Page 45 of The Lies of Lena (The Otacian Chronicles #1)

Chapter Forty-Four

M y meal was amazing. The chicken I was given was surprisingly tender, and the rice and vegetables on the side had been seasoned nicely. Considering everything I had eaten up until this point had been bland and super spaced apart, I was especially grateful for Roland's act of kindness.

As I was finishing up with the last bites, Silas came back, shutting the door quietly behind him.

“We will leave in the night,” he said quietly as he approached.

I raised a brow. “We?”

“Yes, we.” He exhaled through his nose. “My betrayal would be found out at some point, and if not me, other innocent men would be the ones to suffer for it. It will be myself, Edmund, Hendry, and my wife who will join you.”

I blinked. Over and over.

“They’re all on board with this?” I asked skeptically .

He nodded.

”And what, you just plan on living with my people and pretending like you aren’t the Prince of Otacia?”

“No. I plan on helping you accomplish what you are meant to.”

“What, saving all of Magekind?” I replied humorlessly.

Instantly, my stomach dropped when my words registered.

“It will be Silas who determines the fate of Magekind. It has been seen.”

Torrin's words from all those years ago…could this be what Igon saw?

Silas didn't respond to my comment. “I will need you to make a distraction. One you have done before,” Silas continued, and when I frowned, he said, “A fire.”

Silas told me the entire plan. When night fell, I would be the first uncuffed. I would go to the Western Wing and start multiple fires, the last creating a wall to block the soldiers from stopping our escape out of the Eastern Wing. Silas would be with me while Hendry ushered out my people.

I stood up and put a hand on my hip. “Why help? This will be seen as treason.”

“I am well aware,” he said.

“You won’t be able to return home.”

“I want to make this very clear. I am not doing this for you.” He looked me over, then continued. “I wish to take the throne from my father.”

My eyes widened, and my arms slacked at my sides. “What?” I whispered .

He crossed his arms. “I have considered it for a long time. He is still young and in good health. He could reign for decades still.”

“Are you saying you wish to kill your father?”

He cocked his head to the side, studying me for a moment before continuing. “More or less, yes.”

“How will your people see that?”

I wanted the King dead more than anyone. But if Silas was the one to do it, I worried how his people would take to him afterward. I cannot imagine Silas being a more vicious leader than his father, but if he ended his father in such a way…perhaps they’d fear that.

He scoffed. “You’re acting as if you don’t want him dead yourself.”

“No, I just—”

“Can’t picture me doing something so violent, Flower?”

I stiffened at the sound of a nickname I hadn’t heard in so long. However, instead of it being laced with sweetness and desire, it was laced with bitterness. Still, it affected me the same.

“I don’t want you to have to live with something like that,” I said quietly.

Darkness flickered in his eyes. “I live with much worse every day, Lena. Regicide would be the least of the horrors.”

I wanted to ask what he meant, but I couldn’t find it in me.

“No matter,” he continued. “Our first job is to gather support. There are territories down east that have resisted Otacia’s control. My father has made it clear he wishes to conquer them.”

“And you? ”

He shook his head. “Otacia doesn’t need any more land. We need allies. I suspect these territories will be willing to join our cause if it meant Ulric was no longer King.”

I stared down at the ground. It was risky, but Silas had to have considered this plan in advance. I knew the kingdoms of Faltrun, Forsmont, and Wrendier had resisted Otacia’s command and remained independent to this day. But still…

“Why now, of all times?”

“Having the Mages on my side would be a big help.”

I scoffed incredulously. “You expect the Mages to support you?”

He shrugged. “I would lift the kill order. Mages would be welcome in the kingdom. Why wouldn’t they support that?”

“You’re telling me this grand idea just came out of the blue? Silas, the Slayer of Witches, is suddenly willing to provide refuge after all these years of slaughter? Why not kill your father sooner?”

His jaw clicked, and I just watched him as his eyes bounced between mine, as if debating what to say.

“Because nothing separated me from him before,” he said quietly. “And there was never hope of any support. Sure, the territories would be a big help. But…not enough.” His golden eyes burned into me. “But your people, if there really is more of you, it could change everything.”

I bit my lip, looking at the floor again for a few moments before gazing back at him. “I don’t know if the Mages will support you after everything you've done.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Would you support me?”

I crossed my arms. “You know that isn’t the same.”

He laughed through his nose. “Why are you trying to talk me out of this decision? ”

“I’m not.”

He smirked, his eyes trailing over me again. “I have a feeling you will be persuasive when it comes to your people’s support of me.”

I stared at him for a moment. “How can I trust your word? That you will follow through with what you say and won’t be yet another ruler that criminalizes my people?”

His smile faltered. “You don’t have many options other than trusting me.”

My heart sank. That much was true. There was so much to consider. For all I knew, he could be warning his men, saying he was pretending and using me to find where the rest of my people were. I can’t imagine him doing so…but still. I would have to be cautious and keep my eyes on him at all times. Merrick being able to tell if he’s lying would come in handy, too…

I sighed. “I suppose I don’t.” I stared at the cuffs on my wrists. “Will you release everyone from these?”

