic eye clicked and whirred as he searched for her. Helion's insistence that he find his mate had chilled him. If the High Lord thought that he needed to find her, then there had to be a reason that he suspected she was under threat. Had Helion seen something? Had he witnessed something happen to Elain? Or, Lucien wondered, did Helion know that something was going to happen to her? How would he have known that?

He began to run, as quickly as he was able, with soldiers and guards and courtiers all fighting and getting in his way. Lucien ran for the pillar that Elain had been tied to and then he turned and searched again, looking for her as his blood quickened in his veins. Who would have gotten her off of this pillar? He knew almost instantly that it had been his mother, and he turned again, eyes still sweeping the room, as he wondered where his mother would have taken her. Ashk would have tried to get Elain to safety. Where would they have gone?

A flash of red hair caught his eye then, and Lucien began shoving his way through the fighting faeries once more as he headed for his mother. Her russet eyes, so like his own had been, met his before he had even reached her, and she lunched for him. Her strong hands gripped his coat as she pulled herself through others to him, eyes not leaving his.

"Elain…" She breathed, and Lucien pulled her to himself with his free arm around her back. With one eye on the crowd, he bent to try and hear her better.

"What of Elain?" He asked, fear sparking in him at the look in his mother's eyes. "Where is she?" The fact that his mate was not with his mother, as he had hoped, speared through him as painfully as any blade might.

"I don't know." Ashk's head turned, her red hair shining in the light, and her eyes moved over the crowd. "I had her… She was with me… and then she was pulled away…" She looked back to him then, intensity in those russet eyes. "He'll have gone for her." She said, "That Rian creature…"

"What?" He asked, "Who? Why?"

Ashk's eyes widened just a little as she looked at him. "Because she is yours."

Lucien felt sick to his stomach. He hated that someone would target Elain for being his mate. He hated that someone would think that using her would somehow help them to win this, and he hated that he hadn't yet found her. He stood straight, feeling his blood heat in his veins. His eyes swept the room once more, metallic eye clicking and whirring as he reached for the bond.

His mother released him then, and he flicked a glance down at her again. "Find Helion." He told her, knowing that his father would keep her safe. Part of him wanted to get her out of this room himself, but there was no chance that he was walking out of his room without finding Elain. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucien saw his mother nod, but at that moment, he'd felt a tug down the bond and his eyes had snapped to the other side of the hall. He could feel her.

Lucien began to move then, striding quickly. Just as he had when Elain had been tipped out of the cauldron onto the floor, and he had broken Hybern's spell holding him in place, Lucien was determined to get to her, and nothing was going to hold him back.