4. Ayna
Ayna
Ephegos isn’t gentle when he ushers me down the familiar stairs to the dungeons. Quite the opposite. By the time I make it to the humid half-light of the place of horror, his claws have pierced into my biceps so often I wonder if he is guiding me down by my arm merely to have a chance to hurt me.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had the chance to speak alone.” The Crow shoves me a few steps ahead of him, his sword at my back, just in case the extra dose of the drug he gave me before dragging me down here isn’t working.
It is. I’m unstable on my feet, and the nausea is back in full force.
“I could go another while without it,” I comment under my breath, only half intending him to hear.
“Oh, but it’s always so pleasant to see you suffer, dear Ayna.” He means it, I can tell by the delight in his tone as he allows the tip of his sword to slice the skin beside my spine where my dress shows the welded scar I carry from my time at Fort Perenis.
As I cringe away, he holds me back with his claws. He doesn’t show them often, probably still denying he’s a Crow rather than a Flame, the traitor, but there is nothing he can do to hide it when his animalistic nature breaks through. Right now is one of those moments when the predator shines just beneath the surface, and Ephegos’s features shift ever so slightly as he loses a hint of control.
“If you’re still pissed Myron got away, you should choose your words better when making bargains with traitors.” It’s a low blow, but if he can relish my pain, I can relish upsetting him. It’s one of the few pleasures I have left, the reminder that Myron got away. That all of them got away—except for Kaira and me.
No one has informed me yet how Kaira ended up in captivity, but I’m determined to find a way out before I ask her. It doesn’t really matter how she ended up here as long as we get out.
“He’s a stubborn bastard.” I don’t imagine the hint of embarrassment in Ephegos’s tone. It’s a slight shift but enough to give away that he realizes he was the one to leave backdoors open in the deal with Herinor.
“ That we can agree on.” No one is more surprised than I am that I’d nod at something coming out of Ephegos’s mouth. I use the moment to catch him off guard. “What exactly is your bargain with him?” Not that I expect him to answer.
“That’s between Herinor and me and none of your business, Ayna. Behave and I might not cut off Kaira’s fingers.” He steers me past a corner I recognize—the one where the guards once surprised us on our prison break. I almost feel Myron’s presence, his magic as he silently eviscerated them to clear our path. Then I remember that I’m the prisoner now, and Ephegos won’t lift a finger to help me.
“Why her?” Perhaps it’s a bold question, but if I want to find a way to get her out, I’ll need to gather information. The more Ephegos gives away about his thought processes, the more likely I’ll be able to outsmart him later. At least that’s what I hope. She is a part-Flame after all, a member of the Flame tribe, even if merely a minor one. “Why would you capture one of your allies?” I should have asked this question a long time ago when Kaira was put into Ephegos’s service at this palace.
The smirk Ephegos flashes makes me wish I’d never met the Crow. “Does it matter?”
It does, but I don’t tell him that. Instead, I give him a mock grin as he comes to walk by my side, claws locked so tightly around my biceps my arm has gone numb, and sword casually at his side. At least, that dulls the throbbing pain enough to let me think straight.
I haven’t had a chance to speak to the Crow alone since my attempted escape almost two weeks ago, and now that I’m alone with him, I wonder if I should use the opportunity to push for information he might never reveal in front of the King of Tavras .
“It matters if you want to step into the Flame Matrone’s footsteps one day. Isn’t she grooming you to be the next leader of their kind?” Holding my breath, I wait for his claws to rip out a chunk of my flesh, but all he does is stare me down with those too-warm brown eyes. So I push harder. “Or should I say your kind. You seem to be on the side of the Fire Faires more these days than on the side of your own kind.”
If the hiss gurgling from Ephegos’s throat is anything to go by, he is one wrong word away from tearing out my throat. Good Erina needs said throat to remain intact so he can make me his wife and use me to breed little baby monarchs. Hiding the shudder of disgust behind an even wider grin, I drag my feet to a slower pace, forcing Ephegos to take more of my weight as he marches me through the narrow corridor into the area where cells line the dusty rooms.
“It’s none of your concern what I do and why.”
True. It isn’t. “As long as it doesn’t put me into a forced marriage and hurt everyone I care about, it isn’t.” I hold his gaze, my entire body trembling from fear of what he’ll do if I push him too far. If he’ll snap my neck if I shatter his control.
“I’ve said it once, Ayna, and I’ll say it again so you remember: It’s nothing personal. If Myron didn’t love you, I would have never dragged you into this. I’m not a monster after all.”
My opinion differs. A lot. “Nothing personal?” I grit my teeth against the shivers that come with the exhaustion of staying on my feet so long after a whole day of audiences in the throne room. Even my undrugged self would have been ready to drop into a bed and sleep for a full day. But this version of myself is ready to collapse on the spot and never get up again. Only, I don’t have an option. It was me who wanted to see Kaira. Me, who demanded it. So I’ll have to see it through. “Sure feels personal being strapped to a torture table.” The memory alone is enough to make me flinch at the phantom pain where the leather straps once cut into my wrists.
