Page 42

Chapter 41

My Gilded Cage

Silvana

“C ome along, Silvie. I’ve been waiting, little dove. Should I get Cora instead? Do not look at me unless I will it so. You will kneel here until I tell you otherwise. I expect an heir from you, nothing else. You don’t deserve love.”

I had to squeeze the reins on my horse and let out a slow steady breath to keep from reacting to the male in front of me.

“Breathe, my ice queen. I’m right here. You’re not alone ,” I heard through the bond. His deep, gravelly voice brought me back to the present and I felt myself relax somewhat. I could feel the anger radiating from him, and I knew he could feel my shock and anxiety.

My brain was still trying to catch up when I realized Keres and Paine were speaking to each other, but I still couldn’t fully grasp what was being said. It was as if all the scenes of my nightmares were sliding back into their appropriate slots of my timeline.

“There are still blank spots, but also a lot of it isn’t blank anymore, Raiden. I-I remember him,” I whispered, my voice feeling uneven.

“You will not be staying. You don’t even have to speak to him if you don’t wish to, darling,” he replied.

I nodded my head in agreement and tried to focus on what was being said beyond the two of us. Cedar had shifted before we’d come through the gates and was now perched on my leg. As if he could pluck Keres’s eyes out if need be, he just had to stay between us to ensure my safety.

“What are you trying to say, Paine?” Keres asked.

“I’m trying to say, that one of your inner circle is responsible for a full-on rebellious group who were kidnapping female vampires and humans, forcing them to try to procreate and using them as blood bags,” Paine said simply.

Keres eyes narrowed on Paine. “Maybe we should have your party join us inside where we can discuss this over a nice meal, instead of out in the blistering wind and cold. Give your horses a break.”

He turned to the side and flourished his arm toward the entrance as if to be a welcoming host. My skin crawled at the thought of walking into this castle, but I knew there was no way around it. I wouldn’t let Raiden go in without me, or Cedar. I wanted to see Viktor fully punished for his crimes. I wanted to know if Keres was involved.

So, I pushed myself off my horse with Cedar now on my shoulder, took Raiden’s hand in my own, and I walked into the place that used to be my gilded cage.

* * *

O nce again, this place left me speechless and feeling trapped all at the same time. Raiden had told me how it looked in his dreams. I remembered bits and pieces from my own. However, the real thing was simply too much.

Everywhere I let my eyes wander, it was gold. Gleaming. Intense. And somehow still bleak. But it wasn’t just the look of it all, the energy here felt raw and unnatural.

We entered the immense-sized round room with the domed ceiling Raiden had told me about. The beige curtains hung haphazardly around the open windows, and a few chaises spread throughout. Visions of this room came back to my mind.

“You removed the pillows,” I muttered before I could think better of it.

Everyone in the room stopped and stared at me, but Keres’s gaze was cutting. There was a flash of rage in his eyes that I’d seen many times before, but it was gone before I could be sure it had been present at all.

Raiden squeezed my hand briefly.

“Quite the female you have there, Raiden. I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” Keres said, his voice glowing—ever the perfect host.

“She’s my mate and my queen,” Raiden replied. Nothing about his tone gave way to how much he hated this male.

Keres stared at us, the rage back in his eyes, this time less contained. “Your mate? The Fates have blessed you both. I hate to say that I am quite jealous. Sometimes I feel as if that is what my life truly lacks. Love. Family.” He shrugged as if this was to be expected from his mouth. “Anyway, I’m very happy for you both. I know Paine has been equally as blessed, although I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting his lovely female as of yet.”

“Ah, yes, she doesn’t fare well in the colder climates, I’m afraid,” Paine said.

Viktor was standing off to the side of us right now, still bound in Raiden’s shadows. Keres hadn’t even acknowledged his male yet. I was curious to see how Viktor felt about that. He hadn’t attempted to speak since we’d entered the Court of Ice. Almost as if, again, he expected this to be his end. As if Keres had prepared him.

“So, Keres. Is this your male, or not?” Raiden asked, cutting to the chase.

