Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
ANDREIEN
I glanced at Mathen as I shut the door. “She has ten minutes to herself. Don't disturb her.”
My skin crawled each step I walked from her. Knowing that the one Lord above all others I hadn't wanted her anywhere near had slipped under my watch set my teeth on edge.
Dartanyon. . .epitomized issues. He was also known to steal others’ toys and break them, but for some inexplicable reason no one had ended the blight of his miserable existence yet.
No, not an inexplicable reason. We pitied him. Pitied the early tragedies that had shaped his madness, and kept him alive as an example of what happened when the one you loved too deeply was weak.
But if he touched my Anah one more time, his survival streak would end. Perhaps I’d give him to Miahela. She was growing restless and would welcome someone deserving to torment.
My baby sister was so creative.
Constin met me on the threshold of the ballroom, his gaze going over my shoulder. His entire body tensed.
“Drei, where is Anah?”
I glanced behind me, controlling the urge to turn on my heel and storm back to the sitting room and retrieve her. I’d promised. Ten minutes. The problem was I understood what could go wrong in ten minutes. She was far, far too naive and it made protecting her complicated.
“She requested a few minutes to compose herself,” I said. “Mathen is guarding her.”
Mathen Mathen Mathen . Who’d missed Dartanyon. I wouldn’t be swayed to mercy by his large soulful eyes either. He would be punished for his mistake, if I had to blindfold myself to do it.
My mother had warned me for years I was too soft on my lovers. But then, she’d executed her own husband, so I tended to take her opinion on the matter with some reservation.
Constin’s gaze snapped back to me. “I don't want to tell you how to handle your consort?—”
“Don't.” The harsh denial should be warning enough, but he was luudthen, and worse, had changed my diapers, so he would always push push push.
“She's already known to Dartanyon. There's no telling how many others are watching her. Go get her, Andreien. I don't like this.”
“I don't like it either.” I swore at him. “But I also don't want a miserable female on my hands when all it takes is a few paltry minutes to satisfy her sense of independence.”
“You know better than that, boy. A few minutes are all it takes to tear out her throat and leave her dying in a message written with her own blood.” His eyes glittered with rising temper.
I whirled away from him and stalked in the opposite direction before I did something rash.
“She has five more minutes. I will not break my word to my consort.”
She already had massive trust issues.
It was a testament to how on edge we all were to descend to this level of argument over a ten-minute break.
But after watching her dance, after being slapped in the face with the news that Dartanyon had been watching her, neither of us were in a good mood.
I turned at the sound of running and took off, meeting a panicked Mathen halfway.
“She's gone. Drei, she’s gone. ”
There was no time to kill him. I allowed Constin to rein me in. My need to find her came before my need to disembowel Mathen. And the part of my brain that was still functioning, still loved him, heard his disconcerted words and set them aside to examine later.
Another clue about the nature of my bonded.
I seized our infantile bond, pushing into her mind, and felt her internal flinch. I didn’t care. Hasannah. Where are you?
Silence. I knew she heard me, I felt her attention. Also, her resistance.
Hasannah, this is not a game of chase. Not a lover’s spat. Where are you?
She shoved me out. I shouted, enraged.
Constin grabbed my arm. “What is it?”
“That female. I’m going to strangle her.”
“She's not outside,” Philea said, trotting up to me, her yellow eyes sharp on my face.
We were quietly scouring the residence before searching outside in a grid pattern, but there was no sign of what direction my disobedient, defiant, soon to be punished within an inch of her life bonded had traveled in.
I forced myself to calm down and think more pleasant thoughts. My darling. I only want to know that you are safe. Where are you?
We’d had eyes on Dartanyon all night, though that meant nothing. Our bond was just strong enough that I could tap into her emotions, and that soothed me somewhat. She was upset, but the flavor of upset that didn’t indicate immediate danger.
I need time alone, she said, her mental voice sharp, almost scornful. Go away.
This. . .this?—
“There’s a transit stop two blocks from here,” Philea said as I was plotting everything I would do to Hasannah once I got my hands on her again. “It’s a main line, it would take her within two blocks of the Sahakian Arts building.”
