Chapter 20 #2
Most of the Sapphires below retreated to their tents. No one paid me any attention.
I took a deep breath and grabbed onto the side of the net. The shift caused the tree limb to sag, rocking me to the side. I held on, praying I could pull this off. Once it stilled, I carefully pulled myself to the top, where the net was secured to the tree.
Reaching through a hole in the net, I tugged on the knot. It was thick. I would need a knife, which I most definitely did not have.
Placing my hand over the knot, I used the next best thing. I gently released my Nature. As soon as it trickled out, I cut off the release. Poison ate away at the knot, bubbling and popping threads.
“Do you wish to die?” a brooding voice yelled out as heavy footsteps ran towards me. I didn’t care to look. There was nothing they could do. If the fall killed me, then so be it. I would not be waiting for my blood to be drained, nor would I ever be giving up any information.
I would break the cage.
Thread by thread, the rope sizzled away until the net released. I fell, facing the vengeful sky. Death was a mere second away; my only regrets were not being able to see the moon once more, to say goodbye to my friends, and never having the chance to meet my twin.
A roar of magic captured me, obliterating the pieces of falling net.
Instead of on the ground, I landed in firm hands that tightened around my shoulder and legs.
Only a few inches from my face were red eyes full of regret.
It was Payn.
“Get your hands off of me!” I yelled, pushing myself out of his arms. Hoping my Nature burned him again.
“Don’t act like a child,” he seethed.
“A child? You left me hanging in a tree for two days! If you’re going to kill me, do it. I’m not going into another cage.”
“Who said anything about killing you?” he asked rigidly, lowering his face until we were nearly nose to nose. “I’m looking for one person. You tell me what you know about her, and I’ll let you go.”
“Who?” I snarled.
My social circle was about the circumference of my pinky finger, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t lie.
“A Blackheart from the Northern Waywards. Her name is Elorengail Steele, but she goes by Elora Amona. Do you know her?”
My body stiffened. That was quite possibly the worst thing he could’ve said.
“I knew it was you,” he said, wonder lacing his tone.
Fuck.
Thunder shook the ground, beating through the sky almost as loud as my heart in my chest.
“Follow me to shelter, Elorengail.” My name slid off his tongue as if it were special, like he’d been waiting his entire life to speak to me.
If I ran, I wouldn’t survive the storm, nor would I receive any answers. How did he know about me or where to find me? And worse, what was he planning to do with me?
I was forced to walk in front of him through the camp until we reached a regal blue tent. Another Sapphire stood by the entrance, ushering us inside.
Never in my life did I think I would voluntarily walk into a Sapphire’s tent. Inside was a bed layered with fur blankets and red pillows. To my left was a long brown table scattered with documents.
Across the room sat a woman, the same one who had been in the original trio that attacked me. She lounged back, only briefly glancing up from her book.
Another Sapphire gathered up the papers, removing them before I was instructed to sit.
I skeptically did as I was told, keeping my eyes on Payn. He sat across from me, leaning back and spinning a ring on the table. He must not have drunk a satisfactory amount of blood to save me from falling, or it had taken a great deal of blood magic. The red in his eyes faded to a watery grey.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you go,” he announced.
While not the news I hoped to hear, I’d figured that was the case since the moment he tied me up in a tree.
“How do you know my name?” I pushed.
He sighed, stopping the spinning ring and flattening it on the table.
“Let’s start fresh, shall we? I am Prince Payn Vikesh, son of Saffron the Blood Bather, and Heir to Lestivia. Now, it's your turn.”
Mother of Moons, I was sitting across from the mad conqueror's son.
I cleared my throat. “I’m Elora Amona, daughter of a dead man.”
He smirked and shook his head. “No, you are Elorengail Steele, of Blackheart. Daughter of King Ashton, and an heiress to the Bastard Kingdom of Castivian. Have you not spent enough of your life belittled? Must you cast your own shadow?”
He tilted his head. “Your brother is looking for you, too.”
I stared at the table, heart racing. If he were telling the truth, then Xavian knew I existed. Had he known his whole life?
Payn shifted his weight. “War is a complicated thing, love. My father is well-practiced, which is why it’s dangerous for everyone if I let you go.”
I shook my head, staying silent.
“My father wants Castivian, and he will wage a war if he must. Your bastard of a brother has turned away any offers that have come his way for a peaceful surrender. But my father thinks he’ll reconsider once we’re married.”
“Pardon?” I sat up straight.
