13. Raelle
Chapter thirteen
Soren summoned me first thing this morning. Unfortunately, I have no other option than to quickly shuffle into the atrocity of a dress that he had sent in for me. The red material reeks of Violet the scarlet harlot, or Thames, as she now calls herself. Bile pushes up my throat just thinking of the possibility that this is her dress. This dress, one of many he so graciously has provided me with, is no different than the others. Provocative and not suited for daily wear. Especially not breakfast. At least I know that since he has me dressed like this, I won’t have to endure the ‘training’ that we both know is just him testing my magic.
The door to my room creaks as it opens, and Osiris leans against the door frame, looking in. His blue eyes trail my body slowly, finally landing on my face. He shakes his head but says nothing—a common theme for the prince of little words.
“Suitable for a queen attending breakfast with a tyrant,” I say gesturing to myself before leaning down and strapping the matching heels to my feet.
“There will be no breakfast this morning. I am to take you to the drawing room.” I watch the tick in his jaw as he surveys me. “If you are ready.” He sweeps his hand out for me to exit the room. No further explanation and no room for argument. I look up at him as I pass through the doorway, with his lips pursed. He surprises me by gruffly urging me forward, pressing a hand to my back like a child who needs a push in the right direction. I scoff.
“I don’t know where the drawing room is. I have not had a tour of my keeper’s lair…” When I turn to face him, I cross my arms and pin him with a look of annoyance. My feet are already aching wearing these awful shoes, and I grind my teeth as he looks down at them as though he can sense where my thoughts are. I don’t know why, but it makes my temper rise.
“This way, Moon Raven,” He does not shorten his stride as he takes off down the hallway. His boots thump and echo through the massive space. As I curse and grapple to keep pace with him, I swear I hear him laugh, but still, he doesn’t slow.
Osiris pushes one of the double doors open, which I presume leads to the drawing room. The heavy wood groans as he steps in and allows me entrance before closing them. I am greeted by a chill as my eyes adjust to the darkness. Candles light the room only at the back. In the center, atop a large dais, sits an equally large desk with parchment strewn about the surface. As we walk closer, a door at the back of the room opens and two guards bracket it before Soren steps through with Violet at his heel.
“Ahh, good morning, my pet.” He croons with a wicked smile, pulling his lips taut. “I assume you slept well?” He asks but looks to Osiris with narrowed eyes. My brows drop as the tension in the room thickens to almost suffocating. Violet sneers at me as Soren takes the only seat behind the desk, leaving us all to stand.
“I want my son present for this. Go retrieve him.” Soren says, shuffling through the parchment, not looking up at any of us as he speaks. The guards at the door behind him look at one another, then their eyes shift to Violet, where she wrings her hands. After a moment of silence and no movement, Soren lifts his gaze. “Are you daft? I said bring my son in. Retrieve Cano!” He barks the order.
“I—sir,” One of the guards stammers, looking at Violet like she is his lifeline.
“What are you doing still standing there? You heard your order!” she quips. The guard’s face pales as he looks from her to the other man at the door and back to Soren and finally landing on Osiris and myself.
“He—is not here, sire.” The guard hangs his head. His lips still moving as though he is sending prayers to the gods. But as Soren’s head turns, ever so slowly, to face him, I know that he is praying for his life as he trembles.
“What do you mean he is not here?” Soren grits out through clenched teeth. “If he is not here… Where is he?” He asks, the promise of violence growing in his tone. The once-cold room grows hotter with Soren’s temper, and something about it brings a grin to dance at my mouth, which I try to hide by pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. Osiris glances at me and gives a slight shake of his head. A warning, which is no less confusing than everything else happening right now.
“If someone doesn’t speak now, I will kill you both and go find someone who can give me answers!” Soren bellows, slamming his hands out flat on the desk.
“He—he and the guard you left in charge… they left. The day you and Thames left to retrieve the queen.” His eyes widen as he speaks the last word. Fear and sorrow paint his face as his eyes reach mine. That is when I recognize him. This man before me is the guard who spoke kindly to me. Perhaps the only one who seemed at war with his orders. The only one who seemed to have a brain of his own.
His eyes stay trained on me as they widen further; they are frozen, and frozen they will remain. The movement was so fast, there was nothing he could do. Nothing anyone would have been able to do to stop it, and my hands fly up to cover my mouth as I choke on any rebuttal I had on my tongue. His throat slit. Blood sprays Soren across the chest and the guard across from him in the face.
“She. Is. Not. Queen.” Soren breathes out of his flared nose. The dagger still in his hand, my breath catches at the sight of it.
