She steps back and lifts a hand in a sweeping arc and I realize there are dozens of poles. Maybe hundreds. Bodies strung up like trophies. Blades, Reapers, Servants. Anyone who had once served House Mordorin.
Their flesh hangs in ribbons. Eyes hollow. Necks twisted at impossible angles.
My warriors. My brethren. My house.
Butchered.
Lightning rips across the sky, casting the courtyard in a harsh, momentary glare, and there stand the Fae of House Mor’Thravar, lined in ranks.
Modok stands at their head, tall, wiry, and still, his shoulders hunched, his long, rust-colored leather coat flapping in the wind, eyes fixed on me with pure malice. Beside him is his sister, Nyraxes, her gaze no warmer.
She steps forward, rain dripping from the curve of her brow, her mouth forming a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
“Welcome home, Daedalus.”
The words are a blade, sinking slow.
“It’s only fitting you hang on a pole of your own, don’t you think? Your warriors will be comforted, I’m sure. With their commander beside them. It might please you to know they died well. Swore loyalty to their prince until I cut their tongues out.”
Her smile widens.
“But loyalty,” she whispers, “is just ash in the wind.”
She turns, lifting her arms to the storm above.
“There is only one true power in this world,” she says. “Us. The Fae. House Mor’Thravar. Fear is the fire that burns long after loyalty crumbles to dust.”
Modok reachesfor his sister’s hand, fingers outstretched. Nyraxes gazes at him with reverence, as if he is something sacred and righteous. She clutches his hand, and he lifts it to his lips, brushing a kiss across her bloodstained knuckles.
“Well said, Nyraxes,” he murmurs. She dips her chin, demure as a blushing bride, though there is nothing soft about her.
“Now,” Modok continues, turning back to me with a grin that shows too many teeth, “all that remains is to show the Fae that House Mor’Thravaristhe power in the Sundered Kingdoms. And to do that?” He spreads his arms wide, the rain slicking over his leathers, over his fury. “We hang the last heirs of House Mordorin. Then all will kneel.”
“Fine,” I rasp, blood sliding down my throat. “Do what you will with me. But let my companions go. They are nothing to you. They have no part in this.”
Modok’s smile vanishes. He lunges, storming forward, kicking water in my face as he closes the distance.
“Of course they do!” he roars. “They bore the mark, sword and wings, same as you and I do not doubt for a second they would die for you. That kind of loyalty, that kind of devotion to a failed line and a pathetic excuse for a monarch… it spreads like a sickness. I cannot,will not, let it fester inmySundered Kingdoms.”
His foot rises, pressing against the crown of my skull.
“I will burn your memory from this realm like rot from a dying tree,” he breathes. “But not before I rip your heart out and squeeze the life from it in front of you.”
Then he steps down.
My face smashes into the stone. Pain flares, and I hiss through clenched teeth.
“I’ll have her soon,” Modok says. “That mortal you chose. The human girl you defiled your bloodline for. I’ll string her up first. Strip her to the bone. I’ll peel her apart, layer by layer, scream by scream, until there’s nothing left but meat and guts and you will watch. Every slice. Every tremble.”
My chest heaves. Rage roars beneath my skin.
“If you're going to kill me,” I grind out, “then do it now. Quickly. Because every second you delay is another I spend plotting how I’ll escape this place. How I’ll cut my way through your disgraced fucking house until your head rolls and your soul howls.”
I look up at him through the blood in my eyes. “Your punishment is long overdue, Modok. You betrayed your Fae blood long before I ever did and I swear to every cursed star, I will see my people avenged.” I swallow. “I will see Zema avenged.”
His boot crashes into my face again, harder this time. My lip splits. I spit blood into the stones, vision tilting, a red haze swallowing the edges.
“That’s always been your weakness, Daedalus,” he sneers. “Sentiment. You never had the spine to do what was necessary. Never had the courage to watch the world bleed to make our kind strong. You let love soften you.”
