Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

I sit with my back against the wall and my knees pulled to my chest, desperate for what little heat I can gain. My gown is still damp, allowing the cold of the prison to penetrate in spite of Garrett’s cloak. My teeth begin to chatter.

Garrett has been investigating the locks and hinges, prying at each opening, but the door is impenetrable. He lets out a sigh and mutters, “It’s probably enchanted anyway” under his breath. He turns and looks me up and down. “You’re shivering again.” He doesn’t hesitate to sit at my side. “Mind if I help?” He wraps his arms around me, immediately enveloping me in his warmth.

“I f-feel so c-cold.” I lean into him. It’s strange how we irritated one another just a little while ago and now I’m snuggled up against him, my emotions torn between him and Kai.

I’m not sure whether or not it is intentional, but he rubs his hand up and down my arm in a slow motion, clearly trying to keep me warm. “I’m sorry he’s hurt you.”

I immediately tense and look sideways at him.

“I just mean that, to me, you deserve someone who wouldn’t pledge a life of loyalty to another woman and then claim he still cares for you.” Concern pinches his brows.

“Kai is...so much more than just someone I care about.” I shift so I can look at Garrett a little better. “I grew up known as the daughter of the witch of the woods. It didn’t always have a bad connotation at first, but having a purple eye made me stand out from everyone else. I didn’t have non-magic friends until I was past five, and the first person to play with me was Samuel’s daughter.”

Garrett’s gaze searches my face as he listens.

I continue. “One day, I was maybe six? I was in the city with Mother, and she stepped into a shop to pick up something. I had a pocket of beautiful stones I had collected and was laying them out so I could see how the sun shined on them. A group of children spotted me and asked to play.” I smile bitterly at the memory. “Mother hadn’t been gone terribly long. She was only stepping in to pick up the lovely purple hat I had left behind. I was so excited that other children wanted to play with me. But the instant I stood up, one of them asked me what happened to my eye. Their friend said I was the little witch that lives in the pond . They started calling me a bog witch and teased me that I smelled like one. They stole my rocks and blocked me from getting to my mother.”

“That’s awful.”

“It was.” I smile softly. “Until this bigger kid showed up and shoved the meanest one to the ground. He demanded my rocks back and told them to go away.” I find my attention drift to Kai’s cell.

His dark eyes meet mine and his lips curl into a soft smile, acknowledging that he’s heard me and remembers too.

“Kai?” Garrett replies.

I nod.

Garrett leans his head back. “He was your protector.”

“He always has been. He followed me home. I don’t know why, but after he knew where I lived, he always showed up to play. He tried to get his friends to play with me too, but it wasn’t the same sort of feeling. They played with me because they had to. Because the prince had asked. As the years passed, they distanced themselves but Kai remained consistent. How is any of that bad?”

“Friendship isn’t bad,” Garrett clarified. “I just fear you won’t be happy because of what he’s done to you. Does he know everything about you? Down to your favorite flower?”

I smile a little and lean forward across Garrett to call out. “Kai?”

“Yes?” he answers back.

“What is my favorite flower?”

He hesitates in confusion and then says, “Uh, well, I would say that’s a trick question. In the spring, you love your hyacinths, but they don’t last all season, so you always have those ball flowers.” He makes the shape with his hand.

Heat crawls up my cheek. I didn’t even know he realized this much about me. “They’re called hydrangeas.” I find myself twisting hair around my finger.

Kai’s handsome smile slides onto his lips. “Hydrangea. I’ll have to remember that better.”

I look over at Garrett, who isn’t looking at either of us. “I understand that you mean well,” I say softly. “But I can’t stop Kai from being my closest friend.”

“Did he have to marry Princess Genoa?” Garrett finally lifts his gaze to me.

I bite my lip.

“You know I can hear you, right?” Kai says from across the hall.

Garrett sighs. “It was easier to have conversations when he was just a frog.”

I look across Garrett to Kai leaning his shoulder against the bars of his cell. “I can’t change the laws unless I am the king, and the only way to become king is through marriage,” Kai explains.

“But nowhere in our laws does it say you are required to marry a princess.”

Kai’s jaw flexes. “My father arranged a political marriage to a princess who we thought belonged to a neighboring kingdom, and I agreed because I couldn’t have the girl I wanted anyway.” He looks at me and then slowly tears his gaze away. “A part of me knew she would never actually forgive me, and I still had to marry.”

“You wouldn’t even fight for her?”

“You have no idea what I’ve done for her,” Kai replies coldly, his eyes narrowed. “You may be a soldier and a spy for my father, but you have no way of knowing everything that happens in the castle.”

