Chained To Him [Editing]

Chapter Forty-Six

The coppery air was heavy with blood and the tired ringing of steel against steel. Jayde's body ached, and at times the swords that rained down on her felt too heavy to shove away with her own. But she understood the frenzied desperation in those attacks. The rebels were winning.

With Aragon captured, along with many of their commanding officers, the soldiers were largely directionless, creating impromptu factions within the ranks that collapsed just as quickly as they formed. Word spread that Greywood had fled, and some soldiers had already thrown down their arms and run for the gates, believing themselves to be the castoff sacrifices of the Empire. Jayde let them go. She had given her orders: no death would come to those who surrendered or fled. Already, a group of the Emperor's men were clustered in the village square, willingly allowing the rebels to take their swords and tie their arms. Why fight to the death for an Empire that had abandoned them? Why give their lives to something that had taken theirs?

Alongside the rebel soldiers were men and women bearing Izzara's colors. The vision of her people fighting alongside Izzara's made her heart swell, but it also meant that Aragon was here again. He was residing in the dungeon that once held Luther, now that the palace had been taken by the rebels, and Jayde wondered if the mere reversal in their roles was enough to make him consider what his life had become. It was a strange thing, to still hope that somehow he would understand how wrong he'd been, when all her life he'd only offered her evidence of his heartlessness, his callous nature. If she hoped for anything, now, she knew she would be disappointed.

The rebels had managed to secure much of the city, and as Jayde slipped behind the lines of fighting she began to recognize people who she had not seen in many months, people who she had grown up around. No words needed to be spoken between them; it was like nothing else to see each other free again. And then she saw a face that she had desperately longed to see since they'd parted: Kariyah. She was commanding a group of soldiers at her disposal, an arm wrapped around the prominent bulge in her stomach. It stole Jayde's breath to see her like this, at once the same woman she knew before, and entirely transformed at the same time. Her time as a slave had been hard on her, it was evident in her hollow cheeks and the darkness in her eyes. And yet there was something about her, a glow she hadn't seen before, as she helped guide her people in building a temporary sick bay.

"Kariyah," Jayde managed, and the name felt heavy on her tongue. It had been so long since she'd said the name that some part of her expected it to have lost its power. But then, Kariyah turned to face her, and the way her lips dropped open before tugging into a grin nearly broke Jayde's heart. She was soon wrapped in a tight embrace, Kariyah's growing baby pressing against her.

"Derik told me you were coming," she whispered finally, her voice growing thick with tears. "And still I can hardly believe that I'm seeing you right now."

"I'm sorry." She had been thinking of those words for too many months now. "I'm sorry I left you to this fate. We should have been together."

Kariyah was quiet for a long moment before she released her and glanced down at her stomach. She spread her fingers across her belly and smiled softly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I could never blame you for what they did to me."

"The baby..."

"The baby doesn't belong to the empire. It's mine alone." Her eyes filled with tears again and she looked away, scrunching up her face until she regained her composure. "He'll grow up in a free Aésadel. That's all that matters." Jayde followed her gaze then, to where a man she didn't recognize approached them cautiously. He dipped his head to Jayde before offering Kariyah a tin of water, his hand slipping over her back. It was then that Jayde understood what he was wearing. Although he'd lost his jacket and ribbons, he was in the uniform of an Imperial soldier. Kariyah held up her hand before she could speak and tugged the man around to her side, her fingers curling into his sleeve. "They tried to kill me after...after I started showing. Raoul protected me. He's with us now."