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We reached the top of the stairs to the inner bailey. Like the courtyard below, servants bustled about, some with linens in their hands, and others carrying heavier items like swords and armor. Just ahead of us, the enormous stone castle loomed, partially blocking the light of the moon. Towers and turrets speared upward toward the sky. A massive staircase led to the entrance, a set of double doors made of polished mahogany. Four ornate white statues flanked the double doors, with two on either side. Each statue represented a different animal, which I assumed the Mages could shift into. There was a wolf, a fox, a dragon, and a raven, each of them carved with intricate detailing.

Alaric steered me away from the steps to the entrance, toward a hidden staircase I hadn’t noticed before. It was cloaked in shadows, leading to a dark abyss below. Alaric immediately began descending the stairs. I swallowed hard before following after, keeping my hand braced on the moistened stone wall for balance. With each step, the air became colder and damper. I suppressed a shiver when we reached the bottom. Pitch black nothingness surrounded us until Alaric lit a sconce on the wall. It illuminated a narrow hallway with prison cells on either side.

My stomach churned with unease. In the distance, someone was sobbing.

Storms, I was going to die here.

I gripped Alaric’s arm tightly without realizing what I was doing. My fingernails dug into his muscled forearm, and my breath turned shaky.

Alaric looked at me, and I expected him to jerk away or reprimand me for grabbing him. But he must have sensed the fear emanating from me. He said in a low voice, “You won’t be harmed here. The cell protects you from us as much as it protects us from you.”

I wasn’t quite sure I believed him. “How long am I to be imprisoned here?” My voice sounded hollow.

“I’ll send for you at Forenoon for the Truth Spell.”

I frowned. “Forenoon?”

“In the fae lands, it would be what you call dawn. Here in Kenibore, we do not measure time by the sun as we do not have one. We measure time by the path the moon takes across the sky.”

My mouth went dry, my mind struggling to keep up. I was so tired and hungry and sore from the events of the day, and my temple was still throbbing. “I… I don’t understand.”

Alaric sighed. “When the moon starts its descent, we call that the Falling. That is the equivalent of dusk in the fae lands. Right now, we are an hour into the Falling. In six hours, the moon will vanish under the horizon and we will have two hours of darkness. Once the next Rising begins, that is Forenoon.”

I blinked rapidly. “So… that’s in eight hours?”

“Yes.”

My breath hitched as I nodded. I could do this. I could survive eight hours in a dank prison cell with no access to my magic.

“As I said before, I will have a meal sent to you,” Alaric assured me. “And I’ll be sleeping in the barracks, so I’ll be close by.”

This shouldn’t have brought me any sort of comfort—Alaric wasn’t exactly a friend to me. But he was likely the only one here who would treat me with a modicum of respect. And somehow, I knew that if anyone tried to attack or kill me, Alaric would stop them.

At least until I was no longer useful to him.

With a loud metallic scraping sound, Alaric swung open a cell door and guided me inside. Slowly, he pried his arm loose from my grip and stepped back before shutting the door. I winced when it made a loud crashing sound. Alaric turned the key, locking me in. His expression was grim, his golden eyes gleaming in the darkness.

“I’ll see you soon, witchling.”

And with that, he was gone.

Ten

THE WOLF

Between the situation with the witch and Tavik’s odd behavior, my head was pounding. I ran a hand down my face as I swiftly made my way up the stairs to the castle entrance doors. I briefly paused when I caught sight of a bushy-haired servant and requested he send a tray of food to Cerise in the dungeon. Then, my steps quickened into a jog as I went down the hall and up the spiral staircase. There would be no time to bathe or change—I had already put off the chiefs for long enough.

But I had to grab something, and my cot at the barracks was too far away. While striding around naked was acceptable in most cases, it would still be seen as improper in front of the chiefs.

And the Mage King was dead. Good gods, King Nolan was dead. My heart twisted with dread and despair.

I still couldn’t believe it.

“You have to go back,” Tavik moaned. “Please don’t cage her up like that.”

I gritted my teeth in frustration. Ever since I’d led the witch to the dungeons, Tavik had been whining for me to release her.

Perhaps it had been a mistake to shift when Cerise had tried to run away. But it had been instinct. If my quarry tried to flee, the best strategy was to let Tavik catch them.