“I will have them separated, but I won’t fully have them removed until we are farther away, in case anyone wishes to defy you.”

Defy me…not him.

“I have to escort you back now,” he continued. “I don’t want to raise any more suspicion than I already have.”

I nodded and slowly stood, and Silas lightly held my arm as we left the room.

I was led back to a different cell this time, passing the one I was in prior. As we drifted past, I glanced inside to see servants scrubbing what appeared like a lot of blood from the ground. I felt uneasy, first from picturing what Silas had done to those men and second from what they had done to me. I tensed, tears beginning to build.

“I made sure they suffered,” he said quietly, and I looked at him, his vision fixed on the destination ahead.

“I’m sorry you had to do that,” I whispered.

He froze, turning to me with darkened eyes and controlled anger.

“I enjoyed doing it. Do not be sorry.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, and Silas turned his gaze forward.

My thoughts drifted to when Silas killed those men at Amethyst Pond…how guilt-ridden and ashamed he was. There was no trace of that man here.

But those men of his…I was still not the least bit upset they were dead.

When the new cell door opened, the one I would be staying in, I was surprised to see Merrick and Viola sitting inside.

“Lena?” Merrick asked with wide eyes as he rose to his feet.

I ran in and hugged him, him unable to return the gesture as his cuffs were still linked together.

“You’re looking much better,” he said with relief.

I wasn’t sure if the two of them knew the extent of what had happened to me. If they did, they did not say .

Silas cleared his throat as he entered and shut the door behind him as I pulled away from Merrick.

“Share the plan with them…quietly,” he whispered, nodding towards the open window in the cell door.

“What plan?” Viola questioned in a low voice, eyes like daggers as they beheld the Prince.

I gave them both the rundown of our plan—how Silas would be helping our escape, how I was to create a distraction, and how Silas had ulterior motives in gaining our people’s approval.

“This has to be a trap,” Viola let out a dry laugh as she paced the room, then paused to glare at Silas. “Why would you be willing to do all this? After years and years of harming Mages, slaughtering us—” She shook her head, then faced me. Her violet eyes offered no warmth. “I hope you know what you are doing. What you are signing us up for.” Her gaze shot to Silas. “I don’t know how you’ve managed to make her trust you, but if you so much as try anything that makes me believe you a liar, I will kill you.”

Silas narrowed his eyes, and Viola looked at me. “I do not care if you order me to stop. I do not care if you get harmed in the process either, Lena. Not when it comes to our people.”

I kept my shoulders high. Viola was always more of a leader than I was. She was extroverted and confident and always helped with any conflict that arose in our village, petty as they were. If anything, it would have made more sense if she had been named Supreme.

“I will gladly accept harm to me if I have this wrong—if the Prince betrays us.” I turned to him, his eyes flickering with an emotion I couldn’t decipher .

“The good thing, Vi, is that I can always tell if he’s lying,” Merrick remarked, a sinister smirk on his face.

Silas crossed his arms. “Not that it matters, but you have my word,” Silas promised.

Viola just huffed and sat back down on the stone bed while Silas turned to me.

“I will be back in a few hours when it is time.”

“Okay,” I nodded. He stared at me for a moment more before walking up to Merrick, who stiffened.

“Allow me?” Silas asked, gesturing to his cuffs. Merrick hesitated but held out his arms. Silas held his fingerprint and separated the device, allowing Merrick to move his hands freely. He didn’t say thank you.

Silas started to leave when Viola spoke. “What about me?”

He turned, slight amusement in his eyes. “Can I trust you not to swing at my face?”

She gave him a mocking smile. “I can never be sure with a face so punchable present.”

The corner of his lip went up, and to Viola’s surprise, he separated her cuffs, too. She was examining her wrists as he exited the room, giving me a glance before shutting and locking the door behind him.

“Where exactly are we going, Lena?” Merrick whispered.

We sat beside each other on the other stone bed, opposite Viola, who was now lost in thought.

“Mount Rozavar,” I said as quietly as possible. “Not many know there is a family of Mages living atop it. Mages with excellent skills.” I smiled softly. “Igon made sure to tell me of the place. This must be why. It’s no coincidence the mountain is close by. ”

Merrick gave me a slanted smile. “Seers.”

I smiled bigger and rested my head on Merrick’s shoulder, his head then resting atop mine.

“How did you know it’s near?” he asked.

“When they showed me a map on the road—and before you ask, no, I did not tell him where it was. I didn’t even mention where I planned to take all of us.”

“A lot of this is wild to me, Lena, but…I trust you.”

I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I appreciate it,” I murmured, then hesitated with the next part. I lifted my head up. “Igon also mentioned how the mountain dweller’s wife was born without an arm…and how he was able to enchant a prosthetic to work like the real thing.”

To that, Viola sprang up. “You’re joking.”

I shook my head. “I can’t help but think that information was for Edmund.”

When I turned to Merrick, his icy eyes were wide.