Page 71 of Blood and Roses
"Unlike some people, I didn't grow up riding side saddle," she retorted. "I can't exactly take my dress off and run bare ass through the Aos Si."
"The idea has its merits." Balthasar mounted the giant horse before lifting her up behind him.
Rosa clung tightly to Balthasar as he rode at breakneck speed through the dark tunnels. He seemed to be able to see in the dark, so she shut her eyes tightly and buried her face into his back.
"There it is!" he said as the tunnel opened, and the light of a new dawn shone through. Arrows whizzed past her head, hitting the trees alongside them. Rosa looked and saw two warriors following them, their armor shining brightly. The third was unmistakably Ryn, his fox hair flying.
"They are coming!" Rosa shouted.
"Get ready to take the mane, and don't stop," Balthasar command. "Let me go!"
As soon as her hands left him, Balthasar jumped from the horse. Rosa lurched forward, grabbed the red mane, and managed to stay on. In the distance, she saw the tall monoliths marking the portal she had come through. It was glowing brightly in the morning light, calling out to her.
Rosa looked backward to see Balthasar pulling a soldier off his horse with a spray of crimson. The other soldier turned back to confront him.Where is Ryn?She was almost at the stones when a horse came barreling on the right side of her.
Ryn tried to pull her off her mount, managing to get her over the pommel of his saddle before Rosa pulled the dagger from her dress and buried it deep in his thigh. Ryn dropped her, and she narrowly avoided the horse's hooves as she tumbled onto the grass, the thick fabric of her elaborate skirts softening the fall.
"You vicious little bitch!" Ryn snarled as he wrenched the dagger from his leg and slid down off his horse. "The Queen spares your life, makes you an honored guest in her halls, and this is how you repay her?"
Rosa climbed to her feet and tried to find something to use as a weapon. She turned as Ryn swung his arm around, hitting her in the face. Blood spurted from her nose, and she stumbled backward, clutching it.
Ryn drew his sword. "The queen wants you back, but I don't think she will mind a few pieces missing. I killed Deryn, and I am going to delight in torturing and killing you." He raised his sword as Balthasar tackled him from behind. The sword spun out of Ryn's grasp as Balthasar wrestled him to the ground.
"You think you are a match for me when Bleddyn couldn't defeat me?" Ryn shouted as he hit Balthasar over and over. Rosa ran to where the sword fell and searched the grass, her face pulsing with agony. Ryn pulled a long dagger from his belt and Balthasar screamed in pain as Ryn buried it into his shoulder.
"Feel that, Unseelie? How it burns you up on the inside and steals your strength? My weapons were forged with lighting and sky metal to slay all that is dark and foul. My sword was made from the tears of the Creator God, and it shall have your head before this day is out."
Ryn pulled the dagger out and raised it above his head, ready to deliver the killing blow. Balthasar lifted his arms to protect himself, but the attack never came. Ryn's arms fell by his sides, his expression filled with surprise before his head toppled from his shoulders. Rosa held onto the bloody sword, panting heavily.
"Look at that. It didn't mind taking your head instead," she said, watching the body, half expecting it to get up again. Balthasar pushed the dead fae off him and got to his feet, one hand pressing against the wound on his shoulder.
"You saved my life," he said, his voice choked with pain.
"You can't always be the hero," Rosa replied as Balthasar picked up Ryn's head.
"A present for Eli," he said as he passed it to her. "I need to find where I left Celyn."
"Good. I will take his head too."
"I admire your enthusiasm, but unfortunately, the wretch is our way home." Rosa waited as Balthasar disappeared into the trees before dragging forth a barely conscious Celyn.
"Oh, my, what have you done, my little rose," he whispered, looking at Ryn's head dangling from where she gripped his ponytail and the sword in her hand.
"The same thing I will do to you if you don't get me back to Gwaed Lyn," she said, leveling the sword at him. "You brought me to this cursed place. I want to kill you, Celyn, so no tricks."
"As if I'm capable of anything right now," he muttered as Balthasar held him up. "The queen will want revenge for this."
"Good," Balthasar hissed. "I haven't killed half as many Seelie as I want to."
They walked up the slope and stepped into the center of the stones, Rosa pointing the sword at Celyn every step of the way. Warm gold and silver light wrapped around them, and the earth opened to swallow them all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Rosa floated in a womb of earth and heat, writhing weightlessly before everything was rushing about her. Above her, the soil opened up and spat her out. She hit the cold, snowy ground hard but steadied herself to keep from falling. She still held the sword in one hand, and Ryn's hair was still gripped tightly in her fingers. She wanted to throw the foul thing into the lake, but Eli would want to see it first. Balthasar and Celyn were ejected as abruptly, the power around them shuddering. Balthasar spotted her and laughed triumphantly.
"It worked, and I have brought you back. What are you going to do with me now?" Celyn asked forlornly.
Balthasar looked over at Rosa, "You were the one that suffered the most at his treachery. The judgment is yours."