I’m stunned. “The Spider Court princess herself? Your former…” I don’t know why I don’t want to saylover.
Marlak nods. “I also found it strange, then I thought it was a glamour, that she was the Witch King. I burned her, not enough to kill her, at least I don’t think so, and yet she died. But that moment…” He closes his eyes. “Distracted me. The next thing I knew, the Witch King had his hand on my head and was pulling my magic, and then it was too late.”
“Why was she there?”
“She said she wanted to be his queen. Now, how she got there… She was a great transcender. Not as strong as Azur, but stronger than any transcender I knew. Perhaps, like him, she was pulled to his prison. Another possibility is that she transcended there out of her own will.”
“If she’s a powerful transcender, and if he got her magic…” The thought makes me shudder. “Maybe that’s what he did; he transcended away. The question is if he can leave that cave.”
I feel Marlak’s chest rising and falling slowly as he sighs, then says, “A big question.”
“And we’re here, sitting like ducks. If he comes this way…” A cold shiver runs up my spine.
“Night’s falling,” Marlak says. “Ghouls can’t come to the giant cities, so we’ll be safe for now—unless the Witch King comes, of course, but he’s still far north. He wouldn’t make it here that fast. If he can transcend away from his prison, which I hope he can’t, why would he come here? There isn’t much we can do for now, rather than hope.”
He’s too calm. Too calm, and then I realize it’s probably because he’s hiding something from Nelsin, so I’ll need to wait for the blond fae to leave to ask what Marlak’s really thinking.
Nelsin smiles. “And eat. I brought you food, and I’ll leave you two alone.” He points at a bucket. “I’ll come later to collect that and the plates, to see if you need anything else, and to change your poultice.”
He gets up, opens the door with a large key, locks it, and leaves.
I look at Marlak. “How are you?”
“Disappointed at myself.”
That doesn’t make any sense. “If you had burned him, the same thing would have happened.”
He lets out a bitter chuckle. “Yes. But you would still be safe back home. So much would have been different.”
“The biggest problem would still be the same; the fact he didn’t burn.”
“I suppose.” He takes the tray and brings it close to me. “Interested in some dinner?”
There are gigantic pieces of bread and cooked meat that was thinly cut, probably by Nelsin. I take some of it and make a sandwich.
“I was hungry.” I take a bite, and notice that the bread is rubbery and the meat over-salted, but I suppose it’s better than no food.
Marlak also takes some bread and meat, then lets out a relaxed chuckle. “Giants and their lack of vegetables.” He then looks me in the eye. “The bars in this cell, they are meant to block the prisoner’s magic.”
“I see. So you can’t…”
He shakes his head subtly. “The Witch King took my magic.” He then lowers his voice to an almost inaudible whisper. “But I feel it returning. This cage dulls it, but not enough.”
That explains why he’s so calm. Still, if he were to break this cage, we’d have to face who knows how many giants, and then we’d still be in the Shadow Lands.
I’m trying to understand what he’s planning, and ask, “So in the morning…”
“Nelsin’s saying he’ll try to negotiate our release.”
“Do you think he can manage it?”
“No idea. And I don’t know where Ferer is, if he’s a prisoner too, and if we can trust Nelsin. I mean, I don’t think he’d want us dead, and I’m sure whatever poultice and potions he gave you are good, but I don’t know what to expect from him. But we’ll see. Right now, we’re at the safest place we could be in the Shadow Lands, so we might as well rest.”
“And eat, I suppose.” I take a bite of my dreadful sandwich.
He puts down his bread and caresses my hair. “Trust me that I’ll keep you safe. We need to survive first, and then…” He closes his eyes.
“We’ll find a solution.”
