Page 2 of To Sway a Prince (Tempting Thieves)

2

SUSPENDED

H ow had that wretched sorcerer prince hidden that trap so well? I hated him even more now. Thread rot, this wasn't going well.

I half expected a loud gong or a pressurized wail to go off and inform everyone within miles of my presence. But there was nothing except the clanking of chains and the blue flare of a sigil binding the chains together.

Zephyrus made a rumbling sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" I demanded. Though I twisted in the chains, they tightened. My left arm was completely pinned, leaving me with nothing more than the ability to twitch my fingers. Whatever magic I channeled that way would be weak. My right had snagged and twisted in an awkward pose. Not much room to work with. These chains bit into my ribs and ankles, metal links cold against my skin even through my riding leathers. "Do something helpful, you big oaf! This is serious. Don't you want to get out of here?"

He cocked his head as he watched me swing and twist in slow circles. Poking his head through the bars, he nuzzled me. His hot breath steamed my hair.

"That's not helpful," I grumbled.

A dark thought occurred to me: what if there was no alarm because anyone who broke in wound up fed to the dragons? It would have been no trouble for Zephyrus to bite me in half. As it was, he just seemed sleepily amused, not doing anything to help me.

"Zephyrus," I whispered sharply.

He huffed again and bumped me with his snout, making me spin faster. His tail smacked the bars with playful energy.

"Zephyrus, no. This isn't the time or the place. Why aren't you being helpful?" Wincing, I wriggled, struggling to loosen my right arm as the chains clanked around me.

My blade pressed against my hip, still in its sheath. If I could just—there. My fingers brushed the hilt. The chains shifted, my arm aching, but I managed to grip the blade with two of my fingers.

A low growl echoed through the chamber. Then another. The other dragons stirred in their cells, their eyes gleaming in the darkness. Some made chirping sounds, others rumbled deep in their throats.

The nearest one—a female with silver-blue undertones beneath her dark-purple scales—stuck her head out. Her long serpentine neck allowed her to get uncomfortably close, though I remained out of the range of her broad jaws.

Another dragon—a silvering dark-green beast who looked like he had centuries on Zephyrus—twisted his head on the other side and leaned in. Torchlight glinted on his teeth.

Best not to make myself swing any more than I had to or else either of those two might nab me. These dragons seemed more curious than hungry or hostile, but curious dragons often used their teeth to nibble and test.

Blade in hand, I twisted my wrist. It was easy to spot the central knot where the energy of the sigil was hosted. It pulsed with an angry purple-red light. Four central threads inside had been bound so tightly there were no gaps. Hmm. This sorcerer had made these with far more strength, and he'd managed to hide them as well.

"Wretched magic," I muttered to myself, channeling my magic as best I could. Something in the sigil repelled my energy, making the blood in my head rush and pound. Thread rot! My blade focused the energy, but this time the strands did little more than whinge.

Zephyrus's tail swished back and forth and chuffed again. Some friend he was. I glared at him, comforted that he didn't seem to be in distress but confused at his lackadaisical manner. None of this added up.

Straining, I fought to get a better angle. Hopefully his relaxed manner meant there wasn't anything too dangerous nearby.

As I focused on the sigil, it flared brighter. Still it resisted.

More dragons awakened. They chirred and coughed and grunted, calling back and forth between one another. Zephyrus offered a few chuffs and growls.

With a frustrated grunt, I channeled another burst of energy through the blade. My magic hummed and seared along my veins, singing its way up. But whatever was in the sigil combined with my awkward position and…only the edges of the threads frayed. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and a stitch formed in my side. My breaths tightened.

Then one single strand on the outside of the sigil frayed.

Really? That was all!?

Furious curses rose to my lips, but Zephyrus's head snapped up. His attention was no longer on me. It was on the heavy wooden door at the far end of the chamber. His nostrils flared. The other dragons also fell silent.

Thread rot.

No sound reached my ears, but a sharp frosted silver and cedar scent reached my nostrils.

There was no simple way to explain my presence here or like this, and I couldn't pulseport out with that horrid chain wrapped around me. So if I didn't figure a way out soon?—

The door thudded open and struck the wall. Dark-violet eyes glowed in the darkness for a moment. A tall figure strode forward, silent as if his feet did not touch the stone.

Zephyrus pressed his snout through the bars, huffing warm air against my face. His amber eyes flicked between me and the newcomer.

The other dragons remained motionless, watching in a silence so complete it chilled me.

"Well, well, dare I ask what you're doing in my tower?" His deep voice rumbled low, far more pleasant than I had expected.

I twisted around in the chains, my muscles protesting the awkward angle. They clanked, but at least I didn't spin. "I'd rather not have this conversation while in such a position." I kept my fingers wrapped around the gold blade.

