Chapter 4 #2
He studied her for a moment, clearly wanting to pursue the previous topic, but let it go.
"I was drawn to a cave by traces of the warmth…
like an echo of where you'd been. There were golden flowers growing from bare stone, already fading when I arrived.
That's where we found Thaine, badly injured.
He told us you were being hunted and that he had orders to protect you during the hunt, then bring you back to Eliam once it ended. "
"Bring me back?" The words felt strange in her mouth.
"That's what he said. The warmth left a trail from there. It was faint, but enough to follow. When I got close enough to actually feel you, not just the echoes, that's when we found you with that Drak."
She set down her cup. "I need to speak with Thaine."
"No." The refusal was immediate. "Briar, there's no reason to put yourself through that. If Eliam released you from your bargain, then he has no claim on you. You can stay here, in the Star Court. You can be free."
Free. The word should have meant something. Instead, it just felt empty.
"I need to speak with him," she repeated.
"Why?" Arion leaned forward. "What could he possibly tell you that would be worth—"
"Please." Her voice cracked on the word. "I just... I need to know."
"Know what?"
She had no answer, none that would satisfy him anyway.
How could she explain that she needed to know if Eliam regretted casting her out?
If the orders to bring her back meant something or were just about reclaiming property?
No, because that would mean telling Arion that she'd chosen to stay, that she had wanted to remain at Eliam's side despite everything, or perhaps because of it.
"This isn't a good idea," Arion said quietly. "He's dangerous, manipulative. Whatever he tells you will be designed to hurt you or worse."
"I know what he is." She met his eyes steadily. "But I still need to speak with him. Please, Arion."
He was quiet for a long moment, searching her face. Finally, he sighed.
"Fine. But I'm coming with you. And if he says or does anything that—"
"He won't." She didn't know why she was so certain, but she was. "When?"
"After you've finished eating. And after you've changed into something more substantial than a nightgown." He gestured to the wardrobe. "There are clothes that should fit. Take your time. Thaine isn't going anywhere."
The corridors of the Star Court were painted in soft morning light, but Briar barely noticed the beauty. Arion walked beside her, his disapproval radiating with each step.
"This is unnecessary," he said for the third time since they'd left her room. "Whatever Thaine tells you will only cause pain. He's had two days to craft whatever story will best manipulate you."
"I know what he is," Briar said, the words becoming a refrain. She'd changed into simple Star Court attire—soft gray trousers and a white tunic that felt strange after so long in torn finery. "But I need to hear what he has to say."
"You don't. You really don't." Arion stopped walking, catching her arm gently. "Briar, you're free. Why risk it?"
"Because I need to know." She pulled away, continuing down the corridor. After a moment, she heard him sigh and follow.
The room they'd given Thaine was in the guest wing, not a cell but clearly chosen for its limited exits. Two Star Court guards flanked the door, their expressions carefully neutral.
"Open it," Briar said.
The guards looked to Arion, who hesitated before nodding. One produced a key, working the lock with practiced efficiency.
The room beyond was dark, curtains drawn tight against the morning sun. Briar started forward but Arion caught her shoulder, moving in front of her.
"Let me—"
Thaine struck from the shadows beside the door, moving with the fluid violence that made him Eliam's perfect weapon. No blade this time, just hands and brutal intent, slamming Arion against the doorframe.
But Arion had been expecting it. Light flared from his palms, creating a barrier that forced Thaine back. They grappled briefly, Thaine trying to get past the light, Arion using it to keep him at bay without using physical force.
"You should have left me to die in the forest, princeling," Thaine snarled, still pushing against the barrier of light. "Would have been cleaner than whatever game you're playing."
"See?" Arion called over his shoulder to Briar, still maintaining the defensive light. "I told you this was a bad—"
"Little rabbit?"
Thaine's entire demeanor changed. The tension drained from his body so abruptly that Arion's light pushed him back a step. His dark eyes found Briar in the doorway, cataloging her from head to toe with an intensity that had nothing to do with threat.
"You're alive." The words came out oddly flat. "Whole. Walking. Not eaten or torn apart or—" He stopped, seeming to realize he was speaking aloud.
Briar stepped into the room despite Arion's sharp intake of breath. The light barrier flickered as Arion's attention split.
"I need to speak with you," she said simply.
Thaine tilted his head, that familiar predatory assessment returning. "Do you now? And here I thought you'd be halfway to the mortal realm, taking advantage of your new found freedom."
"Briar…" Arion warned.
"It's fine," she said, not looking away from Thaine. "He's not going to hurt me. Are you?"
Something akin to amusement flickered across Thaine's features.
"Hurt you? My orders were quite specific about keeping you intact.
" He moved to the room's single chair, dropping into it with casual grace despite what must have been healing injuries.
"Though I must admit, you made that remarkably difficult.
Running from the one person actually trying to keep you alive during a sanctioned hunt? Not your wisest moment."
"I didn't know—"
"No, you assumed. Saw me and ran like the frightened rabbit you are." He examined his hands, voice carrying that dark humor she knew all too well. "Though I suppose I can't blame you. I don't exactly project 'helpful savior,' do I?"
"Arion," Briar said quietly, "would you wait outside?"
"Absolutely not." His response was immediate, the light still faintly glowing around his hands. "I'm not leaving you alone with—"
"Please." She finally looked at him, and something in her expression made him pause. "I need to have this conversation, and I need to have it without... Just please. Wait outside. If I need you, I'll call."
They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, Arion's light dimmed.
