“I must marry, my dear. And you know I cannot be loyal to a slave of all things.” Cyrus spoke quietly, in an almost-but-not-quite regretful tone.
I flinched involuntarily. I didn’t evenwantCyrus to be loyal to me, I didn’t want him at all! But the harsh truth he spoke dug into that angry place inside me that had softened a bit after I was left a beaten down mess when Cyrus killed Tavarius.
“A slave, of all things.”
I was not athing.
Rage roared inside me, like the rush of fire from a dragon’s maw, and this time, it feltglorious.
Things kept going from bad to worse around here. I was still unsettled and shaken from what had happened to Tavarius, from what I’d found out about Cyrus’s plans. Part of me felt like I was drowning, with no surface in sight—but the other…
The other part of me was determined to rise from the ashes of the ruination he’d made of me.
I wanted to rage, to fight and scream, to let the fire sweep through and devour me until I was made anew. I was not made to drown under the waves of evil that kept trying to sweep me away. If I didn’t find a way out of the darkness Dusk had surrounded me in, I might truly lose my mind.
“Now be a good girl for me today, Asteria.” Cyrus crooned, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “You don’t want toembarrass me in front of my future wife and queen. That would not go well for you, no matter how much I enjoy you.”
I swallowed hard, the warning received loud and clear. I smothered my rage down to a simmer for now. I need to act the part of a jealous lover from here on out. I didn’t know what Cyrus would do if Princess Zerlina requested some punishment. Would he have me whipped or flogged? Or something else, something…worse?
I thought of it the whole way to the throne room. This family never did anything that wasn’t a grand spectacle it seemed. Even a human stealing was brought forward in ostentatious surroundings. When we reached the throne room, I sucked in a deep breath to prepare myself. Raziel was sweet, I didn’t know much about him other than that. Nor did I know if his sweet nature was genuine, or if it was just part of a ruse to gather information. Either way, I didn’t want anything like what happened to Tavarius to happen to him.
“Ah, brother!” Prince Kian called out with a smile on his face.
“Kian.” Cyrus greeted, nodding curtly, which seemed to only make Kian’s smile grow wider. He looked over at me then, and I flinched in surprise. The other royals never really looked at the slaves that wandered behind them, but Kian’s eyes raked over me. Not in the same way Cyrus or Vissy had, or even Soren. This was different, and if he had been someone different himself, I might have called what lingered in his eyes concern.
But this was the Fae arranging for an attack by the Night Kingdom, which would result in humans being brutally taken and slaughtered, who was accusing a likely innocent man of theft—which could result in terrible punishments, just to get rid of a spy of his brother’s. There was obviously no compassion within him.
“What is the meaning of this, brother?” Cyrus drawled as he stepped up to where his father sat the throne.
“Yes, let’s get to the matter at hand.” Kian replied, smiling at his elder brother. “This human,” He paused, waving a hand at the guards, who dragged Raziel in and dumped him before us.
King Astraeus just looked on, seemingly bored with the proceedings, but there was something in that expression that made me think otherwise—a thread of excitement. Excited to get a spy of Cyrus’s out of the picture, or just for a chance to assert his authority?
“This human was found to be stealing jewels from the royal family. I caught him red handed. Literally, rubies were spilling out of his hands!” Kian laughed, like this was a jolly time for all.
“Human,” King Astraeus called, not even bothering to remember his name. I seethed but clamped my jaw tight and watched. Helpless to do anything to help Raziel.
Helpless. It was a feeling I was becoming more familiar with, even as I tried to fight back, to take back some bit of agency, but the helplessness still remained. I couldn’t stand it.
I wasn’t built to be helpless. I was created to fight, and yet this world didn’t allow it of me.
I thought then of that silvery white haired Fae from Night Kingdom. Would he allow a woman to fight, or would he be more like those here who refused to allow women, or humans, the chance? No, he was a soldier in the army of King Calix, he’s probably killed hundreds of humans, he certainly wouldn’t help them. He called those in Dusk monsters, and yet he fought for the worst of them all.
Despite my best efforts, he was still slowly seeping into my thoughts, like a virus had infected me and now spread through my bloodstream, until it scorched deep into my soul.
What would make someone stay under a king who slaughtered humans and didn’t even care about having to kill other Fae to do it? In fact, why did King Calix do this at all? What did humans do to him? They’re the ones who enslaveus! Cyrus said he used tobe different, so what changed? What made a man, a Fae King, go from party boy to waging war and slaughtering humans?
I forced the questions from my mind. It wasn’t like I was likely to ever find out.
“Did you, or did you not, steal jewels from us?” King Astraeus drawled. I looked at Raziel and to my surprise, he was looking straight at the king, a slight smile curling his lips.
“I did.” Raziel confirmed, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. Not only admitting to it, but not properly referring to the king by his title either? What was he doing? He definitely knew better than this.
Cyrus looked ready to lose it. I could see lightning sparking in his eyes and around his fingertips, which he swiftly put behind his back.
“Why? Why would you do this?” Cyrus demanded of Raziel, who looked over at him and shrugged. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing.
“See, Father? The human is unrepentant. It’s best we place him with the others.” Kian said, and I looked over to him, confused by what others he was referencing, only to find his eyes darting to me and widening. Like he was emphasizing a point, only he seemed to forget that it only worked when both people were aware of what was happening.
