34. Keira
T itania rages at me for a long time, all semblance of her usual cool sassiness gone.
Her face is flushed and spit flies from her lips, her long nails flicking wildly.
I am called a whore, my intelligence is insulted in a creative variety of ways, and my soul is condemned to both the deepest, darkest abyss and the Soul Ripper itself.
I stand there unflinching the entire time, arms crossed over my chest and chin held high, while she loses her mind.
If she planned to torture me herself, she wouldn’t waste her energy spilling vile words.
Titania leaves without asking me a single question. She merely turns on Florian on her way out. “Get every last detail out of her. Do whatever it was you did last time. I want it all. Aldrin’s plans and his supporters. Do not disappoint me!”
Florian, Drake , doesn’t open the door to my cell until the clacking of her heels disappears completely, along with the heavier footsteps of her guards. Those red eyes are so unnerving, especially when they crinkle with softness. “How are you holding up?”
My lip wobbles and I so badly want to keep it all together, but tears leak from the corners of my eyes. “How do we get out of this mess? I can’t see a way forward, or what our next move should be.”
He quickly opens the gate and throws his arms around me in a tight embrace. I grip him like my life depends on it, closing my eyes so I don’t have to see Florian’s face.
Drake pulls back and holds me at arm’s length. “First, we need to worry about getting you out of this cage. You are far too much of an asset to our cause to keep you rotting in here. We need you to fight the next battles. Not to mention, Aldrin is probably going insane.”
I brush away my tears. For the first time since entering these dungeons, I feel like I can breathe with Drake in here with me.
He is like a wall of muscle, and I know our enemies would have to go through him before they could harm me.
I am suddenly glad he wasn’t here when Torin wanted to torture me, because I know with certainty that his cover would have been blown.
“I can leave this cell,” I whisper, and Drake’s eyebrows fly up. “Somehow, I can step through the mate bond and arrive at Aldrin’s side. I don’t know if I can do more than that, but it is something. Titania pulled me back the same way, through the bond of the bargain.”
“You did that?” His voice pitches high. “Tonight?”
“Yeah,” one of the orcs calls out. “She turned into a pile of ash that instantly dissipated, then returned the same way. Near gave us a heart attack. Your queen upon that throne is the only way we are getting out of this cell and our princess is getting the respect and freedom she deserves.”
Drake nods to them. “Remember that sentiment, because you’re not going to like what we have planned next.”
The grind of the gates down the corridor opening then closing, their locks turning, echoes through the cells.
Drake quickly steps away from me. Slow footsteps approach, then Rainier and Sasha round the corner and come into full view.
I let out a long breath of relief to see the princess unharmed by Torin.
Sasha’s face drops as she looks past me, straight to the three orcs.
She rushes to the bars of their cage and thrusts her arms through, reaching for them.
They crowd around her, the four of them awkwardly embracing the best they can with so many bodies and bars between them.
It is the oddest sight: multiple green, bulky arms wrapping around her tiny back and waist with tenderness.
Those brutal warriors close their eyes as their expressions shutter.
“Oh gods, Maxin, Kazimir, Nazaar—I am so sorry I haven’t been able to come down here and see you.”
“We have been so worried about you,” the chatty orc says, voice gravelly.
Sasha pulls away sharply. “You have been worried about me, Maxin? You’re the one in a dungeon!”
“Safest place for us to be at the moment, I think. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. I’d prefer to be in danger, protecting you from the monsters upstairs,” Maxin grumbles as he wipes tears from her face with his huge fingers.
Sasha straightens her shoulders.“I can take care of myself.”
“Can you, though? What about that soft heart of yours?” another of her orc bodyguards says.
I have to drag my eyes away from their bittersweet display. My chest aches for them.
Rainier takes my hands in his, warming my icy fingers.
“We are going to get you out of here…tonight. Right now, actually.” I turn wide eyes on him, but his features are serene.
“Sacrifices need to be made to get you on that throne. This fight isn’t just about a change of leadership.
It is not about who is the rightful ruler or even the better ruler.
