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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

T he sly smile on Isera’s lips is making me increasingly nervous.

We’re standing outside the door to the Unseelie King’s private section on the middle tier of the arena.

The carved wooden door is still closed, and two guards are standing on either side of it, waiting for Orion’s orders to send us in.

True to her words, Jocasta turned down this audience to instead get Lyra and Galen healed straight away.

Since neither of them could walk on their own, Draven is carrying Galen to Haldia’s house while Alistair is doing the same to Lyra.

That left me and Isera to face the Unseelie King and secure confirmation of our hard-won freedom.

And Isera has been smirking the entire way here.

Which is making me jittery.

We need to make Orion keep his end of the bargain and give us permission to leave. Not insult him or bait him into going back on his word.

“Send them in,” Orion Nightbane calls from the other side of the door.

A jolt shoots through me, and I flick another worried glance at Isera. But that sly smile is now thankfully gone from her features, replaced instead by that usual mask of cold confidence.

The guards open the door and motion for us to step through.

Drawing in a bracing breath, I straighten my spine and then follow Isera in through the door.

The Unseelie King is standing in the middle of an elegantly furnished lounge.

A cluster of sofas and divans in royal blue have been positioned by the wall to my left.

There are several small wooden side tables scattered between them, and bowls of fresh fruit and platters filled with everything from bread and cheese to delicate pastries are waiting there.

Several silver decanters of wine have been placed among them as well.

Behind Orion, two thick drapes in his signature royal blue separate this lounge room from the platform outside where he can sit on his throne and watch the games down in the arena.

The drapes have been left slightly open, letting us see the throne and the arena beyond but still providing privacy for the three of us in here.

The door shuts behind me and Isera with a faint click.

Orion cocks his head, his black and silver eyes studying us intently. “You are the smallest party of seven I have ever seen.”

“As you no doubt saw,” I begin, careful to keep my tone neutral. “Two of our team members were badly injured in their matches, so our faction owner had to take them to Haldia straight away.”

“I see,” he replies. And I can’t tell if he’s disappointed or amused or simply indifferent. His gaze shifts between me and Isera. “I suppose you speak for your entire team then.”

“We do,” Isera says, her eyes locked on the Unseelie King.

Another flash of worry pulses through me, and I have to suppress the urge to glance at her. But she thankfully doesn’t say anything else. Nothing to antagonize him. I let out a small sigh.

“Excellent.” His eyes glint as he holds Isera’s gaze. “Then you can start by giving back the dragon steel and begging my forgiveness for stealing it.”

A sharp smile spreads across her lips. “Can’t steal something that already belongs to you.”

“Ah, but it didn’t belong to you. The moment you committed a crime, all of your possessions became property of the Crown.”

“Can’t commit a crime when the mission was sanctioned by the king.”

“You have a lot of cocky retorts already waiting on that wicked tongue of yours, don’t you?”

Her sly smile widens, and she runs her tongue along her teeth. “You should see what else I can do with it.”

His eyes flash. But not with anger.

“We made a deal, Your Majesty,” I interrupt with as much politeness as I can muster before this strange confrontation between them gets out of hand.

“If we won these games, we would be allowed to leave the Unseelie Court promptly and without issue. You’ve already gone back on your word once. Do you intend to do it again?”

This time, it’s most definitely anger that flashes in his eyes as he snaps his gaze to me and growls, “I did not go back on my word. You just didn’t word the bargain carefully enough.”

Irritation crackles through me at his damn word games, but this is obviously an important distinction to him, so I incline my head and diplomatically reply, “Of course. I apologize. However, this time, the bargain was clear. So, do you intend to honor it?”

Drawing in a long breath, he just watches the two of us in silence for a while. Then he finally lets out that breath again, sounding both annoyed and resigned. “Yes.” His eyes slide to me. “While I am somewhat irked by your miraculous win…”

Since you deliberately stacked the deck against us and set us up to lose, I finish for him silently in my mind.

“I do always honor the bargains I make,” he finishes, giving me a pointed stare. “So yes, you have my permission to leave the Unseelie Court. As soon as you’re ready, I will personally escort you to the wards and let you through.”

“Unless you want to strike another bargain,” Isera cuts in.

I whip my head towards her. “What?”

