Clutching my arm, she dragged me over to an open area of ledge where steel rings had been secured in a rectangular pattern. I didn’t like the chains with manacles dangling from them, and I definitely didn’t like that I couldn’t reach Vexxion no matter how hard I tried.
Her kick to the back of my bad leg dropped me to my knees. My thigh spasmed, and I couldn’t stifle my groan.
“Oh, yes, that’s right,” she said. “Poor little you was wounded when you were young.” Her foot snapped out again, impacting with my thigh, and I toppled to the side, unable to support myself while my contorted muscles writhed like creatures trapped within the king’s portraits. “If only I hadn’t been given strict orders.” She released a beleaguered sigh. “Such is my life.”
Tightening her grip on my wrist, she dragged me across the ledge and flung me onto my back within the rectangle. With her blade lying on the coarse ground nearby, she bound me atmy wrists and ankles. Still unable to move, I stared up at the blue sky arcing above, wondering how I was going to wrangle my way out of this.
Vexxion!
He did not reply.
I tried to pull from that deep part of my magical well, the place I’d claimed power from when I faced off with Delaine in the foyer right after I made the deal with Vexxion, but I couldn’t grab onto it.
She was blocking it. Blocking me from doing anything to protect myself.
Despair washed over me, threatening to engulf me. Would I end like this, tied on a cliff as prey for whatever she and her father planned next? I thought I’d at least get a chance to fling a blade at the king.
“I should’ve killed you back at the fortress,” I hissed.
“You had no just cause because I didn’t give you one. I could only challenge you so far.” She shook her head, her lips thinning. “Too many rules to follow with not enough leeway to act. As the high advisor’s daughter, I had to take care not to reveal the plan.”
“Why does everyone want to kill me?”
“Because of what you might do.”
My heart stalled. Did she and her father know I was here to kill the king? “What’s that?”
“No one’s sure. A foreteller said a powerful Nullen would balance the worlds, and Ivenrail’s been killing Nullens like you since. If there’s going to be balance, he’ll direct it.”
“How is a powerful Nullen supposed to balance the worlds?”
“Unfortunately, the foreteller killed herself before that information could be extracted.” Lifting the blade, Delaine swiped it through the air near my face. “Where should I cut you first?” Frowning, she studied my body. “I want to cut your head off, but it’ll be better if you get to watch.”
Watch what?
One slice, and the leather on my left sleeve parted, exposing the vulnerable underside of my arm. She dragged the tip of the knife from my wrist to my shoulder, grinning as blood welled and slithered down my flesh to plop on the stone.
I bit back a hiss.
“Entertaining, isn’t it?” she said. “The game is just beginning. I think I’ll hide nearby to watch. It’s going to be fun seeing you get what you deserve.”
“I haven’t done anything.” Too much for many, but not enough in this wretched fae world.
“You’re powerful, so your death is inevitable. And even if you didn’t kill Selitta yourself, you were responsible for her death.”
She spoke the truth, so I made no effort to lie.
“She whimpered like a baby,” I said with a sneer. “She collapsed on the ground and cupped her face, begging me to please stop, to let her go, to allow her to return to her beloved sister.”
“Nice, but she hated me.”
“Then why seek revenge?”
“She was family. Blood ties compel loyalty.”
It didn’t matter.
While she teased her knife through the air and contemplated where to cut me next, I wrenched at the manacles, hoping I could slip my hand through. But they were too snug; it wasn’t going to work.
