Chapter 23 – Vale
VALE
Igripped the bars of my cage, as furious as the moment I awoke in a dungeon.
Without windows to let in the sunshine, it was difficult to estimate the passage of time, but I guessed we’d been here for a day with little food and water, and only a bucket each to relieve ourselves in.
I’d nearly lost it when Neve had needed to use her bucket with my friends and brothers as witnesses.
Cloak covering her or not, I did not want others to see her like that.
“I swear to every dead god and goddess, I’m going to lose my bleeding mind if they don’t let us out soon.” Thantrel gripped the bars and leaned back on his heels, tipping his strong chin to the stone ceiling.
The youngest Riis brother was not one to be idle. Nor was I, for that matter, though the cages had outwitted me. Whatever ward was in the metal nullified each of our magics. Rynni’s dragon magic included.
“I hope Anna is safe,” Clemencia whispered.
Our human companion had not returned since the rebels had taken her. That I had not been awake for my mate in her time of distress only deepened my agony.
“The fae who took her said she wouldn’t hurt her,” Neve assured us. “And I didn’t hear anything like screaming afterwards.”
“We can’t hear anything at all! Nothing but the sound of our own voices!” Thantrel roared. “It’s maddening! What are they doing up there? I’m dying to go see.” He gazed at the stairs, as if there was some great treasure up the steps and not a horde of enemies.
“And where is up there?” Duran added, frustration lacing his tone from where he sat, cross-legged, in his cage.
I cast a glance at Neve. She was laying down, curled in on herself, at the bottom of her enclosure.
Her violet eyes were empty as she stared into space.
My heart clenched. More than anything, I wished to hold my mate.
To comfort her and tell her that I’d kill anyone who harmed her and Anna, but my words would be empty.
Stars, I despise being powerless. I wish—The door at the top of the stairs banged open.
“Haven’t I told you scum to be quiet!” A massive male fae with gray wings too small for his trollish frame appeared, a fresh scowl on an ugly face.
Unlike when he berated us before, he didn’t just shout, shut the door, and leave.
This time, the fae descended the steps, glittering black eyes narrowed upon us.
In one meaty hand he clutched a shimmering silver-white cloth that contrasted with his skin, which was as dark as the night sky.
“Prince.” The fae stopped before my cage. “We wish to question you.”
“Where’s Anna?” Neve rose from her lethargy. “That female with the scar over her eye was questioning her! Is she still alive?!”
“The human is fine. But she doesn’t have all the information we require.” Black eyes locked on me. “This prince might. Wrap this around your middle, under your shirt. Then tie it tight.”
He tossed the item in his hands through the bars. I caught it and recognized the material. Spider silk, like the gloves my twin wore. A better look revealed the silk to be a long ribbon as wide as my hand. This amount of material was unspeakably valuable.
“You’ll be going upstairs,” the male said. “That’ll stifle your magic.”
“My magic is the least of your worries,” I snarled, muscles tightening.
He chuckled. “You think you can fight me? I’m three times your size.”
“I’ve fought orcs as large as you. I can do it again.”
“There’re a dozen soldiers at the top of the stairs.
If you think you can free your friends before you get to the top, you’re wrong.
I have no power to open any cage except for yours.
So try and kill me if you want, but it’ll get you nothing, and if the others hear me call out before I meet my end, they’ll be ready with arrows and blades. ”
“Vale. Go.” Neve’s voice was but a whisper, one that tore my chest open. “Tell them whatever you must so they’ll free us.”
“Bring my wife too,” I commanded.
“You have the power to free her, but I’ll not be the one opening her cage. It all depends on what you say to our leader,” the fae tossed back lazily. “Wrap those around your middle and tie it tight. Once you’re done, we’ll be enchanting it into place.”
Why they wished to speak to me, and not my mate, when they knew who she was—a Falk that they might be inclined to follow—was beyond me.
Still, I did as my mate wished and wrapped the wide ribbon around me.
I had many questions regarding the material, but one thing was clear to me.
If the rebels had the silk but did not weave it into clothing like gloves or vests, which would be useful for this purpose, then they didn’t have someone to work the rare material.
No surprise there. Few could sew and create with the silk of ice spiders.