Interest sparks in Orion’s eyes as he locks them on Isera instead. “I’m listening.”

“You like games and gambles, so here is one for you,” Isera says. “We trade our freedom for another bargain. And if we win, you and your court will help us take down the Iceheart Dynasty.”

“What?” I snap again, aghast.

We’ve just barely managed to win this one and get our freedom back. There’s no way in hell we’ll be able to win another one.

“Isera, what the hell?” I demand. “We haven’t?—”

She flicks her wrist.

And ice fills my mouth.

I jerk back in shock, trying to gasp, but the ice spreads out so that it prevents me from moving my tongue.

Gagging, I try to spit it out. And then I try to pull it out with my fingers.

It doesn’t work. I can still breathe through my nose, but the chunk of ice inside my mouth is so wide and so tall now that I can’t get it past my teeth and back out of my mouth.

Whirling towards her, I stare at her in shock and disbelief. But she isn’t even looking at me. Her gaze is firmly fixed on the Unseelie King, who is watching her just as intently.

His eyes gleam like daggers as he flashes her a sharp smile. “My, my. Gagging your own friend so that you can bargain away her freedom? How very ruthless of you.”

“So you accept the bargain?” Isera pushes.

Still fighting against the ice in my mouth, I grab Isera by the arm and pull hard, trying to force her to look at me. She just yanks her arm out of my grip and flicks her wrist again.

Ice shoots up from the ground, wrapping around my ankles and wrists. I try to gasp again, but only a gurgling sound makes it past the ice in my mouth. Now completely immobilized, all I can do is to stand there and watch while shock at her betrayal clangs through my skull.

Orion slides his gaze to me for a second before locking eyes with Isera again. A sharp smile, full of approval, lurks on his lips. “Oh, you really are an interesting one, aren’t you, little viper?”

“The bargain,” Isera repeats. “Do you accept it?”

My heart pounds against my ribs as silence falls for an uncomfortably long time.

Then Orion chuckles. “No.”

Relief crashes over me.

Lightning flashes in Isera’s eyes.

“Why would I agree to something as dangerous and futile as trying to take down the Iceheart Dynasty just for a little bit of extra entertainment from you?” the Unseelie King asks, arching a haughty brow.

“Because it’s not just entertainment,” Isera retorts.

“You can see it yourself. Everyone in here is crawling up the walls with restlessness. You and your entire court are bored in here behind your wards. If we take down the Icehearts, you could open your borders again and play with humans and dragon shifters and whoever you want to your hearts content.”

“If that was something I wanted badly enough to risk my court, I would have taken action against the Icehearts long ago.”

“You’re not fooling anyone.” She stabs a hand towards where the crowd is still waiting in the stands on the other side of the thick blue drapes. “Your city is on the brink of rebellion. One more push, and all of their restless energy will explode into civil war.”

Something incredibly dangerous flickers in Orion’s eyes. “Careful with that tongue, little viper.”

“The only thing distracting them right now is these games. You know it as well as I do. But one wrong word from the wrong person to the wrong crowd, and this whole city will erupt. It’s why you were so desperate for us to take out that Wolfstalker guy.”

“Watch your?—”

“Admit it. You need these borders open just as badly as we do.” She spreads her arms wide in challenge. “So take this bargain. And in exchange, we will give you the distraction of a century.”

“I will not risk my court for a little entertainment.”

“I wasn’t finished.” Her expression is dead serious as she holds his gaze. “The extra game we play for your people is just the staging ground for the bargain. I’ve told you what we get if we win, but I haven’t said what you will get if we lose.”

He opens his mouth as if to refuse yet again, but there is a hint of interest in his eyes now.

It sends a bolt of panic through my spine.

Yanking against the ice trapping me, I try desperately to get free.

But it doesn’t let up for even one second.

I push my tongue up at the ice in my mouth, trying to force it to move. But that doesn’t work either.

Frustrated, I consider using my new power of creating emotions on Isera. But the terrifying knowledge that I won’t be able to remove it afterwards stops me. I’ll just have to hope that the Unseelie King keeps refusing her.

“If we lose, you won’t just get to keep us from leaving the Unseelie Court,” Isera says, her intense eyes burning holes through Orion as she holds his gaze. “If we lose, you can have me . And the Seelie Court.”