Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
FYN
Ishould have grabbed a sandwich for breakfast.
It had maybe been hours since I was locked away. As one would predict, the service was less than pleasant.
There were three spiders larger than the size of a coin in the corner. Their threatening stance held even though none of them moved.
The stone crowded all around me. Human men all seemed smaller than the fae. Maybe one could fit comfortably in this cell.
If only I had taken her sooner. She begged me to take her, and I didn’t.
And now I didn’t even know if she knew where I was. They had better not have told her I left without her.
My hand still throbbed from when I slammed it into the stone. We were so close to being gone from this place—so close to being free from the human realm.
I just wanted to live life with her—to give her everything she wanted.
Boots hit the stone and echoed down the hall. I studied their cadence.
“Make it brief.” A guard walked up beside Edward, before turning back, leaving him in the slender hall.
“Tell me it’s not true,” Edward said. “You didn’t violate her.”
“You know I would never.” It mattered little what Estlen thought—but I wouldn’t have my men thinking it too.
“My lord, they will accept no negotiation on your behalf. A letter arrived from King Lioran. I was on my way to bring it to you when I heard the news.” He pressed weathered parchment through the bars.
The royal wax seal lifted at the edge as I slid my thumb beneath the corner. Damp edges around the parchment curled as I unfolded it.
Lord Fyn,
It is with great disappointment that I receive your news.
Ashlyn is welcome to send word to Aelira when she is ready.
The matter is no longer within our jurisdiction. You must disengage.
I expect your prompt return.
Your King
A prompt return wasn’t really an option. Nor was leaving her here. I fought the urge to bang my hands against the metal bars.
Lioran made the only call he could have made as king.
But in that moment, I needed so much more than that—Ashlyn did too.
“We should inform him of the false accusation. Of the imprisonment,” Edward said.
“I believe it will be brief.” I shoved the letter into my tunic pocket. “We needn’t concern him with it.”
“With all due respect, my lord, I think word will reach him, regardless. Do you think Estlen will say nothing of your state? You are the Lord Chancellor.”
I had hoped they would wait. “What is the status of trade?”
“It is as it was, minus part of the ore,” Edward said.
“And the princess? Have you seen her?”
“I saw her in the hall with Prince Soren, my lord. She seemed distraught.”
“But safe?” I needed her to be safe.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Please keep an eye on her if you can. Bring word to me if anything shifts with her or the trade route.” We would wait it out. There was little else he, or any of my men, could do.
“Should I send the men back?” He asked. “I can remain to see what can be done on your behalf.”
“No. They’re to remain as her protection.” The letter’s seal was intact. My lie would have to hold.
Another spider crawled across the wall. My release couldn’t happen soon enough.
When Edward left, I found myself counting the drips of water, my back aching from the stone wall that was my only support.
As long as she was safe, my comfort mattered little.
Footsteps woke me from a temporary sleep.
Lamplight cast shadows on Soren’s face. When he set it down on the floor, the cell illuminated in a way I wish it didn’t.
There were even more spiders.
His fingers wrapped around the metal bars. “You have mere moments to explain yourself.”
Whatever explanation he was looking for, I would fail to give it correctly. “If you do anything to harm her—”
“Are you truly going to threaten me when you’re in a cage?” Soren huffed, but he didn’t leave.
“It doesn’t matter where I am. Even if I’m dead, I’ll haunt you.” I gritted my teeth, roaring the words into my pitiful corner.
The skin around his eye tugged, almost like a flinch, but he didn’t let go of the bars. “Do you love her?”
Seemed like an odd time for him to care about that. “Why does it matter to you?”
“She pledged herself to me, if I can assure her you are safe. All this time, I’ve been trying to figure out how to get her to comply—and it turns out I just had to hold you in a cell. News of your situation made her plead.”
The fury rose, hot in my veins. “Are you here to gloat? By all means go ahead. I have little else to do in my new chambers.”
“You both are very much alike. I have little patience for it.”
“You’ll never accept her for how extraordinary she is. You’ll just steal what illuminates her,” I hissed.
“What would you do to save her?” He uttered through his clenched jaw.
“We both know you care little for her.” Whatever he was playing at, I wouldn’t play along.
“She makes me furious… so furious that I could—”
“Hopefully she does it to you first.” I hoped she would stab him in his sleep.
