“A witch, you say?” Her icy eyes gleam as they peer into my own.
Her beauty is arresting. Eyes so blue they nearly burn silver, framed by hair black as night. Her silken locks are woven into an elegant golden crown inset with diamonds and rubies, leaving her strange ears to peek through. She studies me carefully from head to toe, her knuckles turning white from her vice-like grip on the throne. “Derek.”
He inclines his head, eyeing me warily as he rises to his feet again.
“She’s human,” he says suspiciously. “Shadow smoke. You’re sure of this?”
The captain nods.
“Was she alone?”
“She was found with anOrCat.”
“A familiar?”
“Kill it,” the queen snaps. Dad shoots her a piercing look.
“These aremylands. You know the law. No harm shall come to a familiar on Aegean soil.”
“Even that which belongs to a common whore witch?” She scowls with distaste.
“Your Majesty, the creature attacked one of my men. It was shot in defense before I could intervene,” the captain says from beside me. My father’s eyes snap to him as he inches closer.
“Tell me you did notkilltheOrCat, Captain.” His words are clipped and quiet, making his rage seem all the more terrifying. “Where is it now?”
“Left in the forest. The shot was only meant to incapacitate while we delivered the girl.”
“Pray to the gods it still lives. Send out a search party and have it brought to me.Alive. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sire.” The captain bows low.
Dad tosses a careless nod in my direction. “Have her put in a holding cell until Gnorr can examine her. Bind her with blood ore.”
“She needs to be questioned,” the severe woman behind him protests.
“And she will be.” The sharpness of his tone leaves no further room for debate. Tossing the guard a curt nod, he turns his back and starts toward the empty throne where my sister waits, silent and unaffected. I don’t dare call out to her—plead with her to see me, hear me, help me. Her imperious gaze remains fixed on the man beside me.
Before I can protest, my arms are yanked forward. The bindings are replaced by two heavy shackles the color of rust, the color of…oh my god.
I’m going to throw up. It’s dried blood.
Nausea roils inside of me as I’m gripped around the arm by a rough, callused hand and dragged into a corridor to the right, away from my dad and sister. Away from the only familiar facesin this place. I’m towed down what feels like a million stairs before we reach another passageway.
“Please,” I entreat the guard hauling me forward. When he doesn’t answer, I dig my heels into the ground and rear back with all my might. Resisting against his grasp is futile. With his impressive height and strength, he lifts my arm higher, forcing me onto my tiptoes where I have to fight to keep my feet beneath me.
“Look, I’m not a witch, I swear. I don’t even know where I am or how I got here. I just want to go home. I opened that stupid book and—” My foot catches a snag in the floor causing me to lurch forward. The guard jerks me upright. “Jesus H. Christ!” I squeal.
“Hold your tongue, witch. I’ll not have you hauling hexes on me, blood ore or not.”
“I told you I’m not a witch! My name is Serena Avery. That was my father in there. You have to take me back. I need to speak with him.”
“The king is your father, is he?” His eyes remain fixed straight ahead as he gibes, “And Queen Ilspeth is my mother.”
The two guards trailing us let out a chuckle. I preen my head to scowl at them. They have matching faces and the same flowing auburn hair. Twins.
We reach a dark, dimly lit cell with iron bars. Inside sits a plain wooden chair with leather straps secured to the armrests. One of the twin guards steps forward and unlocks the cell, holding it open.
“Just tell me where I am. Please. I don’t belong here,” I entreat my captor once more. He looks at me for the first time, and I gasp.
