Page 56 of Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2)

Chapter 56

Matthias

G eneral Isa’s footsteps had barely stopped echoing down the hallway after locking me back in my cell when Sera hissed out a question.

“You’ve already slept with her, haven’t you?”

I leaned my head back against the cold stone wall and smirked, even though she couldn’t see my face from her cell next to mine. Raven could, though, and she sniggered. I shrugged at her and responded to my sister.

“With the general? She’s not really my type.”

My sister let out an exaggerated sigh. “You know who I mean.”

“It’s not nice to speak about Raven while she’s sitting right here, Sera.”

Sera, growling, kicked the iron gate of her cell hard—at least, I assumed she kicked it. For all I knew she might have thrown her whole body against it, though that seemed unlikely.

“All these evasive answers just prove your guilt, brother.”

I chuckled under my breath. “Could never hide anything from you for long, sister.”

“It’s going to come back and bite you in the ass,” she warned.

“Some of us like that sort of thing,” I joked, but she didn’t react at all. I turned idly toward Raven, who was shaking her head at me, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. “Can you blame me? I mean, I’m not one to kiss and tell?—”

“You mean, fuck or tell ,” Sera muttered, but I ignored her.

“When a female like that shows up in your room, it’s hard to decline.”

Raven eyed me for a moment and then lifted a shoulder. “And you didn’t instigate any of it?”

“Calla isn’t one you want to instigate, honestly. I merely did as I was told,” I said, omitting the part where I’d stepped out of the bath to keep her from leaving.

“You choose now to learn how to take orders?” Sera asked, still bitter.

“I’ll have you know, sister, I’ve been taking orders from Connor for years without issue.”

“And did he tell you to sleep with his dead brother’s wife?”

Ouch.

“Not in so many words.” Raven shot me a sharp look, and I corrected, “Okay, no, not at all. But he’s usually okay with me doing what needs to be done.”

Sera scoffed. “I doubt he will see her as needed to be done .”

Raven laughed quietly before shifting to sit on her knees near the bars of her cell. “Matthias? What will she do to us?”

Now that was the question my sister should have been focused on. “I asked her to release you,” I explained, but my voice wavered a bit, lacking conviction.

“Doubt she’ll listen to you—even if you screwed her,” Sera said, her tone losing some of its edge and coming out more exhausted than angry now.

“We’ve already established that I did, so no need for the if there,” I noted over my shoulder. Turning back to Raven, I frowned. “She can’t release you easily, because you did break the law; however, her general is smart, fair, caring, and probably the only one Calla will actually listen to. You’ll probably be in here for a while, but that’s better than being dead.”

Sera grumbled.

Raven drew in a long breath and muttered, “Guess I might as well get comfortable. Goodnight.”

Releasing a slow sigh, I shifted myself against the wall, trying to get into a more comfortable position—as if that was possible in a dungeon—and tried to keep the incessant thoughts in my head from ruining the welcome silence. I needed to be ready for the next trial and not stay up all night worrying about whether Calla would spare Sera and Raven or how Connor would react to my side activities. No doubt he and Lieke would not be happy.

But no doubt they’d be less happy if I failed.

Yes, it’s always best to look on the bright side.

The next morning, I was woken up, not by the stomping of Isa’s boots or the clanking of the keys in the lock, but by the sharp cramp shooting through my neck and down into my shoulder. I had apparently been spoiled by the luxury of my room upstairs, or perhaps my years were catching up with me. Either way, I felt a pang of guilt following Isa out of my cell while my sister and Raven had to remain. I made a mental note to see if the secret passages might lead down here so I could sneak them each a pillow.

Isa nodded to the lone guard as we stepped past his post at the bottom of the stairs, and Isa didn’t say a word to me until we were out of earshot of him.

“Trial three will be held today. Calla and I both feel it best not to delay.”

“And the Assembly?” I prodded.

Isa shifted her eyes to the ceiling briefly as she shook her head. “They want to observe this next trial, and they all happened to be visiting for the citizens’ forum yesterday, so they requested it be held a bit earlier.”

“How thoughtful of them,” I said with a humorless laugh. We had nearly reached the main floor when I paused and laid a hand lightly on Isa’s arm to stop her. She faced me, concern filling her eyes.

“What is it?”

“How is she?” I asked.

Relief pulled a breath from the general, though it seemed half-hearted. “She’s a bit rattled, to say the least. She’ll be okay though. Everything will be okay.”

I nodded slowly, noticing how her words seemed to be more for her own comfort than mine.

Leaning closer, I lowered my voice into a whisper. “What will become of my sister and Raven?”

“We are working on it,” she said, quickly stealing glances in either direction when she paused. “The utmost care has to be taken to ensure no one can call foul.”

“And releasing me? What’s the official excuse?”

“That will be shared at the trial,” she said, hastily pushing me to keep moving. We navigated the last several flights in silence, and she didn’t speak again until we reached my room at the end of the dark hallway. “Giles should have already drawn a bath for you. Please be down in the family dining room promptly at mid-day.”

Turning in my doorway to face her, I asked, “And will that be the start of the trial? Do I need to bring anything special? A weapon perhaps?”

“No weapons necessary. Just bring yourself.” She bowed her head slightly and plodded back down the hallway.

Not wanting to be late, I arrived at the dining room a bit early to find the Assembly members already seated around the table, along with Phillip and Graham, the latter of whom seemed surprised—and not too happy—to see me. Unlike the last meal we had enjoyed in here, the four male competitors were all seated together, our seats indicated by ornate place markers, with two on either side of the table, near Calla’s seat and Isa’s beside her.

“Good day, Mr. Orelian,” Ursula said, lifting her chin so she could peer down her nose at me despite the fact that I was still standing behind my chair.

