38. CHAPTER 38
Aveline
The last thing I remembered was lying on the cot, the ship rocking softly beneath me as I cried myself to sleep. Everything had gone awry in the last forty-eight hours, and I yearned to go back in time. To never take Queen Dyata up on her offer.
Maybe if I had never met Sorin…things would be different.
But deep down, I knew that wasn’t true.
Sorin and I were fated. Our destiny was written in the stars, designed by the old gods long before either of us was even born. There was no escaping the fates.
I woke in another narrow cot, though this one was far less plush. It groaned beneath me as I sat up.
I was in a cell.
Godsdammit.
How could Kallias allow this to happen? I could feel the poison deep in my veins, my magic entirely suppressed from consciousness. He or his men had to have dosed me again.
Wasn’t this why my mother had vowed to protect me? So that others wouldn’t use my magic for their gain? I shook my head, a fresh tear spilling forth to paint my cheek. I was so frustrated. Mere months ago, I would have been overjoyed to be presented with everything I had once dreamed of.
I could have Kallias.
King Faris and Queen Dyata would bless our union, and I could rule Myros at his side.
But now…the taste of everything I had once wanted was bitter on my tongue.
I felt truly alone.
One thing remained secret from the Ashbourne’s still. They had no idea I was Sorin’s fated, or they surely never would have risked capturing me. Who knew what hellfire their actions would rain down upon them for this.
“Hello!” I called, standing from the cot and making my way toward the iron bars of the cell.
I gripped them tightly. I had expected to feel their poison leeching through my flesh the moment I touched them, but I felt nothing.
I truly wasn’t fae, then. That begged the question of where in the seven hells my magic came from.
“Is anyone there?” I called again, trying my best to peer around the bars into the darkened corridor beyond.
The only glimpse I was able to manage was of torches flickering along the walls, and cell upon cell stacked left to right.
Nobody answered me.
I sauntered back toward the cot and plopped back down onto it in defeat. No sooner had I pulled my legs up beneath me did I hear a rickety door opening at the end of the corridor. My instincts told me to stay put, and I thanked the nine gods that they had, as Queen Dyata ambled into view.
I recoiled from her, pressing myself against the back wall of the cell to put as much distance between us as possible.
“We meet again,” she said, clasping her hands before her.
Her fingers were adorned with diamonds and jewels far exceeding what one might call ostentatious.
Her pale, silk gown was adorned with an opal tulle skirt that hung from a pearlescent bodice.
A golden crown sat atop her head. More diamonds dripped from her pointed ears, catching the light as she turned toward me.
“All too soon,” I sneered.
My dress was torn and tattered, covered in soot and saltwater from the ship.
The garment had been marred beyond repair.
My black hair fell in a messy braid down my back, my cheeks stained with tears.
I couldn’t help but laugh humorlessly at the dichotomy between the two of us, separated on opposite sides of the iron bars.
“We have much to discuss,” she said.
I shook my head. “I don’t much feel like talking.”
Queen Dyata chided me. “Oh, child. If only you had a choice.”
“Don’t I?” I challenged. “You need me.”
She inclined her head, eyes narrowing. Anger swirled in her gaze as a growl erupted from her throat. For a moment, she appeared more animal than human.
“Don’t for one second think you aren’t replaceable. Just because I have agreed to let you marry Kallias, it does not make you invincible. I could easily allow him to marry Astryn Hunt, as originally planned.”
“Then why don’t you?” I asked, standing from the cot, spurred on by my anger. “Let him marry her. Perhaps she is a better fit for him after all.”
She raised her brow at this, taking a step forward.
“Is that so? You are so eager to give him up? You sailed across the sea to assassinate a dragon for him. A mission with great risk and little chance of survival.” I scoffed at that as she continued.
“The prince still lives, so you failed at that. I assume you failed at retrieving the relic as well? I didn’t see it with Kallias.
There have been no reports of its sighting. ”
I shook my head. “I couldn’t find it.”
Queen Dyata gave an unsurprised grunt. “Useless little human.”
A wicked smile spread across my lips as I held her gaze. “But I’m not human at all, am I?”
She didn’t appear all too pleased to be reminded of that.
“What do you need the relic for, anyway? What sentimental value does it hold for you? Or is it something else entirely?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she crooned, though the words lacked their usual venom.
