Page 26 of Redemption (Deliverance Duet #2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Iris

W e wait in silence as the king watches us. Blaise is by my side, and Ciaran is still wrapped around me, holding me close. The pressure of his embrace is actually keeping me calm.

I try to feel for Alaric, reaching for our bond. It felt muted before, and even now, I struggle to feel much from him.

His bond smacks into me before I see him, the clanking of chains and shuffling feet echoing through the corridor that leads to us. Whatever was muting his bond has been lifted, and if Ciaran wasn’t holding me, I would have been physically knocked back. Nausea washes over me, and I realise it was a blessing I’ve not been able to feel his bond fully before now. It pulses in my head, flickering in and out. I would have been driven to madness knowing how much Alaric needed me.

A group of guards pulls a figure into the room, his hair a mess and clothes torn. He doesn’t fight them, his steps stumbling like he’s struggling to hold up his own weight. The skin on his wrists and ankles are red and raw from his cuffs, and I can’t imagine how painful it must be to move with them rubbing against the open wounds.

He looks nothing like the prince I knew, but my soul recognises his immediately.

“Alaric!” My voice breaks right alongside my heart, my eyes tracking over the shell of the male I love. What did they do to him? He looks both frail and feral at the same time, like a male starved of all sustenance and forced to fight for the smallest scrap of food. Guilt floods me, tightening like a fist around my heart, and I try to remind myself why I didn’t know about this sooner. The muted bond lulled me into a false sense of security, not to mention I was recovering from dying. I knew he was struggling, but I assumed he was locked in his room, not beneath the palace like a prisoner. I didn’t begin to truly worry until Blaise arrived and informed me of how bad things were. Even then, I had no idea…

Excuses. All of these are just useless excuses.

When he hears my voice, his head snaps up and immediately finds me in the room. His pupils narrow as they lock on me, and his whole body seems to change as a predatory manner settles over him.

“Mate.”

His voice is gravelly from lack of use, but it still sends a wave of shivers down my body. My mate instincts rise up, my cheeks flushing as instant and uncontrollable arousal flows through my bloodstream. He scents the change in me instantly. Alaric is poised and prepared to spring forward, but the guards are ready for him and pull tightly on his restraints.

“Ah!” His roar is beastly, the acoustics of the space somehow amplifying it. It might just be my weak knees, but I swear the sound shakes the entire room. “Let me go!” he bellows, straining against the chains holding him. Normally he would be able to escape something as simple as metal restraints, but as I look closer, I see the real reason they still have control over him—iron. The fae are allergic to it. The chains are iron, sapping his strength and burning his skin. No wonder his wrists and ankles looked so sore.

They are poisoning him to keep him under control.

Rage like nothing I’ve ever felt before makes me see red, my newly discovered power surging to the surface. How dare they treat him like this? He is their heir and my mate. Diplomacy has now gone out the window. I might be a human, but the king is about to discover that I am so much more.

“Release him!” I shout as I storm forward, stopping before the wall of magic. It’s invisible, but I can feel it, the energy it’s producing tingling against my skin. If I hadn’t been glaring at the king, I would have missed his look of surprise when I didn’t smack into the magical barrier. He didn’t expect me to sense it.

Raising an eyebrow, he leans back against his desk, shifting his weight and attempting to look calm and in control. “He’s not safe to release. Look at him.”

I don’t look at Alaric, because if I did, I might kill the king for what he’s done to my mate. Alaric’s animalistic snarls and growls are difficult enough to listen to, not to mention his bond, which feels practically feral. If we want to get out of this without starting a war, then I can’t look at my mate, not if I want to stay in control of myself.

The king’s comment ignites my rage, and I jab a finger towards Alaric. “You did this to him!” My brutal accusation doesn’t even make him flinch, so I try to lower my voice. Maybe in his own twisted way he is trying to protect his son. “Only I can bring him back. We are leaving, and he will be safe with me.”

“No.” The word is final, and he isn’t going to change his mind, determination and satisfaction glittering in his eyes. “He is my son.”

He really thinks this is his trump card, and that being his relative makes all of this okay. If anything, the fact that he’s done this to his son makes it so much worse.

"Clearly you don’t give a shit about him,” I snarl through clenched teeth, my hands balled into fists. “A father wouldn’t have sent him on a pointless mission and then lock him away when he tried to find his dead mate—the mate you killed.”

“Uh-oh,” Blaise comments quietly behind me, but that doesn’t stop me from hearing the groan in his voice. I’m about to turn around and ask what’s wrong when a ripple goes through my bond. Icy anger emits from the place our connection sits inside me, freezing everything it touches.

