“I am,” I confirm. “But I do not have magic. It’s why I was treated poorly as a child. I’ve been running experiments to try—”
“Youdon’thave the ability to wield raw magic?” he interjects, the coldness of his words making me wince. Any optimism I held that he might give me grace vanishes when his upper lip lifts in a snarl. “You lied.”
I don’t try to explain myself; it doesn’t matter. Not as he looks at me like I’m a traitor—a plague within his kingdom, when he had hoped I might be the cure.
“I brought you here so that you couldhelpmy people. I let you meet with them, hear their stories, and learn their plights. And for what?” His voice grows louder as it echoes off the cave walls and pierces into my heart. I swear the very ground shakes from his fury.
“The magic of the Continent chosemefor a reason. I can still help—”
“It makes sense now. Why that male—Daje—was so insistent that you were the wrong one chosen for the job. He knew, your entire fucking kingdomknew, that you would beworthlessto us.”
That word digs under my flesh and deep into my soul, an old wound reopened.Worthless. I know that I have no room to defend myself, no moral high ground on which to stand, but I still snap my teeth at him. “There isnoguarantee that mage magic would have been able to do anything. Iwasn’tlying when I said that my experiments with expelled magic hadn’t led to quantifiable results! You don’t know for sure that it would have helped at all!”
“I suppose, now I never fucking will!” he barks back, a ring of gold encircling his irises as he stands and roughly grabs his tunic from the ground.
I stand as well, running my hand through my hair and pulling it back from my face. “Kai—”
“Don’t.” He keeps his back to me as he finishes dressing, grabbing his boots and slipping them on. “This is why I couldn’t seem to get you to use your magic. Why you never healed yourself. I thought perhaps you couldn’t access it as strongly here or maybe you only used it on rare occasions, but I—”
His chest heaves as he prepares to throw more verbal daggers. I don’t shield myself from them because I know that I have earned them. Betrayal simmers thickly in the air when he finally turns around, and I watch him seal any cracks in his armor that he permitted me to see.
“You allowed me to give my people false hope. I let you into my kingdom, into my home, into my fuckingbed, and you were all too eager to spread your legs to cover up your lies.”
Only by sheer will do I not crumble. “I did notfuck youto hide anything. I am genuinely trying to help you. I care about your people, Kai. Aboutyou.”
He scoffs, but it’s a broken sound. “Like I would ever believe another word from your lips.”
“I’m sorry,” I croak as he walks past me and out of the cave.
He pauses at my words, looking at me over his shoulder with nothing but uncompromising anger. “Not as sorry as I am.” Then he leaves, not bothering to grab the pack he brought with him.
A light breeze scrapes against my face and stings the tears that have yet to fall from my eyes. Like prodding an open wound, Kai knew exactly how to strike me to make sure it hurt. I don’t hate him for it. I hate myself for hoping for a different outcome. How had he burrowed himself so deeply under my skin in amatter of months? Why was I stupid enough to allow it,knowingthat it was only ever destined to fail?
But I already know the answers to those questions. I had seen a part of myself in him. I had found someone who didn’t shy away from what—who—I am. Even early on, with all the bickering and taunting, he had never once believed me to be weak. To need saving or a new purpose or to change to fit some idealistic cast.
But it doesn’t matter now. Not when he considers me to beworthless.
I don’t know how long I stand and stare in the direction Kai left, only that, eventually, I wipe the tears away and pack up the food as best as I can. Once I’m fully dressed, I head back towards the palace.Will he force me to go back home early? Do I even want to stay now?Those thoughts swirl around and around, disorienting me so much that I don’t realize I’ve reached the edge of the palace grounds. It isn’t until I hear the screaming, the ominous chorus cleaving through the air, that my attention shifts.
“What the fuck?” I quicken my steps as the screams grow louder, this time joined by a cacophony of roars and chirps and growls. I break into a run, my arms pumping at my sides as I follow the stone pathway through the front gardens. My eyes widen and I skid to a stop when I see the first outline of a shadow past the palace entrance. Tua had said there would be a masquerade party tonight, but these masks aren’t normal ones.
A large male stalks down the hallway on the other side of a glass window, a sword in his grasp, and I watch in shock as he arcs it up into the air before swinging it down and into a female. She slumps against the wall, sliding down until she is motionless on the floor and leaving a trail of red above her. The palace rumbles and shakes with more screams and animal noises, some shifters barreling out of the front door and into the jungle.
I drop our packs to the ground and slide my spear from its loops. My steps are nearly silent against the grass as I sprint towards the male. However, his shifter hearing gives him an early warning, and he spins, the shadows of his mask casting onto the wall behind him. An elongated skull with curling horns protruding from the top covers his entire head except for his glowing golden eyes.
“Hello, Princess,” the rebel says.
Chapter Sixty-Four: Xander
The scent of mildewgrows stronger the farther down into this hellscape I go. I hate it here in the dungeons, maybe even as much as the king does. It has been longer between visits than I meant for it to be, butHis Majestyhas kept me busy. I slip on some moss on the last step, cursing as I hit the cold stone wall and my stupid fucking golden armor clangs loudly. A few of the prisoners stir, their hands gripping around the iron bars as they begin to plead for help when they see that the king isn’t with me. I ignore them all as I walk down the dark corridor, my boots scuffing against the damp stone floors before I stop in front of the last cell. The other prisoners have hushed now, their hope of being set free diminished.
“It’s time for you to talk,” I say gruffly while reaching for the keys dangling on my belt loop.
The female hunched in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees lifts her head to glower at me. “Fuck. You,” she snarls, her body wobbling as she stands.
I take in her more ragged appearance, and my heart skips a beat as I clench my jaw in regret.I waited too fucking long.
“You make this harder on yourself.” Finding the key to her cell, I unlock and slide the bars to the side, the ancient metal squealing in protest. She freezes as I enter, her eyes poring over me as if I’m going to attack at any moment. Gripping her arm firmly, I lead her out of the cell, her bare feet slapping on the freezing stone as we walk.
