Chapter 32
SAPHIRA
The summons came shortly after breakfast.
My handmaidens had been quick to dress me, stuffing me into a golden gown that I had worn in the great hall only two days ago, when Sylvan had summoned me to greet several returning members of the elite who had yet to meet me.
He had mentioned others would be returning from their travels soon and I would need to be introduced to them too. Maybe they had arrived.
I wasn’t in the mood to smile and be polite, or engaging today. I was tired from last night, and it wasn’t just how draining teleporting and using my powers of invisibility had been. I missed Kael. The moment I had teleported away from the tower to the waygate, I had felt I had made a mistake.
I should have gone with Danica and Malachi.
I should have gone home.
To Kaeleron.
But to do that would be to fail him, to admit defeat, and I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to prove I could handle this sort of thing, that I was competent and could be a useful member of his court.
Like the others.
I didn’t want to just be his queen, a pretty face for the people to admire.
I wanted to be his queen.
His equal in everything.
As ruthless and cunning as her king, as bold and courageous, and as powerful.
A queen who could protect her people.
I stepped out into the brightly illuminated courtyard, hackles rising as I saw the highborn gathered there, as they had been that day Lorien had challenged me.
My wolf side paced and I barely held it back, denying the urge to snap fangs at everyone as I calmly walked across the flagstones, my head held high.
I kept my gaze fixed ahead of me, ignoring the fae gathered in a loose curve between the two corners at the head of the pond.
Sylvan stood on the other side of the semi-circular area in the heart of the highborn, Meiryn and Lorien flanking him.
Meiryn looked pale, her blue eyes filled with worry she didn’t try to hide as she watched me approaching them.
Lorien stood off to one side, hand casually resting on the hilt of his sword as he smirked at me, pure malice in his cerulean gaze as he tracked me.
When I went to take my place beside Sylvan, he pressed a hand to my shoulder, stopping me.
“You must step back.” His handsome face lacked any warmth, the cold mask he enjoyed wearing in public firmly in place, and his tone wasn’t grave or apologetic.
It was icy, devoid of emotion.
Formal.
A blunt command issued by a ruler who expected his subordinate to follow it without question.
I did so.
I stepped back, concealing my confusion, moving to stand a few feet from him.
Gaze roaming over the gathered crowd that had to be two hundred strong, I said, “What’s going on?”
The highborn murmured among themselves, watching me with curious eyes, as if I was a spectacle.
Or soon would be.
Two males dressed in golden armour came to stand beside the old, worn boulder that sat in the centre of the patch of greenery at the end of the pond, half of it on the grass and half on the paving.
I frowned at them, unsure what was happening but not liking it.
Something was wrong. Very wrong. I tipped my head up higher, refusing to let anyone see me shaken.
I was heir. I ruled this court and had proven myself worthy of the position.
Sylvan was merely a caretaker. He kept telling me he had all the power, but that wasn’t true.
It wasn’t him the elite among the fae wanted to meet and please, willing to do anything to gain his favour.
It was me.
“What is this about?” I put more force into that question, holding Sylvan’s sapphire gaze, demanding he answer this time.
“I have heard word that your wolven friend has escaped, and that perhaps you had something to do with it.” His tone remained as cold as ice, his flat expression concealing what he thought about that.
He didn’t need to show it for me to know he wasn’t happy about what I had done, and that I hadn’t been brought here to just make it all known to the highborn.
Lorien’s smirk widened into a full-blown grin.
Bastard.
He had been the one to tell Sylvan. He must have been watching me. He must have seen me go to the waygate with Danica. We had been so careful, but apparently not careful enough.
“Danica is gone,” I admitted with my head held high and shoulders back, no trace of fear in my voice as it rang clearly above the murmuring of the crowd.
“How is she gone?” Sylvan said.
I stood rod straight, unflinching in the face of being watched by so many as I stood in what I now knew to be a courtroom, where Sylvan was judge and jury.
“I took her to the waygate you made me aware of when we went to the fae town and transported her there. My friend does not belong here. She is not fae. She is part of my wolf pack and falls under my protection, and I promised the male who helped me escape the Shadow Court that in exchange I would save his sister. I upheld that promise.” I wasn’t sure it was worth shit to these people, but I had played the noble, gracious and kind queen before and they had bought it.