"I'll be right outside the door," he said, the warning clear in his tone, both for her and for Thaine. "If I hear anything—"
"You won't." Thaine replied dismissively. "If I wanted to hurt her, princeling, I've had far better opportunities."
Arion left reluctantly, the door closing with deliberate softness behind him. The room fell into shadow again, only thin lines of sunlight through the curtains providing illumination.
"So," Thaine said after a moment. "Questions. You have them. Ask."
Briar moved to the window, not quite ready to face him directly. "Why did he send you?"
"To keep you alive during the hunt. To bring you back after." The response was matter-of-fact.
"Why?" She turned then, needing to see his face. "He cast me out. In front of everyone. Made me prey. Why would he—"
"You're asking me to explain my lord's mind?" Thaine laughed, short and sharp. "I follow orders, little rabbit. I don't interpret them."
"But it doesn't make sense. He was done with me. He crushed that circlet, severed the connection, and threw me to the hunters. Why protect what he'd already discarded?"
Thaine was quiet for a moment, and she could see him weighing his words. "My lord is... impulsive. Acts first, thinks later. Not my place to say it, but since you asked…" He shrugged.
"Impulsive." The word tasted bitter. "So I'm supposed to accept that my life gets torn apart whenever he has a tantrum? Cast out, hunted, then retrieved like nothing happened?"
"Your life is his to do with as he pleases, or did you forget?
Would you prefer he'd left you to the hunt unprotected?
" Thaine's voice hardened slightly. "Because that was the alternative.
You lasted one day, barely. Without my intervention, without the princeling's help, you'd be a decoration in someone's hall by now. "
"That's not—" She stopped, frustrated. "Why didn't he come himself? If he regrets it, why send you?"
Something shifted in Thaine's expression. He looked away, jaw tightening.
"Thaine."
"Because I stopped him." The words came out rough, forced. "He was going to come. That first night. I stopped him."
The room seemed to tilt. "You stopped him? Why?"
"Someone had to." He stood abruptly, pacing to the shadowed corner.
"Malus is walking free, your doing if we're counting sins.
The Forest Court is divided. Half think Eliam's gone soft, the other half are terrified.
There are whispers about giving Malus his crown back, before he comes to take it himself, about Eliam being unfit to rule. "
His voice was rising, anger bleeding through the careful control.
"If he'd gone after you himself, shown that kind of weakness, admitted that casting you out was a mistake…" he spun on his heel to face her. "The court would have torn him apart. So yes, I stopped him. I told him I'd bring you back quietly once the hunt ended, once things calmed—"
The door burst open. Arion stood there, light already gathering in his palms.
"Malus is free?" His voice was dangerously quiet. "When were you going to mention that detail?"
Thaine's smile was all teeth. "Wasn't my story to tell, princeling. Ask her how that particular miscreant got loose."
Arion's gaze shifted to Briar, and she felt the blood drain from her face. The weight of what she'd done crashed over her again.
"Briar?" Arion's voice gentled, but she could hear the concern beneath. "What is he talking about?"
She pressed her back against the wall, unable to meet his eyes. "When I was here, after you pulled me from the river, Ferria came to me. She told me about a prisoner in the dungeons. A human who had marks like mine, who grew golden flowers."
"Thomas," Thaine supplied darkly. "Or what Malus wanted her to think."
"She gave me a leaf that would hide me from Eliam's perception. But only if I promised not to involve you." The words came out in a rush. "I thought I was saving someone like me. Someone trapped and forgotten. I didn't know—I never imagined—"
"Ferria." Arion's voice had gone completely flat. "Ferria brought you to him."
"Your sweet little companion playing both sides," Thaine said with dark satisfaction. “How does it feel to be used?”
Arion's light flickered erratically around his hands. "She's been with us for decades. Trusted with—" He stopped, visibly struggling to process the betrayal. "You should have come to me, Briar. If she was pressuring you—"
"Oh yes," Thaine cut in, rolling his eyes. "Because the princeling here would have definitely let her risk herself for a stranger in the dungeons."
"I would have investigated—"
"You would have done nothing, and we all know it." Thaine's voice carried that casual cruelty she remembered. "Too careful, too proper. Meanwhile, Malus would have eventually freed himself anyway, just with more corpses in his wake."
"That's not—"
"Enough." Briar's voice cracked. "It's done. I freed him, and he destroyed everything. That's what matters."
Thaine studied her for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, we'll sort it out when we return. We leave at dawn, once the hunt officially ends."
"No." Arion stepped forward, positioning himself partially between them. "Briar isn't bound to Eliam anymore. She's free to choose whether she returns or not."
Thaine's expression shifted into something delighted and sharp. He looked at Briar with raised eyebrows. “Should I tell him, or would you like to?”
"What?" Arion looked between them. "What does that mean?"
"Tell him, little rabbit," Thaine said softly, savoring the moment. "Tell him about the choice you already made. Before Malus. Before the hunt. Tell him how you'd decided to stay."
"Briar?" Arion turned to her fully now, confusion clear in his features.
The room felt too small, the air too thick. Both men were staring at her—Thaine with that knowing smirk, Arion with growing bewilderment. The weight of having to explain that she'd chosen to remain with Eliam was too much.
"I can't—" She shook her head, already moving toward the door. "I can't do this."
"Briar, wait!"
She turned and fled, ignoring Arion calling after her, ignoring Thaine's low chuckle.
Her bare feet slapped against the cold floor as she ran through the Star Court's corridors, not knowing where she was going, just needing to be away from questions she couldn't answer and truths she couldn't speak.
The hunt would end at dawn, and she still didn't know what choice she would make when it did.