Page 39
Story: A Cage of Magic and Darkness
TAELYN
I am in the Great Hall when Cirrus Planetree comes to find me.
“Princess, you have a visitor,” he says.
I immediately know who it is. “The messenger?”
Cirrus nods. “That’s right. Shall I show him through?”
“Give me a moment.”
I straighten my dress and take a seat on the king’s throne. A part of me feels it’s wrong to be sitting here, but I need people to see me as their queen. I have to get used to it.
A number of guards usher a young man into the hall. Cirrus and several other members of court follow them in. I’d been alone only moments before, but now the Great Hall is filled with people. I have an audience.
The messenger seems nervous and drops to one knee in front of me. “Princess Taelyn.”
“Rise,” I tell him. “Explain why you are here.”
He gets to his feet. “I’m a messenger from King Robertus of Imnor. He heard of your plight and wishes to offer his help.”
I smile and nod at the messenger. “I’m touched that word has traveled so far so quickly, and someone from another kingdom has reached out. How does he wish to help?”
“He heard that your family is dead and knows you have been left alone. He wishes to offer his hand.”
I pretend I haven’t heard correctly. “I’m sorry? He’s offered his hand to whom?”
“His hand in marriage. To you, of course, Princess Taelyn.”
Though Cirrus has prepared me that this might have been coming, I still find my stomach churning.
“He expects me to leave Askos and travel to him to marry?”
The messenger ducks his head. “Yes, Princess.”
“And who would be left to rule Askos?”
The messenger suddenly realized his offer hasn’t gone down the way he’d intended. “Well, Askos is being taken by the rot, Princess, so I believe he’s not expecting for there to be any need for anyone to rule Askos in the future.”
I close my eyes briefly. “I see.”
He clears his throat. “In return for your hand, the king offers safe passage to ten thousand of your people to Imnor where they will be allowed to start new lives for themselves.”
I say nothing else, and the silence reverberates around the Great Hall. People become uneasy, shifting from foot to foot and sending awkward glances at one another, waiting for my response .
“Thank King Robertus for his kind and generous offer, but please return to Imnor and inform him that Askos is not over yet and will still require a ruler for many years to come.”
The young male Fae appears uncertain what he’s supposed to do next. Perhaps he’s wondering if he should try to convince me rather than go back to his king and tell him I refused the offer. Instead, he ducks his head, spins on his heel, and leaves the Great Hall.
The people standing in front of me turn to each other, murmuring their thoughts.
I can sense the disapproval in the air, and my stomach flips.
Am I not wanted here? I’ve been noticing the way people have been whispering behind their hands about me.
Do they think I won’t make a good ruler for Askos and that I’m better marrying myself off to some king in a far-off land?
Maybe I’ve made mistakes, but it hurts that the people would want rid of me so easily.
Members of the court gradually filter from the room, leaving me with Cirrus Planetree.
He approaches the throne. “May I speak freely, Princess?”
“Of course.”
“I hate to have to say it, but I fear you are making a grave mistake, Princess Taelyn.”
I tense, my hackles immediately going up. “By not abandoning my people?”
“But you are abandoning them. That offer of safety for ten thousand people—almost half the city’s population—isn’t something that can just be tossed away like it’s nothing. ”
I’m aware I’m being defensive, but I can’t help it. “I’m not tossing it away.”
“Really? Because that’s exactly what it sounded like to me and to everyone else in court.”
His accusation steals my breath. I blink back tears. He’s right. All I thought about was ruling the kingdom and not wanting to leave Askos…not wanting to leave Ruarok either.
“There are some people I want you to meet,” Cirrus says.
He beckons to one of his guardsmen who ushers in three children. They range from about fourteen or fifteen down to a little boy who I’d put at about three years old. The boy clutches the leg of the older teenage girl and plugs his mouth with his thumb.
I dart my gaze from the group of children back to Cirrus. I can already tell I’m not going to like this.
“Who are they?”
“The remaining family of the mother and baby who were killed in the street because you gave them that money. Don’t you think they deserve a chance? Or do you want to see them swallowed by the rot, or murdered like their mother and sibling?”
Tears blur my vision. “No, of course I don’t.”
The weight in my chest is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It’s utter helplessness. Everything I’ve tried to do has failed. I’ve risked our lives to find the Mage, and even that hasn’t helped.
With a flick of his hand, he sends the young family away again and turns his attention back to me.
“Then what’s your plan, Princess Taelyn? How are you going to save them, otherwise? ”
The question hangs over me.
I don’t have any other answer.
Cirrus ducks his head and scuffs his feet on the floor. “Considering the rumors that are currently circulating about you and your stepbrother, I feel this offer of marriage may be the only one you’ll get. King Robertus is too far away to have heard such whispers.”
My head snaps up. “What rumors? How I conduct my private life has nothing to do with anyone else.”
“A princess belongs to the kingdom, not to herself. You understand that, surely?”
Bitterness floods through me. “But not a prince. He can do whatever he wants.”
“Don’t concern yourself with Prince Ruarok,” Cirrus says. “He’s the one who started these rumors about you.”
I lurch back as though he’s slapped me. “He what?”
“Prince Ruarok deliberately left the door to the king’s office open that day so people would hear the two of you together.
It’s been his plan all along to ruin your reputation among the citizens of Askos, so he is the one who is crowned.
I’m afraid it’s worked, too. The people would rather you accept this offer of marriage so you give them somewhere safe to go, if needed, and they will crown your stepbrother instead. ”
It’s as though the air has been stolen from my lungs. Did Ruarok really do that? I remember seeing the door hadn’t been shut properly and how he’d encouraged me to tell him what I wanted. That bastard had manipulated me, and now he’d gotten what he wanted.
Cirrus still hasn’t finished, but now he seems embarrassed, not meeting my eye. “The king will expect you to be…whole, however, Princess. He’s aware you’re unmarried and would expect you to still be…intact.”
My face flares with heat. “I understand. I assure you I am still that way.”
“That is good to know. Should I get the guards to make sure the messenger hasn’t left already?”
What else can I do? I’m unwanted here, betrayed, and my people need to know they have a place of safety.
“Yes,” I say. “Stop him from leaving. He can tell the king I’ll accept his offer.”
Table of Contents
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- Page 39 (Reading here)
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