“I was once a slave in the Blood Court,” I said, because why not? The fliers the king put out painted such a horrible picture of me that telling the truth could only benefit.
“And then you married into a family who has slaves. A violent past too. Not a surprise, seeing as you married the brute of the family.” The female stood, a sneer on her lips. “Mates too.”
A sense of violation came over us. “You searched us?”
“Searched, took any weapons on your persons, anything else of value too. And you can bet we warded those cages all the way to the afterworld.”
Yes, now that I was more alert, I felt more than simmering magic. A stifling sensation had taken over inside, overmymagic. Still there, churning deep inside, but unusable.
“If you hate me so much, why haven’t you killed me already?”
A slow smile spread across her face. “I can’t say I wasn’t tempted. The prince and his wife? What a prize! But since seeing the posters, we’re all wondering what’s happening. Why a fae pretending to be Isolde Falk would be in themidlands. Why she’d marry an Aaberg. You’re a puzzle, and I don’t like those unsolved.”
“Then let me solve the puzzle for you. IamIsolde Falk.” I stopped there. To insist too much might put me in more danger. The rebels who attacked the Royal Theater had claimed to follow the true heir. Was I a threat to that person?
“What are you doing with that human?” the female brushed aside my claim.
I winced. If only Caelo’s powers had been at full strength, and he’d had the energy to glamour Anna. Everyone in the group, actually. Alas, that wasn’t the case, and the only option I had was to come clean.
“She’s my best friend. My sister.”
The faerie’s face hardened, and she approached my cage. I stood on wobbly legs. I had to assume that my general unsteadiness was an aftereffect of the Dream Eater, though I wouldn’t ask this female. I needed to stop revealing my weaknesses to her.
A hand’s width from the bars, the faerie stopped and flared her silver wings. Now that we were closer, and she wasn’t threatening my life, I could see that the color was a shade or two darker than my silver wings. “A human friend? Have you taken Liar’s Salvation?”
“No.” I closed in on her, not about to show the fear that her presence birthed in me. “If you aren’t sure, you could let me out of my cage and see for yourself.”
Had I taken the potion, I’d be powerless. This female knew that as well as I—better even, given she’d grown uphere. I would bet that she also had a intricate knowledge of black markets where the forbidden potion was sold.
“Hmmm.” Her eyes, eerily like King Magnus’s ice-blue, shifted to Vale. Then the Riis brothers. “I like you all where you are. The human, though, needs to be moved. Maybe I can getrealanswers from her when she wakes.”
She spun on her heel and took three steps toward the cage where Anna lay, motionless.
“Don’t you touch her,” I commanded.
Still, no one else stirred. Not only did that mean no backup, but it brought up more questions. How long had we been out? Was this common after encountering a Dream Eater? Would they wake up soon, and would they be normal when they did?
I pushed all those questions down as the rebel laughed at my command.
“You think you have any power here? Do you think I will listen to you? A great pretender? Most likely, a liar?” She placed a hand on the door to Anna’s cell, and the metal glowed blue. A faint click answered the faerie and the door to the cell flew open.
She strode in, knelt, and with an ease I admired, hefted Anna’s body over her shoulder as if she weighed no more than a youngling. Then I remembered this fae had also run from a monster with me in her arms, and I weighed much more than Anna. Fates, the archer was strong, indeed.
“You should be happy to still have your heads.” The rebel powered back over to the stairs.
“Please!” My voice broke as I gripped the bars of mycage and tried to break out. The metal did not budge. “Please don’t take her!”
The faerie twisted. “She’s the only one I can trust. A human is no lord or lady or lackey. They see the world differently.”
“I’ve seen it that way too!” I roared.
“If that’s true, this human will know.”
I slumped. This rebel was dedicated to hating me, to writing my story for me and making it one that she understood. To her, I was a commoner who married a prince for luxury. A life that most others could not afford and would never achieve. I was safe. Others froze and starved.
And worse, what she thought had largely been true. Only when I went out on my own for revenge against Roar did anything change. Not that I’d say such a thing to her.
“Don’t harm her. I beg of you.”
