He only wanted to see her. He couldn’t do that while trapped here.
Cassiel sighed. “Do it. Notify Asiel of his father’s location and send a squadron on the Pegasi to release him from the dungeons. My uncle can await my summons in Hilos.”
“At once, sire.”
“Will she come?” he asked, trying not to sound too anxious.
“I have not spoken to Her Highness. It is the wolf who sends her message. I was told you would be freed once she sees Lord Jophiel leave his cell.”
How would shesee?Unless Zev meant when Dyna received the news. Even with the speed of a Pegasus, the flight from here to Hilos would take a few days.
“For you, sire.” Sowmya forced a small burlap sack through the window, and he caught it before it hit the floor. “Sustenance. To keep up your strength.”
That alone told him he would be in here for a while more.
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Cassiel said, though he had no appetite for it. “Tell Zev I want to see her.”
“I will attempt it, sire. He isn’t exactly fond of me.”
“Say it to her directly if you must.”
If he could only speak to her. There was little chance Dyna would ever listen to what he had to say, but he had to at least tell her she didn’t have to fear him. That was one thing he couldn’t stand.
“Her Guardians keep her under guard,” Sowmya said. “I am not permitted near the estate.”
“Estate?” Cassiel blinked up at the window. “Wherearewe?”
That should have been his first question. He looked around the wine cellar for any clues, but it was all stone and dusty barrels stacked in the corner.
“Greenwood, sire. Sellav province. This appears to be the home of the elf.”
“Rawn…” His brow pinched with further confusion. Suddenly, Cassiel felt as if he held only pieces of the story, and he was left to sort them through. “Why are they here? Tell me everything clearly.”
Cassiel listened in dismay as the lieutenant described the encounter with the Red Highland soldiers in Dwarf Shoe and Lord Norrlen’s capture. They had come here to notify his family, yet Dyna had been forced to step away from such a grave matter to deal withhim.
As if she needed more reasons to despise him. Groaning, Cassiel rubbed the tension gathering in the center of his forehead. “Have you seen him?”
“Who, sire?”
“Yelrakel must have told you about my spy. He goes by Netanel.”
Sowmya fell quiet, probably searching the sky or the branches for any winged forms. “I see no one,” she whispered, lest someone hear.
“Netanel knows to remain out of sight, but he must be lurking somewhere about. If he arrives, allow him through. I must speak to him.”
A drag of silence followed.
Cassiel wryly smiled. “Worried you will lose favor with the High Queen? I remember when you were once loyal to me.”
Sowmya’s boots shifted over the gravel as she stepped away. “I still am.”
Then he heard the soft swish of wings as she flew away.
Cassiel spent the rest of the day blankly staring at the shadows slowly climbing the walls as the sun lowered into the evening. He sat there for hours, repeating everything that had happened in that cell.
Her words. Her expressions. Her movements.
Around and around, his mind spun with Dyna’s face.
