Chapter 29 #2
I can’t suppress my shudder. “I am not lying when I say I don’t know where the Fae went.”
“But what other useful information do you have? Their numbers? Their plans this far south of the Veil? The identity of the Shadow Prince?”
“If one of them is the prince, they never told me,” I say, walking a thin line between truth and deception.
“Well…that is unfortunate.” He turns his head and shouts, “Steelvice!”
I jerk back and hiss when my head hits the stone wall. I breathe through the pain and brace myself as the sound of slow bootsteps reaches my ears.
The cruel captain rounds the corner. Cold eyes meet mine.
Silas said the rebels aren’t the ones holding him. The presence of upper military leadership leans toward that being true. But then what in the six hells is going on?
Ironheart and Steelvice speak in low tones. I can’t make out most of what they say, but when the human rebel’s name passes their lips, I slide my gaze to the side of the cell.
Silas slouches over, looking as if he fainted. Except I’m pretty sure it’s an act. He was too cognizant when speaking to me to have fainted out of nowhere.
I return my attention to the muttering men on the other side of the cell before I blow his cover. There’s no reason both of us need to suffer these men’s wrath. My heart thumps as I wait to learn what they plan to do to me.
Less than two minutes pass before Steelvice’s hate-filled gaze lands on me, reminding me of his dismissive, belittling actions in Odden’s tavern just a few nights ago.
“You don’t know where the Fae are heading?” he asks.
It takes me a moment to process his words and accept I’m not about to be threatened with violence for not cooperating.
I clear my throat and say, “That’s right.”
“And yet,” he replies with a scowl, “you were seen leaving the Late King’s Festival, hand in hand, with one of the Shadow Fae.”
What?
Rian said his shadows concealed us from notice.
I strive to keep my shock from my face, but the smirk tugging the captain’s lips tells me I’ve failed.
“The Elders invited the Fae to the festival, but the only one who made an appearance took the trouble to speak to you,” the captain continues, looking triumphant, like he’s caught me red-handed.
“Then, hours later, you reveal he and his band of soldiers are leaving. Yet you say he didn’t tell you where they were going. ”
“That’s right,” I say again.
Steelvice sneers. “Come now, Elara. We’re not fools. It’s obvious the male came to bid you farewell.”
“So?”
“So, he must’ve shared something of relevance with you.”
These men don’t know the Fae at all.
“I am not privy to their secrets. The Fae treated me kindly, that is true, but only because I was helping them.”
“You don’t expect us to believe the males kept their mouths shut around their latest plaything? Surely you heard them talk.”
I seethe. “I am no one’s plaything.”
“No?” He fakes an apologetic wince. “Forgive me. I just assumed you were spreading your legs for them, given how you ended your courtship with Lev Ironheart just minutes before the Fae arrived at the festival.”
My cheeks heat with a mix of fury and mortification.
Knowing nothing I say will convince him he’s mistaken, I keep my mouth shut, content to shoot hateful daggers at the misogynistic captain.
“Maybe we’re wrong,” General Ironheart says. “Maybe you weren’t sleeping with the bastards.”
“I was helping Verdanthia,” I snap. “I made a deal to save everyone from the Fae’s wrath. Or did you forget how I spoke up when they first arrived?”
“We did not forget,” the general replies, eyes hard, assessing. “It was brave to offer your services for the good of the town. But tell me…what happened in that clearing in the forest? Why don’t you fear the Fae?”
“Maybe because they are not the ones who have me chained to a wall!”
Ironheart’s eyes flash, and he takes a menacing step forward.
I have the distinct impression that if there weren’t a wall of bars between us, he’d strike me.
“This is not a game, Elara. Tell us what you know or—”
“Or what? You’ll kill me? Beat me?” I keep my eyes locked on his, even though self-preservation wants to cower beneath his formidable glare. “You can do whatever you’d like to me, General, but it doesn't change the fact that I. Do. Not. Know. Anything.”
The following silence is heavy. Ominous. I brace for retribution, for these two powerful men to believe I truly know nothing and then decide I’m a liability while I still draw breath.
I think of Ferria…of Juniper. I pray they escape the repercussions of my actions. That my mistake won’t draw attention to my twin and reveal her secret. I pray they both are safe.
A throat clears down the hall. “General Ironheart?”
A soldier appears. It’s Fredrik, the scout who ran into the market and spread word that the Fae were spotted in the forest. The young man’s eyes flit from the captain to the general with unease, revealing he hasn’t adjusted to whatever misdeeds he’s been roped into.
“What is it?” Lev’s father growls, begrudgingly tearing his glare off of me.
Fredrik rocks back on his heels. “It’s the Elders, sir. They’ve called an emergency meeting.”
“Of course they have,” Steelvice mutters. “The cowards must’ve heard the news.”
The general grunts. His eyes slide back to mine. Again, I hold his stare even as my hands start to tremble.
After several prolonged seconds, he turns away. “We will resume the interrogation tomorrow.”
I don’t know if he’s speaking to me or the captain, but I don’t care. The instant the three men stomp down the corridor and a door slams shut, tremors seize me.
I clutch my arms around my stomach, as if I can hold myself together by sheer force.
This can’t be a rebel operation. The general wouldn’t be part of it. Would he?
“You lied.”
I gasp and snap my head toward Silas. He’s wide awake now, eyes glittering in the dim light.
I stare at the abused human, my mind slow to catch up with his words through the turmoil twisting inside me.
“What?”
“You lied to them.” He jerks his head toward the bars. “When they asked you about the book, you lied.”
The unease I barely tamped down surges back into my throat. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He tilts his head, his battered face filled with unwavering certainty. “Yes, you do.”
“I—”
Before I can speak, something about Silas changes. His features blur, edges warping. His entire body shimmers like water disturbed by a tossed pebble.
One second passes, then two. By the third, gone are the bruises and cuts marring his flesh. His clothes are dirty but free of bloodstains. His jawline is sharp, pronounced. His face… It's beautiful.
And his ears…once rounded, now taper into points at the top, peeking through waves of auburn hair.
My pulse spikes. Disbelief chokes me, warring with confusion that tears at the threads of sanity I wove to hold myself together in this cell.
Silas isn’t human at all…
He’s Fae.