Chapter 44
Forty-Four
SENAN
Don’t ask me how long I’ve been in this cage. It could be a couple of hours or a few days. The only time I’m allowed out is to relieve myself, and even then, I’m chained to within an inch of my life and escorted by no less than three guards. Maybe I should be flattered that Boris believes me capable of escaping, but the truth is, I’m outmatched, out-magicked, and so fucking tired, passing the hours in a golden, dust-fueled haze.
Every time my vision clears, Boris returns with another vial, and I know in my heart that this is the end. I have no friends to speak of, my brothers are all gone, and Allette…
I’d die a thousand times over to keep her from this cursed castle.
Blinking my weary eyes, I stare up at the iron ceiling overhead. This cage may be large enough for me to stretch out fully, but it’s impossible to get comfortable on the cold, stone floor. I curl into a ball and hug myself, pretending my arms are my girl’s and that we’re in her bed in the burrows.
Boris’s desk taunts me with the prize concealed inside the top drawer.
That’s right.
Boris is still keeping the key in there, and every time he lets me out to use the privy, he drops it back in with a flourish and a smile, like he’s proud of dangling that bit of hope in front of me. I’ve tried begging the handful of servants who’ve come and gone to retrieve it, but I may as well have been a ghost for all the attention they paid me.
I have nothing to offer them except certain death for their assistance.
No one in their right mind would take that deal.
If I want to get my hands on that key, I’m going to have to be the one to make it happen.
I ease onto my elbows, my head spinning like a cyclone and stomach revolting. I wouldn’t put it past Boris to have drugged my drink and food as well as the dust he pours over the wounds he inflicts.
How do I get to that desk?
Perhaps I could strip bare and tie my clothes together, using them as a sort of lasso.
No, that won’t work. I have no hope of reaching that far, let alone having enough material to loop around anything.
If only I held the power of the air. Then, I’d have some way of knocking the desk on its side. The drawers would spill their contents all over the floor, and I could carry the key on a breeze.
If there’s no way to bring the desk to me, maybe I could find a way to bring myself to the desk.
The cage isn’t bolted to the floor, which means, if I shove hard enough, I should be able to move the thing along the marble. There’s only one way to find out.
I back up as far as I can and take a deep breath. This is going to hurt like hell.
Not as bad as the death my brother has planned.
I give myself a shake.
I can do this.
My legs wobble as I charge forward, slamming into the iron bars. The metal hisses against any bit of exposed skin it can find, but, fuck it all, the bastard moved! Sure, my shoulder feels like it’s been shattered, but that’s a minor detail because… The. Cage. Moved!
I rear back and hit the bars again and again and again, gaining ground inch by inch. The thing makes an awful racket, screeching against the marble, but there’s nothing I can do about that. After ten hits, I have to swap shoulders, and when I’m too sore to continue, I strip out of my shirt and tear the tattered fabric to wrap around my hands so I can grip the bars.
When I try to push, the soles of my boots slip, so I take those off as well. Every single muscle in my body strains.
It’s not enough. Boris is going to walk through that door at any moment, see what I’m doing, and put an end to this pathetic escape attempt.
What’s the alternative? To sit on my ass and wait for death to claim me?
No, thank you.
I’ve already come this far. I cannot give up now.
I clasp my hands behind my back and lift, stretching my sore muscles. The skin of my shoulders has turned a mottled black and blue. What little magic is still coursing in my veins will be working overtime to heal me today. I grip those bars again and push with all my might, my muscles screaming until I can push no more, and I collapse in a puddle of sweat.
What have I done to deserve this fate? I’ve only ever asked for one thing for myself, for one person. Why have I been punished for falling in love?
Beads of sweat trickle down my brow, splashing onto my wrapped hands.
If I hadn’t found the woman who makes my soul sing, I would’ve had a longer, simpler life, but even a day without Allette isn’t worth living.
Closing my eyes, I picture my girl’s smiling face and imagine the sweet trill of her laughter filling the air. My fingers wrap around those damn bars, and I push. It could be my imagination, but the cage feels like it moves a little easier. I’m almost to the rug! If I can get a little bit closer, I could grab the corner and drag the desk over to me. It must be lighter than this damn cage.
I shove with all my might, creeping closer and closer… Close enough to reach the rug.
