It didn’t impact me—one such advantage of belonging to the royal bloodline—so I didn’t need to take any time to recalibrate my auditory perception.
That was why the sharp sound of chains clanging reached me like a blade through flesh.
I swung my head in that direction, and she shook them at me, beckoning me over much like the disrespect inherent in somebody crooking their finger at a person. Except in this case, there was more to it than merely disrespect—insidiously so.
I headed over, Zayn holding onto my shoulder.
I felt those intrigued glances, caught a few smiles from the crowd, but otherwise blocked it out, as I made my way toward the large empty space between the thrones and the first row of seating.
Norla handed the chains off to Syde, and then she called her magic and swept it over the centerpoint of the space. A large square tile materialized in the floor right at the site, and she slid it aside with a sweep of her hand.
It was a nexus of the restorative channels that ran beneath the entirety of the Basilisk Dominion. Every few months, she’d flood them with her power to reinforce the lifeblood of the kingdom, strengthen the intricate architectural fortress that was the subterranean passageway network, also augmenting the protective protocols in the process. When I was inundated with vibrational resonance from our people in a few moments, at the point of initial contact, there would likely be eruptions that would be harmful to them, yet bolstering for the restorative channels.
As we reached their position beside the nexus opening, Norla snapped her fingers at two of her guards, and they strode toward Zayn. “He cannot prove to be a distraction,” she told me.
“That you’d consider me so weak-minded as to be distracted while undertaking such a significant process insults me,‘mother’.”
I hissed as the guards reached for Zayn.
Then a collective hiss rang out, coming from the crowd.
It was so fearsome that Zayn spun unsteadily, not taking his hand off my shoulder, though, his eyes flicking every which way.
But he calmed rather quickly when he saw the same as me—the people rising up, quite literally, serpentine eyes drilling into the guards. They didnotlike the idea of Zayn being manhandled. Of my Chosen being manhandled.
They were exhibiting protectiveness on our behalf, out of deference to me.
Norla signaled the guards to retreat to their respective positions.
And then I conjured a black leather chair with pink crystal legs just off to the side of Syde’s throne. A chorus of approvals rang out, and they intensified when I stroked Zayn’s hair and told him, “There you go, sweetheart.” I winked. “See you in a few moments.”
He hugged me to him, and there was definite struggle on his end, before he managed to release me, and make his way over to the chair.
As he sat down, Syde caught my eye, glaring and making his displeasure known.
I walked to him and snatched the chains. “Stay your hand. You’ll have your satisfaction all too soon with a front row seat to my suffering.”
He sneered, eyed Zayn sitting tensely on the edge of the chair, then moved to Norla’s other side.
That’s right, heel. ‘Father.’
I rounded Norla who stood rigidly beside the nexus opening, saying nothing as I took position, dropping to my knees where I was able to see the entire Throne Room. I winked at Zayn in a bid to signal him to remain calm, as he was already in a crouched, readied position on the chair, literally very much on edge.
It was all right. He would hold. I trusted in it. He understood the stakes.
More than that, he had faith in me.
A great deal of it at that.
And it had been demonstrated so profoundly to me today that my people did also.
I steadied myself, then placed the chains down beside me.
Then I swept my power over them, and a moment later, they wrapped around me, and I chained myself, binding my thighs to the floor, then my arms as I leaned forward and slid my hands into the nexus. They tightened around my wrists and even delved a little into the channel itself and screwed into the bedrock inside, anchoring me there.
Upon completion, I felt a flicker of Syde’s power, and then I was wrenched further downward, just shy of smashing my face into the floor at the edge of the opening, as he tightened the chains unnecessarily.
I swallowed a grunt, and caught sight of the petty fool sneering at me.
