I ran to the cell door and shouted through the window. If the guards posted in the hallway heard me, they ignored my calls. I finally gave up and lay on the pallet to wait for Lukas’s return. When the oppressive silence of the room pressed down on me, I sang the lyrics of some of my favorite songs to keep it at bay.
At least two hours had passed before the outside door opened. I rolled off the pallet and ran to the window, but my gut tightened at the sight of a smiling Rashari on the other side.
“What do you want?” I looked from her to the guard who stood near the outer door, averting his eyes from us. It didn’t surprise me that she could bribe or coerce her way in here.
Her smile widened. “I came to personally thank you for getting rid of all the pesky obstacles in my way. You have outdone yourself.”
I crossed my arms. “What are you talking about?”
“Let’s see.” She started counting on her fingers. “First, you took Delphine out of the running for consort, although she was never much competition. Then you had Dariyah banished from court. That was quite the feat.” Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “And now, you have removed the last person between me and my future as consort. You.”
I let out a peal of laughter. “Happy to burst your bubble. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Aren’t you? No one is saying what crime you committed, but it must be grievous indeed for them to stop the meetings and lock Vaerik’s little plaything in a cell. I heard Queen Anwyn is demanding you be banished and that King Oseron is going to agree to it. What do you say to that?”
“I say you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.” I smiled secretively, knowing it would aggravate her more than anything I could say.
She sneered. “If you think Vaerik will protect you, think again. He might be fond of you, but he will want nothing to do with you after this.”
I could have told her Lukas had already come to see me, and he might be, at this very moment, giving the king proof of my innocence. I chose to let her crow over her false victory. She’d learn the truth soon enough.
Rashari’s expression soured at my lack of reaction. “I have always been the king’s favorite to be Vaerik’s consort, and now it will happen just as I planned.” She flicked her long hair over her shoulder. “If somehow you manage to avoid banishment, you’ll never go near Vaerik again. I will see you married off to a male in a distant city, and you will be forbidden to show your face at court.”
“You might want to put those plans on hold.” I gave her a bored look. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to my nap.”
She gnashed her teeth. “You should know I always get what I want in the end. I have ways of making things work out in my favor.”
Whirling away from me, she stalked to the outer door and flung it open. The guard followed her, and I called to him.
“I need to speak to Prince Vaerik. It’s urgent.”
He didn’t stop. “The prince is with the king and not to be disturbed.”
I flattened my hands against the cell door. “Then get Korrigan, please.”
The guard looked back at me with contempt. “Prisoners do not make requests. Korrigan will come here in his own time.”
“Tell him I want to confess,” I yelled desperately, but the guard stepped out and let the door close without another word.
* * *
I jerked awake and stared at the stone ceiling above me. It took a moment to remember where I was and why. I must have dozed off but how long ago? There was no way to tell down here.
A soft scraping sound came from the other room. I slid off the pallet and went to peer through the window, expecting to see the guard. The room was empty.
“Hello?” I called.
The answering silence sent a small shiver through me. Something didn’t feel right. I rubbed my arms through my coat. Where was Lukas? He should have come back by now.
The door to the hallway opened, and I instinctively took a step back. Two blond males entered the room, and my blood turned to ice when I saw their faces. They were Seelie royal guards, and they should not be here.
One of them was named Aibel. I knew this because he had been at Teg’s one night, and Orend Teg had pointed him out to me. I didn’t know the name of the second one, but I’d never forget him. I’d watched him create a portal to Seelie from inside Davian’s penthouse. And he had waylaid me outside a grocery store to warn me to stay away from Prince Rhys.
I backed up until I was against the wall. How did Seelie guards get in here? Where were Korrigan’s guards?
Aibel glanced dispassionately at me before he went to work on the cell door. I looked frantically around the room, but there was nothing I could use to defend myself. Not that I had any hope of fighting off two royal guards.
I groped for my goddess stone. If I could make myself invisible, maybe I could slip past them. I needed to calm down and focus before they –
The cell door opened. There was no time to react as Aibel crossed the cell in several quick strides and pinned me against the wall with one hand over my mouth. Terror-fueled adrenaline coursed through me, but it was no match for his strength.
He spun me around until I was facing the door with him behind me. I saw the other guard filling the doorway as Aibel’s arm came around my throat, cutting off my air.
I clawed at his arm, but it was no use. The edges of the room started to darken, and tiny pinpricks of light floated before my eyes. He was going to kill me.
A sob welled in my chest as the darkness closed in. Lukas’s face flashed through my mind, and it was the last thing I saw before the room disappeared for good.
Chapter 20
I rolled onto my side with a groan. My body felt stiff, and I had a killer headache. The last time I’d ached this much was after I’d been stupid enough to spar with Parisa.
Wincing, I cracked open my eyes. It took a moment for the room to come into focus and another few seconds for me to register I wasn’t in the cell anymore.
I jolted upright and groaned again at the sharp pain in my skull as it all came back to me. Two of Queen Anwyn’s guards had knocked me out and brought me here to this unfamiliar room. That could mean only one thing. I was in Seelie.
The room spun a little when I stood, and I had to steady myself before I could take in my surroundings. I was in a circular room with a wooden floor, white walls, and no furnishings except for the thin pallet I’d been lying on. The room was lit by the natural light from four narrow windows.
I went to one of the windows, which had no glass, and looked down at a wide river far below. On the other side of the river was a forest that went on for miles. Through the opposite window I saw spires, turrets, and the white stone walls of what had to be the Seelie palace. The position of the sun told me it was late morning, which meant I’d been here at least half a day.
The door opened behind me, and I spun to see Aibel enter with the other guard who had helped abduct me. Behind them came Queen Anwyn in a pale green dress and a jeweled diadem. She stopped a foot inside the door and smiled at me, but it wasn’t enough to melt the ice in her eyes.
“You are awake at last,” she said with a note of irritation, as if my lack of consciousness had been my fault. “Welcome to Seelie.”