I lunged for him, that fiery rage building in my veins once again, but was quickly pulled off course by Hugo, his hands around my arm.
“My pr-king, if you attack him again,you’reallowing his words to get to you.Snap out of it,” Hugo said—always the voice of reason.
The prisoner hadn’t even flinched, hadn’t moved at all despite the obvious threat.
He is likely right, I thought.
Forcing myself to breathe deeply to calm the energy buzzing within me, I nodded to Hugo. He dropped his grip on me, taking a step back in the process. He cleared his throat, then uttered the wordsI’dbeen dreading to hear from him.
“Your Majesty, perhaps we should discuss the possibility of you returning to the daily elixirs.”
I froze, letting his words sink in. Ever so slowly, I turned my head to look at the older male with malice.
He flinched as his gaze met mine, averting his eyes to the floor instead.
“My apologies, my king.I simply am looking out for your best interests,” Hugo said, his voice coming out breathy. I ignored the way his hands had begun to shake slightly.
“Do noteversuggest that to me again, Hugo,” I said, my voice as calm and cold asI’dbeen trying to portray myself as to the world for so many years.
Hugo sputtered a quick, “Yes, Your Majesty,” before slipping from the room without looking back at the prisoner.
OfcourseHugo would suggest the elixirs. Him and Fatherhadforced me to take them fornearly myentire life—why wouldn’t that be his solution, now thathimand Father could no longer control me?
When Fatherhad beenmurdered and was no longer there to enforce the elixirs, I stopped taking them. The sickness I had endured afterwards was soawful,I considered Hugo’s suggestion to just take them again. I almost believed him when he saidI’dbeen born with a defect andneededthem.
Turned out he was wrong.
Without them, I wassomuch stronger.
I had nearly smacked the oldertrokavfor his misguidance, buthe’dsworn on the Stars above he had only told me what my father had told him before.
Maybe Ishould have punished him somehow, after all.
I ran a hand through my hair, pulling myself from my thoughts, then said to the only male left in the cell with me, “I would instruct you to keep this between us, but you won’t live long enough to tell anybody else, anyways.”
Without bothering to glance at the male with the dirty streak of white hair, I took my leave from the cell,securing it behind me.
Chapter Four
“What about this one?” Matea asked, holding up a sizeable dagger—much too large for my hands, but perfect for Byn’s—with the Thorntier insignia engraved on it.
I shook my head.“He has more than enough things with that sun and wolf’s head on it, trust me.”
Matea shrugged, then placed it back onto the table beside her and walked towards Margo and me.
The city of Cairnyl, which surrounded The Haven, was hosting its monthly creator’s market that morning. It was my first time attending, but Matea seemed to know her way around. She had likely been coming for years, remaining unseen and slipping from shadow to shadow.
Caeliahadalsonever been before, consideringshe’donly been in the South for a handful of weeks, so Matea—along with Margo—guidedus from stall to stall. Matea was telling us everything about the market that she could, from an old vendor she missedseeing tothe new ones shedidn’trecognize, as well as who had the best prices and highest quality. Margo, on the other hand, was quieter than usual. The same way she had been ever sincewelost Ezra.
According to Matea, thecraftersand creators ofCairnylall did this once a month, each vendorshowcasingtheir best items for sale. Sofarwe had seen weapons, tools, jewelry, clothing, crops, pastries, paintings, and there were even more stalls wehadn’tmade ittoyet.This market gave the lesser-known creators ofCairnyla chance to show off their craft, since each stall was the same size and only so many items could be brought in to display.
It tugged on my heartstrings to see the community they had built here. Back in Hollis, we never had anything like this. People stuck to the same popular shops, monopolizing the industry and making itnearly impossiblefor new shops to pop up anywhere. Even when expanding the city by building new structures, the well-known businesses had theirhandin the new real estate, controlling the entire market.
That same greedwasn’tpresent here in the South. Sure, theyweren’tperfect—there were always going to be businesses that were more popular than others, and greed was always present to a degree—but theytried. With events like this, they tried.
“This one?” Caelia suggested, motioning to a knife with the swirling patterns of anOcreinIsle tattoo on it. The tattoo was something they received once they weredeemeda master of the shadows they wielded, from what Rayven had told me when I inquired about the ink adorning his right arm. Caelia and Callum both had the same ink on their right arms, the swirling pattern as unique as a fingerprint.
I shook my head again. “Considering Byn doesn’t wield shadows, I think maybe not.” I offered her a small smile, though, because at least theOcreinprincess was trying.