“I don’t need to in order to see what you’ve done to Elowyn.”

“You barely met her!”

“Peacocks! You’re both beautiful!” Nizra is back. “Or shall I obtain a looking glass so you can compare the size of your muscles and choose a winner once and for all?”

Garrett and Kai have matching scowls.

I use the opportunity of the distraction to pull away from Garrett, leaving his cloak behind, and cross to the cell door with my arms wrapped around myself. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to get me something more appropriate to wear? My dress got wet and I left it behind.”

The fairy smirks. He struts over and leans against the cell door inches from me. “Hm. I suppose I could do that, but you’d have to do something for me in return.”

I roll my eyes. “Seriously? I have to listen to these two argue and now you’re joining in to barter?”

He shakes his head. “It’s not like that. See, we fairies like to collect things that intrigue us. For Genoa, impressive creatures or people are her thing. Me?” He raises his hand, which is decorated with rings. He turns his palm toward himself so I can see the jewels.

No.

Eyes.

My breath snags.

One is yellow and slitted, like a reptile’s. Another is humanoid and a lovely shade of green. The third is blue.

“Your stunning purple eye would be the perfect addition to my collection. Don’t you think?” He wiggles his fingers.

I slowly raise my eyebrow. “You want to pluck out my eye and put it on a ring?”

“Yes.” He grins. “And then I’ll bring you all of the clothes you can ask for.”

“You’re disgusting.” I turn away and sit in the far corner with my knees pulled to my chest once again.

“Pity.” The fairy clicks his tongue. “I can also throw in magic training. Genoa is the most powerful sorceress our people have ever seen. Imagine learning from the best. You might become half the sorceress she is.”

I scoff. “Why would I want to train under someone who has imprisoned us?”

“Only momentarily.” He grins wider.

“I’m fine being ignorant,” I snark back. Why would I train under Kai’s new wife? What torture would that be?

He chuckles. “I like you.” He straightens and holds up manacles. “We are here to escort you all to your meeting.”

The doors slide open, and two fairy guards step into Kai’s cell at the same time two step into ours.

One comes toward me, but Garrett blocks him. The fairy doesn’t hesitate to deliver a blow to the side of his head. Being a king’s guard, he could have blocked it, and I wonder why he doesn’t.

“Know your place,” the guard orders. He steps past Garrett and commands me to put out my wrists.

I notice Garrett watching over his shoulder as his own wrists are chained together behind his back. I hold out my wrists and the icy metal is clamped around them.

We are led beyond the entrance and up a flight of stairs with a barred door at the top. Nizra uses his touch to unlock it, like he did on the way into the prison, and we are taken through the small office into the hallway. We must be in some kind of barracks because the wall to our left is lined with windows. The sunlight and sounds of celebration in the distance fill the space, but I don’t even get an opportunity to try to see what is beyond the window because we are immediately forced into another room.

The room might have been a library if it weren’t for the broad table covered in a map with carved figurines upon it. An enormous window spills light down on the map.

Genoa smiles brightly from where she stands. “Darling! I’ve missed you!” She walks around the side of the table, directly to Kai.

He bristles and the muscle of his jaw tightens.

She cups his face and kisses him. “You’ve been gone too long. I was worried you got lost in a pond somewhere.” She raises a brow. “No greeting for your wife?”

“What do you want?” he asks, his voice deep.

She grins. “Nizra tells me you don’t know the truth of the vow your parents made to me. Or how they broke that promise and bound all fairies to this realm.”

Kai’s expression remains cold.

My nose begins to tickle and I wiggle it. Now is the wrong time to sneeze and draw attention.

Genoa, in a flowing pink gown, takes Kai’s hand and pulls him to a chair. “Let me show you.”

Kai walks with her but refuses the seat. “I can stand.”

“I insist.” Her eyes narrow and her grin somehow becomes...sharp.

He slowly sits.

“Good.” She pats his cheek and turns to the table. “Your parents were desperate for a child. What can a king do with no one to carry on his line? They considered a surrogate, but your laws would then allow the other woman’s family rights to wealth and social standing your parents didn’t want to part with. Sorcerers, sorceresses, wizards, and witches came through offering their non-solutions.” She moves her hands and a life-like, translucent blue image of the castle appears hovering over the map. People walk in and out of the main entrance.

“I know all of this,” Kai states.

Her brow twitches. “Did you know about this?”

An image of Kai’s father—far younger and without his beard—takes form standing beside the queen.

“We have no other options,” his father says. “We have attempted every solution and nothing works.”

Genoa stands across from them, looking very much the same as she does now. “I can help you, but you must give me something in return.”

“Anything. We’ll do anything,” Kai’s mother pleads.