Ephegos’s laugh is as unexpected as it is cruel. “It certainly is personal with Myron, and you’re his mate.”
That says it all.
“Kaira isn’t my mate, though. If you consider the Flames your new family, why not her? Why lock her up and use her against me?” If only it were that easy to get the Crow to spill all his secrets.
“She’s a tool in a longer game, Ayna. You are too young to understand the makings of immortal war, but you’ll understand in time. You’re no longer human after all.”
“Not entirely,” I agree, even when I can’t access the magic slumbering deep inside of me or even think of shifting into my Crow form. The first female Crow in millennia.
“Give it a few hundred years and you’ll be cut out to play this game yourself. You’ll learn that friendships and alliances are fleeting. Only bargains guarantee loyalty. Those, and power.”
I don’t want to know what his life has been like to make him into such a monster. With all the hardship induced through a curse he had no part in deserving, with being driven from his homelands and then locked in a tiny forest for ages?—
A twinge of pity flickers through my body, but then I remember Myron remained good through it all. Myron and Royad.
Ephegos tugs me around the next corner, his footfalls silent on the dirty floor while my own feet alert the entire dungeon.
“You think too much, Ayna. We all would have been better off if only you were nothing more than a pretty face.”
Before I can demand to know what he means by that, he points ahead at the end of the corridor between cells at the thin shape in rags huddled on a palette of straw under the high-up window.
“Kaira—” I whisper.
The Flame stirs with a groan, and the sight of her haughty features, half-starved, bloodied, and dirty, makes my knees buckle.
Ephegos drags me on until I get my legs under me again, but it’s an effort driven by the need to avoid the pain of his claws bearing my entire weight at my arm, not because I feel sudden strength.
Because I don’t. Strength leaves me completely when Kaira’s dark eyes find mine across the torch-lit distance, stumbling toward the bars separating her from freedom.
“ Ayna!” Kaira is smart enough to use our mental connection to express the relief of seeing me alive—and all the panic as her gaze slides to Ephegos.
“I won’t ask if they are treating you all right, because it’s obvious they aren’t.” I make the accusation clear with a sideways glance at Ephegos while in my mind I say, “ We need a plan to get you out.”
“ You mean both of us,” Kaira corrects with a frown that makes the crusted blood on her forehead flake. Aloud she says, “They have been feeding me enough to remain on my feet, which is more than I expected of those bastards.” She doesn’t hold back with the hatred in her stare as she directs it at Ephegos once more.
I’m surprised the Crow doesn’t punish her for her boldness. Then, I should be used to Ephegos not being predictable in any way. Had he been, I’d have seen his betrayal coming. What I do know is he probably doesn’t see Kaira’s imprisonment as personal either.
“Let her out so I can speak to her like a person.” It’s a reckless demand to make, but I make it anyway, just to see if there are any magical locks on the door that I am not aware of or if brute strength will do the job of breaking her out when the time comes. Guardians, let that time be soon.
Ephegos shakes his head. “Nice try, Ayna.” But he steps back, releasing my arm from his grasp.
I nearly groan as the numbness makes way for an assault of pain.
“ Any ideas?” Kaira prompts as she stays well away from the iron fence separating us. When she notices my observation, she clarifies, “ those bars will drain your magic, no drug injections needed.”
“ I remember.” I do. If only I had part of my Crow reflexes and strength available to shove Ephegos into the barrier, I’d level the playing field and rob him of his magical advantage, but I’m barely strong enough to keep upright. Damn those drugs. Damn this entire palace and Erina’s unholy alliance with a megalomaniac Crow traitor.
Kaira’s lips split into a distorted grin as she follows my train of thoughts. “ I ’ ve tried.”
“ No success?”
“ Obviously, or I ’ d already be out of here.” Her tone has more humor than I could ever muster in a situation like this.
It’s almost too easy, too familiar, slipping back into our silent conversation. As if no time has passed at all and nothing changed when, in reality, everything has.
“At least, leave us alone for a few minutes.” Forcing the desperation out of my tone is a challenge in itself.
Ephegos raises a brow. “Not that it will make any difference when I can hear you whisper from the end of the corridor.”
All right… No privacy then.
“ Let him believe he ’ s privy to everything we say. It will fool him into a false sense of security.” Of course, Kaira is right. We’ll need to give him a conversation to listen in on though, or he’ll know we’re up to something.
“ Easy…” Kaira tugs on the dirty fabric of her servant uniform—apparently, they haven’t bothered giving her fresh clothes since they locked her down here. The need to hurt Ephegos for what he’s done only increases when I spot the scar on her forearm where Erina sliced into her flesh. If it weren’t for the Crow traitor, my sister wouldn’t be behind bars. The irony is that, would I tell him who Kaira truly is to me—blood, a half-sibling just like Sariell was to him—he might understand. Since understanding won’t change any of his reasoning though, I keep my mouth shut, waiting for Kaira to work her magic.
