8. Chapter 8 #2
Was he going to tell this man that I was his prisoner?
I didn’t know what laws this city had, but I would imagine kidnapping someone was against them, as he’d been reluctant to have me bound as we walked.
And this man looked somewhat official as he fiddled with the red bauble hanging from his chain.
He wouldn’t kill a councillor. Would he?
There was a beat of silence as I waited. The rain fell around us, and I held my breath. I didn’t anticipate this going well, but indecision froze me to the spot.
But I didn’t expect the words that came from Kaedian’s mouth.
“My betrothed, the Lady Imogen.” A false smile flashed on his face and was instantly wiped away.
My eyes went wide, and my heart skipped a beat. “We are not—”
“Able to stay, unfortunately,” he interjected.
“My sentinel, Gavrin, will be waiting for us. Can’t keep a lady out in a storm.
It wouldn’t be proper.” Everything he said made sense, in a sort of mocking way.
And he was definitely mocking Councillor Carron with his tone.
He’d just flown me across the Four Corners and was now worried for me in a storm.
“Of course, my Lord.” Councillor Carron bowed at the waist, and I didn’t know what was more unnerving, seeing him bow to my kidnapper or that he believed I would ever agree to marry someone like this male.
“Very good. Off with you now. Wouldn’t want to deprive Lady Carron of your company any longer. Do tell her I was asking for her. My best to the children.” At this point, he was just being rude.
As Councillor Carron scuttled off into the night, he might finally have guessed at the saccharine tone on Kaedian’s tongue. But he thought better than to stay and ask any more questions.
He dropped my hand once the Councillor was gone. “Prying bastard,” he said again, mostly to himself as he began walking, nose bridge pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
But I didn’t move to follow.
He turned to see me still planted, arms folded by the lamp; its blue and purple light falling over me.
“You need something from me,” I finally said.
He took two long strides, and he was suddenly towering over me, but I refused to back down. “Correct, peach. I need you to move. We’re not staying here while it rains down like frogs.”
He took my elbow, but I wriggled it free again.
“No. You need me. You need me to be your betrothed.” I said the word like it would make me wretch.
“Your friend there seems to think I’ll be staying.
And if you’re going to insist I do, you’d probably want me to play along with your silly little game. ”
His eyes flashed with comprehension, and he glared down at me.
I looked straight into his piercing blue eyes, flames dancing in them as he weighed up what I’d said. But I already knew I had him.
He’d made a stupid mistake by giving me a role in his story.
“I could throw you in a cell and forget about you until you decide to tell me where the faebane came from.” His face came close to mine.
I didn’t back away like he wanted. “You could.” I allowed my fingers to trace up his chest, walking slowly.
Trying not to notice how solid he felt under my touch, I picked an imaginary piece of dust from the dark leather of his tunic.
“However, I don’t think anyone’s bride would be kept in such terrible conditions.
I’m sure my new acquaintance, Councillor Carron”—he frowned at me as I recalled the man’s name—“would come to enquire about Lady Imogen.” The title popped off my tongue as I smiled to myself.
I laughed internally at the notion of my false title, but I schooled my features as I levelled a gaze at the male before me.
There was a low grumbling growl then, and my fingers froze in their meandering. Was that the storm or the demon I’d baited in front of me?
He twisted his neck to the side as if he was loosening a knot that had taken root there.
His options were limited now, and he knew it. He sucked his bottom lip in frustration.
My hand felt unsteady as he glared down at me. Even trapped beneath his stare, I was a little drunk on the prospect that I had a card to play against him.
“Fine,” he tugged the word out. “You want something from me. I want something from you.”
I held up a finger. “You want something from me. And you need something from me. I need nothing from you other than to be free of you.”
That growl was definitely from him and not the storm.
“Where have you taken me?”
He ground his teeth before he replied. “Viverna.”
Were we in the Eastern capital? I was close, very close, to the coast that trailed to the Southern Corner.
The looming walls and incredible towering structures all made sense now. My books might have been outdated, but Viverna had once been the seat of the Eastern Corner Crown.
And I was now standing in a city of history. This could work to my advantage. I wasn’t thrilled with how I had come to be here, but I could play along with him to find out more information about my origins and maybe use his fancy title for my benefit.
“I will play your game,” I said. “Until such time as your business here is done. I don’t know how long it will take you.
But I will be allowed home—set free”—I emphasised so there was no wilful misunderstanding—“in time for my sister’s birthing by the next moon cycle.
” It was an act. I had no idea if he was going to buy into my false sense of assuredness.
Even my tone had changed to try to sound confident.
I lied about the timeline. I lied about needing to go home. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned Leesha’s pregnancy, but I had no intention of telling him where I would actually be going.
Viverna. I breathed in the enormity of the change in my circumstances in just one night.
So great, I could hardly find my footing in this new place, but I was here now.
And I would take every advantage I could in finding my family.
And a bonus was that I was definitely out of Shadowfall.
But getting out of this city would be more than just slipping away from him.
He’d taken the faebane I had been planning to barter with.
Not to mention all my supplies and pack were now destroyed and lost somewhere in the Western Corner.
I chewed on my lip as I pondered the steps ahead of me.
“You forget. I will give you nothing until you give me the faebane.”
I puzzled over his reminder of why I was here at all. “I will get you faebane, if that’s all you care about. But until then, I’ll play your game, and you’ll treat me like your Lady. All cells and dungeons are to remain out of the conversation.”
Finally, he smirked as he looked through his dark lashes at me. “It seems we have an agreement, Lady Imogen.” The purr that rumbled in his throat was like heated coals that matched the way his eyes burned in the darkness.
An involuntary flutter rose from deep inside me as his velvet voice wrapped around me in the dark.
I had just struck a bargain with my fae captor.
I had made a move towards my freedom.
And I had time to figure out the answer to the faebane.
But the bigger worry was, could I trust the male who had kidnapped me to stay true to his word?