With the fabric clutched in my fists, I give the rug a yank. After moving iron, the desk feels like a fucking feather. My biceps bulge and ache and my hands start to cramp, but I ignore them both as I pull and pull until I can reach through the bars and touch the edge of the desk. The thing is facing the wrong way. Still, I’m closer than I was an hour ago. So close, I can taste the sweet air of freedom on my?—
“You are a determined bastard; I’ll give you that.”
I whirl, finding the king waiting in the doorway, arms folded and a smug smirk on his lips. There’s no telling how long he’s been standing there; I haven’t looked back, only forward, toward a freedom that will never come.
He doesn’t hurry to the desk. He saunters over, as if he has all the time in the world, easing onto the corner where his stack of papers would have been if they hadn’t spilled off.
I would rake my fingers through my hair in frustration but cannot lift my arms at all. “Why don’t you just take the damn key?”
Boris’s smile curls higher. “Because I like to watch you hope.”
Hope in a hopeless situation is enough to kill a man, and I’m a dead man walking.
My body sways, and I fall to my knees. Tears prick the backs of my eyes, but I’ll be damned if I let him see me break.
Boris pushes the desk all the way to the fucking balcony. When he rounds the front, I expect him to withdraw the key. Instead, he brings out a dagger and another glowing vial. “Time for your medicine.”
I fall onto my ass in my haste to retreat, curling at the far side of my prison. “No…I don’t…I don’t want it.”
His brows arch as he stalks toward me, the sunset reflecting off the silver blade. “Are you sure about that?”
The madness is, part of me does want the dust. At least then I can blame my inability to break free on something besides myself. It gives me a spark of life in this relentless darkness.
Boris reaches through the bars and drags the blade down my thigh, flaying my trousers and the skin beneath. When he adds the dust, I welcome its warmth.
Unlike the other wounds, this one does not heal; it weeps crimson and gold down my skin, dripping onto the cold marble. All my magic must be gone, along with all my hope.
Boris wins.
But why? What have I done to make him hate me so much that he is willing to go to such lengths to kill me?
“Why?” The question pounds in my skull like a hammer as my veins glow brighter.
The king stills. Turns. Walks back to the cage to kneel next to me. “Everyone loves Senan Vale, don’t they? So carefree . So charismatic . I once overheard our mother say it was a pity you weren’t born first.”
Our mother had said that? Even if she had, how is that my fault?
“I never understood why, you know. You never followed the rules, believed you were above them, that there would never be any consequences for your actions.” A mirthless chuckle falls from his sneer as his head shakes. “Do you remember Scarlett Tilden?”
“Who?”
The king’s nostrils flare, his eyes narrowing into slits. “Scarlett fucking Tilden. She and I were courting when you set your sights on her.”
I don’t know a Scarlett— wait . I do know her. Scarlett Tilden was the reason Allette avoided me when we first met, the reason she called me a cad. “I had no idea the two of you were courting.” Boris kept his private life private. Hell, I didn’t meet his wife until the day of the wedding. “And for the record, Scarlett came on to me.” Yes, I kissed her, but that had been her idea. Then she tried to sneak into my room during a ball. When she was found out, the scandal ruined all social standing she or her family had. Last I heard, they moved to a new kingdom.
Boris lunges, grabbing the bars with both hands, rattling the whole damn cage. A sickening hiss fills the air from the iron burning his palms. “Liar! She told me the truth of what happened, how you seduced her. You ruined her—just as you ruin everything .” His hands fall away, the skin of his palms a brutal red. “Despite it all, I tried my best with you, tried to keep you from wasting yourself on some low-born filth who only wanted you for your crown?—”
“Allette loved me.”
“Really? Because I heard that she fucked your guard two days after you left her in the human realm.”
“Stop… That’s not… That’s not true…” She mourned me. She loved me. She still does…
“I was disappointed when I found out she wasn’t dead, but I think this is much more fitting, don’t you?” His lips curl back. “Gods, you are pathetic. Can’t even handle a bit of disappointment without breaking. How could you ever hope to rule a kingdom?”
A bit of disappointment? “I thought you killed my mate!” Men have broken for less.
“And you destroyed yourself and made our family look like a bunch of fucking wasters. You are a disgrace to the Vale name. Luckily, I recognized you for the drain you are.” He stands, looking down at me as if I’m a worm to be squished beneath his boot. “I cannot wait to finally be rid of you.”