“I will grant you the blessing to bear as many children as you wish to. But you will give me your firstborn in return.”

The king and queen exchange worried glances.

Kai’s stoic expression shifts into confusion. I can almost read his mind. If they were supposed to give their firstborn, why is he here? And does that mean he has a sibling?

The king shakes his head. “We cannot offer the first. By law, they must take the throne.”

“Then you shall give me your second.”

Kai’s lips tighten.

“Only, he didn’t give you to me,” Genoa explains. She steps between Kai’s knees and leans back against the table.

He shakes his head. “I had a sibling?”

“A brother.” She heaves a dramatic sigh. “He died some months after his birth. Your parents never told you?” She reaches out and strokes his cheek.

He slaps her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

She laughs. “You’re bound to me now, foolish human.” She holds her hand—and wedding ring—inches from his face. “I came the day after you were born to collect you, and they refused to hand you over. Your mother told me you had to be the one to take the throne, so they would give me the next. But vows don’t work that way.” She nudges herself closer and presses one hand to the back of Kai’s seat so he has no choice but to lean back in his chair. “Vows don’t work that way,” she repeats slowly, deliberately. “You may not appreciate it now, but you’ll realize how good this is for you.”

“That doesn’t explain how we ended up here,” Garrett states.

Genoa slowly lifts her gaze and her blue eyes are practically black. I swear her teeth are becoming pointed as we watch. “They never gave me Kai. Instead, they used every magic user they could and sacrificed them to bind us here.”

“My father wouldn’t do something like that.” Kai pushes against Genoa and goes to stand, but she grabs him by the throat and shoves him back in place.

“Your father bartered with your life before you were even born. What makes you think he wouldn’t murder innocent magic wielders to better serve his purpose?”

“How do I know any part of this is true?” he counters. “That you haven’t fabricated this to make me hate my father?”

Her lip twitches. “You already hate your father. Telling you any of this simply explains further why he is the way he is. The only way to break the binding was to fulfil my vow. To get you here, in our realm. I’m sure you all noticed the celebrations in the land? I used the magical orb to gain access into your realm and turn you into a frog so I could easily transport you home. A farce marriage was the only way I could get you alone.”

Kai scoffs and tries to pull her hand off, but she stands strong.

“I turned you into a frog so I could bring you here. I knew I would never be able to convince you to willingly step into a fairy ring, and no one would notice you as a frog. When you escaped and the little witch showed up”—her eyes lock on me—“it was inconvenient that you changed the path in which you arrived, but it has still worked in my favor. You had no idea you were helping banish your love.”

“There must be an arrangement we can make now,” Kai says, his voice calm, but I see how tense he is sitting.

Genoa’s lips curl in a cruel grin. She finally releases Kai’s throat and strokes his cheek with her knuckles. “You want to go home so soon? I imagine you miss the comfort of your bed. How does it feel being human again?”

“Not for me. For them. Let them go. You have what you want with me.”

Genoa taps her chin and looks Garrett up and down, and then me. “I’m thinking that guard might make a rather good labor slave. We have so few of such caliber. Would you like him in my kingdom?” She laughs in an icy tone.

“Can I keep the girl?” Nizra asks. He licks his lips. “She smells delicious.”

I step up to Garrett’s back. With his wrists chained behind him, all he can do is reach out and grasp my fingers, which tremble as I cling to the only source of comfort I have in this place.

Genoa tilts her head. “I don’t see why not. I have no use of her. She’s pathetically weak.” Genoa returns her attention to Kai. “But not quite yet. There is one thing I must do before I return to fetch you. Give me a day, Nizra.” She grips Kai’s chin and kisses him yet again. “I’ll see you soon, my love.” Genoa steps back and snaps her fingers.

The fairy guards rush forward and lift Kai from the seat by his arms, then roughly drag him from the room. Garrett and I are shoved from behind, directed to follow until we are delivered back to our cells.

Nizra watches while the others unlock our chains. He then claps his hands before rubbing them together. “Since you’re here for at least a day, we shall review the rules of Ipten Prison. You will be granted four hours each day in the courtyard, two in the morning and two in the evening. We find some sunlight keeps the violence down. You will return to your cells when you are instructed. Your only warning is to follow the rules and you should survive the night. One of those breaks is about to happen. Good luck!” He winks at me and the doors glide closed, locking us back inside.

Kai slowly turns away and leans against the bars on the far side of his cell. I can’t imagine the confusion he feels having just learned he had a brother he didn’t know about, his parents had gifted him to the fairies, and his father only wanted to keep him to maintain the throne.

Kai looks absolutely broken.

And I have no way to comfort him.