19. CHAPTER 19
Aveline
The walk back to my chambers was agony. Pure, unadulterated, torture…despite forcing my heeled feet to move as quickly as possible without breaking into a run. The moment Sorin’s lips had touched the goblet, I knew.
He tasted the ixia.
Why on earth was a crown prince familiar with the taste of such a formidable poison?
I slammed the door shut behind me, rushing toward the bed where I had tucked my satchel containing the bottle of poison safely beneath the mattress. I pulled it out, wrestling the strap over my shoulder and pushing my hair back from my face.
I needed to get off this island. Now.
I hadn’t expected Rensford to be here tonight. I had thought it would only be Voirel…who could do little to stop me once Sorin had taken ill. Though from the looks of it, he wouldn’t be taking ill at all.
I rushed back toward the door; my only thoughts focused on the ramshackle skiff I had seen tied to the rocks beneath the cliffside when I had first arrived.
I hadn’t seen a straight path down the cliffs in the brief time we had been out in the courtyard.
I would jump the stone sea wall and crawl down if I had to.
It was better than death by dragon fire.
I had to get back to Kallias and send word to Enora. Would she be in danger now for simply being associated with me? I needed her to make for Myros before word of my actions reached the mainland. I had used my one and only opportunity, and I had failed.
I wouldn’t get another.
I cursed under my breath at my own stupidity as I wrenched the door open.
Sorin stood in the frame, the picture of ease.
I gasped, stepping back and tripping over the emerald-colored carpet—falling onto my backside.
I scrambled to my feet, inching toward the arched windows on the far wall of the bedroom.
My satchel was forgotten among the worn stone floor of the entryway.
There was no escape from this high up, but I needed to put as much distance between me and Sorin as possible.
Sorin’s hands were clasped calmly behind his back, his shoulders rigid. He raised a single brow in my direction. “Going somewhere?”
Words stuttered at the tip of my tongue, but nothing of meaning came out.
Sorin clucked in disappointment. “And to think, you weren’t even going to change? A gown as breathtaking as that one does not belong drowned at the bottom of the Saltale Sea.”
I remained quiet.
“Because that is exactly what would happen to you if you took that dilapidated skiff into the tide in the middle of the night,” he said through his teeth. “Did you forget that I have wings, Little Dove? You couldn’t hope to run from me.”
There was that nickname again.
Anger burned beneath my skin, but what right did I have to be angry?
I had wagered and lost. My quarrel wasn’t with Sorin, he was merely another victim of Queen Dyata’s cruelty.
But now I had pissed off the most dangerous dragon prince to ever exist, and I would need to face the consequences of that.
My gaze darted toward the bed frame, then the washroom. The only way out of this room was the doorway or the arched windows and risking the fall beyond. I wasn’t sure that would be any less miserable than whatever punishment Sorin saw fit.
I pressed myself against the cold glass of the window, closing my eyes and steeling myself.
I had believed that my last thoughts would be for Kallias. To have seen his soft, gentle gaze one last time. But the thoughts that engulfed me now were only those of survival.
I needed to do whatever it took to survive this. I could handle being imprisoned. Even the torture at the hands of Vireth.
But I needed to survive.
My eyes snapped back open, trying my best to mask my expression of fear. I pressed my hands against my sides so that he wouldn’t see them shake.
Sorin crossed his arms over his broad chest, his wings flapping behind him in agitation—or to intimidate me. I wouldn’t show him it was working. His lips curved into a sinister smile; his impossibly dark gaze locked on mine.
“What was your plan here?”
“Well for one, you still being awake was not a part of the plan,” I replied tritely.
“I gathered that.” He ran his tongue over his teeth, and the flash of sharpened canines sent a shiver down my spine.
“I wasn’t planning on needing to run from you at all.
” I shrugged, but I could tell the movement looked forced.
When I met his gaze once more, I could see that he wasn’t convinced of my false bravado.
“You were supposed to be dead, and I was supposed to be alone in this castle with all the time in the world to secure travel to Myros.”
“Alone, except for Voirel.”
I nodded.
He laughed, running a hand down his face. It failed to extinguish his amused grin. “You, like many others, underestimate her. She might have the mind of a child, and she may appear younger than she is, but she has the body of a one-hundred-year-old fae halfling. And she loves her big brother.”
