“Even if that weren’t preposterous,” Kayla replied fiercely, “if you don’t do what His Highness asks, you’ll be dead long before a human can bring down an entire court.”
The creature stalled for a long moment, and then the shaking elicited a new finger point, this one aiming higher. Somewhere above, a loud click preceded the whine of hinges.
The females didn’t react. They turned Daisy, still carrying her, and headed for a set of narrow, curving steps.
That has to be the chalice magic,Revana said, her mental voice uneasy.That creature has been lost to the blight for some time. It senses Daisy’s danger. The chalice’s danger.
Kayla’s fingers tightened on Daisy’s arms with unease.We need to let Tarian know. He hasn’t prepared for that.
Do fae not know much about humans, then?Daisy asked, collecting each scrap of information she could.
Most fae know almost nothing,Revana said, looking to the right as they reached the top of the stairwell. They took her left, though, to an opened cell door down the way.They’ll thinkyou are weak and useless and, because of that, that you can die easily. We’ll use that for as long as we can. Once you start killing fae in the games, we’ll need to pivot.
Ifshe started killing fae in the games. There was that small issue of magic. They had some. She did not. And while in the human world she could get around some of it, she had no idea about fae magic. She didn’t know any of the nuances or how to combat it. She was flying blind when up against life and death. It was far from the best-case scenario.
They walked her into the dank cell. A barred window at the top of the high ceiling let in a sliver of bluish moonlight. A flat stone slab lay at an angle with manacles attached to chains. The females walked her to it before turning her and pushing her against it. They fastened the manacles and pushed the stone so she was essentially lying down.
Toilets?she asked with very little hope.
Kayla shook her head, lips pinched. She didn’t elaborate.
Food?Daisy tried.Water?
One of us will deliver it when it is safe,Revana replied.Remember, do not eat what they give you. They won’t push. You’ll be hungry and thirsty until we can get you out of here. We just need to get some things ready. We can’t release you to the main floor until we can hide your thoughts.
Kayla reached into Daisy’s shirt with a regretful look before pulling out her knife.If we leave this with you, they’ll take it. We’ll keep it until it’s safe for you to carry it.
Daisy let her gaze drift away from the two females as they finished up. She closed her eyes when the heavy metal cell door clanged shut. Silence replaced their retreating footsteps. They hadn’t said goodbye.
Fear and panic fuzzed the edges of her mind, but she focused on her breathing. She let her mind drift elsewhere. She sankinto the homesickness for her family so that she had at least something familiar to think about. Then she tried to sleep.
Babbling broughther quickly to consciousness. The screaming on the lower level didn’t trouble her anymore. It had started an hour into her stay and persisted. They were busy with someone down there, but it wasn’t her. While part of her recoiled at the thought of what was going on, the need to survive won out. She let it drift through and away from her mind. Now that clawing sound was no more than a hoarse groan, the voice gone but the poor bastard not yet dead.
The metal latch on her cell opened. Two creatures came through, humanoid but lopsided, and they mostly hobbled toward her. Their faces were lost to the shadow, like the creature down below. Definitely some sort of magical phenomenon. Weak light filtered in through the window above, highlighting parts of her cell she wished might stay hidden. Violence had been done in here.
The first creature reached her. Dirt and grime smeared its arm and something dull and black glistened in patches on its skin. Obsidian?
It yanked the stone slab to mostly vertical. She slid down to her feet.
“What’s this?” it asked the other, its voice creaky, like an old, forgotten rocking chair pushed by the wind.
“Ah. The human. They brought one in last night,” the other said, its voice similar. They both wore dirty, holey frocks in flat black.
The first grunted. “Him Highness wants something different, them says. This is something different. It looks good. Him wants a female. This is female.”
“Yeah, but…” The second scratched its head with long, broken nails. “This belongs to Him Highness Tarianthiel. Can’t you see the magic mark? I can see the mark.”
“Him Highness, the king, don’t care about Tarianthiel mark. That curse magic don’t work on royals. Them can take what them want. Tarianthiel can’t hurt they. Magic stop him. This one will work.”
“What about it being intact?” the second said. “Him Highness wants one intact, them says.”
The other froze. “I’ll check. Maybe Tarianthiel didn’t get there yet. That why he put it in here, maybe? To keep it from the guards.”
The first grunted as the second moved in front of Daisy. It reached for the button on her pants, and she knew a moment of blind terror. A conversation she’d had with Tarian flashed through her memory.
“Otherwise you’d be used by the royals and then their guards. A pretty human, such as yourself, won’t go unnoticed. I’d end up having to kill half the palace when coming to your aid.”
“I wouldn’t live long enough,”she’d ground out, her whole body burning in anger. “The first person to touch me would die, and they’d surely have me executed shortly thereafter.”
