Page 262 of The Queen’s Shadow

You have a big night ahead of you.

That usually meant one of my victims would be especially painful for me to torture. After Sabel, each night had been a new nightmare. It was as if she had peeled back the layers of my life, finding daemons I had come to know over the years. She kidnapped them and forced me to punish them for no other reason than they had made the mistake of being loyal to me.

The worst one had been a young daemon who hadn’t even completed her Quickening yet. She had cried for her mother the whole time.

“My Queen, the princess is ready for you.”

I glanced up to find Nytara standing in the doorway of my cell. Ash Nevra beamed at her and nearly skipped away from me.

“Wonderful!” She stopped in front of Nytara and tapped her full red lips with her index finger, indicating that she wanted a kiss. I watched silently as Nytara clenched her jaw, but obediently bent down to kiss the Queen on the mouth.

“Lock up here, then make sure the rest of our guests are… comfortable.” Ash Nevra cooed, shooting me a mischievous look over her shoulder, before strutting out the door and down the hall.

A beat of silence passed, but Nytara didn’t leave. She looked like she wanted to say something, and was not sure if she should or not.

I slid my hands into my pockets and waited to see what she would do. Finally, she raised her dark eyes to meet mine, her lips pursed.

“I misjudged you.” She whispered. “I can see what hurting those daemons is doing to you.”

I just stared at her. None of this mattered anymore. I didn’t care what Nytara thought of me. I didn’t care about any of it. I would be dead soon and the dark stain of my soul would be scrubbed from this earth. No one would be able to use me as a weapon anymore, and The Dominion would be free of me. My only regret was the pain my death would cause Raven. I only hoped that in time, she would manage to heal.

“They have her.” She said, so quietly I almost missed it.

It felt like the air had been sucked from the room. I tried to take a breath, but my lungs didn’t seem to work.

“What do you mean, they have her?” I rasped, my voice rough from lack of use. I was suddenly in front of Nytara, gripping her by the throat. She didn’t even try to fight me off, she just looked down at me with eyes filled with pity.

“They have your mate. Raven. She was kidnapped last night. I didn’t want you to be blindsided again.”

Blindsided again.

Like with Sabel.

She was going to make me kill her.

The realization hit me so hard I dropped Nytara, stumbling away from her.

She was going to make me kill my mate.

Nytara

Princess Niahmara had always been a weak spined fool. Prince Caspian was marginally better, but he was an enabler. The reason it had taken Envy so long to fall had not been because of any heroic stance made by the reigning monarchs.

It had been because of me, and my ruthless grip on the Obsidian sea. Envy was my home, and after seeing my family failed time and time again by the lazy, inactive monarchs we were forced to live under, I had taken matters into my own hands. After my Quickening, I had begun training.

Nearly all citizens of Envy learned to sail at a young age, but most do not graduate past smaller fishing vessels. I had not been satisfied with tiny fishing boats. I had wanted to command ships.

It took several years, but soon enough, I not only commanded one ship, but a fleet of them. When my brother Niko was born, I had even more reason to ensure the people of my court were fed and cared for. We had lived in poverty for so long and had been forced to depend on the generosity of visiting daemons on luxurious vacations. The daemons of Envy had never known what it was like to thrive. We had always scraped by with barely enough to fill our stomachs.

That all ended, once I launched my pirating ring. That’s what they called us, at least.

Pirates.

I supposed the title was accurate, considering we robbed the rich. Though we rarely kept any of it for ourselves. It all went back to the people of Envy, and fed the poor.

For a hundred long years, my people thrived because of what Niko and I provided, all under the constant condemnation from Princess Niahmara and Prince Caspian. My illegal activities were ‘bad for business.’ So my name was smeared across the other courts, and I soon became the infamous Siren, Pirate of the Obsidian sea.

That had been more than fine with me.