I stilled, looking in that direction. Some of my panic eased. It was plausible Anah had fled to find comfort in the arms of her first lover, ballet. More plausible than Dartanyon finally losing what was left of his mind and taking my mate right after I nearly killed him.
I would strangle her this time.
She’d learn to like it. Eventually. Especially when I was fucking her from behind as I choked the recalcitrance out of her system.
Constin, who had moved away to answer a summons from his telegem, turned sharply.
“She's at the company building. Adoncia Vargas saw her leave and followed. She’ll keep eyes on Anah until we arrive. We’re in their debt.”
That female was proving useful. I owed Lord Iliweh my support in the future for the service of their bonded.
I allowed myself a small moment of weakness and closed my eyes. Anah was predictable, and that was a point in her favor. I didn't need an exciting bonded. She was already difficult enough to keep me from growing bored. Now that some of my fear over her safety was eased, I almost saw the humor in the situation. My little hissing cygnet. I was interested in the parents who had raised her with so much steel in her spine she could openly defy a High Fae Lord and actually believe she would get away with it.
Oh, my darling. You will not be getting away with it.
“Keep a quad here to watch over the red-haired girl,” I told Constin as Mathen left to retrieve the coach. Philea slipped away to return to the party.
Anah cared for the young human, and we’d been watching her all evening as well. I couldn't leave my consort’s friend to be preyed upon tonight. Dartanyon would be feeling thwarted and spiteful.
Andrei!
I froze. The sharpness in her voice set my teeth on edge. The growing unease. I waited, not wanting to scare her into breaking the connection, while trying to glean everything I could about what disturbed her.
Andrei, I think I’m in trouble.
I forced myself to remain calm. Where are you? We knew, but I wanted confirmation.
Sahakian Arts.
I waited, sensing her growing discomfort. Her attention not on me, but on?—
I stumbled, almost going to one knee as the shock of her mental cry slapped me, and a flood of disjointed information.
What do I do?
A face, a conversation, the conclusion of danger she’d instinctively reached. Shock, and then a muffling of her interior voice I understood. Feared.
Hasannah!
A half-second later I was in a full sprint down the street. With her fear came a powerful command to come to her, an infant succubi’s call she flung out without any awareness.
“She commanded me, Lord,” Mathen had said, eyes haunted and desperate because we all knew what a sudden disappearance could mean, “and I couldn’t tell her no. I couldn’t break from the compulsion until she was completely gone. If I’d known she was lamia-born, I could have withstood, but she took me by surprise.”
Her terror bloomed in my mind, a series of disjointed images before it dampened, muffled by either a physical blow or power.
No. No no no no. Darkness, please. Take whatever you want from me, but don’t let her die.
Constin caught up two blocks later, flinging open the coach door and holding out his arm. I grasped it, still running, and leaped into the moving conveyance.
“She's been taken,” I snarled.
Constin spoke into his telegem, communicating with Adoncia who confirmed the last visual of Hasannah on the steps of the Sahakian building. She’d kept Anah in conversation for forty-five minutes then followed my consort, who’d intended to wait for me outside.
Outside. Alone.
By the Dark.
If I find favor with the shadows, do not spill my bonded’s blood.
This was my fault. I’d been too gentle, and now she was paying the price, a female who’d never harmed a sentient creature in her life. She’d wept when Constin had broken his wrist in training the other day, though it healed in hours. She was terrified of spiders, but wouldn’t let me kill them, commanded me to capture and release them into the inner courtyard.
And she was in the hands of people who had taken her for no purpose other than to be used. Either because of what she might be, or to hurt me.
“Steady, boy,” Constin said. “Keep it together.”
Boy.
He was furious with me. He’d warned me, and I’d been swayed by my weakness for my mortal rather than protecting her when I knew better. We’d expected her to try to behave foolishly. I was supposed to save her from herself, the way Constin had spent centuries saving me, guiding me.
Hurting me, when the small pain taught me to avoid a larger one.
My first luudthen didn’t say I told you so. He didn’t look at me—that was accusation enough.