"Hm, is it wise for someone in your position to make such demands?" He stepped closer. His dark boots now made the faintest of clicks. That frosted silver and cedar scent followed him. The torchlight shone in his long silver hair, making it seem to have undercurrents of purple. "Then again, I suspect you might be one who finds it exceptionally easy to outrun wisdom. So let's try this again. What brings you to my stable, woman?"

I flashed him the best cold smile I could manage. "Well, it's a funny thing. See, someone stole my dragon a couple nights ago, and I just so happened to be passing through and I saw him down here all caged up. What a coincidence. I'm sure you had nothing to do with it. So get me down, let Zephyrus and me out, and I promise no harm will come to you." My long golden hair brushed the flagstones.

Zephyrus snorted.

I shot him a sidelong glare. He wasn't being as helpful as he should have been.

His well-formed eyebrow arched as he studied me. "Do you intend to have a serious conversation with me, gnat?"

"I'm serious as a blade through your chest: if you do not let both Zephyrus and me go, I will make you rue the day you met me." The energy I focused on the sigil continued to pulse and cut slowly. A second thread had frayed free. At this rate, I'd be down in a few hours. If he had noticed my attempt to escape, he wasn't acknowledging it. Once I was free of the chains, I'd pulseport out if I couldn't get Zephyrus free, and then I'd launch a counterattack.

"Well, I already rue your existence. You're like an insect in the wine. Small, annoying, and pointless except for getting on my nerves and using up my time and a perfectly good glass of wine. Do you even know who I am?"

My upper lip curled, and my head pounded. "One of the Sentinels probably." I couldn't remember the names of the individuals, but I'd heard of them in passing. Guardians over the Chasm. Technically, this land was theirs and they ruled themselves because no king tied to a people could ever have ownership of a liminal rift that theoretically could reach other worlds. The Sentinels were loyal to their purpose, which was the Chasm and all it held.

"I am Ramiel, Prince of the Sentinels." He now stood directly in front of me. The torchlight made the lavender notes in his hair all the more apparent and highlighted the dark circles beneath his eyes as if he had not slept in a long while. Even so, he was quite striking in appearance, his features elegant and sharp but pleasant. He clasped his hands behind his back as he stood before me now. "And aside from being an intruder and a dragon thief, you are?"

"Astraia."

His eyebrow lifted. "Just Astraia?"

"Just Astraia." My throat tightened. I never told anyone about my family these days if I could help it. Part of me still felt as if I had betrayed them by not speaking of them, but it was for the best. No one needed to know. It always led to the same conversations anyway. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, release Zephyrus and me at once."

A humorless laugh escaped his lips. "Not even an attempt at an apology for trespassing and robbing me?"

"You stole Zephyrus!" I gritted my teeth.

"I brought him home." Ramiel's eyes narrowed. He stood directly in front of me now. "He belongs to no one in the Rune. Least of all a slip of a knotweaver."

Heat flared in my cheeks, rising with my indignation. "I never said he belonged to me. Zephyrus is my friend!"

Zephyrus grunted. He leaned against the bars of the cage and nudged me again, making me spin. "Zeph!" I scolded. The chains clinked as I swung like some damnable lamp in a slow circle.

The deep, throaty chuckle that followed was unmistakable. The large blue dragon nudged me again, his broad snout tapping my stomach in a teasing nuzzle. He snorted again.

The other dragons also chortled and grunted, their tails raking the floor and the bars. One especially high-pitched voice sounded almost like a bird.

Ramiel held up his hand. All fell silent, even Zephyrus. "Well, it is clear they do not see you as a threat." He made a loose gesture with two of his fingers at the chains. Silver-blue light flared. It crackled at the sigil that bound the chains at their heart, and that internal thread I hadn't been able to reach came undone.

The chains loosed, the knot at the center of the pulsing sigil unraveling from the inside out. The metal shifted then.

Oh, knots take me!

The tension gave way.

I flung my arms out to catch myself, bracing for impact and planning for the fight.

It never came.

Instead, my body halted, suspended in air like a feather caught in an updraft. An odd sensation crawled across my skin—a distinct but foreign magic, cold and precise. Not unpleasant, but definitely not mine. My hair floated around me as if I were underwater.

Ramiel's fingers moved in a small, controlled gesture. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he righted me, then lowered me to the floor. My scuffed boots kissed the stone before I settled flat on my feet. With a loud clatter, the chains fell away and pooled on the floor.

Well, that had gone far better than I'd hoped, but I squirmed inwardly. I couldn't feel any magic suppressing my ability to pulseport out or even run on foot. But he'd surprised me more than once already. My fingers curled tighter around the blade. While it was intended for focusing magic, I could certainly stab people with it. If it became necessary.