He spun the ring again. “Marriages are an alliance, get used to it, Princess.” He looked at me with understanding, like he, too, had been in my seat, learning his fate of marriage.
The midnight-haired woman across the room peeked up from her book, face twisted and red eyes simmering. I glanced back at Payn. She was jealous. He meant something to her.
I’d never experienced someone who was so clearly wanted, wanting me. I was ashamed of the rush in my dark veins at the thought.
“King Clarke doesn’t have a sister,” I said. “Everyone knows Xavian Steele is his only bastard sibling.”
He leaned forward, the ring still rapidly spinning on the table. “Have you always been a liar? Or is it a recent development?”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond before pushing forward. “Or maybe you have no idea yourself. Have you noticed any special treatment in recent months? Or even before that?”
Riven. Lord Ansel. The Nightcastor in the Pearl. Did all of them know? Either way, it was not something a Sapphire should know.
“I’m a Blackheart, if you haven’t noticed. People treat us like shit.” That was the truth.
His eyes rose to meet mine in defiance. “I wouldn’t.”
The smack of a book slamming cut through the rigid tension. The dark-haired woman seethed in her seat, poorly pretending to pick a new book to read.
He either didn’t know she existed or didn’t care enough to spare her from this conversation.
Hail drummed against the tent. Not even a dip or dent as thuds of ice pounded on the roof and slid off the sides. It was the one time I was thankful for blood magic.
“I don’t know Xavian Steele. I have no interest in your kingdom or its problems. In fact, I hope Lestivia caves in and takes your father with it. And lastly, I would never marry you, Sapphire.”
“I thought we were on a first name basis now?”
“You thought wrong.”
“I see,” he said, looking at his entourage. He waved his hand, dismissing them. The woman slammed her book shut once more and was the first to leave.
Once it was just me, the blood prince, and the sound of hail, he left his seat and moved to the chair beside me.
He was so close, I could kill him. I wouldn’t survive another five minutes after that, but I could end his life. But that would not end the war; it would probably make it worse.
Payn’s gentle hand steered my face towards his.
“Understand this,” he began. I swallowed, unable to look away from eyes full of fear and warning. “War is no place for pretty things.”
Leaning into his hold, I whispered, “It’s a good thing you’re ugly.”
Amusement tugged at the corner of his mouth. “That woodland village was pleasant, wasn’t it?” he taunted.
My face fell. The Sapphires left a trail of destruction everywhere they went.
He traced his thumb along my jawline. “I did not care for Zain touching you. I was going to handle him myself, but you were so intriguing to watch. Beautifully done, really.”
My hands shook. The village. Sitara.
“What did you do?” I asked breathlessly.
“War is no place for my girl. If I let you leave, every village you come across will be burned and drained just like the last. So many lives lost, just for you.”
“No...”
They were dead. Every single woman I’d saved—freed from their cage, just to be slaughtered. A warm tear rolled down my face, hitting the floor like black ink.
His lips tightened. If I hadn’t already been certain he was the worst person I’d ever met, I’d think there was remorse in his eyes.
“Don’t cry.” He wiped the tear away. No gloves. No fear.
I waited for the poison to burn his finger, but it never did. He leaned back, observing my Nature on his finger before licking it clean off.
“When I found out my betrothed was a Blackheart, I began preparing. Do you know how terrible it was to work up an immunity to you?”
“I burned your arm,” I fumed.
“No, you didn’t. That wicked wand did. I’m the only man alive who’s immune to you.”
“Is that a challenge?”
He would die for what he did to the woodland village, and every person in this camp would fall with him.
The hail stopped, and as it did, a new commotion erupted outside. The pounding of steps, yelling, horses neighing, and weapons clanging.
“Stay here,” Payn ordered, opening a chest and grabbing a vial of blood before rushing outside.
Stay in the tent? Absolutely not.
I immediately got up, opening the same chest hoping to find a blade. The entire damn thing was filled to the brim with identical vials.
Fuck this place, and fuck the Sapphires. I kicked the chest over, busting every single one. Blood spilled as glass shattered, my heart breaking along with it, knowing the source of the blood.
I crossed the tent, tearing open a blue pack in the corner. Clothes. Wraps. Nothing useful.
Footsteps entered the tent. I turned to face the dark-haired woman.
With a blade in her hand, embedded with blue sapphires, her eyes burned with ferocious resentment.
“You will not be marrying Payn.” She jabbed her dagger at me with every word.