I focused on our muffled mental connection, trying to access any sensory data that would offer a clue to her surroundings or who’d taken her. I let my breath out through my teeth, centering myself so that?—
I cried out, my body seizing in instinctive defense. Her mental scream rippled through my mind. Her pain a wash of pokers searing every nerve ending.
“Andreien!” Constin rasped.
I bit my tongue, controlling myself. I was Fae. I was warrior. I was Casakraine. Pain would not defeat me.
But her pain might.
“They’re torturing her,” I whispered, or else I would scream, and scream again, in rage. This was what I had wanted to avoid for her. This was?—
Constin’s arms were around me, preventing me from leaping out of the coach, as if running would be faster.
“Steady, steady,” he chanted, his voice as shaken. “They haven’t had her long. They haven’t had time to—” he stopped.
Fae couldn’t lie.
“They’re torturing my Anah, Con. She’s screaming. She’s—” I inhaled, trembling, my fangs slashing at my bottom lip. No. I couldn’t spiral. She needed me. She?—
The pain cut off. For a moment I thought the worst and dropped into the well of my power so fast I knew when I ascended, I would destroy everything.
Her mind stirred. A bead of awareness, of tentative relief.
I straightened out of Constin’s arms, shifting into a state where rage couldn’t touch my focus.
“Her pain is gone. Her fear has lessened.” Just enough to take the edge off my panic.
Constin exhaled harshly, falling forward to lean on his knees a fraction of a moment. He picked himself up. There was no time for relief.
The telegem in my pocket vibrated. I wrapped my hand around it.
Andreien. I clung to the hard, smooth ice of my mother’s voice. She knew, offered it as a lifeline. I sense your distress.
Lord. My bonded has been taken.
You will retrieve her. And you will do what a Sahakian must in response. Then you will attend me, and we will discuss this lapse.
She ended the connection. The brief conversation steadied me. My mother, my Lord, had no doubt. If she had none, neither could I.
We pulled up to Hasannah’s last known location.
I leaped out and cut Vargas a single, savage glance, Constin on my heels. She met my gaze, her eyes glazed, expression paled. I paused. Did she fear my retribution? But she was accustomed to the Lords of the Courts, though Iliweh tried to keep their bonded well away from House politics.
My gaze snapped to the other side of the street before I had begun walking towards Vargas.
A youth emerged from the shadows. Slender, with chin length dark hair and skin a sungold brown. A girl on the cusp of adulthood physically, pale eyes far too old.
Cassanian Low Fae, dressed in the livery of Coal District Sworn. Black, nondescript, functional, a certain dispassionate feral aura that spoke of Ashlyun’s ruthless training.
“Heir,” the Low girl said, executing a flawless bow, and waited.
I gestured impatiently, wanting to shake her. “Rise. Speak.”
She rose. “Lord Ashlyun escorted the Lady Hasannah safely to his home and invites you to retrieve her at your earliest convenience. He offers his regrets and to answer all questions to your satisfaction. The Lady will remain unharmed while in his care.”
She emphasized the final sentence as she delivered the message in a flat tone, her gaze unwavering but unchallenging.
“His home in Coal District?” Constin asked.
For the second time in little more than a week, I’d prayed to the Dark, and the Dark had answered.
I dreaded the day it repudiated me. No one received this much favor without a steep penalty.
“Even so, Lord Constin,” the girl said. “I am the daughter of his third lieutenant. I am to accompany you as surety. My blood is yours should Lord Ashlyun fail to protect your bonded.”
He didn’t want a war.
“You agreed to this?” Constin asked.
“I am Sworn,” was the inflectionless reply. “I serve.”
I nodded, “Very well,” and reached out for Anah the moment I felt the mist shrouding our bond clear enough for direct speech.
Hasannah?
I’m with Lord Ashlyun. I don’t seem to be a prisoner.
Her inner voice trembled with fear, but it wasn’t acute. She didn’t believe she was in immediate danger.
I’m coming for you. And this defiance would end.
I focused on the girl. She was well-trained and likely older than she seemed. I’d accept her consent to be my hostage.
“Come,” I said.
Ashlyun would know not to frighten Anah. There was no advantage in it, since I would destroy him completely.