“Meraki,” I whisper the name through my bared teeth as anger-filled tears well in my eyes, blurring out all sane thoughts, and I lunge at the bastard holding my dagger.
Surprise is on my side. Not one of the Fae in the room saw my attack coming. Their impotence and underestimation of who I am is clear as I wrap my fingers around Soren’s wrist. White magic glows from my fingers, granting me strength that is not otherwise possible, but that isn’t what has my eyes rounding… It isn’t what has my heart skipping its pounding beat.
No. The sight of the familiar dark shadows that wrap with the light, the smell of cedar and smoke that fills my nose and the warmth that sinks into my chest… That is what causes my focus to slip, my magic to falter, my lips to part and my breath to catch. It’s just enough for Soren to have the upper hand.
The pain is immediate, and as I fall, time seems to slow. My vision darkens, but before I lose sight of the world, I see a shadowed figure reaching for me, two volcanic eyes searing into mine. When my body hits the ground, I hear cursing and shuffling of boots, but at that moment nothing else matters. I have my dagger in my hand, and Dax surrounds me.
My eyes flutter closed, and I let myself drift into the abyss. Hoping above all else that the vision of him returns to me and those molten copper eyes filled with fire and love burn into me once again.
Instead, I’m met with none of that. Only darkness. In this cave, where only the glow of crystals shimmering and sparkling can be seen. It’s as if the walls are breathing… greeting me . The silence echoes through space and time, and then the desolate unease takes me into its clutches before I feel like I’m falling all over again.
I wake with a gasp, and my body jerks upright with panic. My body is desperate for air, and my mind riddled with the same feeling of dread as being held underwater for too long. My lungs expand so much that it hurts, and my hands reach out for something to hold onto and are met with a warm, rough hand placed into mine. My eyes snap open wide, and the familiar blue eyes that meet mine cause me to scramble. I kick and push him away, and his hands fall away as he stands.
“You were thrashing in your sleep.” He pauses, “I was only making sure you didn’t fall from your bed.” The guards at the door I have come to recognize as Osiris’ personal guards. They have their fists curled around the hilts of their swords, as though they will cut me down if I seek to harm their prince. I swallow hard, trying to dispel the panic that had overwhelmed me in my sleep. Rubbing the center of my forehead with the heel of my hand, I groan as dizziness makes me spin and unease builds at the back of my throat.
“Easy, I’m not going to hurt you.” His hand presses to my leg, just above my ankle, and even though there is a blanket as a barrier, something in me vibrates at the touch.
“Don’t touch me.” I jerk my leg back.
“Okay, I’m sorry.” His scowl deepens as he says the words.
“You are sorry ?” I can’t help the laugh that comes from my throat. He has just stood there since I’ve been taken here. Claimed me as his in the name of peace, even when I am fated to another. Someone who is captive by the same evil that holds me. “You may not be the one to physically hurt me, but you are the one who allows it to keep happening. Tell me how that is different.” He steps back as though my words slapped him.
“I suppose you are right, but Moon Raven, I remember you coming of your own free will.” He glowers.
“Is being thrown over your beefy shoulder, with a slap on the ass, of my own free will? Having no other choice but to come on my own accord or see my mate die in the hands of evil? The same evil that killed his parents and likely my own family as well? Is that what you see as me coming of my own free will , Osiris, Prince of Valeska, Ruler of Dragons? Is that what your free will looks like?” His first show of emotion I’ve ever seen happens in a split second. His fists clench into balls at his sides, barely hiding the tremor of anger.
“Perhaps, before you jump to conclusions about something you know nothing of, you open your mind to the idea that nothing is as it seems.” He growls as he storms to the exit, nearly yanking the heavy door from its frame. “Perhaps then you will understand that we are not as different as you so easily think… I hope the night terrors evade you the rest of the night, Moon Raven. In the morning, you will not be excused for what you did in the drawing room.”
The crash of wood and stone as the door slams shut is resounding. The echo causes my overly sensitive head to nearly split with the pain that shoots through it. Dropping my head into my hands, I do the one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do again. Only in the confines of the dark, where only the moon can see...
I cry.
I cry for myself, for Dax, and for the family I no longer have at my side. Both to those who have died and those who are alive, that are likely worried we have not returned yet. I can only hope that Alaric and Kait made it off that cliffside and are ok. They can let Trent and the others know what happened, and hopefully they can find answers and try to get Dax free.
While hope is dangerous, it’s all I have… and with that thought alone, I allow myself to break, because in the morning I will begin rebuilding. I will not let a weak man determine my strength. I will overcome.