“And why should I listen to an impertinent mortal like you?” Ta’sradala asked, looking down her nose at me. “You do not make demands of a Tua—you get on your knees and beg.” The malicious glitter in her eyes told me even that would be no use—she would enjoy my humiliation without yielding aninch.
“I shouldn’t even have to ask!” I thundered, losing my temper completely. “You told me that if I won, you would let me go, and Ihave! How are you any better than us ‘mortals’ if you can’t be bothered to keep your ownword?”
“She has a point, Mother,” Ennartha said uneasily. “Surprising as it may be, she has completed thechallenges.”
“That is formeto decide!” Ta’sradala exclaimed angrily. “Besides, promises to humans don’t count. Are you actually taking this pitiful mortal’sside?”
“You are theworstperson I have ever met,” I hissed, my entire body vibrating with anger. I wanted to claw Ta’sradala’s perfect face off, and indeed I might have thrown a punch or two if I didn’t value my life. “I used to think that mages were the worst, but you are even more arrogant than they are, and faithless toboot.”
I had to wonder if the mages got that side of their personality from the Tua, if Nalan and Alara’s theory was correct. Or maybe power just naturally corrupted people and gave them that false sense of superiority. There were plenty of humans who were just as insufferable. At least Iannis was nothing like this crazy bitch. I felt a strong wave of longing, wishing he was here by myside.
“How dare you!” The Tua drew herself upright, and I braced myself for another magicalattack.
“Go ahead,” I taunted. “Choke me or burn me or send me into another dimension. That’s what you always do when you’re at a loss, isn’t it? You can’t bear to confront me so you throw your power around like the big bully youare.”
Ta’sradala froze. “Please,” Deryna begged, filling the shocked silence. “Our guest is speaking out of despair at being hopelessly outmatched, and she has just been through several exhausting, dangerous ordeals! Don’t regard her words—her nerves must be shot. Consider the consequences before you do anything else, Ta’sradala. If Iannis finds out that you have hurt his beloved, or worse, he will never forgive any ofus.”
“I don’t need my grandson’s forgiveness,” Ta’sradala said coldly, but she lowered her hand. “This mortal may be stronger and luckier than I’d been led to believe, but her impertinence is unforgiveable. We cannot allow such an undesirable trait to be grafted onto the familytree.”
“Still,” Ennartha said, and I blinked in surprise to see her speak up, “we should not be too hasty. Perhaps we should wait for Iannis to arrive and explain himself. We might yet convince him to desist from thismatch.”
I shot her a glare—thanks for that.I was never going to like my future mother-in-law, but now she’d destroyed any chance of us gettingalong.
“He is surely going to arrive any day now,” Deryna added, “and will be furious if his bride is nothere.”
“On the other hand”—Ennartha pursed her lips—“since he has not turned up yet, perhaps he is already thinking better of the connection and is too busy with his politics to chase after this girl. For all we know, the wedding may already be calledoff.”
Fat chance, I thought contemptuously. She did not know Iannis at all if she really believedthat.
“Besides,” Deryna said, frowning thoughtfully, “didn’t you tell us once that the Tua realm is forbidden to humans—and shifters, we must suppose—without special permission of the High King? I understand he was not pleased when Ennartha took Iannis there all those years ago. Did you get permission before sending Sunayathere?”
Ta’sradala’s shoulders stiffened, and for the first time, an uneasy look crossed her face. “Did you meet anyone while you were in the Tua realm, girl?” she asked sharply. “Or take anything that was not freelygiven?”
I scowled, refusing to answer. I did not want to get Nalan and Arala into trouble, and I knew that Broghan wasn’t supposed to have come with me. If I told her that he had followed me from the Tua realm, I could land myself in even more trouble than I was innow.
“I’m getting tired of all these questions,” I said, turning away. “If you aren’t going to send me home, then I’ll find a way back myself.” I was perfectly capable of walking to the nearest village or town and securing transport of some kind. With any luck, there might even be an apothecary that sold the ingredients I needed to recharge mygulaya.
“I don’t think so,” Ta’sradala snapped. Magic sizzled around me, and my arms and legs snapped taut against my body, rendering me immobile. “You’ll be staying right here until I figure out what to do withyou.”
I’d been worriedthat Ta’sradala would leave me out in the garden, frozen like a statue, but instead she locked me up in one of the bedrooms, which in a way was even worse. As I lay there on the bed, unable to so much as blink, my mind raced. I furiously tried to figure out how to escape this latest predicament. There were all sorts of spells that could undo immobilization, but, as before, my magic didn’t work on the Tua’s. She was simply too powerful, her magic too different for mine to work againsthers.
At least I can breathe,I thought miserably as I stared up at the ceiling. My bodily functions were working just fine, as evidenced by my near bursting bladder. I needed to pee so badly I thought I might die, but I couldn’t even wet the bed, I was frozen so stiff. I sincerely hoped that Ta’sradala wasn’t going to force me to do any more tests. For all I knew she could be planning to put me through an endless series of challenges, claiming I had been cheating every time I won, until my strength and ingenuity finally gave out and Idied.
Tears stung at my eyes as another wave of helplessness overcame me, and a scream built in my chest that I couldn’t release no matter how hard I tried. What had I done to deserve this torture? Was I destined to be Ta’sradala’s plaything for the rest of my life, simply because I’d dared to love her grandson? Was I going to die before I ever saw Iannisagain?
And yet…even knowing what I knew now, I still wouldn’t have changed a thing. I hadn’t thought so at the time, but being taken prisoner by Iannis was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I had learned so much about myself, and had grown far more powerful and confident than I ever would have if I’d simply kept my head down and lived out my existence as an enforcer. Beneath his stern exterior, Iannis was wise and compassionate, with a heart of gold that so few people got totouch.
I was extraordinarily lucky to be one of thosefew.
As the hours passed with excruciating slowness, I tried to call for Broghan again. But if he was anywhere nearby, he didn’t answer. Wouldn’t he have caught up with me by now? Or was he stuck back in the cave world? Maybe he was afraid of Ta’sradala, too. Or, for all I knew, something else had caught his attention and he was off on another adventure. Broghan was fun-loving and capricious, and he didn’t seem to have any concept of danger. I had a feeling he was just as likely to come after me as he was to befriend someone else and go off looking fortrouble.
Finally, just when I thought I could bear no more of this, the door opened. “Apologies for keeping you waiting so long,” Deryna murmured as she came inside with a tray of food. I felt a jolt of surprise at the sight of Ennartha right behind her, and I would have fallen off the bed if I’d been able tomove.
“If Mother gets angry, this is on you,” Ennartha said to Deryna, not looking at all happy as she waved her hand to unlock the spell. I groaned in relief as my muscles finally relaxed. Sitting up, I winced as aches and pains rippled through me—everything was stiff from being locked up for so long. “I was never here,” Ennartha added with a warning glance at both of us as she left theroom.
Deryna sat the tray next to me on the bed and took a seat, but I shook my head and rolled off to the other side. I was hungry, but my bladder was going to explode if I didn’t use the facilities. I hobbled off to relieve myself, then came back to find that Deryna was still waiting forme.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked as I slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. A bowl of hot stew and thick slices of soda bread were waiting, and my mouth watered as I lifted the tray onto mylap.