I wanted to sail through these iron bars and wrap my bare hands around her throat. But I held my composure before her, shoulders back and jaw set. The picture of propriety despite the raging storm inside.
“It’s more important than that, isn’t it? It’s something you need in the war to come. Something that will give you an advantage…” I mused.
Her eyes were alight before she could mask her expression, and I knew I had hit a nerve. But what could an old dagger do for an entire kingdom? Was it imbued with some ancient magic she wished to get her hands on? If there was anything I knew about Queen Dyata, it was that she was calculating.
She always had a backup plan. She was always conspiring.
She was a godsdamned cockroach.
Queen Dyata did not speak, she merely stood silently before the bars. I stepped forward, closing the distance between us. She was right on the other side of the poisonous metal; I could easily reach out and grab her.
The iron wasn’t harmful to me…but it was to her.
I could see it in my mind’s eye. Grasping the necklace that hung from her decolletage and yanking it forward, pressing her perfect face into the metal to burn her skin. I blinked, and the image was gone.
“Where is my mother?” I asked instead.
At this, Queen Dyata laughed. “She is here, of course.”
My eyes were wild as I pressed against the bars to search up and down the cells once more. “Mother! Mother, where are you?”
Her head fell back as her laugh transformed into a howl. “She isn’t on this level, of course. We couldn’t allow you to communicate with her.”
“This level—how many levels are there?” Dread pooled in my gut.
“Many,” she replied.
My time in the castle in Myros could have been better spent. I was only familiar with the main hall, dining hall, and the paths to and from Kallias’s chambers. I never thought to explore further, and I cursed myself for it now.
I had been so stupid.
Perhaps I simply thought that Queen Dyata would never agree to our union, and I would go back to being the lowly human who ran the apothecary in Majur soon enough. That I might as well enjoy my time playing princess while I had the chance.
“I wish to speak with her,” I growled, my composure slipping.
A grin spread across Queen Dyata’s perfectly painted lips. “We can arrange that. If you cooperate.”
“Cooperate with what?” I asked.
Always scheming.
Always plotting.
“That you marry Kallias by day’s end. If you agree to this, you will be bound to him not only in word but in magic. The ceremony of the old gods. If this is completed, I will allow you to speak to your mother. Then, she can reveal to you where your magic originates.”
Of course she would use this for her own gain. Hold it over my head to force my compliance. She was eager to marry us off now. Only so that Kallias could share whatever magic was hidden beneath the surface of my skin and benefit from it.
The ceremony of the old gods would ensure that.
“I—I can’t.” My voice was barely above a whisper.
How could I forsake a fated bond for this?
She wouldn’t hurt my mother, not when she still needed her.
I would find a way to break out of this prison somehow and find her.
If I married Kallias, what would happen to the bond with Sorin?
I still had too many questions to make a decision of this magnitude without carefully weighing the outcomes.
There wasn’t enough time.
“You don’t agree to my terms?” she asked, brow raised.
She didn’t know about Sorin. Didn’t know there was a reason I couldn’t accept everything I had ever wanted as if it were being presented to me on a silver platter.
“Kallias isn’t the man I thought he was.” I swallowed hard. “He is a lot more like his mother than I knew.”
“Very well.” Queen Dyata gathered her elaborate skirts and turned toward the door.
“Wait—”
She raised her brow at me as she stopped in her tracks.
“How long are you going to keep me down here? You surely can’t hold me prisoner forever…”
She laughed at this, a flush rising to color her pale cheeks. “Oh, child. You will agree to my terms one way or another. That is the only way for you to get out of this cell. Kallias has agreed, and he will not be visiting you until you have accepted the terms.”
“How do I know you aren’t lying? That you didn’t make something up to placate him, to keep him away. Like you did when you sent me to Gothryn?” I asked, gripping the iron bars so hard my knuckles turned white.
Queen Dyata chewed her lip thoughtfully before returning her gaze to mine. “It’s like you said, dear. He is an awful lot like his mother.”
With that, she gathered her skirts and left. The wooden door groaned as it shut behind her.
There was nothing left to be said.
I would remain in this cell until I agreed to marry Prince Kallias.
It was a good thing I knew more about poisons than anyone else in this godsforsaken kingdom.
When the guards came to administer my next dose…I had a plan.