Once the spider silk material encased me, the rebel fae opened the door to my cage. He’d not used a key, but placed his hand on a flat part of the cage, where a lock would be located.
“Come on.” He pushed me ahead of him, and throwing Neve one last look, I climbed the steps.
Just as the fae said, a dozen armed soldiers wearing the red hawk of the Falk rebels around their arms waited at the top. I found it ludicrous that Neve was a true Falk princess, not some bastard-born Falk taking a claim that was above them, and yet they did not listen to her.
Inhaling to keep my calm, I examined the swords the soldiers held, some sheathed, some out and at the ready. None of them were Skelda, and that at least was good news. Upon capture, we’d been relieved of our weapons. To think of someone else carrying my sword rankled.
The soldiers escorted me down a hallway, the large part-troll, part-faerie at the front. As we went, I studied our surroundings.
The building seemed quite large. A small fortress or castle made of stone. Though clean enough, the ceiling sagged in places and stones jutted from an uneven floor. Where in all the nine kingdoms were we?
The rebels stopped before a door in the middle of a long, blank, black stone hallway. The troll-faerie opened the door and poked his head in. My name lumbered off his lips and a second later, a female voice told them to enter.
Someone shoved me in the back. My fists clenched, but I held my composure and passed through the doors to find a large room, empty save for the two people sitting around a table.
One I recognized as the black-haired female who tried to kill Neve at the Royal Theater.
The same faerie who had visited my mate before the rest of us awoke. The rebel who took Anna.
“Thank you, Ulfiel,” the black-haired female said. “You may go.”
“You’re sure?” the troll asked even as he brought a fist to his chest in a gesture I’d seen before. The famous singer, Avalina Truso, had done the same thing before rebels descended upon the Royal Theater. It was a gesture of loyalty to the rebellion. “No protection?”
The female’s eyes, a sharp blue, settled on me. “I’m sure the prince knows how much is at stake. After today, we’ll get to the bottom of their story. Wait outside if you must, but the prince will not harm us.”
She was right. Without my mate and my friends beside me, I’d not do anything stupid.
The soldiers left, but I remained standing there, waiting.
“Sit,” the female said.
“Who are you?” I asked, my tone matching her command as I crossed to the empty chair.
“For now, all you need to know is that I’m the leader here.
One of them, anyway.” She nodded to another female at the table, an older faerie with black hair heavily shot through with gray, light blue eyes, and navy wings pressed down her back.
“This is Ratha. She’ll read your mind. Give her your hand. ”
I balked. “If I don’t?”
The younger faerie shrugged. “Then we kill you.”
“Where’s Anna?”
Her eyebrows arched. “You care about the human?”
“I do. She’s my mate’s best friend.”
A long sigh left her lips. “You’re a strange lot, I’ll admit. One that brings up many questions for people like me. Questions you can answer—if you work with Ratha.”
The old faerie’s trembling hand extended to me. One might think the trembling was a sign of nerves, but there was no hint of anxiety in her proud face. Age affected this fae, not my presence. “Give it over, my prince.”
There was something so familiar about the old faerie. Almost motherly. Though I did not trust them, I understood this was what had to happen.
The issue of my many secrets—that of my mother and brother’s powers and my own birth father—flitted across my mind, but I dismissed them.
This female would be looking for information on Neve.
On me. On others in my group. I doubted she’d search for anything about my mother and brother and well, if she learned my secret now, I’d regret that, but I had no power to change what the Fates had in store.
I extended my hand, touched it to Ratha’s roughened skin. This fae had seen much of this life, and her turns had been hard.
Not as hard as yours will be if you fight, a voice rang through my head, raising alarm bells. I’d always been told that mind readers could not speak to the person whose mind they were reading. But her voice was loud and clear and powerful.
Bleeding skies, she’s—
A low laugh interrupted me. Don’t fight. Just allow me to have my way.
My body loosened as the truth crashed over me. This fae wasn’t a mere mind reader—if such a power could ever be called mere. No, her magic was more distressing since she was a whisperer, able to read and control.
I let her inside willingly, a fool’s move.
Because of my many experiences with Mother and Rhistel, I recognized Ratha as her power wove through me.
As she demanded answers, which I supplied mentally, unable to stop myself.
And though her control was not as complete as my mother’s and brother’s, I was no match to stop her.