My head snaps away before I can see more. The movement is sharp enough that Orios shoots me a questioning look. I do not offer him an answer. I keep moving, approaching the door where I left Reon to do his work on my behalf.
Again, no guards.
A slow, creeping dread curls through my gut, tingling at my fingertips.
Then a creak. Floorboards shifting beneath a weight that isn’t mine or Orios’.
A muffled groan follows.
I press a hand to Orios’ chest, halting him.
He turns to me, but I shake my head. A silent command.
Not another step.
But my instincts flare embarrassingly late.
The doors to Marlayna’s chambers swing open, revealing Reon on his knees, a gag tied tightly around his mouth. His captors flank him, one with a fistful of his hair, yanking his head back, the other pressing the sharp edge of a sword to his throat.
“Good morning,” Lady Marlayna greets, lounging on a chaise, draped in a silk robe, swirling wine in the bottom of her goblet. “For a moment, I thought you wouldn’t come to reclaim your friend.”
A rush of wind stirs at my back, my instincts screaming just as I glance over my shoulder. More of them. A dozen Taramethos Fae filing in, Zyphoro and Solena in their grasp, each held still by a blade at their throats.
Marlayna sighs, tipping her head back against the chaise. “This feelstooeasy,” she muses. “Not that I’m complaining, but I was hoping for more of a challenge. A little struggle. Maybe even a bit of bloodshed.” Her gaze flicks lazily toward me.
“Here, in this human world, we Fae can do as we please. No punishment. No consequences and I must admit…” She smiles, slow and sweet, the kind of smile that curdles the air between us. “I have done trulyhorriblethings to the people of Ballamar in the name of boredom.”
My fingers twitch at my sides.
“In the Sundered Kingdoms, under House Mordorin, we wouldn’t have dared step a toe out of line. We all knew the punishment the Mordorin prince would exact on those who displeased him.” She exhales wistfully. “Another thing I miss, I suppose.” Then, a sigh. A shrug. “What a disappointment.”
I grind my teeth, the rage barely caged behind them.Careful.One wrong move, and Reon, Solena, Orios Zyphoro are all dead.
“This is unnecessary,” I growl, forcing steel into my voice. “We mean you no harm. I did not come to exactanypunishment. I only wanted the mirror, and I met the terms of our bargain.”
Marlayna’s languid gaze drifts over Reon’s bare torso, and my stomach twists. Bruises bloom across his fair, freckled skin, scratches raking down his ribs. One eye is swollen and darkening, his lower lip split, a smear of dried blood crusting at the corner of his mouth.
“I had rather hoped to know what a Mordorin prince felt like between my thighs,” Marlayna muses, dragging a finger along the rim of her goblet, “but your substitute proved to be an…enthusiasticbedmate.”
Reon’s jaw clenches, his nostrils flaring, but he says nothing. Marlayna takes a sip of her wine, savoring the taste with a smack of her lips before lifting her gaze back to me.
“But I’ve decided I desire more from our arrangement. A husband.”
My brow furrows. “You wish to marryReon?”
Marlayna laughs, rich and honeyed, and even in his perilous predicament, Reon frowns at her amusement.
“You, Daedalus,” she purrs, her smile curling like a cat’s tail. “I wantyou. We will return to the Sundered Kingdoms as king and queen.”
Now it’smyturn to laugh, sharp and cold, and for the first time, Marlayna looks foolish.
“And what kingdom do you think we’ll return to?” I ask, voice laced with quiet mockery. “The Sundered Kingdoms is in chaos.The human rebellion holds the mainland. The thrall houses of Mordorin squabble amongst themselves. Half of them remain loyal to me. The rest would rather see me dead than welcome me home.” I tilt my head. “You think returning with a Taramethos traitor who fled the war on my arm will change anything?”
Marlayna’s confidence falters, just a flicker, a single heartbeat of hesitation, but I see it.
“I have enough warriors of Taramethos toforcethem to kneel,” she snaps, though the bite in her voice is dull, worn down to little more than a chew.
I let my gaze sweep across the room, across her so-called warriors.
