42. Tempest
42
TEMPEST
S hould I let on that I “knew” her? I’d visited her in a vision. Actually, I’d ridden inside her mind while she shared the scene, as if she was the one who’d called me there to make sure I saw it.
How had she called me to that scene with her own finger?
If so, who called me to the cave?
An ominous feeling engulfed me, stealing what little calmness I’d strived for since I entered this suite—no, since I was drawn into this suite by this woman. I knew that now; she didn’t need to name it.
Unsure what to say, I waited for her to speak. Each tick of my heartbeat echoed in my mind; a thready drum ready to burst into a furious pace.
Long moments passed while we stared at each other. Finally, I turned to leave.
“Wait,” she said .
With a roll of my eyes, I pivoted back. “Let me guess. You want me to free you from the frame.”
Her head tilted, and she studied my face. “Can you do such a thing?”
“Not consistently.”
“You don’t sound confident in your abilities, child.”
I was anything but a child. “I’m still learning how to use magic, but I’m getting better all the time.”
She nodded. “I’d welcome release from this wretched trap. Would you be willing to try?”
I held up my finger, then realized this pointed out that one of hers was missing and tucked my hand behind my back.
“I’ve had some success with a particular spell,” I said.
Her lips twitched up. “Of course you have.”
“What does that mean?”
“Mean?” Her gray eyebrows lifted. “Just that it would take a particular spell to release me from this infernal portrait.”
That wasn’t what she’d meant, but I’d let it go.
“Why did the king trap you here?” I asked.
“That’s a wonderful question.”
“That you should answer if you want my help.”
Her sigh rang out. “I hid things. Many things. He didn’t like that.”
“What sort of things?”
“Things that needed to remain hidden for a very long time.”
“You’re not going to tell me what they are, are you?” I said with a snarl.
“I cannot.”
“Will not. ”
Her head tilted. “Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Not really.”
“Release me and I’ll tell you the words that thrust themselves into my mind the moment you stood beside this picture.”
“Such as?”
“A foretelling. Hurry. I don’t have much time.” Fear came through in her voice.
Hiding things was not enough reason to lock her within this frame. And refusing to tell me what those things were was also not enough reason for me to turn away and leave her here. And I was curious about her foretelling.
After swallowing down the uneasy feeling creeping across my skin, I drew on my power. And, because I sensed she’d been placed in this dusty, unused suite to ensure no one found her, I added a bit more than usual when I cast the spell.
She slipped out of the frame. I was getting pretty good with this. Soon, I’d free the other dragon and every other creature trapped inside the castle.
When she stood beside me, we looked each other over, though I wasn’t sure what she saw. This was the woman who’d looked in the mirror during my vision, only wearing different clothing. Her age appeared about the same.
“How long have you been inside the portrait?” I asked, determined to get as many details out of her as possible. I was shown that vision for a reason. Pixies didn’t do anything without a purpose, and this woman was wrapped up in everything somehow.
“Too long.” Her voice lilted, though not with the magical trill of the pixies. “And now, I must leave.” Frowning, she tilted her head as if listening. “I have to leave before he remembers.”
“He?”
“Simple forget spells don’t last long, you know.” She tapped her temple. “Only one version lasts longer, though he doesn’t know about those.”
I didn’t know anything about forget spells.
“Of course, he’d have to touch me to make his variety stick.” She shuddered. “I don’t want him to see me, let alone touch me, not ever again, so I have to leave now.”
Before she could flit, I grabbed her arm. “Don’t go yet. I have more questions.”
Her smile lifted, and it was sweet. It was nice to meet someone who didn’t appear eager to stab me—yet. “I’d love to talk more, but I have much to prepare.”
There was that word again, prepare .
“What in particular?”
She stroked my cheek with gentle fingers. “I appreciate your help.”
“The foretelling?”
“Do not seek to solve a riddle. Let the riddle solve you.” She nodded with a bright smile.
“That’s it? I don’t understand.”
“You shall.” A blink, and she was gone, flitting from here to wherever she had to prepare things.
With a sigh, I turned and left the room, pausing before entering the hall to make sure it was empty before stepping out and closing the door .
A subtle sound from my right sent me spinning, my blade lifting.
High Advisor Adwarin stalked toward me, his eyes blazing with power, a sneer suffusing on his face. He must’ve just flitted into the hall.
A flick of his finger, and my small knife went flying over the railing, clattering when it landed on the staircase below.
Drawing power quickly, I tried to flit to my suite, but nothing happened.
“Don’t bother,” he drawled. His mouth twitched, and I was locked in place by his magic. This was too much like what happened with Selitta except I didn’t have Drask to defend me.
I could only croak something to Vexxion, and I couldn’t tell if he received it. Could the high lord control what I did with my mind?
He lifted me and flung me against the wall. The wind whooshed out of me, and I couldn’t suck in anything to replace it. I remained stuck to the wall like the fairy in Ivenrail’s suite, pinned to a strip of wax, a trophy for this wicked fae man to play with.
