Chapter 26 Tarek
TAREK
The cage that was once my prison is now my training ground. Despite the magical wards humming along the bars and the heavy chains that keep me tethered, I push my body through every movement I can manage within the confined space.
My leg, though still tender, holds my weight. The bone has knitted well under Annelise's careful ministrations, and the muscle is rebuilding its strength day by day. I flex and stretch, testing the limits of what these chains will allow.
"You're moving better," Annelise whispers from outside the bars, her voice barely audible over the soft sounds of the sleeping beasts around us.
"Better, but not enough," I reply, rolling my shoulders to work out the stiffness. "When the time comes, I need to be more than just mobile. I need to be deadly."
She watches me pace the small confines of the cage, her green eyes tracking every step. I can feel her gaze on the play of muscle beneath my scarred skin, the way my body coils and releases with each controlled movement.
"The wedding feast is in three days," she says, her voice tight with barely contained tension. "They'll move you to the ballroom tomorrow for... preparations."
I stop pacing and move to the bars, close enough that I can smell the faint scent of jasmine in her hair. "Then tonight, we finalize everything."
She nods, pulling the stolen maps from beneath her cloak. Her hands are steadier now than they were weeks ago. The trembling, frightened girl who first stumbled into this menagerie is gone, replaced by a woman with steel in her spine.
"I've memorized every corridor, every guard rotation," she says, spreading the parchments on the straw-covered floor. "The service tunnels run beneath the entire estate. Most of them have been sealed, but this one—" Her finger traces a thin line on the map. "—still connects to the wine cellars."
"And from there?"
"The cellars have an exit that leads directly to the courtyard behind the kennels." She meets my eyes. "It's our best chance to avoid the main guard posts."
I study the route she's marked, my tactical mind weighing every angle. "The hounds will catch our scent the moment we emerge."
"That's where this comes in." She produces a small glass vial filled with a pungent, amber liquid. "Rendered fox musk. The huntsman uses it to confuse the pack during training exercises."
My respect for her grows with each revelation. "You've thought of everything."
"I've had to." Her voice carries an edge of steel I've never heard before. "This is our only chance, Tarek. If we fail..."
"We won't fail." I reach through the bars, my fingers brushing her cheek. "You've already proven you're stronger than any of them. Tomorrow night, we'll prove it to the world."
She leans into my touch, her eyes closing for a moment. When she opens them again, they blaze with determination. "I've been thinking about what happens after. When we reach the Whisperwood."
"The caves in the northern reaches," I say. "My brothers and I were meant to rendezvous there. If any of them survived the wreck..."
"You'll find them." Her voice holds absolute certainty. "And when you do, I'll be beside you."
The fierce loyalty in her words makes something in my chest tighten. "Annelise, you don't understand what you're choosing. The mission we're on, the dangers we'll face—"
"Don't." She presses her fingers to my lips through the bars. "Don't try to protect me from my own choices. I know exactly what I'm choosing."
I capture her hand in mine, pressing a kiss to her palm. "And what are you choosing?"
"You," she says simply. "I'm choosing you, Tarek. Whatever comes after, we face it together."
The vow hangs in the air between us, sacred and unbreakable. I have spent my life as a weapon in service to others—my king, my brothers, my mission. But this woman, this brave, impossible woman, is choosing me not as a tool or a protector, but as a man.
"When this is over," I say, my voice rough with emotion, "when we're free of this place... I want you to know that you won't just be escaping with me. You'll be coming home with me."
"Home?"
"To Osiris. To my people." I meet her gaze steadily. "As my mate. My queen."
The words seem to steal the breath from her lungs. For a moment, she simply stares at me, her lips parted in surprise. Then, slowly, a smile spreads across her face—not the polite, practiced expression she wears for the elves, but something radiant and real.
"Your queen," she repeats, testing the words. "I like the sound of that."
"Then it's settled." I bring her hand to my lips again, sealing the promise with a kiss. "Three more days of this charade, and then we take back our lives."
She gathers the maps, tucking them safely away. "I should go. The guards will be changing shifts soon."
"Annelise." She turns back at my voice. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For seeing me. For choosing me. For being brave enough to fight for us."
Her smile is soft, but her eyes are fierce. "Thank you for being worth fighting for."
As she slips away into the shadows, I return to my training. But now each movement has new purpose, each stretch and flex a preparation not just for battle, but for the life that waits beyond these bars.
In three days, I will no longer be a beast in a cage.
I will be a king reclaiming his queen.