Chapter 5 #2
I pulled at my pants, trying to get air to my legs, pissed off at thinking about Valance again.
Gods, when we’d crossed the sea beneath the Bridge of Leaves into the lands of Spring, the climate had shifted halfway on our journey across. From cold to mild, with plenty of sun and rain. The sea became less stormy than I was used to.
I don’t know how we’d crossed the sea as easily as we did. The dotted islands helped shelter us, but it’d taken ten days of ducking into coves, almost being caught by seelie patrols, too many close calls to list before we reached the lush green shores of Spring.
The man kept on with his blabbering about random things. Teapots and rabbits and ribbons. Right.
How to cut off the head of the beast when in its belly…
My fingers itched for my axe. Too far away from me, being fondled by these fuckers somewhere.
I folded my legs, straightened my spine.
This cell offered too many distractions, considering how empty it was.
To focus and find solutions, I needed to empty my mind.
Leanna taught me meditation. I took it to the next level after her death.
Grabbed the reins she’d left behind, carried myself to a better mental state.
Whenever the world became too loud, I followed the steps.
Empty the mind. Visualized a well. My own well away from everyone else.
Imagined the noise and the thoughts as big stones.
Heavy burdens. Lifted those stones, one by one, and dropped them into the void.
Let them shatter or splash in the water—depending on the well.
With the thoughts gone, my mind became a freshly cultivated field waiting for new seeds. Better seeds. Stronger mental crop. Where new ideas were born. At least, they would be if I could get the damn stones over the side of the well.
I couldn’t stop worrying about Ren in the hands of the prince. Powerful shadow magic or not, he wasn’t strong enough for this. I’d already tried offering myself in his place. Stupid move. The prince had plans for both of us.
Silly, hellpissing me.
The man coughed up more gunk, went to say something to me, his first word was cut off as a blood-curdling screech rang from somewhere above me. I surged forward, grabbed the bars. The chains ringing as they became taught.
“Ren!” I yelled.
That scream… I knew it. I knew the tone of it. And it didn’t stop. So clear, so close. Directly above me? How many floors?
Damn! Information on the layout of the mound was closed off. As were most details about the palace. Never a source of information we’d been able to tap.
Fuck! What in seven hells was the prince doing to my friend?
“Sadistic,” the prisoner said to me.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Footsteps. Before I could so much as blink, something heavy struck my fingers curled around the bars. Instantly, I pulled back as pain flared in my knuckles.
“Shit!” I barked.
A figure shrouded in shadow growled. “Don’t touch the fucking bars.”
A guard. Not the prince. A woman.
“Fuck you!” I snapped.
“No, thanks.” She spat at me, a ball of saliva landing on my forehead.
I didn’t respond, wiping the spit from my head as it dripped down the bridge of my nose.
She walked off slowly.
Ren’s wails were fading into simpering sobs.
Gentle and as weak as him. The biggest mistake was bringing him on the road with no combat training and it being just the two of us.
Travel in low numbers. Sure. But for him to not even have the strength to swing a sword?
We’d fucked up. Got greedy with the hope of his power.
But things didn’t have to be lost. If I could figure out a way to get to him, maybe I’d stir his power back into action again. Hide him long enough for the poisons to wear off. Because there was no doubt he’d been pumped up with something.
Orange light glowed at the edge of my cell. Just out of sight. More footsteps, slow and certain. Arrogant steps. They stopped for a few seconds, the light flickering, then continued until Prince Valance strode into view in the corridor outside my cell.
He just stood there with a torch, beautiful features illuminated by the fire.
His sharp cheekbones, his midnight eyes, everything about him perfectly put together.
A complete Sidhe, but so different. They were a race of fae known for their flawless beauty and proficiency in seed magic and their immortality.
Lucky hellpissers. They could still die by the sword—hopefully, my axe—but they were immune to sickness like the rest of the creatures in the world.
Stopped aging in their thirtieth year. Privileged.
Blessed. Corrupt. Even had one God instead of three.
“Fuck you,” I told the prince. It was the only thing I had to clap back with.
He smiled. I looked away, making good use of the moment the light gave me. It wasn’t much, but enough to let me know there was a stairwell over to the left of my cell. Two sets of stairs, actually. One going up, the other going down.
A possible exit.
There was nothing else in my cell with me but the black stone.
Nothing to pick up and use. Yet. I’d speak to the silent prisoner in the other cell, see if there was anything to get from him.
I shot a quick glance over there. A man curled in a ball, tucked in the corner, only just touched by the torch’s light.
My eyes met the prince’s again, his head slightly tilted.
“What do you want?” I asked stupidly.
Obvious answer: To hurt me.
But he didn’t answer, held me with that coal stare.
Fuck. It was creepy, too intense. It locked me down with some spell, some other magic.
I found my head tilting, too, in response.
My heart hammered in my chest, my mouth dropping open.
What the hellpiss was this? Why couldn’t I look away or scowl or tell him to fuck off again?
He wouldn’t stop smiling. A strange, thick silence fell between us. Then he blinked. It made me jolt. Had he not blinked the whole time?
The prince turned and sauntered away, making each seductive step count. Deliberate. Trying to fuck with me. Gods knew what he was up to, but he’d draw it out.
“You caught his eye,” the man who wouldn’t shut up said. “Feel for you, brother.”
“I’m not your fucking brother.”
A chill washed over me.
Caught his eye?
Great.