Thane
Thane curled his hands around the ancient vines as he leaned back in his throne. The seat hummed beneath him, content.It damn well better be, he thought. He’d sacrificed far too much to return to its side. His hands were covered in blood. They would never scrub clean.
Sighing, he pushed up from the seat and lumbered out of the Great Hall. His guards pulled open the doors, moving in silence. They all kept their heads bowed, their eyes low to the ground. He did not blame them. He’d become the very thing he’d hoped he never would.
His father.
Instead of love, Thane now inspired fear.
With a heavy sigh, he strode through the corridors, down the winding stairs, and through the dungeons until he found the cell. Mariel crouched inside the dank darkness, blinking up at him with red-lined eyes. She made no move to get up when he stopped outside her cell. Instead, she glared up at him.
“Good evening, Mariel.”
She rolled her eyes and leaned back against the dirt-caked wall. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to make certain you’re as comfortable as you can be, given the circumstances,” he said tightly.
She choked out a laugh. “You’ve thrown me in a dungeon cell. What do you expect from me, Thane?”
“High King Thane Selkirk.”
“You don’t deserve that title,” she shot back. “You ran from your responsibility to this realm. And then you took it back by force. Half the city has burned to the ground.”
He winced. “That was never my intention. The Sea Court—”
“Only came here because you brought them with you.”
“They would have invaded regardless of what I’d said or done.” He shook his head. “But that doesn’t matter. You’re right. I’ve done some terrible things, but so have you. You speak of protecting the people, of keeping them safe. But I offered you surrender. You refused it.”
Mariel tipped her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. “I have no wish to have this discussion with you.”
“You think I’m evil, but I’m just trying to do my best for this realm.” He reached for the bars but stopped short just in time, the iron buzzing with magic. “I could have killed you, Mariel. If anyone else had been in my place, you’d be dead.”
“You speak as though you did me a favor.”
“Didn’t I?”
“I’d rather be dead than trapped in this cell for the rest of my life. The decades stretch out before me, endless days of nothing more than darkness and dirt. Put me out of my misery.”
Thane stepped back. “I won’t do that.”
She let out a bitter chuckle. “And why not? I’m your enemy in every way imaginable. I tried to steal your court from you. You should hang me before a crowd to make a point. Treason always ends in death. I knew that when I chose to go against your reign. I never expected both of us to live.”
Thane sighed. He knew it had been a terrible idea to come down here. “I’m not going to execute you, Mariel. That’s not the kind of king I wish to be.”
“Then, what are you going to do with me? Keep me here forever?”
“I don’t know,” he murmured. And he really didn’t. When he’d found Mariel sitting on his throne, rage had burned through his veins. In the end, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to kill her. All the rage had vanished like smoke. With a heavy sigh, he spun on his heels and left the dungeons behind.
* * *
Thane dropped back into the throne, weariness tugging on his tired bones. His conversation with Mariel had gone nothing like he’d wanted, though he couldn’t say what he’d expected to gain from it either.
She was right. He didn’t deserve the throne.
But neither did she.
“Your Grace,” one of the guards at the doors spoke up. Thane sat up a little straighter. He didn’t know any of these fae. He would need to remedy that, as soon as possible. “High King Cos Darragh is here, and he wishes to speak with you.”
