Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
M urder.
Kason was murdered.
Kason was dead .
I sat against the stone wall of my cell, hardly feeling the cold seeping into my back and buttocks, since I was already chilled to my core. Shock, a distant part of my brain supplied. I was in shock. And Kason was…
I desperately wanted to look at the marriage mark on my wrist, to confirm that it was still there, still as dark and strong as ever, but the bastards had kept my hands bound behind my back.
I didn’t know if its appearance would change though.
When Kason had succumbed to Rhianough’s curse, it had begun to fade, but it had barely been there to start with.
Now that I’d confirmed it and returned his vow, now that we were truly married in the eyes of the Unwavering, would it vanish if one of us died?
Shouldn’t I feel it if Kason were truly dead?
Rhianough was not responding to my soundless requests for her help. Were the cuffs blocking my pleas?
I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes.
I didn’t want to imagine a world without Kason.
That was why I’d reciprocated his vow in the first place—after so long of trying to find a way around it, yes, but when his fate was clear, I hadn’t been able to just let it happen. Had it all been for nothing though?
For the love of all the gods, how had he been murdered ?
A whirring chirp had me opening my eyes and turning to squint up at the small window notched high into the wall of my cell, near the ceiling. A familiar scaley figure greeted me—the dragonet.
I let out a shuddering breath. “About time,” I said, trying for bravado, but the trembling in my voice gave me away. “Can you get me out of here?”
I needed to save the queen. No…I needed to find out what had happened to Kason. But the queen…
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to make my ever-spinning thoughts slow down and make sense, but a part of me recognized that wasn’t likely to happen.
Not yet, not for some time. Opening my eyes again, I watched as the dragonet spewed fire at the bars in the window, efficiently melting them into slag.
Then it squirmed through the opening, not concerned about the red-hot metal in the least. It glided to the floor, then chirped at me questioningly.
I shuffled to the side so it could see my bound hands. “Magic inhibitors,” I explained.
The dragonet cooed, then inhaled deeply, its sides billowing out.
My eyes widened. “No, wait, you’ll burn?—”
Too late.
More fire ejected from the dragonet, this time in a narrow stream.
It hit one of the cuffs, hissing and spitting—but the pain I braced for never came.
After a second, the cuff fell away, clattering to the ground, quickly followed by the second.
Instantly, my magic rushed back, along with the borrowed temporal magic, buzzing under my skin even stronger than before.
Now can you hear me? Rhianough demanded, as though being out of communication was somehow my fault.
“Yes.” I brought my wrists around to my front and rubbed them absently. With the reemergence of the temporal magic, a new way forward had risen through my addled thoughts. “I need to save Kason.”
I could reverse time to before he’d been killed. I knew I could. I just had to find his body, and then I could revert?—
The dragonet growled. Do you think he’ll thank you for saving him and abandoning his mother?
“Shut up,” I shot back. “You don’t understand.”
The little creature hopped onto one of my knees and reached up with its snout to nip at my nose. My domain is love and intellect . I understand more than you ever will. You need to think, Mokido, not feel.
“You want me to not feel?” My voice broke on the last word, and I shook my head, my hair brushing my shoulders with the motion.
I felt so much, all of it tangled and horrible. My heart ached as though it were struggling to beat, and maybe it was. How could I just go forward as if Kason were still here?
I want you to think now, feel later , Rhianough said. Think of what Kason would want you to do.
Godsdamn it. I scrubbed a hand over my face, trying to contain all my emotions so I could do as the goddess bid me.
I wasn’t some obedient puppet, but her words rang true, in a sense—if I broke down now and let my feelings overwhelm me completely, I would be useless.
Maybe I would recover myself, but maybe not.
But, gods, it was tempting to let go, feel , and escape reality.
The dragonet nudged my fingers. Breathe, slowly in, slowly out .
“I know how to breathe,” I said, my voice strangled.
Belatedly, I scraped the sleeve of my shirt back to look at the marriage mark on my wrist. It was still there, still dark as ever. Did that mean?—
“Does he live?” I asked shakily.
I do not know. Rhianough’s voice was brusque, but with a note of care.
“How can you not know?” I demanded.
I have not claimed him. He is not one of mine.
I gritted my teeth and shoved to my feet. “Fine. Get me out of here.”
The dragonet launched itself upward and spit yet more fire at the lock on the cell door.
It melted as easily as everything else, and within moments, I was able to push it open.
There were no other prisoners in the cells around me, and strangely, there were no guards in this corridor of cells, though perhaps it wasn’t strange at all.
I didn’t know the details of how a royal dungeon worked.
Thankfully, I’d never been in one before.
I gestured for the dragonet to alight on my shoulder, then cast a spell as familiar to me as my own skin: a concealing spell I used every time I sneaked into or out of a mark’s domain.
It wasn’t quite invisibility, but it was as close as you could get.
I found two guards at the end of the hall after peeking through the bar-covered window in the top portion of the door before I attempted to open it.
They sat at a rough-hewn table with a stack of cards between them, along with a small pile of coppers.
Gambling on the job rather than watching their prisoner?
Shame on them. With a careful, slow hand, I tested the doorknob and found it unlocked.
One less obstacle to overcome. On the other side of the room was another door, leading to who knew where. Another set of cells? Freedom?