But my relief over her relative safety hadn’t clouded my brain. If he’d known of her kidnapping fast enough to intervene directly, at haste, then it must be Coal District warriors who’d taken her.
His District was not in order.
If his answers were not to my satisfaction, if arterial blood was not immediately offered to bathe my feet, then the Sahakian-Casakraines would unsheathe their swords, and those blades would fall first on the neck of Coal District’s High Lord.
I was escorted without ceremony into Ashlyun’s presence.
There was protocol to follow, but I laid eyes on Anah and my control snapped. I lunged towards her, scooping her off the cushions and into my arms, my lip pulling over fangs.
Constin was there a second later, his hands digging into my shoulders.
“Lord Ashlyun,” Constin said, deep voice smoothed to a courtly cadence—since all I was capable of was snarling. “House Casakraine’s gratitude for this courtesy. The Lady is dear to us.”
“Clearly.” He waved a pale, slender hand. “No concern, the young often falter under trying circumstances.”
I breathed out, forcing the red haze over my vision to clear. Anah wasn’t moving, her head tucked against my shoulder.
“Lady,” I said.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. A tremble ran through her body.
Fine? They’d tortured?—
My anger ignited. You should be afraid, I hissed at her. Do you know what you did? If Ashlyun was not an ally you would be dead! If that’s what you want, I’ll drag you into the courtyard and let you fall on my sword! At least it will be clean!
I felt her chest rise abruptly, and the inner flinch of her mind.
Turning, I put her into Constin’s arms before I hurt her more. I’d never felt this kind of fear before. It challenged me.
Ashlyun’s eyes gleamed with faint amusement when I turned back to him. Almost, I snarled at him. How dare he laugh at me.
“Will you take tea?” he asked. “It’s restorative. I have a cup, or a pot, after a trying day myself.”
His mouth curled at the corner, and on Ashlyun it was the equivalent of unrestrained laughter.
“Don’t you have anything stronger?”
“Hmm.” He inspected his teacup, a dark red ceramic, his fine long fingers caressing the side. “I find the Cassanians have little appreciation for a finely brewed cup of tea. Come, Heir. Observe the proprieties. It will help you calm yourself. I detest conversation with the hysterical.”
Ashlyun glanced at Anah, a peculiar softening in his expression. Had she enthralled him as well ? Was she truly that strong? If so, I couldn’t entirely blame Mathen, who might have been under her influence since the beginning.
“You will wish to be composed when you deal with your consort,” the Ninephene said. “I see you did not take my advice. Though I better understand your reluctance after meeting her.”
I stiffened. The advice to kill her, gently. “Nor will I.”
Ashlyun lifted a brow. “You think not? In your current temper, I am almost minded to bet on it. But that would be distasteful, to sport on a young girl’s blood.” He sipped.
The words were more effective than an ice bucket thrown over my head, or a blade shoved in my gut. I bowed, accepted a cushion and a cup of. . .tea.
Ninephenes.
“Good,” he said. “Now, we will discuss a resolution to the insult my people offered us both. And then you will take your Lady home and see to her care. If you will not take my advice, you will see to her care graciously. She has been punished enough for one night, and shows some understanding of her error, which is almost more than one can hope for in so young a charge.”
I ticked his age up several centuries. He sounded older than my mother, and she’d seen ten centuries. That half indulgent, half impatient impassiveness, the condescension older Fae employed when dealing with those they considered children.
He glanced at her again. “She is. . .charming, Andreien. It does no Lord credit to bruise a flower, even the wild ones not meant for a hothouse.”
I inclined my head, accepting the rebuke, and the oblique advice. Grateful I was in the position to be rebuked, rather than hunting down the dead body of my beloved or beginning a Court game of hostage negotiations while I weakened from her screams in my head and gave them whatever they wanted.
Not that my mother would allow it, which meant we would wind up at each other’s throats.
Taking Hasannah would have been an effective first domino to destroy House Casakraine’s rule from within.
She would have to be punished, which Ashlyun understood, but the thought left ashes in my mouth. I began to distance myself from her mind, and encase myself in steel and ice.