Lessia had been happy when they realized Loche was Iviry’s mate—had remembered Loche’s words of wanting to find someone to love before the end. But whatever was happening between them was the opposite of what had happened when she found out Merrick was the one who called to her soul.
Lessia chewed on her cheek. She couldn’t help butfeel that her presence probably didn’t help. She’d seen the looks Iviry had thrown her—had felt Iviry’s eyes burn across her skin as Loche carried her to the couch.
Maybe it wasn’t necessary just for her and Merrick’s sake that they left for Vastala.
Perhaps the two leaders of Havlands needed it as well.
Merrick, perceptive as always, tugged at her hand until her body brushed his hard one. “We’ll leave as soon as this is done. There is no point in waiting, and Raine and Frelina can handle whatever comes before the war.”
Lessia’s eyes fell into his, and her smile came easier when Merrick bent down to kiss her lips, then moved to whisper, “You’re so strong, you know that, right?” in her ear before he let her descend the stairs first.
She could feel his pride layering over her as her eyes got used to the darkness. It seemed to swallow the people before her with every additional step she took, and maybe a small part of the warm sensation belonged to her because that darkness—the sounds of metal and water and despair—didn’t make her fall into a heap of panic anymore.
On the contrary, Lessia’s conviction that no person deserved to be down here—well, at least not those who’d fought for freedom for their people, believing what they were doing was right—grew stronger with each suffocating second in the shadows.
The others had halted just beneath the stairs, and when Lessia lifted her eyes from her feet—making sure the decaying steps didn’t trip her—Loche watched her cautiously. She shot him a nod, letting him know that this wasn’t too much.
Iviry’s blue gaze followed. Lessia tried to soften her eyes when Iviry’s locked with them, glad that Merrick picked up on the same thing as he kissed the top of her head before he moved to let Kerym and the sisters down.
A second passed before Iviry ripped her stare away, and Lessia felt that urge to give the leader some space again when something sad, something she’d never seen, tightened the Fae’s features before she cleared her throat.
“Prisoners, we’ve come to talk to all of you—to give you the choice to join us.” Iviry shot Loche a look, gesturing for him to take the lead.
As the regent stepped forward, Iviry gave Frelina a small smile and waved her hand. Without missing a beat, Lessia’s sister and Raine started walking down the passage, lighting the many lanterns hanging outside the cells, revealing just how bad this dungeon was.
Lessia fought the chill wanting to pull her shoulders to her ears. To the right of her were two large cells. One was filled with rebels, all chained together, the shifters and humans and half-Fae so pale she could see their outlines even before the light spilled onto them. Their lips, with their blue hue, reminded her of an early summer sky.
Beside the rebel cell were the Fae who had gone against Iviry. There were only a dozen of them compared to the couple of hundred or so rebels remaining, their chained-up rows going so far back into the giant cell that Lessia counted ten lines of them and couldn’t see any farther.
And on the opposite side…
The Oakgards’ Fae weren’t as pale, their tan skin still shimmering in the light, but there was something evenmore frightening in their faces. Pure defiance made their eyes gleam, and there was no hesitation when they met Lessia’s gaze; their lips drew back to bare their teeth as whispers of “Rantzier” rose from the crowd.
Merrick snarled in warning when one of them strolled up to the bars and spat on the ground before her, but as he took a step toward the male, Lessia shook her head, placing a hand on his arm to hold him back.
She took her time to study the Oakgards’ Fae, surveying their more rounded ears—the ones that all these Fae had in common—the brown or raven hair that most of them sported, and the beautiful green and brown eyes that narrowed on hers when she stared at them.
They were Fae, but… also not.
At least not in the way the Vastala Fae were.
There was an otherness to them—but not one that made her wary. No, like when she’d found out about witches growing up, eagerness whispered over her skin, wanting to understand how the ones who shared ancestors had become so different.
“You like what you see, princess?” the male gloated when her eyes found his again. “Your mate over there not satisfying you? I could do it, you know, I?—”
She didn’t have time to stop Merrick from driving a fist into the male’s face. It flew back, and several of the other Fae stormed forward, crowding against the bars as they hissed at her mate. Her mate, who only grinned his lethal smile as he licked his lips, eyes challenging anyone else to speak.
Bunching a fistful of his tunic in her hand, Lessia spun Merrick toward her, prepared to rage at him. But as she shot a stare around, she didn’t miss both Raine andLoche choking down laughter, so she began with throwing each of them a murderous glare before hissing “That’s not going to help our case” to Merrick as he glowered at the Fae whose eye was already turning black.
When Loche snickered louder, her brows flew up in warning, and he finally locked down the stupid grin, even if his shoulders still weren’t as straight as they usually were.
Giving Frelina, who’d shoved Raine until his face was his usual grumpy one, a quick smile, Lessia stepped back, allowing Loche space. He stepped between the three large cells, first facing the Oakgards’ Fae, then the rebels, and finally the Vastala Fae, and she had to admire the respect the human regent managed to instill as all fell silent.
Loche remained quiet for another moment as he waved Iviry to his side. When she joined him, the light spilling onto the two leaders making them seem slightly otherworldly—regal and frightening and beautiful all mixed together—he finally spoke.
“Iviry, leader of Vastala, is right. We have come to talk to you. We want to heal Havlands—make it one nation where all our people can live free.” His eyes sliced back to the foreign Fae. “That includes you and your people. We will not turn you away.”
The Fae Merrick had struck cackled—a manic, wild cackle. “As if anyone would believe you! We didn’t trust Rioner—the dumb bastard thought we were on the same side, but we would have killed his people all the same—and we definitely do not trust… What are you, a human? A shifter? I’ve heard different things, Loche Lejonskold.”
