Page 132 of Till Death

He’d been there, then. I glanced down at his hand, searching for a name, but he wore leather gloves, likely to keep his secret. He’d conquered the whole world with his lie. No wonder the Maestro hadn’t shut him down, nor challenged him when he came for Quill. He knew. And he was afraid.

“Andros!” he shouted, sending a jolt of pain through me when I flinched.

The next guard came warily down the steps, each careful move measured. “Yes, Your Grace?”

“You will come and sit in the cell with our precious Maiden. I’m told her will is strong, and I am to break it.”

Nothing made sense to me. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing my vision to focus as weakness in every limb of my body pulled me toward the ground.

“Oh, no. You must stay awake, Maiden. I have so many delicious plans for us.” He gripped me by my hair, tilting my head back until I winced, the pain reverberating through my entire body. “I’d heard you went gallivanting in the temple of Eiria.” He twisted my face, looking into my eyes, but not fully. Instead, at the white lashes, no doubt. “If you kill this man, I will let you sleep and heal.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I mumbled.

The king’s blond hair fell across his brow as he laughed. “Maybe later, sweetheart.” Grabbing my arm, he yanked the black leather sleeve up, dark eyes pinned to the gold band that became his ultimate embarrassment. “I’ve dreamed of this moment.”

As he drew the ax from his side, I screamed, scrambling away, no matter the pain it caused, adrenaline forcing me to unsteady feet. I snatched the spear from where I’d hid it, holding it toward the king, though I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough to impale him. I was hardly able to stand.

The moonlight crept across the cell, the clouds giving way just enough to showcase his sinister smile as he nodded. “The ferocity is inspiring, dear. Come, Andros. I believe she needs a night to sleep on it.”

A foul stench filled my prison as the guard stepped away, walking as if he’d just ridden a horse for three days. He’d shit his pants watching me go for that weapon, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him as he passed over his fallen comrade and followed the king up the stairs.

I stood there for over an hour, muscles trembling for relief, while I stared at the body on the floor, using the weapon that’d broken me as leverage to hold my body up. I needed a plan, and I needed it yesterday. What did forcing me to kill give him? Why would that be important to him? He knew who I was, but what was happening that seemed to be breaking the rules of the world? Orin could kill. Icharius could kill… but he’d specifically called himself a Death Lord when Orin had insisted he wasn’t.

“Deyanira?” Paesha’s voice broke something within me. I couldn’t help the weakening of my stance.

“Here,” I said, the word escaping somewhere between a whisper and a plea.

“Godsdamnit, Thea. Hold the fucking boat still.”

“I’m trying,” Althea answered.

I could almost picture them following Paesha’s magic to the window of my cell, forcing them into a boat because they couldn’t get to me from within the castle. But they’d come. For me. Even when I’d doubted everything I was to them the second I got a chance, they’d still come. Maybe not with Orin, but in spite of him.

“How do we get you out?”

“I’m hurt pretty badly.” I shifted to the window to keep my voice down. “Spear to the side.” I wondered for a second if I should warn them about the king’s hidden power. Their betrayal and lies had cut me so deep. Everything my father had always told me about trusting others became the truest wisdom I’d ever been given. And those wounds cut deep, nearly severing my heart. I’d risked everything for them. And they’d lied. But I could never look myself in the mirror if I didn’t take the higher road. “Listen to me. Icharius can kill. He’s a Death Lord. I don’t know how. But you can’t come into this castle. He won’t hesitate.”

Althea’s voice shrank. So small, I could barely hear her through the small window. “He’s what? I don’t understand. How?”

“I wish I knew,” I answered quietly. “But I think that’s where all the missing people have gone.”

I heard a clunk, as if she’d fallen into the boat.

“Gods, Thea,” Paesha snapped. “You’ll tip us into the piss water. Be careful.”

“P,” she said, voice almost numb. There was a pause between them. A breath and a realization. “Tolen’s name… the change.”

Their friend wasn’t missing. He’d died at the king’s hand.

“I’m sorry, Thea. I know how close you were.” A sniffle and another splash of water before Paesha’s voice grew quieter. “Is anyone with you, Dey?”

“No.”

“Can you reach the bars? I can take them out, Dey. Can you crawl up the wall?” Thea said, a renewed sense of urgency seeping through the night.

I reached as far as I could before the pain in my side raced up my body, stealing my breath before taking me to the floor. “Can’t. It’s too hard.”

“I’m not leaving you in there, Deyanira,” Paesha swore. “You either figure out your own escape, or I’m coming in for you, king or no king.”