Chapter 7
Daisy
Are you okay? she asked Daisy, stopping right in front of her.
Her eyes jogged back and forth between Daisy’s.
She must’ve been reading the memory of what had happened and known the relief mixed with blind rage Daisy was feeling.
Daisy had escaped, but some other poor female probably had not.
She waited, though, for Daisy to answer.
She was allowing Daisy to have a voice about the situation.
Warmth filled Daisy’s middle at the care and attention. She was not treating Daisy like a prisoner, but as an equal female. It was…endearing. It thawed Daisy’s built-in mistrust of strangers a little.
Yeah, she said, nodding to accentuate her answer. They weren’t looking for me.
Kayla nodded as well before lifting her hands to the manacles. Lennox has turned around. Go ahead and fix your clothes, and then we’ll go.
The manacles popped open without a lock, Kayla’s magic releasing them.
Daisy pushed forward to stand on her own before adjusting everything.
When she was done, Kayla split the flat black, robe-like cloth she wore to reveal crisscrossing straps and weapons across a slick black leotard.
She pulled out Daisy’s knife and handed it over.
Hide it, she said. Quickly.
Daisy didn’t waste any time, and Kayla stepped away before grabbing Daisy’s upper arm. She yanked Daisy toward Lennox, who glanced over and reached out to take the other.
Just one arm, Daisy said, pulling away from Lennox. It’ll make me look like less of a threat.
Kayla glanced at Lennox, who paused before stepping away.
Sorry about…you know, Lennox said as they started walking. Staring, I mean. I wasn’t…looking. I was dumbfounded by the level of rage that hit me. I froze. It was a shitty reaction. I’m sorry about that.
Kayla shook her head and spat to the side. This court is diseased from the top down. We’re running out of time to make a difference. At this rate, we’ll have to kill the entire court to keep the twisted magic from bringing down Faerie.
Daisy kept from looking around, her gaze directed straight or a little elevated. She didn’t want to put a face to Mr. Screamer or know what else went on in that dungeon. She didn’t want to know what she’d possibly face.
They didn’t go back the way they’d come, nor did she see any dungeon personnel.
The tunnels opened up, and the smell receded.
The dim blue lighting turned into orbs of various colors, contained in beautiful sconces bolted to the walls or dropping from arching ceilings.
Bright sunlight streamed through rows of windows.
Farther still and the ceiling continued to rise.
Stone was now painted or wallpapered, adorned with weaving black designs or shiny obsidian.
Fae dressed in a similar garb as Kayla and Lennox hurried on their way, heads down and hands often full with chamber pots or water pitchers or something else indicating they were at work.
Kayla jerked Daisy this way and that as they walked, as if annoyed with her. She fell into the treatment, a mask of fearful fretting on her face and an occasional tear rolling down her cheek. All the while she took in every detail, every servant rushing by.
Up a flight of stairs and they stopped in front of double doors in a stone frame. Lennox opened the door and Kayla shoved Daisy inside.
Your mind is safe in here, she said, following.
Three cots lay spaced out within the room. Couches and cushions lined one wall and a rack of various instruments lined the other. A short bookcase made of metal scrollwork leaned against the back wall.
A fae with a deeply lined face and wearing a black apron advanced from the side wall. His hair was cut short except in the front, which fell across his forehead. His dark eyes surveyed Daisy before he looked at the others.
“What have we here?” he said in a light, playful voice.
“His Highness Tarianthiel requests the mind shiv be applied to his slave,” Lennox said haughtily.
Shiv? Daisy asked. That means shank in the human lands. Is that what it means here?
Kayla wandered a couple steps away and turned, sparing a quick and confused glance at Daisy’s face before going back to acting like she was bored.
What’s a shank? Never mind, it doesn’t matter.
This male will apply a barrier over your mind so that your thoughts will stay within.
Your wandering thoughts, I mean. You can think—we can explain later. This will protect your mind.
“Does he now?” Bangs said, pursing his lips as he looked Daisy over again. “What is it, a human? Why would he want to spend his gold on a human? Surely her mind will be cracked open by someone powerful, anyway. This is a waste of time.”
Lennox stepped closer to the male, his size dwarfing the other. “Whether it is or it isn’t doesn’t matter. He wants it done. Do you intend to resist?”
Bangs quailed, shrinking. “No, of course not. I just wondered what secrets a human might know that he’d want to protect, that’s all. It seems outlandish. No matter. I’ll do it. Let me get prepared.” He gestured at the first cot. “Place her there and strap her down.”
Daisy couldn’t help a nervous glance at Lennox as Kayla grabbed her upper arm again. She yanked Daisy forward, shoving her toward the cot.
“Lie down, human. We haven’t got all day.”
This is going to hurt like hell, Kayla said with no remorse. It’s necessary. Stay strong. Pain sharpens the senses.
Lennox pushed down on the center of Daisy’s back, her stomach on the cot. Kayla began strapping her in.
This is a temporary fix, Lennox said. It’ll buy you time, nothing more.
