Page 260 of The Queen’s Shadow

Nytara? Was dat why she nah intercept us on our way? Shi already here?

I didn’t understand the feeling of betrayal that coursed through me. She was the enemy, she always had been. I had been plotting to kidnap her myself if we had crossed paths with her again. But still…somehow, deep inside, it felt wrong that she was against us. Even without my magick, I could feel the snap of the slavery bond burning against her and knew that she wasn’t in control of her own actions, but now I wondered if that even mattered.

Never in a million years would I have suspected Princess Niahmara, with her kind smiles and her warm greetings. We had freed her and she had still turned against us. Maybe I was just a fool for always trying to see the good in people.

“Release us!” Jeremy roared. He slammed into the steel bars so hard I winced. “Give me back my daughter! Please, she’s just a kid!”

I met Nytara’s cold, emotionless gaze and she shook her head in disappointment.

She disappointed in me.

It felt like she was mad at me for getting caught.

“I am sorry.” Princess Niahmara whispered to Jeremy. “She has my mate. She said she would torture him, and I would never see him again, unless I gave her your daughter.”

Jeremy backed away from the bars, running his hands through his salt and pepper hair in horror.

“No, no, no, no.” He murmured.

I narrowed my eyes on the princess in rage. She was a coward. If the roles had been reversed, and Ash Nevra had told Raven she would return Amon in exchange for Niahmara, Raven would have never conceded.

“Yuh a pathetic fool.” I snarled at the princess. “She neva gon return Prince Caspian tuh yuh. She gon torture him anyway, and now yuh hand over di one person who could have saved him!”

“I can’t take that risk. You don’t understand.” She said, and for some reason, it seemed important to her, that I believed she was an innocent victim in all this.

I reached for my magick again, furious that it was beyond me. “Mi do understand. Mi understand dat yuh a weak minded traitor!” I shouted. “What have yuh done tuh mi? Where mi magick?” I shouted and Niahmara looked even more guilty.

That’s when it hit me.

The wine. It had been spiked with voidseed.

“It will come back, though you drank enough that it will take a while. Several hours, maybe a day. It’s hard to know without knowing exactly how much of it you drank.”

I clenched my fists at my sides.

“When dat time come, yuh gon pay fah dis.” I threatened, and she gave me an apologetic look.

“By the time that happens, there will be nothing left of her to save.” She said sadly, before turning away. “Come, Nytara. The Queen has requested an audience.”

The Siren shot me a look, but said nothing as she followed the princess out of the caves, leaving me alone with Jeremy.

I spun around to find him pacing back and forth, he was biting on his knuckle, clearly trying to come up with a plan.

“We have to get out of here.” He said suddenly, and I nodded. That much was obvious.

“How? Mi nah have mi magick.” I pointed out, and he stopped pacing, rolling his head on his shoulders.

“We’ll have to do this without magick. If we get out of here, we can sneak back to the rooms. I’ll grab my gun and you can get Bond Breaker. Do you think you can take the tall one with the sword? I’ll have to take out the princess from afar so she can’t knock us out again.”

I mulled this over. I wasn’t sure if I was good enough to take out Nytara with a sword, but it was worth a shot. If she had The Flute, at least it wouldn’t work on me right now. I was at a disadvantage without my magick, but weirdly enough, the opportunity to execute our earlier plan to get The Flute from her seemed to be presenting itself.

“Mi can try. If mi can get Di Flute back from har, dey nah stand a chance. Wi can make dem tell us where tuh find Rayven.”

“Great, now we just need to get out of here.” Jeremy said, and I nodded.

“Yeah. Just dat small issue.”

Jeremy gave me a once over, and I could nearly see the wheels in his mind turning.