Page 66

Chapter

Sixty-Three

T he ride back was quiet, and when she tried to strike up a conversation, neither Loche nor the guard answered with more than one word.

Loche’s arms held on to her as if she would disappear if he released his grip, and every so often, he’d lean in and rest his chin on her shoulder.

But she didn’t miss the way his muscles locked, the sound of his teeth grinding as he stared off into the distance.

When they finally reached the town, she was exhausted from trying to understand what was going on and from trying not to force Loche to speak to her.

As they entered the castle courtyard, more guards than she’d ever seen filled it: rows and rows of soldiers mixed in with Loche’s own masked men and some in uniforms she’d never seen before. Based on the old family crests sewn onto their jackets, she guessed they were the nobles’ own guards.

With wide eyes, she let Loche help her off Reks, and she didn’t even have time to pat him before one of Loche’s men led him off .

Merrick and Zaddock stood right outside the large double doors leading into the white castle, and her heart began pounding when the Fae immediately gripped her arm, pulling her into one of the alcoves.

“We don’t have much time.”

She’d never heard his voice like this.

It wasn’t the soft pleading she’d heard when he was injured and feared being found out for what he was.

There was real terror in it.

Merrick pulled her close, urgently whispering in her ear. “You need to remain calm. Whatever happens, remember why you are here. Two more days, Lessia.”

“Merrick…” she started, her blood rushing in her veins.

“I’m so sorry. I can’t come with you,” he interrupted. “But you need to promise me to stay calm.”

“What—”

He raised his voice. “Promise me!”

“I…”

The grip on her arm tightened.

“I promise,” she whispered.

Merrick nodded. “I’ll find you after.”

Then he stalked right up the stairs, leaving her standing there, feeling colder and more alone than she ever had before.

“Lessia. You need to come with us.” Zaddock gestured for her when she left the alcove.

And when he wouldn’t meet her eyes, his head remaining bent as he led the way into the cellars, dread stabbed at her chest, thrumming in rhythm with their soft steps as they descended the stone stairs.

Loche walked behind her, his eyes slamming into hers when she turned her head over her shoulder, and when he reached out to squeeze her hand, a wheezy breath finally made its way into her lungs.

He wouldn’t allow anything bad to happen to her.

Loud voices echoed between the polished walls when they reached a part of the castle Lessia hadn’t been to before. While lanterns also lit this part, pressure laced her chest when she realized it was the dungeons.

Rows of cells lined the walls on both sides of her, and when a familiar sound of dripping water and the musty smell of wet stone and decay reached her, she stiffened, fighting the urge to sprint back the way she’d come.

“What… what are we doing here?” Her shaky voice barely carried over the shouting ahead.

Neither Loche nor Zaddock responded as they continued walking.

More light flickered ahead, and soon Frayson came into view.

He was surrounded by twenty or so guards, all standing before a brightly lit cell.

But it was the familiar blue eyes that locked on hers, the blonde hair reflecting the flames on the wall that had her gasp for air.

Amalise stood beside one of the guards, her face a mask of fury as she pulled at the arm he was holding on to.

“Get off me, you stupid bastard,” she screamed.

“Amalise!” Lessia rushed her steps, running up to her best friend. “Let her go!”

She shoved the guard so hard he took a stumbling step backward, but he still held on to her friend, nearly making her fall from the movement.

The guard glared at her. “She is no prisoner, but she has tried to fight every man in here. If you can get her to calm down, I’ll let her go.”

“I won’t stop until you let him go!” Amalise’s cheeks burned as she spat at the man .

“Amalise.” Lessia reached out for her, gripping her free hand. “We’ll figure this out. Please, just calm down.”

Amalise’s eyes burned into Lessia’s. “You don’t even know, do you? They just stormed into our house last night and took him! They’re mad!”

Tensing, Lessia searched her face. “Took who?”

Amalise jerked her head toward the cell behind them. “Look for yourself.”

Turning around, her pulse roaring in her ears, Lessia fixed her eyes on the cell.

A strangled noise escaped her when Ardow’s defiant brown eyes found hers.

