Chapter 3 #2
I would not indulge her anymore. I willed the power surging in my veins to my mouth, to freeze my fucking lips in place before they betrayed me again.
But Alize’s eyes were no longer on me. They’d flickered downward, to the untouched tray of food and the magically steaming pot of water with its tea leaves waiting alongside.
Her brow furrowed, so quick and so slight I almost missed it before she said, “Someone left you a gift.”
What was the meaning of that furrow?
“I’d rather starve,” I said honestly. Or die of dehydration, in the case of the tea. But I didn’t bother with the distinction.
Alize crouched down and reached across the thick line of salt as if it were nothing. The power inside of me thrashed, rivulets of ice solidifying inside my veins. If I’d sliced open my hand at that moment, there would have been no blood to flow. Just scarlet crystals.
It took every bit of control, every technique that Tomin had taught me to keep my power from eviscerating the arm she reached into my prison. Arrogant or stupid. Which one was she?
Which one was I?
I could freeze the blood in her veins, blacken her fingers to the point of uselessness.
But it would be temporary. She was fae. Her magic healing would save her fingers and reverse any harm I could manage.
Any damage I inflicted would only piss her off.
Unless she stepped over the line of salt completely so I could get at her vital organs.
She was the only person who’d come to visit me—my only connection to the world beyond this deserted bathhouse. If I injured her, who knew when they might send someone else… or what might happen to Isanara in the meantime?
Alize dipped her fingers into the shallow dish of tea leaves, gently moving the dried herbs to the side. Then she withdrew, a single stem pinched between her index finger and thumb.
“Torture yourself if you want,” she said, nodding to the tray of food. But her eyes remained fixed on the greenery in her hand, the head of leaves no bigger than my thumbnail. “But don’t steep this with your tea.”
I leaned as close as I dared to the line of salt. From what I could tell, there was nothing special about the tiny four-leaved plant Alize held. But if she’d withdrawn it, it must have some value. Or this was another manipulation. Fuck me. It was easier when I’d been drugged and sleeping.
“So they are attempting to poison me.” That was why I had not touched the initial offering of sustenance.
Alize shrugged. “If it fits with their goals, they would not hesitate. But this is not poison. This is a four-leaf clover.”
It was bright, verdant green, unlike the dried leaves.
I shrugged, mimicking her nonchalance. “The fae hoard magic. It is little surprise that they have managed to grow something green, small as it is.”
“No fae would have grown this. At least, none aligned with my father,” she amended. “It allows the bearer to see through fae glamours.”
It was the first direct thing she’d said to me. Which made it all the more suspect.
Anyone could have placed it in my cell. I’d been in and out of consciousness for at least a few days. I had not seen the tray of food delivered. Had the mysterious little clover arrived with the tray, or been added later?
Alize twirled the stem gently between her thumb and forefinger.
“It is a rare thing,” she said quietly. I understood her meaning. So little grew in Velora anymore, let alone something magical. Alize leaned forward, returning the tiny plant to the dish of tea leaves. “Someone is on your side, witch.”
Witch. It lacked the ring of endearment when Alize said it, but that did not matter to my traitorous heart. My heart doesn’t beat. How can it be broken?
I did not care about a supposedly magical clover or Alize’s meandering thoughts about Maura and the fae king.
“If you are done tormenting me, I’d prefer to be left alone.” I buried my hands in the folds of my shift to hide how they clenched.
Alize rolled her eyes. “And I’d prefer if my brother returned to his homeland across the water rather than entangling himself in conflicts he cannot win. But neither of us is well placed to serve our own preferences.”
Garrick is here. In Velora, or Balar Shan? In the palace itself?
I don’t care, I reminded myself. If he valued his life as much as he led me to believe—not that I could trust anything that had happened between us in the Gates—he would stay far away from me.
Because I would kill him for what he’d done, and I would survive the Lifebind just fine.
It bound his life to mine, not the other way around, because I was the one who’d saved his life in the Mercy Gate. It was his debt to repay.
Alize watched me for three more heartbeats.
My heart did not beat, but even after all these years, I knew their pace by buried human instinct.
I knew my face showed the storm within me.
I was too busy controlling my power and my mouth to master my face as well.
She rolled her eyes and then disappeared back through the arch, not bothering to use her magic to cover her footfalls this time.
I did not move for several minutes, waiting to make sure she was well and truly gone. Only when my stomach yelled its anger loud enough to echo across the ornate tilework of the bathhouse did I finally move. I dragged the tray of food and tea closer to the center of my cell.
Alize was right about that, at least. Whether I ate or not, I wouldn’t die from hunger. But there was no reason to torture myself. Maura and the fae king had plenty of their own in mind, I was certain.