Alaric goes deadly still, and I can’t help but shift my gaze to him. He’s gone from a whirlwind of movement to being as still as a statue, and it’s making the guards wary. I don’t blame them. The calm, deadly anger that settles over him is far scarier than when he was shouting and bellowing. With the stillness of a predator stalking its prey, he slowly lifts his head and pins his father with his gaze.

“You killed my mate.”

I don’t know if he knew before or not, but hearing this aloud has cut through the madness of separation.

Blaise’s comment now makes sense. He knew hearing that his father was the one behind my death would flip a switch in his best friend, and that is exactly what happened.

“Son, you are delirious.” He smiles condescendingly at Alaric, challenging his intelligence as he waves offhandedly at me. “She is alive. See? She stands before us now. They are just trying to confuse you.”

“Liar,” he snarls. Now that we are in such close proximity to each other, he can feel the truth of what happened through our bond.

I make a noise of impatience and wait for the king to acknowledge me. His scowl sends a wave of smugness through me. He does not like that I’m wrecking his plans. “Give me my mate back.”

“No.”

He’s not going to change his mind, so I’m going to have to do something about that.

I’m not sure what drives me to do it, but I raise my hand and press my palm against the magical wall. It shimmers, those blue fragments of power fluttering around and expanding from my touch, creating a blue light that reminds me of water. It feels strange, almost fizzy, and it’s gently pushing back against me. It’s not unpleasant, but I wouldn’t want to touch it for long.

Closing my eyes, I reach inside myself and listen to the voice deep in my mind. Push . Over and over again, I hear the same word. Push . That’s what I do. Opening my eyes, I stare at the king and push against the invisible wall, both physically and with my power. More blue sparks fissure from where I touch, only they look different now, like smashed glass. I tilt my head to one side, challenging the king. I am so close to breaking through, all it needs is another hit and it will crumble. He has a chance to stop this before I demonstrate to his guards that I’m able to break through his barriers.

Alaric has stilled, and from the corner of my eye, I see him watching me with total focus. He believes I can get to him. He believes in me . His father, however, just narrows his eyes, his smirk widening, throwing my challenge right back at me.

Ciaran steps up behind me, pressing his hand to the small of my back in silent support. Even Blaise steps forward. Glancing over, I watch him make a stand against his king, choosing my side.

“You better be able to pull this off now,” he mutters, and if I wasn’t so focused on doing exactly that, then I would chuckle. Instead, I grit my teeth and shove with my magic once more.

Crash .

The sound of glass tinkling to the ground is impossibly loud. I jump back, watching the glittering shards litter the floor. My breath catches in my throat. Somehow, I turned an invisible force into glass and shattered it.

My previous confidence that it would work has fled, and I need to fake it. When I leave here, I want the king to have the impression that I am strong and blessed with magic. If he figures out that I don’t have a clue how to use it, then that will take away from the overall effect. He needs to think twice before trying to hurt me or my mates ever again, because I won’t let him off so easily next time.

Lifting my head high, I let the corner of my mouth flick up in a satisfied smile and step across the invisible boundary, my shoes crunching the glass into the ground. Alaric’s father appears astounded and seemingly lost for words as he looks between where I now stand and the broken glass.

Ciaran and Blaise move with me, guarding my back as I clear my throat to get the king’s attention once more. “Let’s do this peacefully,” I suggest, but I’m not really giving him another option. If he doesn’t hand Alaric over, I will take him by force. “Free Alaric and let us leave safely.”

The tips of the king’s pointed ears turn red, and tension lines his face as he tries to hold back his fury. Seeing my display of magic scared him, and now he’s not sure how much of a threat I am to his rule. He doesn’t know what else I’m capable of, and pushing me further could be disastrous for him.

All I want is to take Alaric away and get out of here, but I’ve bruised the king’s ego. He is not the type of male who takes losing well. After all, he’s a king, and they get anything they want. Only, he’s not getting his way this time, and it’s driving him mad that a puny human has put him in this position.

“He is my son,” he grinds out through clenched teeth.

I shrug like that declaration means nothing. “He’s my mate.”

Ignoring the king, I walk across the space to Alaric. It’s a bold move and shows that I believe I am more powerful than him, when in reality, I watch him from the corner of my eye, terrified that he’s going to order our deaths for the insult. The Fates must be watching over us, though, as he does nothing to stop me.

Alaric is so close now, his scent is hypnotic, and I want to surround myself in it. Although it’s physically painful to do so, I fight the urge to reach out and touch him, as I know I’ll lose control of my senses, and we aren’t out of the woods yet. I breathe through my mouth in an attempt to make it easier, but the bond in my chest doesn’t let up.

