They’ll question me. Try to break me. Force me to confess to crimes I haven’t committed.
Or they’ll want to know where the other Lost Kings are. I’m sure that whatever they want to know, I won’t be able to help them.
The torturer will start with threats, then move to pain. The leather case on the table likely contains his tools.
“Leave us,” the fae man says to the guards.
They exchange glances. “Sir, Lord Belen ordered us to—”
“I said to leave.” His voice is steel wrapped in silk. “Now.”
The guards hesitate for only a moment more, then back toward the door. “Yes, sir.”
The door closes behind them, and we’re alone.
The captain studies me, his dark eyes moving over my face, my torn tunic, as well as the mark on my chest that’s partially visible through the ripped fabric.
“Are you the king of the Shadowfae?” he asks.
“Does it matter?” I ask him. “You will torture me regardless. You may as well begin.” I glance at the leather case on the table.
He smiles.
It’s not the cruel smile I expected. There’s something almost…respectful about it.
“Your Majesty,” he says, dropping to one knee before me. “My name is Tryfon.”
Shadows immediately begin to swirl around the room. They pour from Tryfon like water, flowing across the floor and up the walls, blending and mingling with the ones already there. Within seconds, we’re surrounded by a cocoon of darkness.
“Lord Belen sent me.”
Relief floods me.
“Please, stand,” I tell him.
He rises to his feet, his eyes never leaving mine. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I swear on my life and the lives of my family that I am here to help you escape.”
“I’m glad to hear it and thank you for coming. You can call me Sebastian. We should forget about formalities and get straight to business,” I tell him, folding my arms. “I know that we don’t have much time.”
“No need to thank me, Sire. I am merely doing my duty.” He straightens and moves toward the back wall of the room. “Now, if you’ll follow me?”
He presses his palm against a section of stone that looks identical to every other section. Nothing happens at first. Then he speaks a word in the old tongue and knocks on the same stone twice.
The stone begins to glow faintly where his hand touches it. He moves his fingers in a complex pattern, tracing symbols I recognize as ancient shadowfae runes.
Magic pulses through the air. I feel it against my skin like a breath of wind.
With a soft grinding sound, a section of the wall swings inward, revealing a dark passage beyond.
I stare at it in shock, my mouth falling open. “I had heard whispers of secret passages in the court, but I didn’t think it was real.”
Tryfon glances back at me, one eyebrow raised. “They’ve always been here, Your Majesty. All the courts have them.” He pauses, eyebrows raised. “The passages were put in place for the royals to escape in times of war. I thought you would have been fully aware of them.”
I shake my head. “I… No, I wasn’t.”
My parents died when I was still young. My uncle ruled until I came of age. I’m sure my parents would have told me about the passages once I was old enough.
“There are very few of us who know about them. You will be quite safe. Let us go, Your Majesty.” Tryfon gestures to the opening. “We need to move. Stick close to me.”
