Page 5 of Crowned by the Shadow (Bound by the Veil #5)

Chapter

Four

Senara

Fenvalur whirled around, his face contorting with anger as he glared at the laughing prisoner.

“Silence!” he commanded, flicking his wrist. The chains around the masked fae tightened, glowing brighter with suppression magic. The laughter cut off abruptly as the prisoner gasped for breath.

I stood frozen, unable to tear my eyes away from the scene.

The Starforged Mirror sat on a pedestal behind Fenvalur.

The ornate artifact with a surface that rippled like liquid silver looked exactly as I remembered it from when I claimed it, which was something at least. Images of my childhood still flickered in the surrounding air, moments I had no memory of, moments that shouldn’t exist.

“How fascinating,” Fenvalur said, composing himself as he turned back to us. His clinical detachment returned, making my skin crawl. “I had not expected your arrival so soon, Senara. Though I must admit, it saves me the trouble of retrieving you.”

Thorn stepped protectively in front of me, his hand moving to the concealed knife at his waist. “We’re here for the Mirror, nothing more.”

Fenvalur’s eyebrow arched. “Are you? How disappointing.” His gaze shifted to me. “Surely you have questions, Senara. About your past. Your parents.” He gestured to the images still floating around us. “I have answers.”

My throat tightened. “How do you have these? I was abandoned as an infant.” I knew Eldric had shown me more of my origin than I had known before, but I wasn’t about to admit that to anyone but Thorn.

“Were you?” Fenvalur smiled, the expression never reaching his eyes. “Or is that simply what you were led to believe?”

The masked prisoner made a strangled sound, drawing my attention. Despite the pain clear in his hunched posture, he lifted his head again, staring directly at me through those narrow slits.

“Ask him,” the prisoner rasped. “Ask him what he did to your mother.”

Fenvalur’s face darkened. With a sharp gesture, he sent a pulse of magic through the chains that knocked the prisoner unconscious.

“Ignore him,” Fenvalur said dismissively. “Subject Five’s mind fractured long ago. His ravings are meaningless.”

But the prisoner’s words had struck something deep within me. They created a craving for knowledge. I had to know what he meant. Plus, I had to know how he knew my mother. Was this the fae that had called me daughter?

“Who is he?” I demanded, pointing at the slumped figure. “And what does he have to do with me?”

Fenvalur’s lips curved into that smile I remembered all too well, the one that preceded his most painful experiments. My skin crawled as he took a step toward me.

“Subject Five is quite valuable to my research,” he said, voice smooth as silk. “As are you. Together, you’ve helped me uncover secrets of ancestral memory and bloodline magic that no one else has ever documented.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I said, holding my ground despite the fear churning in my stomach.

Fenvalur sighed, as if explaining to a dimwitted child. “He is a conduit. A rare individual whose connection to the temporal streams allows access to ancestral memories. Your ancestral memories, to be specific.”

I glanced at the unconscious masked figure. Something about him tugged at me—a familiarity I couldn’t place.

“Why my memories?” I demanded. “What makes me so special to you?”

“Your Moon Mark, of course.” Fenvalur gestured to the Mirror behind him.

“The Starforged Mirror reveals truths hidden by time. When I discovered its capabilities, I needed subjects with unique magical signatures to test its full potential.” His eyes gleamed with academic fervor.

“Your mark isn’t just powerful, Senara. It’s ancient.

Far older than you, and it’s been growing with each iteration. ”

Thorn shifted beside me, tension radiating through our bond. “We’re taking the Mirror and leaving,” he said firmly.

Fenvalur laughed. “Are you? And how do you propose to do that?”

Before Thorn could answer, the masked prisoner stirred, lifting his head slightly. Though still weak from Fenvalur’s magic, he managed to rasp out words that chilled me to the bone.

“The Moon Mark means nothing by itself. You were meant to unite—” the prisoner whispered, his words cutting off as a hacking cough overtook him.

Fenvalur’s face contorted with rage. He raised his hand, magic crackling at his fingertips, ready to silence the prisoner again.

Without thinking, I lunged forward. “Don’t touch him!”

My mark flared to life, moonlight spilling from my skin in waves. The power surged through me, stronger than I’d ever felt it before, responding to my desperate need to protect this stranger who somehow knew my past.

The magic erupted from me like a tidal wave. My mark blazed so brightly that the room filled with silver-blue light, casting stark shadows against the domed walls. Fenvalur staggered backward, shielding his eyes from the intensity of my power.