Stalking closer with his star-strewn robe swishing around his legs, he stopped in front of me, our gazes at eye level. “I’d love to quiz you about the incident surrounding the death of my lovely daughter, Selitta, but I’m afraid the king expects me to arrive shortly in the throne room. He has a few matters to take care of, ones I’m sure you’d enjoy observing since you appear to savor things like that. I’m afraid, however, you’ll be otherwise occupied.”
He lifted his finger, and Delaine appeared beside him, dressed in leathers much like mine. She stared at me with a slick smile that matched her father’s.
“Do with her what you will,” the high advisor said. “But follow our plan.”
What plan?
He flitted from the hallway.
“My, my,” Delaine drawled. “Where’s your crow protector?”
I should’ve kept Drask with me at all times.
“Or your controller? It appears he’s too busy controlling other things to come to your aid.” She cackled. “My father told me I could do what I wanted with you, for a short time, that is. What shall it be? So many options, don’t you think?” She waved her hand, and I could breathe once more. “There’s no need to suffocate you, now is there? Not when there are more entertaining ways to kill you instead.”
“Fuck you.” It appeared I could speak and breathe, though I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t grab a blade and stab her either, unfortunately.
Vexxion!
Again, I couldn’t tell if he heard my cry. Since he didn’t respond, I’d have to handle this tenuous situation on my own.
“All that time, and you didn’t know I was sent to the fortress to kill you,” she said.
If I could keep her talking, someone might find us and intervene. Actually, who was I kidding? The fae here were more apt to laugh while she tortured me than help. Nullens would turn and scurry in the opposite direction. I’d made no friends here, but I’d avoided everyone on purpose. It hurt to watch friends die .
“You weren’t the only one sent to kill me,” I said.
“You’re speaking of Farnoll.” A frown knit her brow. “He was the first man my father wanted me to marry but I said no. Did you kill him too?”
“I’ve killed many, but Farnoll wasn’t among them.”
A shadow of fear crossed her face. “The controller did it.”
“He likes me alive.”
“Then he’s about to be disappointed.”
“You lit the fire that almost killed me,” I spat out.
“Yes, though you escaped the bindings and the room. Did you enjoy being tied? The fortress commander agreed to put us in the same residence after that. If someone hadn’t laid wards around your room, I would’ve finished what I started.” Her voice broke. “Maybe then, Selitta would still be alive.”
Ah, so she had cared for her sister; when she denied it, she lied.
“She deserved what she got,” I said. Those who lost control often lost their focus along with it. One slip of her magic, and I could flit or reach Vexxion in my mind.
She exploded, blasting me with power that burned. Oh, how it burned as it seared across the exposed flesh on my face, neck, and hands. When she released her scorching fury, sucking it back inside her gaping maw, I hung against the wall, twitching, my body screaming in pain.
“How does that feel, Fury? That’s what he calls you, right?” she said, striding closer, tipping her head this way and that as she examined my face. “Aw, isn’t this sad? You’re blistering already. Would you like me to ask a healer for some cream along the way? ”
Along the way where?
“Let me go.”
“That isn’t an option. I don’t want to, and I never give up my toys quickly.”
Where was a nasty dragon when you needed one?
She laid her hand on my shoulder and flitted, taking us to the top of the peak beyond the aerie.
I shivered as I stood beside her, my boots planted on the cracked, uneven ledge scattered with small rocks, a landscape scarred by time and the elements. Still unable to move, all I could do was breathe and analyze the location, seeking a way out of this trap.
To my left, a stand of scruffy evergreen trees clung to the soil, a boundary between the ledge and whatever lurked beyond. And on my right, steep, jagged cliffs plunged down forever, slicing this world off from the valley far below.
Bitter wind whipped across us with such rage that even the sun’s rays couldn’t seep beneath my leather tunic to reach my bones. Fear twisted my spine. How was I going to get out of this situation?
She sighed and a grimace rose on her face. “As much as I’d love to torture you for a very long time, my father was quite specific about what I could do with you other than brief play.” Lazily pulling a blade from the sheath on her side, she brandished it in my scorched face that throbbed and continued to burn as if it was still exposed to the open flame of her magic. “A little cut here and there, he said. Just enough to draw blood to feed them.”
“To feed fucking what? ”
Her smile lifted, and I wondered how anyone back at the fortress had ever thought this woman was pretty. Deceit and malice oozed from her pores.
Her gaze darted to the trees before returning to me. “Soon, you’ll find out. You’ve drawn the attention of a rather peculiar group of people. They’re even more eager to be with you than me.”
My heart hammered against its cage while anxiety clawed across my skin. Heightened senses could save my life. I’d get my chance—somehow—and I’d take it. Then I’d kill Delaine, something I should’ve done the moment I realized she was here at the castle.
Clutching my arm, she dragged me over to an open area of ledge where steel rings had been secured in a rectangular pattern. I didn’t like the chains with manacles dangling from them, and I definitely didn’t like that I couldn’t reach Vexxion no matter how hard I tried.
Her kick to the back of my bad leg dropped me to my knees. My thigh spasmed, and I couldn’t stifle my groan.