Keres looked over at Viktor for a moment, a malicious smile curling his lips. “I’m afraid I’ve never seen him before, Raiden. What are his crimes again? Do you wish to see him executed?”

Raiden started explaining the Eternal Outcasts and their crimes in the other three courts, not pausing once to answer questions.

“Have either of you spoken to Oren?” Keres asked, an eyebrow arched. His eyes told me he knew the answer already. It was confusing already seeing and knowing what every expression on his face meant. As if my subconscious fell right back into what it was like to know this male.

“He’s been unreachable as of late,” Paine said.

Keres nodded his head. “Well, we’ve all heard what trouble his court has been facing lately. Maybe it was his doing?” Keres shrugged. “Either way, I’m not sure I can help you. I haven’t had any issues in my court that have been brought to my attention, but then again, I run a tight ship here, so I can’t say I’m surprised.” He smirked, the arrogance dripping off his entire body.

I felt the shadows leaking from Raiden’s body before I was able to see them. They slithered across the floor and up Viktor’s body. The male didn’t move a muscle as the shadows went into his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears and dissolved his bones, organs, and then his skin in a matter of moments. Raiden never broke eye contact with Keres as he killed Viktor—quickly and painfully. As if he was sending Keres a message from all of us.

“Well, now that that nasty business is taken care of, let’s have a meal. Shall we?” Keres asked, a bright smile on his face. “Might as well have a bit of fun since you came all this way for no reason.”

He stood from his chair and walked through the pile that used to be Viktor and down a hallway.

“I think we’re supposed to follow him,” Bastian said quietly.

“Lovely. Can’t wait,” Paine muttered.

Cedar squawked from where he was still perched on my shoulder, his wings fanning out for a moment as he drove his talons into my shoulder.

“Ow, Cedar, fuck,” I muttered, tapping his back. “We hear you.”

Just then a female walked out from where Keres had disappeared to, and my heart stopped as I jumped to my feet. Cedar flew from my shoulder and circled her a few times before returning to my shoulder.

“Keres will see you in the dining room now, and then I will show you to your rooms,” she stated. Her voice was just as gentle and ethereal as I remembered. She looked around the room at the males, and her eyes stopped on me for a moment before she turned and walked away.

“Cora?” I whispered.

“Come along please,” she replied, her voice now devoid of any emotion. So, I did the only thing I could think of, I followed my sister down the hallway.

* * *

T he meal was uneventful. Keres mostly talked about himself, his court, his plans, and so on. He tried asking Raiden and Paine about their courts, armies, and how things were going, but he was politely shut down.

He offered everyone a human to snack on, as he called it, and we all politely declined and consumed from glasses instead. My sister had disappeared the moment we entered the dining room, which was more like a lounge where you laid about than where you ate a meal. She hadn’t looked at me once since that first moment. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

Should I be hurt? Angry? I was more devastated than anything. Devastated over the fact that she was still here, and I had no idea how to bring her with me. To get her out of this cage. Maybe she didn’t even want to come. Maybe she hated me for leaving her here.

I tried not to think like that, but it was hard given her reaction had been that of seeing a stranger for the first time. No emotion. No attachment. Nothing.

“So, tell me about yourself, Silvie,” Keres stated.

I dropped my glass to the stone floor in an act of pure consternation. The glass shattered at my feet, leaving behind a puddle of blood that reminded me much of my past life I’d left behind in these walls.

I could feel the shadows aching underneath Raiden’s skin, and I reached over and grabbed his arm. I was fine. I was okay. I wasn’t going to break like my glass did on the floor beneath my feet. I wasn’t going to break like he expected me to.

“I’m sorry about your glass, Keres, the blood goes straight to my head sometimes, you know?” I said, a fake smile aching on my face, and his name tasting like ash in my mouth.

He nodded in reply. “I know exactly what you mean.”

The conversation quickly diverted away from me and my clumsiness , and before I knew it, another female I didn’t recognize was showing us to rooms for the evening. She’d shown us to three rooms on the same level, but before I could even worry about being away from the rest of our friends, they were all in the room with us.

