Chapter 3 #3
“I didn’t demand…” I press my lips into a hard line, giving her a cold look, and a genuine smile spreads across her face.
She huffs out a laugh, and for just the briefest moment, I get a glimpse of the twin I lost all those years ago.
“Alright, alright. Yes, I demanded. I tend to do that, truth be told.” Hastings laughs as he straightens, placing the iron poker back onto the rack. Another fond look from Tesni.
“So?” I wave a hand, asking her to get on with it. My head is starting to pound, and I think that skipping lunch was perhaps a mistake. I just want to finish this conversation and go to bed. Tesni sighs, eyes darkening.
“Barony has sold me,” she says, voice sharp and brittle.
She reaches for the gold chain at her throat, and I nearly spit out my wine.
What I’d thought was a simple piece of jewelry is in fact a collar.
It’s what slavers use to control Gifteds, to make sure the Gifted’s powers aren’t turned against them.
Of course, most Gifteds wouldn’t be able to do much harm anyway, but Hunters and slavers don’t take chances.
I barely stop myself from laughing in her face, the glorious irony making me want to sing.
And then I realize that she’s powerless. Completely and utterly defenseless. I should kill her right here, right now. I could do it so easily, take care of Hastings too, and escape before anyone was the wiser. I could go back to my life and finally be truly free.
Do it. Come on, just fucking do it. My palms tingle and my skin goes cold, a thin sheen of frost coating my fingertips. I grit my teeth and curse silently as the cold begins to recede and I know damn well I won’t. I should. She deserves it and more.
And yet I can’t bring myself to. I’ve taken lives before, it’s true, but it was always in self-defense and always accidental.
This would be deliberate and cold and just…
not me. As much as I hate the woman in front of me, as much as she deserves to be punished not just for her betrayal of me, but for all of the things I know that she’s done in the years since, I won’t let her change who I am.
Tesni goes on, completely oblivious to my internal debate of the merits of her murder.
“He has promised me to the King of Marrowood to solidify the alliance between them. Six of the nine kingdoms have allied now, if you didn’t know.
Helios, of course, hasn’t declared because they never do much of anything that has to do with the rest of the fucking continent—” she rolls her eyes “—and Tithmoore remains neutral as well.”
“Allied for what?” I’d heard a bit about a supposed allying of the kingdoms but I paid no real mind. As she said, the people of Helios keep out of empire business, and me more so than the rest.
“They plan to take Duskthorne. Barony wants to take their Gifteds and add them to his—”
“Tesni,” Hastings interrupts hastily, the two of them sharing a meaningful look.
“It doesn’t matter,” Tesni finally says when she meets my gaze again. “Regardless, I have been sold as part of this ridiculous alliance and that simply won’t do.”
I mean to say something scathing but before I can open my mouth, the entire room seems to sway before me.
I blink to clear my vision and mind, shaking myself.
Makers, how strong is this wine? I peer into the glass, as if it will somehow give me answers.
Tesni sips her own, watching me over the rim of her glass, a gleam of… something in her eyes.
“As you can imagine, it will be highly dangerous for me to be on the road as I travel to Marrowood. Any number of unsavory parties would wish to ambush my carriage and take me for ransom, despite the threat of my power.” It’s true that she’s beyond powerful, but she’s not immune to poisons or physical harm should someone get close enough. And now that she’s collared…
“Both King Barony and King Tybalt would pay handsomely to get me back. All of the Alliance, really,” she muses.
“Why…why are you telling me this?” My stomach clenches painfully and dark spots dart across my vision.
I force my eyes wide and turn to glare at my sister.
Tesni smirks, that same smirk King Barony had given me all those years ago, the same wicked smirk as the snake from the storybook.
My stomach hollows and I try to pull up my power again, but I can barely seem to find it now, only the faintest stirring in my chest.
“Wh-what did you do, Tesni?” I try again to call my Gift, but I can’t make it respond.
I can’t make any part of my body cooperate, actually.
Oh, Great Makers. Poison. There are poisons that can block a Gifted’s powers.
It’s how Hunters often capture Gifteds to begin with until they can get close enough to slap a collar around their throats. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I pull up all of my strength and somehow stand, but I’m only able to lurch a few steps before falling to my knees. Tesni rises from her chair gracefully and strides forward, a wickedly satisfied look on her face.
“You bitch,” I spit, glaring with all the hatred I can muster.
“Just so,” she agrees breezily, not concerned with the insult.
“Now, Hastings and I have come up with a brilliant plan.” She looks adoringly at the man before he swoops in and kisses her, the noises alone making me want to vomit.
They finally pull apart and she pats his cheek before turning back to me, and I would swear I catch a flash of disgust in her eyes.
“The details of my journey to Marrowood have been kept entirely secret. Only the King’s most trusted staff know when I am leaving, which path we are taking, and which carriage I’ll be in.”
“I don’t…understand,” I bite out before my body goes rigid and I collapse to the floor, landing with a resounding—and painful—thud.
Tesni leans down and puts her face directly above mine.
She reaches out and I try to flinch away from her touch, but I’m now completely frozen.
I could almost laugh. The Gifted with powers of ice is now frozen on the floor.
Tesni raises a lock of my hair to her eyes, studying it as she rolls it between her fingers.
She tsks, sounding annoyed, and turns to Hastings.
“We’ll need Klaus. Have Greta fetch him immediately; we have little time.” I want to ask what the fuck she’s talking about, but my lips won’t move, and my thoughts are growing warped and fuzzy around the edges.
“You see, Tee, we’ve made sure to leak the details of my trip to certain…
individuals. The unscrupulous sort,” she clarifies with a sly grin and a knowing glance at Hastings.
“They will attack the carriage, a kidnapping will take place, a ransom will be demanded. Of course, King Barony will pay it in order to get his prize back and to keep in good graces with his newest ally. They need Marrowood’s ironworkers for this little war of theirs.
” Something dark flashes across her face but she continues on.
“As High Advisor, Hastings will be entrusted with the most important duty of delivering the ransom himself. They’ll want to keep the kidnapping as quiet as possible, lest rumors begin to spread that both Lyanna and Marrowood are weak and have been robbed.
The entire Alliance could crumble with a blow like that.
It’s all resting on thin ice as it is.” She laughs then, eyes alighting with actual joy.
“Ha! Thin ice.” She gestures to me and waggles her brows as if it’s the funniest joke she’s ever told.
Though I can barely move, I manage to narrow my eyes, telling her that it is in no way amusing. She rolls her eyes.
“Anyway. After the ransom has been negotiated and sent off with Hastings, he’ll be free to take all that money for himself.”
I try desperately to speak, but only wheezing gasps come out. Understanding what I’m asking, Tesni smiles.
“Oh, don’t you understand, Tee? When they attack the carriage, I won’t be inside.” My entire body goes cold in a way that has nothing to do with my power because I know what she’s going to say a heartbeat before the words leave her tongue.
“You will.”