Zane whipped his head towards the ugly star, a scowl on his face.“Thatlittle girlis favored by the gods.Who are you in the face of a goddess?”
“But,” said Rigil, “at the end of the day, she is still only a human.Just like you and your ‘friend’ here.”Zane didn’t react to Rigil mentioning Talon—he’d perfected the neutral court mask, and very little could make an expression cross his face without his permission.
“I’m going to enjoy watching her kill you,” Zane said.
A twisted smile split the Alpha’s face.“That is where you come in.See, I think the Aztiacarestoo much.Especially about her friends.Which is why you’ll stay alive.For now.”
Horror washed through Zane.They were being used as bait for Iyana.If the stars captured her, any chance they had of winning evaporated.He hoped that she would remain ignorant of their imprisonment, and he was glad that they had no way to warn her.
“Iyana is too smart to fall for your trap,” Talon said.Zane really wished he would have stayed silent, especially when the two stars peered over into the other cell.
“Oh, I’m sure she’ll realize it’s a trap.But I don’t think she’s going to care.For her friends, she will come anyway.”
He wouldn’t say it out loud, but Zane agreed with Rigil.That was Iyana’s personality—she would do anything for her friends and family, even if it was running headfirst into an obvious trap.
Another star stepped out of the darkness into the dungeon—one that Zane recognized.Scuti.The large, dark star looked between Zane and Talon impassively, then bowed his head toward Rigil.
“You called for me, my lord?”
“I need you to find the Aztia and inform her that her friends will be staying with us for a while.Although, if you are able to do what my traitorous general or my Beta could not and actually capture the girl, please do so.”Scuti said nothing, only nodded and disappeared.Zane prayed to all the old gods that Scuti was trustworthy and would make sure that Iyana stayed far away from Athusia.
“Come, Hadar, we have work to do.”Rigil teleported away without another word to either of them.
“Sit tight, boys,” Hadar said, a sadistic grin on his face.“The boss said you stay alive for now, but he didn’t specify what state you need to be in.I may be back later for some fun.”With a cackle, he also disappeared.
The chatter of the other prisoners started again, and Zane hadn’t realized how quiet it had become when the stars were present.He heard his name mentioned in murmurs.None of them had realized he was there.
“Crown Prince Zane?”someone called out, a man.
He sighed.“It’s emperor now, but yes, it’s me.”The murmurs intensified.
“Uther is dead?”the same voice asked.
“He is.”
“If you’re in here, then who the fuck is going to save us from the stars?”Angry voices chimed in, all agreeing with the other prisoners.
Zane hung his head, tears threatening yet again.He thought he’d cried himself out, but apparently not.They were right; he was supposed to be taking care of his empire, and he’d failed miserably.Now he and Talon were trapped in a dungeon with no obvious way out, and it was starting to appear as though the stars would be victorious.Because he knew Iyana would come.She would try to rescue them, and although she was strong, she could not take on the might of so many stars on her own.
“Shut the fuck up,” Talon shouted.“Do you think he’s been doing nothing since the stars fell?We’ve been all across this continent trying to find allies.Zane is theonly onewho actually cares about all of your fates, so you need to shut your mouth about things you know nothing about.”
The other prisoners continued to talk, but they left Zane alone after that.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Always, Zane,” Talon said, his voice still limned with anger.“I’ll always fight for you.Especially when other people are beingfucking idiots.”He shouted the last two words, drawing a small smile from Zane.But it fell away quickly.
“What are we going to do?”
“I’ll tell you what we’renotgoing to do, my heart.We’re not going to give up.We’ll never simply roll over for them.If an opportunity presents itself, we can try to escape; we know this castle better than any of the stars.So if we can get free of the cell, we’re gone.”
There was no other option but to agree with him.Zane appreciated Tal’s optimism, because he personally couldn’t see any way out of this.Either Iyana came for them and was captured, or she didn’t come.Both ways, Zane saw their deaths looming.After living for so long with Uther and knowing how a despotic ruler operated, there was no chance in the nine hells that Rigil would let them live.
But he could never say that to Talon, so he went along with the scheming, trying to think of different ways they could free themselves before Iyana even had an opportunity to show up.Really, though, Zane was counting their final minutes and cherishing Talon’s voice while he could.His one consolation was that they would die at the same time.
Chapter 53
Altair
