Elric ignored him. ‘Nymeria, show our guest what the king did to you.’
At his command, she wrenched the blade from Arden’s leg and wiped the blood along the edge of her skirt with chilling indifference. Then she strode to Kage’s side, her movements as fluid as smoke, and leaned in, resting her hands on his knees. Her face hovered inches from his, her expression unreadable.
Without ceremony, she opened her mouth.
Where once a tongue might have been, there was only a scarred void.
Kage’s face betrayed nothing. He didn’t flinch, didn’t blink. His eyes held hers with the cool detachment of someone who had witnessed worse. Yet within, behind the mask of composure, his mind was already mapping every exit, calculating the distance, the timing. Somewhere in the shadows,the wolf and Spirox waited and with any luck, they had yet to be noticed.
Elric’s hand shimmered with golden light, and in a breath, another chair took shape from nothing. He lowered himself into it, elbows on knees, his sharp gaze studying the two bound figures before him with the idle interest of a cat eyeing its prey. Kage watched him closely, noting the elegance in the conjuring. Fae magic, unlike the raw force of witches, was woven with subtlety and illusion, designed to trick the senses and shape perception itself.
‘Look, you know I can’t lie,’ Arden began, casting a glance at the blood seeping through his trousers. ‘I’ll tell you everything. You owe me that much, Elric.’
The Fae’s face tightened in distaste, clearly unenthusiastic about hearing whatever Arden intended to spill. Yet something in the bond between them must have softened him, for after a moment’s silence, Elric gave a reluctant nod.
‘Very well,’ he said, ‘speak your truth, Arden Briar.’
Kage listened in stillness, alert as Arden wove his tale. He spoke of a mission, a journey towards the land of fire and dragons, vengeance burning in his chest for the witches who had taken the king’s daughters. He had not been alone, he explained. Along the way, he’d met Wren Wynter. They had travelled together, and during that time, he had uncovered a truth far more unsettling: the witches posed a greater threat than any of them had realised.
‘We can’t trust them,’ Arden concluded, voice clipped.
‘It hardly matters what we think,’ Elric replied. ‘This is about what the king wants. And what he wants at present is your head.’
Arden’s lips curled into a grin far too casual for someone facing execution. ‘Didn’t want to play this card, Elric, but… you both owe me.’
Elric arched a brow. ‘Come again?’
‘When your leg was shattered and the king sent you to dispatch those rogue Fae in the village? I went instead. Let you rest those broken bones.’ Arden glanced at Nymeria. ‘And who found salves for your wounds when they took your tongue?’
‘That was years ago,’ Elric muttered. ‘We were only children.’
‘And when I was ordered to sever your fingers?’ Arden pressed, voice low. ‘I offered my own instead.’
Elric’s stern expression faltered, the edge in his hazel eyes softening to something older, something burdened.
‘And when Nymeria killed for the first time, only to be sick all over the floor? Who took the lashings? Who claimed it was he who’d lost control?’ Arden’s voice dipped to a whisper, filled with something that almost sounded like sorrow. ‘I did.’
Elric’s jaw clenched. ‘Get to the point.’
‘My point is,’ Arden sighed theatrically, ‘I don’t really have a point, to be fair. I just want you to let us go.’ He flashed another one of his crooked, irreverent grins. ‘If it’s my balls the king wants, send whichever you find first. Oh, wait. Wouldn’t be believable, would it?’ He turned to Kage, noting the wyverian’s stone-faced silence. ‘They’re far too large, you see.’
The silence that followed was heavy with disapproval. Arden cleared his throat. ‘Fine. I’ll strike you a deal.’
‘You’re in no position to bargain,’ Elric said flatly.
‘True. But hear me out. Let me go north, check on my friend, and then by all means hunt me down, chop off my head and shove my manhood in my mouth. Just like the old days, eh?’ Arden glanced at Kage again, as if for nostalgic support. ‘Unpleasant business.’
‘And why,’ Elric asked, folding his arms across his massive chest, ‘wouldwe humour you? Why not just do it now?’
Arden’s smile softened. ‘Because we’re friends?’
Elric grunted.
‘No, alright.Because,’ Arden said, voice dropping into something more serious, more persuasive, ‘deep down, you both want out.’
Kage noted the way Elric’s frame stiffened, the ripple of truth in the silence that followed.
‘We all want out of the Black Lotus,’ Arden went on. ‘But none of us believe there’s a way. I’ve found it.’
