Chapter 13
The Serpent
The dark fae lost his head.
I did not know how it happened, only that the sea folk fled. Harald was dead. Now the dark fae who’d lived among us for a decade, the one who promised us a victory, was defeated.
The Ever was lost.
No one asked about their king, no one waited to see if I boarded the Ever Ship. By the next sunset, earth fae surrounded the makeshift camp. I was left alone and all I could do was hide in a hedge, knife in hand, waiting for their warriors to leave before I made my run for the sea.
I wouldn’t get the chance.
“You the boy king?” An earth fae warrior peered through the branches, a sly grin on his face. “Thought you’d be long gone.”
I gripped my knife tightly, ready to fight until he gutted me. He didn’t. Another guard came up from behind and had my face pinned to the soil, hands bound in another breath.
“Two boys,” the first warrior grumbled at his companion. “That’s all that’s left.”
Two boys?
When the warriors lifted me off the ground, I didn’t fight. I would not go to the Otherworld whimpering and pleading.
Another moment and I understood what they meant by two boys. We stepped onto a forest path and there were more warriors with Tait tethered between them.
“Erik!” He called out, but an earth fae with multiple piercings in his ears tugged him back. “Did they harm you?”
“Not even a little, cousin,” was all I said.
We were paraded through their gates, dragged through their great hall where I caught a glimpse of a gaggle of young ones in fine clothes.
No doubt noble littles. We were aimed at a dark corridor, but when the guards paused for a moment to explain where they planned to take us, I caught a pair of sea eyes.
A girl. Young. I tilted my head. Why was she familiar?
Somewhere deep in my chest something warm sparked, like a fire stick igniting.
“Come on, Bloodsinger.” The guard tugged on my elbow. “Keep moving.”
The warmth faded. Doors slammed at my back. All I felt was cold.
My damn leg hurt. Bad.
I scooted against the damp wall inside the cell. What was taking them so bleeding long? Kill me already.
Maybe they toyed with their food. Harald was dead, his blood still fresh under my fingernails, but his voice remained in my head, recanting horrific tales of earth fae and their viciousness.
My skin burned, yearning for the spray of the sea. Perhaps that was their damn plan. Leave me here to wither and crack beneath the dry air of the earth fae realm. Gods. If I played the game right, they might cut off my aching leg, calling it torture. It’d be a sweet relief.
I let my head fall back against the stone wall, rubbing the burn in my bones.
No doubt the lords of the Ever were already home, declaring their boy king dead and gone. Lost to the cruel earth fae. Would Joron or Hesh be the one to rush for the crown? Alistair would keep them at bay until my bones were returned to the sea. It was the way of things.
I chuckled, a dark satisfaction tight in my chest. The earth fae didn’t know that. They didn’t know once they killed me, my bones needed to sink beneath the tides if my short reign were ever to truly end and if I were to ever properly greet the gods.
I’d already seen what they did to their enemies from their realms—their bones were hung over the mantles in their great hall. I’d likely rest much the same.
Joron and Hesh would never get to take the damn throne if my death were never sealed. That was an amusing thought. Though, I didn’t know what would happen to Gavyn or Celine. I promised she’d live. We even had grand plans to teach her the ways of the Ever Ship when I returned.
Harald was gone, there was less risk in bringing Celine and Sewell around the crew.
Enough time had passed since Sewell’s treason and he looked a little different now.
Not so much like a lord. Most of the crew had only known the former Bone Lord as Fleshripper, so it wasn’t so hard to believe he’d be safe tucked away in the bowels of the ship.
Gavyn didn’t know how to hide Celine or his daj in the House of Bones. They’d be noticed more with their old household servants than the Ever Crew.
Not only did I have vows to Gavyn and his folk, but I had to spare a thought or two regarding Tait.
Was my cousin still kept in the cell down the corridor? Had they slaughtered him because Harald brought the dark fae? Gods, they seemed to despise that dark fae more than sea folk. They’d likely blame Harald, but with my uncle dead, Tait might pay the price.
A cinch burrowed into my chest. Something like unease, something like fear for his wellbeing.
Pointless.
For all I knew my cousin’s hatred of me would bring him to his knees, pleading for his own life.
He was free from Harald now. In truth, I didn’t know if I’d blame him much if he chose to leave the Ever Seas, begin anew. Not that I’d ever bleeding admit it, but part of me craved a choice much the same.
Burdens crushed my spine.
If I died, there were too many lives at stake without my word.