Fern—seated beside the prickly female—leaned over slightly and sweetly corrected her. “I believe it’s General Orelian.”

Ursula scowled at her, but I offered a simple smile, nodding my thanks, even as I explained, “I’m no general while competing in these games.”

“How is it you’re still competing?” Warren bit out, making no effort to hide his disdain. “Did you break out of your cell?”

“You’ll have to ask General Marlowe or Her Majesty,” I answered, sliding into my seat across from Graham.

Graham held his usual derisive expression, his initial shock fading into renewed contempt for me. Perhaps my little stunt at the citizens’ assembly negated any good graces I’d secured in the last trial. Was he angry at me for challenging Calla? For protecting the women? Or… was he simply bitter that even that action couldn’t get me disciplined and removed from this competition? Maybe it was all three. It didn’t truly matter. Graham was clearly not going to give me any useful information beyond what I could observe.

“You don’t look happy to see me, Graham,” I said, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of me.

The male’s features didn’t shift aside from a faint twitch of his right eye. “Just surprised to see you.”

“Same,” Phillip said, looking at me sidelong. He nudged my arm with his elbow. “On time, anyway.”

Our laughter—though light—was interrupted by Warren’s scoffing.

“And she claims no favoritism.” He leaned back in his seat and exchanged a knowing look with Graham, who remained silent.

The older advisor, Yuri, did chime in though. “Now, Warren, that’s rather unfair. You may not trust Her Majesty, but her general is the one running the tournament, and surely we can trust her.”

Ursula dropped her elbows hard onto the table and pinned Yuri with one of her vicious glares. “If you think the queen doesn’t have her ruthless fingers in every part of this mockery of a tournament, then you’re as foolish as those humans were yesterday.”

Graham shot to his feet, his chair grating against the stone floor so loudly most of us cringed. “I may no longer be the chief advisor”—he glowered down at Ursula—“but I won’t allow you to speak of your queen in such a way.”

“Settle down, Graham,” Warren cautioned.

“I don’t take orders from you,” Graham said, though he still returned to his seat, where he stewed silently until Korben walked in a few awkward moments later.

He grunted in way of greeting, heading straight for his seat without affording anyone a glance. Once he was seated, though, he spotted me and froze, his hand lifted halfway toward his water glass.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” he spat, not taking his wild eyes from mine.

“Nice to see you too,” I said around a demure smile.

“Seems some are immune to the queen’s deadly outbursts after all,” Ursula stated. “I am curious, General Orelian, how did you convince Her Majesty to spare you?”

“And those women,” Warren added, waving his hand in the air toward the female advisor. “I hear they’re still alive and well down in the dungeon.”

“About as well as one can be in such a place,” I said. “Respectfully, I must defer to General Marlowe and the queen, as it was their decision, though I am incredibly honored that you think me persuasive enough to sway their judgment in my favor.”

“So many words from such an insignificant male,” Korben said.

I shrugged. “I mean, being tied for the lead in this competition seems far from insignificant, especially given how far behind I was in both the first two trials.”

Graham narrowed his eyes and eyed me thoughtfully. “Do you ever think you’ll win a trial by actually performing well in it? Or will you merely get lucky every time?”

“Good questions,” I said, nodding for a bit before continuing. “Though I would argue it takes more than luck to befriend a dragon shifter—and in such a short time, too. I do concede that it may have been pure dumb luck that the general happened to be judging that second trial in such a way. Still, winning by luck is still winning, so I’ll take it.”

“You haven’t won yet,” Phillip noted through his wry grin.

I laughed—the only one in the room to find that funny, apparently. Before I had time to formulate a response, the door opened and Calla strode in with Isa close behind her. Calla merely nodded to the room, not making eye contact with anyone as she took her seat.

Isa remained standing and rested her hand lightly on her chair as she addressed us. “Thank you for being here. Shortly, the staff will be bringing in the mid-day meal. I believe it’s a baked fish and vegetables, with a honey custard for dessert. We ask that you all stay seated following the meal, so I can introduce the third trial. Are there any questions before we eat?”

Korben, Graham, Warren, and Ursula all began to speak at once, but they didn’t manage more than a couple words each as Isa snapped her hand up to stop them.

“Yes, General Orelian remains in the competition. Despite your request that the citizens’ forum be akin to a trial, it was still not an official one. As the primary adjudicator of these games, I have personally assessed the situation. While the general did challenge the queen—at considerable risk, I might add—we are not here to select a king who will agree with Her Majesty all the time, even if she might prefer that. Arenysen needs a ruling pair who can work together, who complement each other, and whose strengths offset the others’ weaknesses. The general’s actions yesterday may have, on the surface, seemed out of line, but I found it admirable that he would risk disagreeing with Her Majesty in order to save others.”

“To save spies, you mean,” Warren hissed.

Isa’s sharp eyes swung to the male, narrowing on him. “Were you not one advocating for proper trials? Of all on the Assembly, I would expect you to appreciate the general’s actions in demanding a hearing for the accused.”

Graham lifted a hand, but didn’t bother to wait for Isa’s approval before he spoke. “While I agree we want a king willing to challenge Calla as needed, doing so in front of so many yesterday was less than ideal.”

Isa nodded slowly. “Agreed. Normally I would prefer for these disagreements to be addressed privately before being debated before the public; however, as tense and”—she glanced down at Calla almost apologetically—“volatile as the situation was, I believe the general acted accordingly to stop further bloodshed.”

Ursula cleared her throat. “Thank you for that explanation, general. I believe that will suffice.” She glanced around at her fellow advisors, who all gave nearly imperceptible dips of their chins. “Now, let’s eat before the fish becomes overcooked and inedible.”