They took her to her cousin’s study. He was at his desk again, scribbling another letter. She wondered what twisted truths he wrote down and if her father had any idea of the treachery of his own family.
Who would Cos Darragh choose if he did know, she wondered vaguely? She had never been his favorite, nor even liked much at all. Perhaps he wouldn’t even care that his own cousin had taken his daughter captive.
Her cousin snapped his fingers before her eyes. “You really are messed up in the head, aren’t you? The rumors are true.”
She pressed her lips together.
Rolling his eyes, he sat down hard in the chair across from her. “There’s something I need you to tell me.”
“What do you wish to know? How to betray your own family?”
Anger flashed in his eyes.
“We need to know about the Prince of the Shadow Court,” he said in a calm yet dangerous voice.
The Prince of the Shadow Court? How...odd. She had not thought of the exiled royals in ages, nor did she think anyone else had. They were a distant memory in the history of Tir Na Nog. Gone and forgotten. Much like she would be soon, no doubt.
She frowned. “I don’t know anything about the prince of shadows.”
He arched a brow. “Don’t you?”
“Why would I know anything about him? The Shadow Court has been exiled for years. Aren’t they all dead?”
“You didn’t answer my question,” he pointed out.
“I did,” she said through gritted teeth. “I said I don’t know anything about him.”
Why was he being so insistent about this? Clearly, she wouldn’t know a damn thing about an exiled court, nor their prince. She’d read their histories, of course, but she knew nothing about their present nobility.
He leaned back into his chair, considering her. “I find it very curious that you are capable of lying to me.”
Exasperated, she tried to push up from her chair, but the guard slammed her right back down again. Her teeth knocked together from the force. Terror melted her insides.
“I’m not lying to you, Lord Morcant,” she said quietly, her heart thrumming like hummingbird wings.
“One wonders...if you can lie, what else can you do?”
Tears filled her eyes, as hot as lava. “I can’t do anything. Because I’m not lying to you. I don’t know why you’re so convinced I am. I don’t know anything at all about the Shadow Court! Please, just send me back to the tower and leave me alone. You’ve already done enough by capturing me. Stop shouting at me about things I know nothing about!”
He leaned forward, ice in his eyes. Her pleas had clearly landed on deaf ears. “So, the name Lorcan does not ring a bell?”
She stiffened, her heart in her throat. Slowly, she swallowed around the lump. “Lorcan?”
He nodded, his keen eyes watching her every move. “Lorcan Rothach, the son of High King Bolg Rothach. The Prince.”
Her mind began to race. Lorcan was the prince of the shadow kingdom? How in the name of the Dagda could that be true? He was Thane’s closest guard, one of his oldest friends. The Selkirks hated the shadow fae.
Did her sister know? She couldn’t. Or could she? The two had spent weeks sneaking around the city together, all secretive, hiding from everyone else.
They’d gone in search of Thane together. Her sister was with the prince right now. Did that mean her cousin knew where they were? Did he know where Thane was? She had so many questions to ask, but she didn’t want to give anything away.
If Lord Morcant, her cousin who had captured her, wanted to know about Lorcan, then she wasn’t going to tell him a damn thing.
“Why are you asking me about the Shadow Court?” she tried instead. “They haven’t been involved in the war for decades.”
“Never you mind about that. What I want to know is—”
“Are they causing trouble?” she quickly interrupted.
His eyes narrowed. “You aren’t answering my question, Eislyn.”
“I did answer it,” she insisted. “And you keep ignoring my answer and branding me as a liar. I don’t know what else you want me to say.”
His lips flatlined. “I can see you aren’t going to let us do this the easy way.”
Standing, he motioned for the guards behind her, and a bound and gagged Vreis tumbled onto the floor. His mis-matched eyes were swollen shut by fist-sized bruises, and blood caked his chin. Slashes ran along his arms, deep cuts that spoke of torture and pain. He could not even hold up his own head to look at her. Horror churned through Eislyn’s gut. She pressed a hand to her lips, biting back a scream.
“What have you done to him?” she hissed.
“Nothing he couldn’t survive. Though I can’t say the same about this.” Lord Morcant nodded to the guards.
The guard fisted Vreis’s hair, yanked back his head, and sliced an ice glass dagger across his neck. Blood shot from the gruesome wound, coating the floor with a sickening crimson. Eislyn choked. A terrible, excruciating pain carved a hole into the very last remnants of her broken soul. Her body trembled as great shaking sobs tore through her. But she didn’t cry. She just shook. Shook like the very world itself was ending.
“How could you?” she whispered. “How could you do that to him? He was a good male. He did more for me than you ever will, and you’re my father’s own flesh and blood!”
“I did it to prove a point, Eislyn,” her cousin said with ice in his voice. “I’m not asking for your insight. I’m demanding it. I need you to tell me everything you know about Lorcan Rothach and his relationship with your sister, or I will find someone else you care about, and I’ll be forced to have them killed, too.”
“You’re a monster,” she hissed. “I thought the ice fae were good.”
“I am not the enemy here, Eislyn. The shadow fae are. The air fae are. And, it appears, your sister is.” He leaned forward, fire dancing in his silver eyes. “What do you know about the Prince of the Shadow Court?”
Eislyn gaped at him, her heart bursting out of her chest. She pushed up from the chair, this time knocking aside the guard’s hand with a strength she did not know she had. “Did you just threaten my sister?”
Eyebrows raised, Lord Morcant drew himself up tall so that he towered over Eislyn’s frail form. “She is working with the enemy. She must be stopped.”
“And what do you plan to do?” Her lips trembled as she spoke. “Kill her, too?”
“If I must.”
Eislyn’s soul rattled inside of her.
Reyna, who loved her. Reyna, who had never judged her darkness. Reyna, who had thrown herself into danger to save her, time and time again. Her shield, her heart, her sister. Reyna had sacrificed so much for Eislyn. She’d even given up the only life she’d ever wanted to lead, as a Shieldmaiden, all to keep Eislyn safe.
And now her own cousin plotted her death after he’d murdered Vreis, one of the best fae she had ever met in her miserable life.
Fury rose up within her like a vicious storm. The kind that capsized powerful ships. The kind that ripped trees from the ground. Eislyn had never before felt anger quite like this. Like she wanted to kill the male standing before her.