If I lived, I faced a kingdom that had lost a war, with subjects who either feared or detested me.
“Bleeding hells, you stupid nettles. Get. Off.”
Above, through the bars, a squeaky, hissing voice broke the silence of solitude. I hunched a little lower, keeping to the shadows of the cell and looked to the open bars.
All at once, a small piece of parchment floated through the bars, landing on the cobblestones.
Slanted words that read:
Don’t be scared. I’m a friend.
What the hells?
By the time I read the note a third time, skinny fingers curled around the iron bars. A girl? A fae girl. Her dark hair was braided behind her neck and showed the tapered points of her ears.
“Bloodsinger.” She was trying to whisper but not doing it well. “Look, I know you’re in there, saw it on the records at the fort. Swear, I only wanna talk.”
A girl wanted to talk?
Doubtful. Her head turned, landing her gaze on the corner where I kept to the darkness.
She snickered. “Gods, your eyes are weird. All red and creepy.”
Unbidden, a hiss slid over my tongue. “Look to your own eyes, earth fae. They look like the damn sea.”
She was the girl from the great hall. Clearly, I’d never admit I liked her eyes and tried to make it sound like an awful burden for her to carry.
She merely grinned. “Thought you liked the sea.”
“Go away.”
“No.”
My fists clenched. “Are you part of the torture?”
“Torture?” She looked genuinely distressed. “Bleeding hells, my folk aren’t gonna torture a boy.”
“I’m a king, stupid girl.” I turned my back on her.
“Oh, well, forgive me, Your bleeding Highness. I’m a royal too, but you don’t see me going around boasting about it.”
Who the hells was this girl?
With a touch of reluctance, I crept toward the bars, trying to snag a look at her face.
When her features came into focus my heart stilled. Soft brown skin and blue eyes, but there, in the innocent look on her face, was him.
The earth bender.
“A royal? The earth bender’s heir.”
She held up a hand. “I know. I know. You and Daj aren’t getting on right now, but I think it can change.”
We weren’t getting on? Surely earth fae young ones weren’t this stupid. “You know I tried to kill your father. Your mother.”
The girl snorted. “You did not. They told me they kept a fair distance from you, kept watch on you, though. Maj said it didn’t feel right to let the boy king die.”
“I didn’t die because I had a damn sword in my hand.”
“Okay.” She shrugged. “I know pompous boys don’t like to think they didn’t win a fight on anything other than their own skill.”
I flashed my teeth. “Care to find out if I have skill or not? I bested more than one earth fae in those battles.”
“But did you? It’s all right, you can be honest, Bloodsinger.” The girl propped her cheek on her fist and grinned. “I mean, you’re not all that grown, and you did face a bunch of warriors and kings and queens.”
“You don’t—”
“Oh, I don’t mean to offend you.” The way her mouth curled on one side in a smirk said otherwise. The princess leaned closer to the bars. “I’m sure you fought well. I’m sure you’re frightening.”
My jaw tightened. “Go home, little princess. You don’t want to anger the sea fae.”
“No.” The girl puffed a lock of her hair out of her face. “I truly don’t. That’s why I’m here. I, well, I found a story that’s sort of like the battle. I thought, since it’s lonely in here, you might like to hear it.”
This didn’t make sense. The girl held up a leather-bound book, waving it in front of the bars.
“You’re here to . . . tell me a story?”
She hesitated and bit her bottom lip. “I have this feeling that’s telling me we don’t . . . we don’t need to hate each other. Sea fae, earth fae, any of us.”
Foolish girl.
Still, she was the daughter of the earth bender. Perhaps, I could draw her close enough to poison her. A parting gift to my enemy before I greeted the gods.
Odd, but the instant I had the thought my skin prickled in unease, my tongue burned in a rancid kind of taste. As though some part of me, somewhere far beneath the hatred in my soul, recoiled at the thought of harming this strange girl.
“So, do you wanna hear it?” she asked again. “It’s not like you have anything else to do.”
True enough.
Perhaps this could teach me something about the earth bender. A weakness, a trick to his defeat. For if I somehow survived these realms, I would come back. I would challenge him. I would take back the power of Thorvald.
Slowly, I sat on the damp soil of the cell. “All right, little princess. Tell me your story.”
She beamed like I’d gifted her a heap of precious stones, folded her legs under her body, and started to read.
The more the simple tale of a sea snake and a songbird fell off her tongue, the calmer the hatred in my blood became.
I anticipated one night of tales, not the next three.