Blood trickled down his temple. His face was beaten and bruised, and his body must have been, too, based on the way he leaned against the wall, keeping his weight on one foot.

On the dusty floor beside him, Venko lay unconscious, his pale hair spilled out over the dark stone.

When she took a step toward them, several guards stepped into her path.

“Get out of my way,” she snarled, her fear from earlier giving way to rage.

Lessia’s nostrils flared when the guards didn’t move, and her hands balled into fists, but as she lifted them to slam them right into their stupid faces, Loche leaped in between them.

With his back to her, he ordered the guards to get out of her way, pushing one aside when he didn’t move fast enough.

Stepping around him, she sprinted up to the metal bars and reached in through them. “Ard!”

When he offered her a crooked smile, a dry sob lodged in her throat. “Oh, Ard. Are you all right? Is anything broken?”

He shook his head. “They dragged me here so quickly I lost my footing. I think I twisted my foot. The other stuff is just pretty decorations, don’t you think?”

She could have slapped him for trying to be funny right now.

But instead, she wrapped her fingers around the bars, trying to keep her voice level. “What happened?”

The smile fell from his face, hard lines taking over, and he squared his jaw as he glared behind her.

She followed his gaze, locking eyes with Frayson.

There was nothing kind in the old man’s eyes as he stared at her. “He’s a traitor, Lessia. We overheard him and Venko conspiring about another attack. And you better not have known about this or you will join him in that cell.”

“She didn’t know!” Ardow limped to the bars. “I worked alone. I didn’t tell Lessia or Amalise. Please just let them go.”

Her head whipped between the cell and Frayson.

There was no way.

Not Ardow.

What would he have to win by attacking nominees?

But when she met his eyes and guilt filled the brown, her stomach dropped.

“Why?” she whispered.

Ardow just shook his head, his shoulders dropping.

Staring at his matted hair, the bruises blooming across his face, she thought back to their conversations the past weeks.

Ardow urging her to stay away from Loche.

His conviction that he was a bad man.

The first attack, when the soldier backed away from her upon realizing who she was.

Venko knowing of her gift.

A stifled cry tore from her throat.

Ardow had challenged her to use her magic on him.

Not once in the past five years had he ever worried she’d use it on him. Not even when they’d had heated arguments about how to manage the children or the businesses.

But he had when he learned she was joining the election…

A warm hand slipped into hers, and her eyes flew to the side.

Loche’s face was full of sympathy, and she couldn’t help another whimper from escaping as she tried to comprehend what was happening.

When his gray eyes flickered with pain, she sucked in a breath.

“You knew,” she hissed.

That’s why he’d been so strange this morning.

Why he’d barely been able to meet her eyes all day.

She dropped his hand as if she’d burned herself. “You wanted to make sure I didn’t know. That I wasn’t working with him.”

“Lessia…”

She backed away from the cell—away from Loche. “Stay away from me.”

Frayson cleared his throat. “Thank you, Loche. I wasn’t sure you’d follow my orders, but I’m glad to see your feelings haven’t clouded your dedication to Ellow.”

Loche’s eyes pleaded with her, but she averted hers, hissing a breath through her teeth.

She couldn’t look at him.

He hadn’t even warned her what she would walk into.

“You bastards!” Amalise snarled in the back of the room.

As Lessia took a step toward her, Frayson ordered, “Silence!”

Frayson waved his hand toward Lessia. “Now that we’ve cleared you from suspicion of being an accomplice, you will go through your final trial before the election. ”

Lessia stared at him.

Perhaps they’d beat her again.

Hopefully they’d do it until she passed out.

Oblivion seemed like a blessing right now when the pain from Ardow’s admission and Loche’s betrayal felt as if it would tear her apart.

Frayson eyed her. “The final hardship is loss. So many lost their family, friends, their loved ones during the war. Becoming regent means that you will need to go through the same loss to ensure you won’t put your people through that again.”

He fidgeted with his gray cloak before he continued. “We had difficulty figuring out what choice we’d offer you, but your friend’s betrayal of Ellow made it clear. Your task is simple: you need to decide whether to execute Ardow today or banish Amalise from Ellow forever.”