Slowly, so slowly, I pushed the door open. The guards were so wrapped up in their game, they didn’t notice. At first, anyway. I had just slipped through the opening into the room, sticking close to the wall, when the fellow facing the door finally noticed it was ajar.
“Fuck, Jarin, didn’t you latch the door?” The guard scrambled to his feet and rushed over to slam the door shut, all while his colleague, sitting closer to the door, watched in bemusement.
“Calm your tits, Bellik. Not like our little friend is going anywhere,” Jarin scoffed.
Bellik returned to his seat, grumbling. I flattened myself against the wall as tightly as I could, and his hand barely missed skimming my shoulder. “Still. What if the captain had come down right then?”
Jarin snorted. “I think he’d be ashamed to see one of his sergeants losing so badly to a lowly private.”
“Fuck you.”
This would be tricky but not impossible.
I’d put two targets to sleep before, but it was always nerve-wracking.
It had to be timed just so, and there was always the chance one of the targets would have some natural resistance to spellwork, which meant they could realize what was happening…
I much preferred separating my targets first, but that wasn’t possible here. So simultaneous naps it was.
I concentrated, mouthing the words I needed to focus my intent, and released the magic into the room. It flowed into, over, and through the two guards. Bellik yawned. Then Jarin. And then, before I could say either of their names again in my head, their eyes closed, and they slumped forward.
Nicely done , Rhianough said.
I let out a shaky exhale of relief, then darted forward to remove the ring of keys from Bellik’s belt. Now that I had my way out of the dungeon, I had to figure out what came next. How was I going to get past the guards and into the queen’s bedchamber?
Dr. Orella seemed sympathetic to you , Rhianough suggested.
“True,” I murmured. Whether or not that sympathy would still be there now that everyone thought I’d killed Kason, I supposed we would see. What other choice did I have?
Getting to the infirmary was a challenge, but not one that went beyond my talents.
With my concealment spell, avoiding the guards’ notice was easy enough, especially since no one knew I had escaped.
The atmosphere in the palace was certainly tense.
The servants were not nearly as lively as I recalled them being yesterday, and more guards were stationed throughout the corridors, eyes cataloging everyone and everything, their muscles bunched and ready for whatever action they needed to take.
It occurred to me that if my spell failed or Dr. Orella denied my request for help, I would likely not live more than a handful of minutes. None of the guards appeared likely to ask questions first, especially not of an escaped supposed murderer.
Breath suddenly left my lungs as I realized anew that Kason was dead.
I’d never see his sky-blue eyes again or have the opportunity to run my fingers through his golden hair.
I’d never feel his soft lips on mine, tentative and then demanding.
I’d never know what it would be like to lie with him in his massive bed, doing everything but sleeping.
For a second, my throat closed up, and I couldn’t draw in another breath.
Think, don’t feel , Rhianough reminded me.
“Fuck you,” I muttered, my voice low and cracking. But I knew what she hadn’t said.
Yet. Don’t feel yet .
Resolutely, I shoved my emotions down, down, as far as I could, clenching my teeth as I forced myself to take a deep breath.
Then another. I looked up to see I’d stopped outside of the infirmary’s door, which, thankfully, was open.
I slipped inside and immediately spotted Dr. Orella at a desk on the other side of the room.
Her gray-threaded hair was just as messy as it had always been when I’d seen her, mostly up in a bun but not completely.
There was a cot covered in white linen and a screened room divider that I assumed hid an additional bed, but no one else was present.
Silently, I eased the door shut, grateful the hinges didn’t squeak, and released my concealment spell as I stepped farther into the room. “Dr. Orella?” I said so softly that it might as well have been a whisper.
It didn’t matter—the doctor spun at the sound of my voice, one hand raised to her throat. “Great gods. Mokido.” She pushed to her feet. “What are you doing here? I thought?—”
“I didn’t kill him,” I gasped out. “I swear. I would never.”
She nodded. “I believe you.”
My mouth dropped open. “Just like that?”
“I saw how you looked at each other.” Her lips curved the tiniest bit. “You were so in love. There is no way you would ever hurt him.”
Hearing my own conviction repeated back at me made my throat close up again. It was my turn to nod because I couldn’t say a thing.
“Besides, you’re marked by Rhianough, if I’m not mistaken, yes? She’s not one to support murderers.” A ghost of a smile flicked across her lips. “So what do you need?”
I swallowed down the pain. “Where is Kason’s body?”
In my head, Rhianough growled, Mokido…
Dr. Orella’s gaze grew even more sorrowful. “I haven’t seen it. I believe the captain of the guard is still investigating the scene.”
Which meant I’d never get near it. I inhaled slowly. Let it out slowly. Okay. I had to know that that option truly wasn’t an option. And now I did.
“Can you get me into the queen’s quarters?”
Dr. Orella sat up straighter. “Did you find a temporal witch?”
I tilted my head to the side. “After a fashion. I can save the queen if you can get me to her.”
“Of course. You’ll be my newest apprentice. I apologize in advance, but we’ll have to find a way to disguise your ears.”
I nodded. “Whatever it takes.”
I will see this completed, I said silently to Rhianough. And then you will help me hunt down Kason’s killer.
Oddly, a feeling of warmth rushed through me, not a sensation I associated with the Unwavering. It will be my honor. You shall have your revenge.
Briefly, I closed my eyes, resolidifying the mental wall between my intellect and my emotions. Soon, I would be able to give in. But not yet.