Once it is solidified in your mind, you will need to train in earnest to protect your thoughts.
Tarian has a device to help. He’s confident it won’t take you long.
If it does, we’ll need to reapply this magic.
The more you do it, the more it negatively impacts your mind.
Once is really the most you’ll want to contaminate yourself.
“What the fuck?” she muttered, thrashing against the newly buckled straps. Part of that was for show. Only part. Just give me time with the device. I’m sure I can do it quicker than he thinks I can. I don’t want to contaminate even a bit of my mind. I need it. It’s all I have.
You’ll be okay, Kayla said. Once almost never messes anyone up.
And my inability to fly really high without magical help was a surprise, too. Let’s not do this.
They tensed, not having thought this through, but then Bangs was leaning over her.
She couldn’t see the contraption in his hands, but she felt it when he put it on the back of her neck.
Her whole body jolted from the pressure.
Pain seeped into her, winding through her blood and wrapping around her bones.
It traveled to the very edges of her limbs and back before crawling up the back of her throat and forcing a scream.
Her hair follicles tingled and the back of her neck was on fire.
It burned like actual flame, and she could imagine it blackening her skin and shriveling it away.
Next her brain started to sizzle, inch by inch, until the agony nearly made her black out.
She didn’t know how long it went on or if she screamed the whole time. Eventually, it ended. The pressure eased and the pain with it. Her body still convulsed against the straps, but numbness had thankfully started to spread. Or maybe that was just the absence of pain.
“What…” Bangs still leaned over her but had put the contraption onto the ground beside the cot. He pushed her hair away from the back of her neck. “What is this?”
She breathed heavily as Lennox and Kayla approached the cot.
A finger brushed against the back of her neck, right near her hairline. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt, as though what he’d done wasn’t surface level. It meant her skin hadn’t burned away after all. That was good news.
Shit! Kayla exclaimed. Fuck, Lennox, what do we do?
What is it? Daisy asked.
A nail scratched at her neck, light at first, then harder.
Lennox bent to undo the straps.
“But…this can’t be…” Bangs said hesitantly.
“It’s a trick of the light,” Lennox said as Kayla blurted, “It’ll settle into black. It’s because she’s human.”
Bangs leaned back as Lennox finished. His eyes narrowed.
“Well, which is it? A trick of the light, or because she is human?” He tsked.
“I think it is something else. What is His Groveling Highness really up to here? This isn’t just a human, is it?
Where did you get this creature? The wylds?
Is it twisted and therefore a more effective human?
It’s no secret that simpering fool wants to kill the royalty and take their place but can’t because of the magic locking him in his station.
The whole court laughs about it. Is this his solution? ”
Kill him, Lennox thought forcefully. Quickly—
Daisy popped up, the loosened straps falling away. She was on Bangs before his eyes widened. Had her hands in the right places before he could start. Delighted in the vicious crack before anyone had made a move to stop or help or shriek in surprise.
Bangs’s lifeless body slid to the ground.
Kayla and Lennox looked on with rounded mouths and raised eyebrows. Both had also frozen, Kayla with her hands held out.
Daisy panted, shakily sitting down on the cot. Her body was still jittery and her brain felt fuzzy from the treatment.
“What was that about?” she asked, her voice hoarse from screaming. She wiped sweat from her forehead.
“The gods smite me, human.” A crooked smile worked at Kayla’s lips. “You’re quick to kill, huh?”
Daisy frowned at the fae. “Isn’t that what you wanted? Lennox said quickly. I assumed that meant quickly. As in fast. As in get it done. What’s the problem? I’m hoping it isn’t that my thoughts will stay fuzzy for the rest of my life. That’ll fuck us all in this venture.”
Lennox huffed out a laugh and bent over to grab Bangs. “Tarian said she was vicious for a human. I didn’t think that meant she was on par with a fae. That’ll be useful.”
“Bloody right it will.” Kayla donned a full-fledged smile before it withered. Her expression took on a perplexed look. “We’d planned to mark you for Tarian, but…that can’t happen now. You’ll have to make a show in the court to get the point across.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
Kayla stepped behind her and brushed her hair out of the way. She pushed Daisy’s head forward.
“The procedure we did tends to leave marks at the base of the hairline, at the back of the neck. That’s how you can tell it has worked and for how long it will work.
If the marks start to fade, that means the magic protecting your thoughts is fading.
Given it is applied by someone with unseelie, obsidian magic, the markings show up black.
Like our markings and Tarian’s. But your markings… ”
“Aren’t ink,” Lennox finished. “They look like…diamond dust. Not even the Celestials have markings like that. Theirs are golden. I’ve…” He swallowed thickly. “I’ve never heard of this. We need to consult Tarian.”
“Oh super,” Daisy said dryly. “One more way I’ll stand out in this place.”
Kayla nodded. “I’ll get rid of the body. You get her some food and water and then take her back to the dungeon. The magic won’t fully solidify for a sun’s turn. Threaten those fucking guards while you’re there, Lennox. If she is taken to the king, we’re all fucked.”