Swallowing the lump in the back of my throat, I turn my attention to the guards holding my mate’s chains. They wear thick gloves so they don’t have to touch the iron and risk burning themselves, and although they still hold the restraints, they don’t hold them taut like they did before. Looking at their expressions, I realise they don’t want to be doing this. In fact, they can barely look at Alaric, shame and discomfort written all over their faces. They respect their prince and don’t agree with how he’s being treated, but their king gave them an order.

“Release him,” I demand, but I say it softly, needing to convince them.

The group of guards shuffles uncomfortably, looking at each other in question, and I see several of them glance at the king for guidance. If they didn’t want to free the prince, they would stand strong and not even contemplate disobeying their king, but their actions speak louder than words.

“Don’t look to him.” I need them to focus on me and not get put off by the king’s scowl. “You’ve seen the signs of who I am and how things are changing. You hate that your prince is suffering at the hands of his father, and for what reason? To keep us apart and maintain his image that everything is controlled and perfect.” The words burn with scorn as I gesture widely, unable to keep still. “You know that is false. Your benevolent king has tortured his own son, so do you really think he cares about the rest of the fae?” I need to calm myself down before I get carried away and accidently start a revolution. “Alaric is my mate. He belongs with me.”

The silence that follows my impassioned speech is heavy, and I can see my words settling over the guards. Something shifts in their eyes as they absorb my truth. They no longer shuffle or look to the king. The only movements they make are to glance at one of the guards by Alaric’s shoulder. He wears a golden patch on his tunic that none of the others seem to have, indicating he’s of a higher rank. This fae is watching me very closely, searching my face with an intensity that previously would have made me shy away. Not any longer, not when my mate’s life is on the line. I’m not sure what he’s looking for, my sincerity perhaps?

Raising his hands in front of him, he drops the chains, the metal clanking loudly against the ground. He didn’t just disobey his king, but the way he did it so boldly… he was making a statement. Slowly, one by one, the other guards copy the action and drop the chains.

That’s one hurdle down, now I just need to figure out how to remove them. Fuck, how am I going to get them off? I’d not thought that far ahead, and any notion that Blaise or Ciaran could snap them is out as they are made of iron.

“Lady Iris.”

I glance up at the higher ranked guard and watch as his hand goes to his pocket.

“Stop what you are about to do, soldier,” the king snaps, his voice echoing around the room with the assistance of his magic. “Pick up those chains, and all of this will be forgiven.”

Each and every guard keeps their gaze locked on me, not so much as flinching at the king’s thinly veiled threat, their expressions determined. They have made their decision, and they shall accept the consequences. Movement from the guard pulls my attention back to him, and I spot something glinting in his hand—a key.

The smile I give him is wide and genuine as I take the key from him. “Thank you,” I whisper, making sure he can see how much I mean it before hurrying to unlock Alaric’s bindings.

As soon as the chains clank to the ground, Blaise is by his friend’s side. He says something to the guard who gave me the key, but it’s too quiet for me to hear.

I stare at my mate, not quite believing that he’s free.

“Mate,” Alaric growls, trying to move towards me, his arms extended, yet he’s so weak he sags forward instead.

Gasping, I step forward and catch him, trying to prop him upright and fight the urge to curl up with him in a quiet corner. There will be time for that later once we are safely away from here. Blaise takes one look at the withered figure of his friend draped over me, and his face contorts with despair. Within the blink of an eye, his expression shifts as he seems to make a decision.

“You can chew me out about this later,” he says by way of warning as he nudges me aside, scoops Alaric up into his arms, and starts running towards the doors. He quickly disappears from view.

Ciaran is at my side in an instant, threading his fingers through mine, and starts to pull me towards the exit. “Iris, come, we have to leave.”

“Mate!” Alaric bellows, his voice echoing through the hall, and I start to follow, the pain in his voice making me move before I can even register what I’m doing.

The king pushes away from his desk and gestures towards me. “Stop her. Lock her up!”

The guards move towards me, my breath catching in my throat as they stand between me and the king. After everything that just happened, are they really going to capture me now? My heart pounds so loudly that I hear it in my ears. The guards herd us backwards, but instead of surrounding us, they simply steer us towards the doors.

“Go,” the guard who gave me the key whispers.

They aren’t following orders, they are forming a protective wall between the king and me. As we continue to back away, I see the moment the king realises what’s really happening.

The Seelie king’s face contorts with his rage. “You will regret this.”

Not only did I steal his son, but I broke his magic and made his guards disobey him. If he didn’t want me dead before, then he certainly does now. This won’t be the last time I have to face off against the Seelie king, the certainty of it resonating through me.

Ciaran tugs on my arm, and I know we need to leave before it’s too late. Turning, I hurry from the hall and follow the calls of my injured mate.