“Oh, yes, that’s right,” she said. “Poor little you was wounded when you were young.” Her foot snapped out again, impacting with my thigh, and I toppled to the side, unable to support myself while my contorted muscles writhed like creatures trapped within the king’s portraits. “If only I hadn’t been given strict orders.” She released a beleaguered sigh. “Such is my life.”
Tightening her grip on my wrist, she dragged me across the ledge and flung me onto my back within the rectangle. With her blade lying on the coarse ground nearby, she bound me at my wrists and ankles. Still unable to move, I stared up at the blue sky arcing above, wondering how I was going to wrangle my way out of this.
Vexxion!
He did not reply.
I tried to pull from that deep part of my magical well, the place I’d claimed power from when I faced off with Delaine in the foyer right after I made the deal with Vexxion, but I couldn’t grab onto it.
She was blocking it. Blocking me from doing anything to protect myself.
Despair washed over me, threatening to engulf me. Would I end like this, tied on a cliff as prey for whatever she and her father planned next? I thought I’d at least get a chance to fling a blade at the king.
“I should’ve killed you back at the fortress,” I hissed.
“You had no just cause because I didn’t give you one. I could only challenge you so far.” She shook her head, her lips thinning. “Too many rules to follow with not enough leeway to act. As the high advisor’s daughter, I had to take care not to reveal the plan.”
“Why does everyone want to kill me?”
“Because of what you might do.”
My heart stalled. Did she and her father know I was here to kill the king? “What’s that?”
“No one’s sure. A foreteller said a powerful Nullen would balance the worlds, and Ivenrail’s been killing Nullens like you since. If there’s going to be balance, he’ll direct it. ”
“How is a powerful Nullen supposed to balance the worlds?”
“Unfortunately, the foreteller killed herself before that information could be extracted.” Lifting the blade, Delaine swiped it through the air near my face. “Where should I cut you first?” Frowning, she studied my body. “I want to cut your head off, but it’ll be better if you get to watch.”
Watch what?
One slice, and the leather on my left sleeve parted, exposing the vulnerable underside of my arm. She dragged the tip of the knife from my wrist to my shoulder, grinning as blood welled and slithered down my flesh to plop on the stone.
I bit back a hiss.
“Entertaining, isn’t it?” she said. “The game is just beginning. I think I’ll hide nearby to watch. It’s going to be fun seeing you get what you deserve.”
“I haven’t done anything.” Too much for many, but not enough in this wretched fae world.
“You’re powerful, so your death is inevitable. And even if you didn’t kill Selitta yourself, you were responsible for her death.”
She spoke the truth, so I made no effort to lie.
“She whimpered like a baby,” I said with a sneer. “She collapsed on the ground and cupped her face, begging me to please stop, to let her go, to allow her to return to her beloved sister.”
“Nice, but she hated me.”
“Then why seek revenge?”
“She was family. Blood ties compel loyalty. ”
It didn’t matter.
While she teased her knife through the air and contemplated where to cut me next, I wrenched at the manacles, hoping I could slip my hand through. But they were too snug; it wasn’t going to work.
The pins felt much too secure in the ground, but if I pulled hard enough, I might be able to loosen one. With a blade in my hand—she hadn’t taken them—I could defend myself against whatever was coming.
“Here, I think.” She sent me a smirk as she shifted closer to the cliff’s edge. “Fitting, isn’t it?” Another slash, and she gouged through the leather protecting my left thigh, driving the blade deep. “So many cuts on this poor thigh with me adding another.”
Cold, searing agony erupted in my leg, the blade setting fire to every nerve ending along its path. I jolted, biting down on my lips to hold back my scream. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
My eyes stung with tears, my only response, and I blinked hard to send them running. They drizzled down my temples and into my hair.
“A little bit more,” she said, rising and rounding above my head to reach my other arm that received a matching slice from the wrist to my shoulder. She didn’t stab my right thigh; perhaps that felt too easy. Instead, she delicately cut away the leather and then raked away at the flesh with the tip of her knife. “Your legs will match now.” Her cackle rang out. “Actually, they won’t. You won’t live long enough to form new scars.”
Pain threatened to drag me down in its never-ending embrace. The world spun around me, blackness bunching in before retreating, only to plunge forward once more.
“Did you know that I killed your sweet Seevar?” she said with a sly twist.
“Fuck you,” I croaked.
“I wish I could’ve watched him fall. Sadly, my view was abruptly cut off.”
When Vexxion killed the person she sent after us.
“Did the poor thing whimper as he died?” she asked.
I could swear again, but that would only make her laugh. Better not to react at all.
“I’m sure he did.” Rising, she tossed aside the blade. “I’d love to play some more, but I hear them coming. I’m no welcoming committee, not anything like them.”
Irregular shuffles echoed around us, and I lifted my head and shook it, trying to maintain focus.
Five Lieges melted from the scruffy tree line, gliding toward us with their tattered, dingy robes swirling around them in a macabre dance. Their bones shifted like teeth clattering inside empty skulls as their gazes locked on me.
“Oh, my, Tempest,” Delaine said as she backed away. “I believe those Lieges are hungry.”