“The guards make sure I get enough to eat. They give me fresh water every day. I even had an opportunity to bathe,” she rambles, giving Ephegos an inconspicuous conversation to listen in on while we both do our best to think up a plan to get her out.
“And you didn’t take it, given the state of your dress?” My comment makes Ephegos laugh, and for a heartbeat, I see the friend I believed him to be. The male who’d laugh and joke with Myron and Royad. The laugh gets stuck in my throat as I meet his gaze, and I find more of the cruelty I have learned him capable of lingering there.
“Since no one will grant me an audience with the King of Tavras, why bother cleaning up? Surely, not for the barbarians that are the guards.” Kaira’s eyes spark, and I remember what she did with Julj, the guard at the side gate of the palace, to get us in and out on our rescue mission.
“ Any of the guards susceptible to your charms?” It’s the only thing I can think of since neither of us is in the physical state to fight our way out.
Kaira’s grimy braid slides over her shoulder as she shakes her head.
“The King of Tavras doesn’t care to be bothered with a halfling like you,” Ephegos comments. “As a matter of fact, he couldn’t care less what happens to you, Kaira. He’s only keeping you around until Ayna’s mate decides it’s time to get her out. ”
“Which he won’t.” My retort has less bite than I was going for with all the foolish hope meddling with my emotions at every mention of Myron, and my shoulder tingles right above where Ephegos’s claws severed my skin. If he can feel my pain through our bond, he might not be as wise about a rescue attempt and simply turn around from wherever Herinor took him and run back to seal all our fates.
“You still haven’t grasped the severity of a fae mating bond, have you, Ayna?” Ephegos seems genuinely curious as he leans closer to study my face.
Ignoring the prickling sensation of discomfort, I turn my back to him and focus fully on Kaira.
“ Not the way Julj was. They have more experienced soldiers down here. Julj was a young, hormone-driven fool.”
I can’t argue with that. Allowing Kaira to charm him got him killed after all. He wasn’t even smart enough to figure out she was using him.
“ Any potential allies among the palace staff upstairs?” she asks in return. “ How about your new handmaiden?”
An image of the various women fleeting in and out of my rooms to help me dress when it’s time for Erina to parade me in front of his court floats into my mind. “ I never see them long enough to gain their pity. They are all convinced I ’ m the luckiest woman in Tavras.”
Another person comes to mind?—
Lady Andraya brought up my past in a cryptic way that makes me believe she knows more than she let on. That doesn’t make her an ally though, just a woman who might sit on information the King doesn’t want her to have. Leverage, but nothing I can use against him.
“ Perhaps there are people who are aware I ’ m not here out of my own free will,” I say into Kaira’s mind, “ but there is no way for me to speak with them privately. Erina makes sure I ’ m never alone with anyone longer than a few minutes. He switches out servants and guards so I can ’ t build relationships. I don ’ t know who I could trust, even if I had time to speak truthfully.”
“Oh, I do think he’ll come,” Ephegos continues our audible conversation while I do my best to block out what that thought does to the chambers of my chest and the warmth spreading from the inked lines on my shoulder. “And when he does, I’ll no longer have need of the Flame halfling.”
Kaira shudders, and this time, I catch a glimpse of thought she didn’t intend to send my way. It’s a whisper of terror, but I see it anyway.
“ Whatever we do, we ’ ll need to do it soon. The moment Myron shows up, I ’ m dead.” She means it.
“You saw her. Now it’s time to return to your chambers, Princess,” Ephegos interrupts before I can respond.
“I’m not a princess.” Not even half true. Technically, I am. And not-so-technically, I am more than a princess. I’m Queen of Crows— his queen. Naturally, Ephegos doesn’t acknowledge my title and role for the Crow Fae.
Before I can tell him I don’t care, time’s up, his claws lock around my arm again, the only sign he’ll ever show of his Crow self, and he drags me away from the cell .
“ I ’ ll return soon. I ’ ll find a way so he lets me visit you again.” Perhaps then we can figure out something—anything—that will help us get out. “ I promise.”
But Kaira shakes her head. “ Don ’ t come back.” Before I can object, she adds, “ Find a way for Erina to summon me to your chambers. We ’ re more likely to escape if I ’ m already out of the dungeons.”
She’s right.
“Be brave, Ayna,” she calls after me in her audible voice while, in her mind, she tells me, “ I don ’ t want to die in here, Ayna. And I don ’ t want you to suffer for the rest of your days. We ’ ll find a way.”
I wish I had her faith.
“Enough.” Ephegos shoves me past the corner, and Kaira’s presence fades from my mind.
At least, now I know the length of a hallway is enough distance to sever that connection. The momentary sense of achievement fades fast the second I realize I’m alone in my head again. Alone with Ephegos and a palace of ignorant people who won’t lift a finger to help me.