Only you and Aldrin on the Spring Court throne can stop the corruption and slow the death of this entire realm.
Titania’s neglect, her pure denial—it allows other crowns in other courts to do the same. You will keep them accountable.”
“This is why you must do as we ask,” Drake urges. “Don’t see your release by another’s sacrifice as selfish or poor leadership. It is utterly essential. I know you don’t like to put yourself before others, that it goes against your nature, but on this occasion, you must.”
I glance between them as they seem to hold their breaths, my heart rate ramping up. “What are you talking about? Drake? Rainier? Who am I sacrificing?”
“Me,” Sasha calls out as she approaches. There is nothing but grim determination in her eyes. “We are going to swap places.”
“No!” Maxin calls out, his voice tortured. “No, Sasha, please!”
Another orc joins him. “Do not put yourself in this place. At their mercy!”
“I am already at their mercy, Nazaar!” Sasha swings around to her bodyguards. “At least this way I will be with you.”
“You know we cannot tell the princess what to do once her mind is already made up,” the quiet orc, the one that must be named Kazimir, grumbles from behind them.
I hold Drake’s eye for a long time, then flick my gaze to Rainier. “I cannot take advantage of her. I will not! This fight has nothing to do with Sasha and you should feel ashamed for forcing her into this.”
“We did not force her,” Rainier says softly. “Quite the opposite, actually.”
“It was my idea.” Sasha’s voice is hard.
She places her hands on my shoulders and stares into my face.
“I will be glamoured to look exactly like you. I am already wearing a replica of your clothes and I will do my best to play my part and act like you, so you can move freely. You can keep returning to the palace wearing my face, if the bargain requires you to do so as Titania’s captive, but it gets you out of the dungeons and hopefully allows you to travel like before. ”
One of the orcs groans behind us, but clearly knows better than to interject.
“Why? Why would you do this for me?” I choke out as tears form in my eyes. The risk is too great.
She laughs bitterly. “Oh, Keira, I’m not doing this for you. Everything I do is for my people and those I love. I will make a bargain with you, one that I will greatly benefit from. You will see.”
I search her face for a long time, the way her gaze burns and her teeth clench tight. This is not a woman being forced into anything.
“I will hear the terms of your bargain,” I finally concede.
Sasha gives Drake a hard look, which softens when it shifts to Rainier. “I need the privacy I requested for the discussion of the terms of the bargain.”
“And I would like to hear it, and advise my queen on any bargain that addresses the interests of both the Spring and Winter Courts,” Drake replies just as sternly, the words seeming so much more severe while he wears Florian’s face.
Sasha grinds her teeth, turning back to me. “It is of a more personal nature.”
“A bargain between a queen and foreign princess is never purely personal,” he insists.
Sasha’s huge blue-green eyes bore into me, swirling with vulnerability. “Please.” The word escapes from her lips in a whisper. “Hear me out, then decide if you need advice, but I beg of you, keep the personal nature of it between us. That means blocking Aldrin out through your bond as well.”
Keira, I do not like the sound of this. Aldrin’s steady, watchful presence finally makes itself known.
It won’t be for long, Aldrin. I will let you back in at the first sign of danger, I promise. I cut the connection even while he protests.
“Drake, Rainier—give us a few moments of privacy, please,” I order without looking in their direction. A ragged breath escapes Sasha’s lips and some of the tension melts from her shoulders.
Both men leave the cell and walk as far down the corridor as they can while still having eyes on me.
Sasha throws up a one-way sound barrier before them so they cannot hear a word spoken, her magic able to flow through the open door.
I don’t fail to notice that she does no such thing with the orcs watching us intently, then remember her calling them her closest friends.
“I might as well get comfortable if this is going to be my cell.” Sasha motions to the hard pallet, and I join her sitting on its edge.
She runs her hands across her face, then smooths out her blond hair, so pale it is almost white.
“Before we discuss the terms of the bargain, I need to tell you my deepest secret about my dark past. It is essential for you to understand my motivations.”
I take her hand in mine and squeeze it tight. “I promise I will not speak of it to anyone.”