The way Ramiel studied me, I wasn't sure. He looked more like he wanted to give me a scathing lecture than stab me. But he was a sorcerer as well. One strong enough to not require a blade to focus, and he carried himself as if he could level the whole tower with a single command.

With quiet grace, he circled me. His violet eyes tracked over the entirety of my body, cataloguing every detail.

Resisting the urge to wrap my arms around myself, I glared at him and turned my head to ensure we didn't break eye contact for even a breath. I felt exposed under his gaze, like a specimen pinned for examination. "Looking for something?" I demanded.

"How is it that you continue to act as if you were the one who was wronged?" he asked, his tone still dry. He turned to face the purple dragon as she chuffed particularly loud, his back to me.

At once, I rolled my shoulders and rubbed my neck to ease the tension. I hated hanging upside down, even when flying with Zephyrus. When he started to turn, I dropped my arms at my sides. "I am the one who was wronged. You snuck into my camp, and you abducted my friend."

"No. I summoned him home. No one owns a dragon without the dragon's consent." He halted in front of me. His gaze slid to the dragons, settling on Zephyrus. "How did you know his name?"

I shrugged.

Zephyrus snorted again from his cell, his tail swishing against the bars in that infuriatingly amused way. He rested his head as close to me as he could be. That low chortling laugh of his annoyed me now though. Traitor.

Ramiel's eyebrow arched higher. "Well?"

I shook my head. "I just was talking with him, and I knew it. I felt it."

Zephyrus nudged me again, his neck braced against the bars. I reached back to stroke his snout. Even if this was his home, he wouldn't have gone without me or communicated it in some way. No…something was off here. I could feel it.

Ramiel paced a few steps more and then traced his finger through the air, marking the shape of my shoulder. "Your magic…it's runic knotwork. Fascinating. No trace of thought weaving or mind binding skills. No. Nothing like that."

He was at least six feet away from me, but my skin prickled in response as if he had traced his hand over my shoulder directly. I wrinkled my nose at him. It was impressive he could recognize both forms of my magic based on sight or magic alone. Especially when I took such efforts to hide my runic skills. "And how is that relevant?"

He circled me once more and then began to examine Zephyrus. Placing his hands on the large dragon's throat, his fingers ran along the dark-blue scales. He turned sideways and entered the cell, continuing his examination.

"What exactly are you looking for?" I crossed my arms over my turquoise and dark-brown bodice. My right bracer snagged on the laces. Did he really think I had charmed Zephyrus? If anyone here had charmed Zephyrus, it was him.

"Dragons do not easily take commands. Not even from those they cherish."

"I would never charm Zephyrus to force him to take a command from me," I snapped. "Unlike you."

He circled Zephyrus and met my gaze once more. "I command the dragons of the Chasm. Zephyrus is one of the twelve weavers. They often wander for periods, but they always return home. Rest assured, I would only enforce a command upon one of them in the most dire of circumstances."

He stepped out of the cell sideways, his long silver hair a curtain against his broad shoulders. He moved directly in front of me and folded his arms. "I believe you. And I will grant you this one boon, Astraia. You may leave my tower unharmed if you vow never to return. Consider it a mercy—one I rarely offer."

Behind me, Zephyrus let out a low, rumbling growl. His tail slapped against the bars with clear disapproval, making the metal ring.

"A boon?" I laughed, the sound sharp and brittle in the chamber. "How generous of you to offer me permission to walk away from my own friend." I planted my feet firmly, mirroring his stance. "I'm not going anywhere without Zephyrus."

"Your stubbornness does you no credit." Ramiel's mouth tightened into a thin line. "The dragon stays. That is not negotiable. He is necessary to ensure the Chasm's protection."

"You got along without him for at least fifteen years, possibly more," I said sharply.

"Things have changed, and he is finally ready to come home."

That dull unease spread further within me. What if he was even partially telling the truth? I lifted my chin. "He would never abandon me, and I won't abandon him."

He closed the distance between us in three sharp strides. The scent of frosted silver intensified, almost covering the cedar notes. "Do not mistake my patience for weakness, little gnat. It is unwise to underestimate me." His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "You've seen but a fraction of what I can do. I am the last Sentinel, guardian of the Chasm, and this tower has stood for centuries against threats far greater than one stubborn knotweaver. This matter is far bigger than either of us. Bigger than you can even begin to conceive."

I refused to step back, though my heart beat faster. "I don't care if you ruled the whole continent and all the islands beside. I will not turn my back on someone I love, Your Highness. I will get Zephyrus free, and I will find out what you did to him. You have my word on that. You may be powerful, but I have my own tricks up my sleeve. So do not underestimate me either."

Zephyrus huffed behind us, a sound somewhere between amusement and concern. His claws scraped against the stone floor of his cell.

Ramiel's eyes flashed.

Had I gone too far?