Chapter Thirty-Two
“This can only go on so long if she doesn’t eat,” Zephyr said. “When the rot sets in, you will need to do something, my Duke. Weakened souls don’t last long under conditions like these.”
Vapula gave a cruel laugh. “If rot sets in, she can be made to eat, and the rot can be scrubbed from her soul. It won’t be pleasant, but the choice is hers, if that is what she wants.”
I didn’t bother opening my eyes. I knew what I’d find if I did. The sweet, warm scent of fresh bread and spiced meat emanated from where my captors sat on the ground. The clanking of glass and sloshing of liquid told me they’d brought drinks. Even though my stomach ached and my soul cried for sustenance, I didn’t dare move from my spot. Six times they’d tried to lure me, and six times I’d resisted. This seventh attempt would not be the one to break me.
This was my final protest. I would lie here on the ground, unmoving and unspeaking, refusing to give in to their demands. My body soaked up the cold of the stone, aching and weakening, but my mind was elsewhere. Sitri’s magic became my lifeline. The delicate threads of hispower wrapped me like a veil, exposing my captors’ desires and shielding me from their coercion.
I could almost see it as a vision; Vapula wanted me to eat from his hand like a starving stray. Granting him access to my body was his price. I would sooner starve than accept more of his conditioning. Somewhere out there, the Prince of Lust and Lies was looking for me—something Vapula believed with such certainty that he’d bet the outcome of this war on it. We played a waiting game, and I wouldn’t be the one to break.
“Has there been any word from President Marbus?” Vapula asked, breaking the near-silence. “It seems our renegade Prince is running late.”
“No, my Duke, not since I sent word of your consort’s return.”
“What a shame. If this keeps up, perhaps I will have another kingdom to dismantle once we finish here.”
Zephyr grunted. The conversation ended, and the demons broke their bread. They settled into their meal.
Just as I’d resigned myself to another day starving at their feet, accosted by their desires, the first explosions rocked the stone.
The ground trembled, the air rippled as shock waves shook the city down below. Then came screams, roars. The chaotic sounds of combat. I opened my eyes, calling to muscles that had been dormant for days. As they woke, I sat upright, then stood. My shocked captors jolted to their feet, too.
When I looked out over Vapula’s kingdom, a beautiful, violent sight awaited. Below the plateau’s edge spread hungry fires and plumes of soot-black smoke that cast embers high into the air. Vapula muttered under his breath. I moved to get a better look, a smile crossing my face. There were monsters on the ground, pouring into the city in force—far more than I’d expected Sitri to amass.
“Duke Vapula, sir!” a demon shouted, emerging from the leftmost guard tower.
The chaos from the city below drowned out their conversation, butI didn’t need to hear what they said. I’d pieced the situation together on my own. An attack was underway, and the Kingdom of Scholars and Savants had been caught unawares. Whatever future Vapula’s allies painted, it hadn’t included this.
The Duke sent his legate away with orders before breaking from the courtyard, Zephyr at his side. The two deliberated in hushed voices. They left their baskets of food and drinking oils unattended on the ground, just within my reach. I hooked my foot into one of the baskets’ handles, ignoring my aching wounds, and claimed it for myself. They didn’t even notice. Using my teeth, I uncorked a bottle and drank until it emptied, letting the slimy, bitter oils soothe my burning throat. The meat-filled buns inside the basket were still warm and supple. As I feasted, they melted in my mouth, sweet as honey on my tongue.
I ate and drank my fill. Punishment for my hubris never came. Vapula and his legate kept their distance, shaken, never quite encroaching on the limits of my tether. I was up and moving, fed and quenched. Dangerous. Neither demon was dumb enough to give me a chance to engage, even bound and nearly naked.
For many long hours, we stood at a stalemate, my captors armed and on watch. The battle in the city raged on, buildings burning until I could no longer see the streets through the ever-rising smoke.
Zephyr and Vapula wanted the Prince exposed, cornered.Here.But something had changed in their demeanor. Once so calm and certain, they now grew restless, unsure. In their desires, I could feel their determination to wait Sitri out, to lure him where they wanted him. They’d wait as long as it took, flanked by reinforcements on either side of the plateau, with a palace full of subordinates at his back.
With any luck, Sitri knew it, too.
It was only once my captors sheathed their weapons, accepted the battle would be long and settled on the stone, that their adversary made his move.
Flashes erupted on either side of the courtyard. A rolling wave ofthunder shook the ground and nearly threw me from my feet. Screams pierced the air. The parallel guard towers collapsed with a deafening clatter. A dense white cloud washed over the plateau, smothering me in the scent of smoke and stone. It stung my lungs and left me choking, stumbling blindly through the haze, still unsteady from my wounds.
My captors were coughing, too, and the sound drew closer. They’d moved within my range, looking for the enemies executing the attack, hoping to strike them down. If I could find Vapula, I could end him once and for all. My heart raced. I hauled my heavy chain behind me, searching the wreckage. The sound of choking and footsteps guided me towards my target.
From the sea of dust, an unexpected figure emerged. I blinked, taking him in, trying to decide if he was friend or foe.
He was slimmer than Zephyr and Vapula, and wore the same armor the Duke’s guards used, but it hung awkwardly on this demon, as if it didn’t fit. A cloth covered his mouth and nose. He’d come prepared to deal with dust. The demon fidgeted with something near my chain’s anchor, one knee on the ground.
He looked up at me, and my heart skipped a beat.
I knew those gleaming silver eyes.
I brought my shackled hands to my mouth, stifling a gasp. Sitri raised his finger to his lips. I almost couldn’t believe what I saw. How in Hell had he gotten up here, cleared Vapula’s guards, and avoided the war in the city’s streets? Where were his soldiers, his backup? I almost didn’t care. He was here, free and unharmed.
A thousand questions, a thousand things I wish I’d said, fluttered in my chest. I wouldn’t get the chance to speak before violence broke out.
“There you are, you little rat!”Zephyr’s voice called from somewhere behind Sitri.
