Chapter 35 Eveera #2
“You’re fucking joking.” I huff, forcing my Wield down until my vision is normal enough to storm my way into the throne room, Rorin at my heels.
The guards outside the doors bolt at the sight of us, and when I’m unable to hold onto my magic any longer, I release a wave of black towards the doors. They swing open forcefully, revealing Vada already looming over my dais.
"Oh, good, you're here." I bite through our bond, marching my way up the stairs until we are nose to nose.
Her golden eyes narrow at the magic spilling freely from me, "control yourself, human."
The serpents adorning my skin rattle their inked tails as I, again, will the Wield back into them, hoping it'll stay put this time until I'm ready.
Rorin moves behind me, keeping an iron-tight grip on my shoulder while a haggard Ezra stumbles in front of us. "You can let go."
He growls down the seal, "i'd rather cut off my limbs."
Noted. I think to myself as I bring my attention over to my former guard. "Alright, Felix dear, you wanted me to hear him out. I'm listening." Ezra exchanges a nervous look with him before moving forward a step, lifting his ice blue stare towards us.
"I know what I did was wrong…" Rorin scoffs at the lame admittance, and I reach my hand up my shoulder until our fingers interlock. "When you left—"
"Escaped Ezra, I didn't leave. I escaped."
His head bobs shamefully in front of him, and I can feel his fear rising at my words. “R-right. Escaped.” He whispers.
"Eveera,” Felix interrupts, “he came to the door — head hanging. He knows he's at your mercy, but he came anyway to give you information. Information that I feel you will find useful."
I look up at Rorin, the planes of his face stony save for the muscle in his jaw ticking. "You have five minutes to explain yourself. The clock is ticking."
Ezra sucks in a deep breath and dives into his explanation. After I'd left him, he'd wandered the city for days looking for me. That's when he came across Hadar's guards arriving in Suram.
Ezra watched as they were invited beyond the consulate walls and took a chance at Illusioning himself. While appearing as a guard, he was invited into the meetings their ambassador held with the General.
"And what exactly did these meetings revolve around?"
"Their Alloy."
The blood in my veins runs cold as I think about the General signing our agreement, promising his alloy to Obsidian.
But what if we're not the only ones who want it… or who have it… my conscience taunts, dread pooling in my stomach at the possibility. "Baelor wants the alloy?" I repeat, and Ezra nods again, his hands fidgeting nervously in front of him.
"I left with them. The small group of guards permitted to meet with the General was allowed to portal back to the Valen Court. It's where Baelor and Eiser are keeping their base."
"You mean where Baelor is keeping their base at." Rorin interrupts, and I watch as Ezra's face grows dark, his chin dipping back down.
"No— I mean Baelor and Eiser." The two of us exchange a look before we move as a unit off the dais and onto the steps, Rorin's heart beating loudly in my mind. "That's why I've come. They've fooled you."
I scoff, gritting out the question, "who has?"
"Baelor and Eiser…" he repeats slowly. "Who they've given you is not Eiser; right now, Eiser is preparing to announce his betrothal to Princess Pruella."
"You're lying," Rorin argues, the tone in his voice growing lethal.
I keep my eyes locked on Ezra's movements.
His hands are no longer fidgeting but rest still at his sides.
"I'm telling you not just what I heard but what I saw.
Eveera—" he takes a step forward, and Vada growls, her claws clacking against the stone as she moves around the dais, blistering steam coasting across the floor.
"I promise, I can be of help. I can be of service to you again. My Wield can be of true use for once in my life. I can be what you need.”
My hand raises, cutting off his begging. “I’m so glad you have had clarity during your little vigilante escapades.” I snap, walking a step down. "But right now, the only thing I need is for you to be silent.”
“I can do that.” He sputters, his lips clamping shut.
“Oh, I know you can, dear. I know.” I coo, finishing my descent until we are standing toe-to-toe.
Vomit crawls up my throat at our proximity. I make an intentional effort to choke it down as I raise my palm to his cheek, Rorin's heartbeat racing down the seal when Ezra leans into the touch.
Relief floods through my former guard, overwhelming his fear at the familiarity of my touch. “Shhh.”
“Please, Eveera. P-please, I’m so sorry. Please. From here on, I will be silent, just forgive me…”
“I know you will,” I whisper, urging him to look at me through his damp lashes while my hand grazes down to his throat. “You’ll have no other choice.”
SQUELCH!
His lips part reflexively, and the light in his eyes goes out quickly while sticky heat fills my left hand.
Ezra's body slumps down onto the floor like a discarded puppet, my attention following his collapse until they rest on his torn-out windpipe and vocal cords clamped in my grip.
Other than the sound of blood dripping onto the cold floor, the room is still. "I see I'm no longer needed," Vada notes at the same time Felix lets out a long sigh.
“A-hem. Well, at least you heard him out.” His expression is flat, unfazed at my decision, while adding, “I’ll have someone remove him.”
SPLAP!
I drop my souvenir to the ground, the muscles landing in a wet heap next to their owner, and turn over my shoulder. Rorin stares pensively out into the hallway, and I reach for him.
Wordlessly, he grabs hold of my bloodied hand, and the two of us step over Ezra’s body. "Do what you want," I snap. "I'm going to figure out who the fuck is in my cells.”
We waste no time rushing out of the throne room and through the corridors, but Rorin stops short when we reach the top of the stairs, spinning around to face me.
"How do we know he's not lying?"
"What?"
"Ezra! How do we know he's not lying?"
My head shakes as I try to find my words, "I—"
"Eveera, we have been face-to-face with the man down there for weeks. We would have known if it weren't my father. He’s powerful but… but not that… how do we know?"
Ezra's hands flash through my mind. They were still. I think to myself before muttering the words out loud, "they were still." Rorin's expression pulls tight, and I rush to finish explaining, "his hands. Ezra has a tell when he lies. His palms itch."
"And they were still…" he repeats. "FUCK!" He roars, fist landing hard into the wall.
We keep our pace quick, careful not to slip down the smooth stairs, and then again as we weave through the maze of cells.
Whimpering hits our ears as we reach his “father’s” cell in the darkened corner, the two of us now moving hesitantly towards the barred entrance.
Placing a hand on Rorin's arm, I urge him back, forcing him to let me see who’s in there first. Best case scenario, the person wounded and crumpled in the center of the floor is no one important, and worst case scenario, it's…
“Will.”