I hoped they would understand why I had helped her leave and that they would see a good leader in me because I had upheld my word. That had to be worth something. Surely?
The looks they cast me and the whispers that ran through them said it wasn’t worth anything. They didn’t care whether I had done something right. They only cared that they were going to be entertained by whatever was about to transpire here.
This was just another spectacle to them.
I was just the entertainment.
I was tired of being someone’s entertainment.
Tired of fae amusing themselves with me.
Even if Kaeleron had had his reasons for pushing me, even if his teasing had purpose and had made me stronger—had made me see my strength—it had still annoyed me at times.
He had amused himself with me, not intending to fall for me.
And the fae at the high king’s ball had amused themselves with me too.
And now these fae were doing the same thing.
“You said Danica was my responsibility, mine to do with as I pleased, and I did just that.” I didn’t let them see the panic that built inside me. I kept my voice even and calm, despite the fear that began to spill into my veins. “I set her free and I kept my word.”
He canted his head, his eyes narrowing on me, his tone hard and unyielding as he said, “You crept out in the dead of night, concealed from view, and left this court without permission. For that, and for freeing the property of this court without consent—property purchased at great expense to this court—you will face punishment.”
He lifted his right hand.
Lorien stepped forwards, a gleeful look that bordered on maniacal on his face as he grinned at me.
“For his part in making me aware of this misdemeanour, Lorien will be the one to carry out your punishment.” Sylvan lowered his hand, no trace of feeling on his face.
I swallowed. Not good. Not good at all.
That feeling of dread that rushed through me only worsened when he announced my punishment.
“You are to be given twenty lashes.”
Before I could gather my wits and react, the two males in armour had seized me and were dragging me towards the stone. My feet scrabbled for purchase on the flagstones as I tried to fight them, my gaze darting to Meiryn as she watched me.
Her brow furrowed as she mouthed something at me.
I did not know.
I glared at Sylvan as Lorien followed me, stripping off his tunic jacket to reveal his bare chest and dumping it on the ground with his sword.
Sylvan knew what he was doing. I knew what he was doing. He had disapproved of Lorien when I had beaten him in that rite, and now he was soothing Lorien’s hurt, showing approval to him. Playing the needy bastard and winning him firmly over to his side.
Did Lorien know he was just a puppet?
That wicked light in his eyes that reeked of pleasure as he followed me, staring at me, said that if he did know, he didn’t give a damn. He just wanted to hurt me.
He wanted revenge.
The males holding me turned with me, shoving my front against the boulder and forcing my arms down. I struggled, growling at them and baring my fangs as they pulled on my arms, roughly now. White fur swept over my skin, my wolf side leaping to the fore, and my bones ached as the shift came over me.
Only cold metal closed around my wrists and it was if a door to my wolf form had been slammed in my face.
I glared at the heavy shackles weighing my arms down, sure they were bespelled.
Panic swept through me as I tugged at them and tried to summon a shift, rattling the short chain that attached them to something on the rear of the rock.
Nothing.
If I couldn’t escape as a wolf, maybe I could break them. I gritted my teeth, grunting as I heaved backwards, trying to snap the chains or slip the shackles, twisting my hands in them as I fought them. A fool’s endeavour.
“No one is above the law of this court.” Sylvan’s voice rang out above the now very excited murmurs. “All must face punishment for breaking them.”
“What law have I broken?” I snapped and yanked against my bonds, heart racing so swiftly I felt sick.
He didn’t answer.
I didn’t think I had broken any law, but that clearly didn’t matter to these seelie. They were showing their true nature now, that face they hid behind their pleasant masks, all leering at me as I turned my head this way and that, trying to find a way to escape.
They had all moved closer, eagerness flashing in their eyes as they waited.
Lorien shoved his hand against the back of my head, slamming my cheek into the boulder, causing a rush of excitement to sweep through them. One of the bastards even cheered.
I bucked backwards, trying to shake his hold, refusing to give up.
He pinned it harder against the cold stone and leaned in behind me, his voice a low purr that sickened me. “I will enjoy this… you might too.”
I spat at him. “You son of a bitch. I did nothing wrong.”