Cedar quickly shifted back to his vampire form and looked around at the males surrounding me.

“We’ll take shifts in pairs to keep watch. One at the window and one at the door,” Bastian whispered. “Speak in low tones, we don’t know who’s listening. Nothing you don’t want them to know, just to be on the safe side.”

The four of us nodded in agreement, and Bastian and Paine took the first watch.

Raiden and I laid on the bed atop the blankets, my head on his chest and his arm wrapped tightly around me.

“How do you feel about Cora, My Queen?” Raiden asked gently.

I looked up at him, tears brimming my eyes. “ Lost. Confused. Concerned. Part of me hoped she wasn’t here, Raiden. I’d hoped she’d escaped. But she didn’t. She’s been here the entire time without me there to protect her. What kind of sister does that make me?”

“You’re here now, Silvana. You remember now. You know now. Let’s go from there. We’ll figure it out, okay?” he said.

I nodded my head in agreement and curled around him tighter, smiling as a few of his shadows escaped and curled around me as well.

It wasn’t long before sleep took me.

* * *

I was limping through the snow.

“Come on, Silv, don’t stop now,” a feminine voice whispered from next to me.

I looked at the figure beside me, her shape slowly coming into focus. She had her arm wrapped around me, my arm over her shoulders, stumbling through the deep snow that seemed to be melting as we walked. I couldn’t see very well. Everything looked like foggy shapes and colors.

“Where are we going?” I asked her. My voice sounded strange—gargled.

“You have to leave, Silv, or he’s going to kill you. We just have to get you over the border into another court and you’ll be safe. You’ll move on and live your life. Leave me behind, and I’ll protect you.”

I could smell the salty tears on her cheeks. The soft scent of oranges and some sort of flower coming from her. I knew that smell just like I knew her voice. But something was wrong with my mind because I didn’t know who she was.

“It’ll be scary, I know. But it’s going to be okay. I promise. I made sure of it. No one will come after you. You trust me, right, Silv?” she pleaded.

I felt myself nod. I trusted her. This female I couldn’t remember. I knew I trusted her. I just didn’t know why.

I sat up in bed, gasping for air. Raiden was there, hands on my shoulders, whispering calming words into my ear.

“Are you okay, My Queen?” he whispered.

“Sh-she—she was the one who brought me out,” I replied, tears now running down my face. “She got me out of this prison, Raiden. She risked herself and got me out so he didn’t kill me.”

“Who did, Silvana?” he asked. I looked around and noticed they were all staring at me.

Cedar with a look of sadness, as if he already knew. Paine and Bastian with looks of confusion.

“Cora. She got me out of the castle when he tried to kill me… b-but I think… no, I know she’s the reason I couldn’t remember. She wanted me to forget,” I told him. The look in his eye shifted from pain and concern to something darker.

“She left you defenseless?” Cedar chided. I looked up at him as he started pacing the room.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions when we don’t have all the facts,” Bastian reasoned. Times like this reminded me why Bastian was the leader of Raiden’s armies. The sounding board of reason.

Raiden let out a long breath and Cedar shook his head, walking to the other side of the room. He was guarding the window when he turned to look at all of us.

“I’m staying behind,” he told us.

A tight feeling began in my chest. “What? Why?” I asked before anyone else could speak.

“Someone needs to keep watch and see what’s truly going on here. Someone needs to be the eyes and ears, Silv. I have nothing holding me anywhere. I’m a ghost no one will notice or watch.” He shrugged.

I got up from the bed and wrapped my arms tightly around him. “You’re not a ghost. You’re my best friend.”

He buried his face in my hair and whispered, “I have to do this, Silv. I can’t let this monster continue on with what he did to you. We need proof. Let me save you like you saved me.”

I nodded my head and then walked back to sit by Raiden.

“The sun is setting soon, let’s get our things together and get out of this ice-cold hell,” Raiden muttered.

As I gathered my small bag of things, all I could think about was the anxious pit in my stomach that had been telling me nothing would be the same after this. That leaving my best friend here would change everything for us.