Despite his half human blood, he was stronger than all of them. Maybe because he had to prove himself at every turn. Maybe because he wanted to live up to his father’s expectations. Maybe because he was a bloodthirsty, greedy Vireth like I had been taught so many times before.
Whatever the reason, I would be wise not to forget it again should I live through this. The fact that he hadn’t already snapped my neck and chose to toy with me instead had hope swelling in my chest.
But somehow, after even only a short time in Gothryn, I didn’t think he was the soulless monster Myros had painted him to be.
From what I could gather, Gothryn treated humans better than my own kingdom.
The rumors and lies I had been told were merely a reflection of Myros and its rulers.
They used this deceit to instill hate in the hearts of every Veytari and to enslave the humans without recompense.
I shook my head, anger brewing anew.
Did Kallias know? Had he willingly lied to me, too? Or was he na?ve enough to believe his parents’ lies?
Sorin watched the thoughts unfold in my expression, my eyes darting back and forth as I realized everything I had ever been told was a lie.
My gaze snapped up to his. “Is it true that King Mavros’s grandfather stole the princess from Myros?
Abused her? Used her to breed and have his children, then abandoned her in the Veil of Shadows? ”
Sorin reeled back. “Who told you that?”
“It is what everyone in my kingdom knows. The reason the war between Gothryn and Myros began all those centuries ago,” I replied, mouth dry.
Sorin shook his head, taking a step closer to me.
“That is false. Gothryn never wanted to go to war with Myros. We never stole their princess. She never even made it here! We forged a political alliance, but she drowned in the Saltale Sea before she ever reached Gothryn’s shores.
It was us they blamed. Your precious Kallias isn’t blind to the truth between our two kingdoms any more than King Faris or Queen Dyata are. ”
“Don’t you dare speak of Kallias.” My voice was biting despite the fear that simmered in my gut.
His silhouette fell across my face as Sorin’s wings extended and he took a step closer, his face steeped in shadow.
“Or you’ll what?” he asked, laughing. He was close enough now that his breath fanned across my face.
He smelled of spice and ash. “Gothryn only went to war to protect its reputation. To put an end to a mad king who would stop at nothing, spare no one, and lie to meet his own ends in his quest for domination. It is King Faris who upholds these values. King Faris who will not agree to peace with Gothryn. I could just as easily burn your little kingdom to the ground if I wanted to. But that’s not what we do.
We aren’t cruel. We aren’t evil. I am not the monster you think I am. ”
“All I’ve ever been told about you and your brothers—about Vireth—was that you are cursed.” My chest was rising and falling with rapid breaths, my pulse thundering in my chest.
Sorin nodded. “Yes, cursed. But never depraved. Never demons. The god of death, Mordecai, cursed us millenniums ago. We require blood to live, but we do not enjoy killing. We do not feast on innocents. It is an exchange, like all other work in our kingdom. Is that why you have come to kill me? To fulfill some self-righteous belief that we are evil and must be put down like dogs?”
He scoffed and I stepped forward, away from the glass that was pressed at my back. “I have no contention with you.”
“Then why? Why did you pour ixia in my drink tonight? Why did you bring an arsenal of poisons to my kingdom and try to harm me?” His voice was incredulous.
He raked a hand through that midnight hair of his in frustration.
I fought to contain the smirk that threatened the corner of my mouth. “I didn’t try to harm you.”
He pressed a hand against his chest. “Right, kill me. My apologies.” He leaned toward me, further closing the gap between us. “Venomous little thing.”
My narrowed gaze searched his, and I shook my head. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
A deep, steadying breath helped to clear my head from the anger that had possessed me. I relaxed, shoulders falling. I stood no chance against Sorin; therefore I had nothing left to lose by exposing the truth.
“Queen Dyata will not let me marry Kallias. Will not give us her blessing. Not unless I do this. If I didn’t agree…
she was going to send me off. Disappear me somewhere remote, never to be seen again.
I come from nothing, raised by a single mother.
I love Kallias. I would do anything for us to be together. ”
“You love him, or you love what he can offer you?” Sorin asked.
I shrank back in offense. “What?”
He stepped forward once more, back into my space. “He can offer you safety. He can offer you status in a kingdom where humans are the lowest rank. Offer you wealth and opportunity beyond your wildest dreams. For your bloodline to become royalty.”