“I don’t want her.” He leaned back as if he wasn’t afraid of whatever spun webs above him. “Only a fool would. And I think you are very much a fool, Lord Chancellor.”
“Then I am a fool,” I said. “An utter fool, that only tried to do the right thing for her. I respected her every wish and led her to a man who loathes her.”
He looked me over as if he was assessing exactly how he’d make me break. “They’ve postponed the wedding.”
“What a shame.” I really didn’t care to hear the rest.
“Until she bleeds. Until she proves she is not carrying your child.”
“You are aware of how that happens, right?” He was lucky there were metal bars between us. “It takes far more than a kiss.”
His eyes narrowed on me. “Your men told us you traveled alone with her. One claims you shared a room before crossing into Estlen.”
I wish he had given me a name, because I was about to have a lot of free time on my hands and apparently I needed to start making a list. “Nothing. Happened.”
“That was chivalrous, but stupid,” he said. “You should have at least enjoyed her while you could.”
“Why are you even here?” It was probably the wrong question to ask, but I was never one for asking things at the appropriate time.
“You understand trade. It is your business.” He leaned in towards the bars. He was so close, I could have grabbed him by the throat. “What would you trade for her?”
“I don’t trade women.” The dampness clung to my forehead.
“King Lioran will hear how you took advantage of his wife’s sister—how you attempted to interfere with a finalized marriage pact. When you go back, your future will hang by a rather delicate thread, will it not?” Soren asked. “Your punishment would be most extreme if you’re allowed to return.”
In passionate moments, I had jeopardized our standing with Estlen. If she had truly been one of our own, he could have easily intervened.
It didn’t matter that they lied about what I had done to her. The damage I caused was already so much greater than their lie.
I knew I shouldn’t, and chose it anyway.
In all the years I had known Lioran, I had never betrayed his trust. I thought I never would.
“If you could take her before our wedding, would you? Would you risk everything for her to go with you?” His voice lowered until I could barely make out each word.
“I would sacrifice everything I have for her.” It was the only certainty I felt.
“And then what?” He asked it like it was some test I was already failing. “Tell me what you’d do when you had her.”
“No.” Whatever sick, twisted game he was playing, I wouldn’t allow him to use her as bait.
“I’m here trying to make a deal with you, and you’re not even going to try. The fae are more pathetic than I thought.”
His insults meant little to me. “What kind of deal?”
“If you mention it to anyone, I shall only deny it.” He twisted the cuff of his tunic at his wrist. “You have little to gain from crossing me.”
I didn’t care to keep his secrets. But I was desperate to know what he could offer. When the silence grew too loud, I nodded.
“You can stop our wedding from happening.” He studied me for the reaction I was adamant not to give him.
“I will give you your freedom and hers, but you must take her. I will not defend, nor will I admit, that I aided either of you,” he said.
“If you take her, you will have abducted the Princess of Bailoc.”
“This sounds an awful lot like a death sentence.” One that I very much wanted to take to free her, but in that moment there seemed to only be a glimmer of one. And if I wasn’t left standing, I didn’t know what he’d do to her.
I had studied Soren enough to know that this couldn’t possibly be as simple as it seemed.
“You’re truly pathetic. Imagine Ashlyn’s distress when I tell her you didn’t even fight for her.”
It had to be some kind of test—one that I would easily fail, because I couldn’t bear the thought of him with her.
“How do I know I have your word? I need to know you will do as you say and not harm her when I try to leave with her.”
Soren shifted his weight. “You will just have to trust me. As long as you do your part, I will do mine. But if either of you choose to enter Estlen again, you’ll find you have no protection from me.”
I would risk the trap to free her.
It was a hope of a life beyond these walls for both of us. “I’m going to need my sword and hers.”
Something about the way that man smiled was terrifying. “I fear you’ll still have to stay in here a night or two until I can set the plan in motion.”
“Tell her I’m coming for her,” I said.
“She will learn it when I’m ready to tell her. And only then.” He raised the lamp until it was level with his eyes. Its flickering candlelight cast a glare in them. “Until then, I must admit I rather enjoy seeing her grovel.”
I hit the bars. A throbbing pain buzzed through my hands. “You will not touch her.”
“I have no desire to play with a fae lord’s seconds,” he seethed.