“Impossible,” he gasped. “The mark shouldn’t respond this way unless?—”

The masked prisoner’s chains shattered as my magic washed over him. He slumped forward, catching himself on his hands, his silver mask gleaming in the light of my mark.

Thorn was at my side instantly, his hand on my shoulder, steadying me as the magic continued to pour from my skin. Through our bond, I felt his awe and concern mingling with my shock.

“Senara,” he whispered, “your mark is responding to him.”

Fenvalur recovered quickly, his clinical detachment giving way to undisguised excitement. “Fascinating! The resonance patterns are stronger than I expected. This confirms my theory about bloodline connections.”

“Shut up,” I snarled, keeping my focus on the masked prisoner, who was slowly pushing himself to his knees. “Who are you? What do you know about my mother?”

The prisoner raised his head, and even through the mask, I felt the weight of his gaze. Slowly, with trembling hands, he reached up and removed the silver mask.

“No!” Fenvalur shouted, lunging forward.

But he was too late. The mask fell away, revealing a face that made my heart stop.

He had my eyes. My exact eyes.

The man’s face was gaunt, marked with scars and signs of long suffering, but the resemblance was unmistakable. The same high cheekbones, the same curve of the brow…

“My name,” he said, his voice steadier now, “is Sebastian Cira, rightful king of the Sun Court. And I am your father.”

My knees nearly buckled beneath me. The room seemed to tilt as I stared at the man claiming to be my father. A father I’d never known. The father I’d been told was dead.

“That’s impossible,” I whispered, though the evidence was right before my eyes. Our shared features couldn’t be coincidence.

Sebastian, my father, struggled to his feet, still weak from the chains. “I’ve waited so long to see you,” he said, his voice breaking. “When I felt your presence enter this place, I thought I was hallucinating again.”

Fenvalur’s face had transformed from scientific curiosity to calculating fury. “This reunion is touching, but premature. Subject Five’s delusions have clearly affected you, Senara.”

“Stop calling him that,” I snapped, my mark still pulsing with energy. “His name is Sebastian.”

“And he is a dangerous prisoner,” Fenvalur countered smoothly. “One who attempted to overthrow the Sun Court years ago. A traitor who was sentenced to containment rather than execution only because of his status and unique magical signature.”

Sebastian’s laugh was bitter. “Is that the story they tell now? That I tried to seize power?” He turned to me, his eyes, my eyes, pleading. “I tried to protect your mother. To protect you. When I discovered?—”

“Enough!” Fenvalur’s hand slashed through the air, sending a wave of binding magic toward Sebastian.

Without thinking, I threw myself between them, my mark flaring defensively. The magic dissipated against my shield.

“You will not touch him again,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.

Thorn moved to flank Sebastian, his expression grim but determined. “We’re leaving,” he said. “All of us. And we’re taking the Mirror.”

Fenvalur’s face twisted with rage as he realized he was losing control of the situation. His hands moved in complex patterns, summoning a wall of crackling energy between us and the Mirror.

“You have no idea what you’re doing,” he hissed, eyes wild with desperation. “That man is not who you think?—”

I didn’t let him finish. There was no way I was going to trust the man who experimented on me against my will.

My mark blazed across my skin as I channeled its power, sending a blast of moonlight toward him. The force knocked him back against his workbench, scattering papers and vials.

“Thorn, get Sebastian out of here!” I called, keeping my eyes fixed on Fenvalur.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Thorn move swiftly to Sebastian’s side. My father, the word felt strange even in my thoughts, was still weak from what appeared to be years of imprisonment, barely able to stand on his own.

Fenvalur recovered quickly, sending a barrage of energy bolts toward me. I dodged, rolling behind a cabinet as the magic scorched the floor where I’d stood.

“You were always my most promising subject,” he called, his voice eerily calm despite the violence of his attacks. “You can be again. I would even be willing to father a child with you to restore you to the good graces of the Moon Court.”

The thought of being his experiment again, of carrying a child he forced on me, made my blood boil and my stomach turn. I emerged from cover, my hands weaving a counter-spell I’d learned from Wyn. The moonlight from my mark coalesced into a shimmering shield.

Behind me, I heard the sounds of struggle as Thorn fought to free Sebastian from the remaining magical restraints. The clang of metal and grunts of exertion told me he was facing resistance, likely automated defensive spells Fenvalur had placed on his prisoner.