Page 107 of Taken By Shadows

A gust of silence swept the room.

“A fae life for a fae life,” a broad-shouldered male said in a gravelly voice. “Equal life, for equal life.” His hair was shorn short, and three scars raked from his temple to the back of his skull like claw marks. His ear tip had been cleaved by whatever had made the marks.

Denora’s shoulders stiffened beside me. “Councillor Merdia.” The name was acid on her tongue. A muscle in her jaw flexed.

I tugged her hand in mine to break the tension in her eyes as they locked on Councillor Merdia.

“Was that a yes or a no?” I asked her as she kept her eyes locked on Councillor Merdia.

Councillor Varris smiled and stood in the arch of his alcove. “Yes. Yes. However”—he nodded to Councillor Merdia across from him—“only a citizen who is not of the prince’s home may vouch for him. So you might all understand”—he held a pale finger up—“no member of his council and no people present may do this.” He reminded me of a rodent as more of his teeth showed as he grinned wider.

What was Varris really getting from this?

“If there is no one else at this time, we are done here. Guards, please escort the prince to the Cage.” Varris held out a hand. “We will resume this when there is a suitable candidate to vouch for him.” He lifted the tails of his tunic and sat back comfortably in his alcove.

I moved to protest, but Denora gripped my hand.

Guards pulled Kaed from the dais and out of the room, and I wanted to rip their asinine helmets off and throttle them. I wanted Kaed to do it. To unleash his magic on them and show them why they feared him.

“We’re going with him.” Denora squared off to the guards around us. “And if you try to stop us, you will have to find more cages. Try negotiating with Hayden when you’ve taken Tir’s sentinels and prince.”

And I supposed I fit in there too; Hayden’s future princess, or so they all thought. I swallowed the scorn that threatened to burst out.

With that, Denora, Gavrin and I followed after Kaed as he was led to the Cage for the second time.

“This is horse shit. At this point, they are making rules up to land you in it. I’ve smelled better things from Vega’s—”

“Enough, Gavrin,” Kaed commanded. And even caged, there was no room for argument in his voice. It was like he could turn it on. Allow the commander, the ruler and the prince in him out, like his magic that crept to the surface when he needed it.

Gavrin began pacing around the perimeter of the Cage.

The bones of the immuring structure looked more menacing in the dark of the night sky pouring through the glass roof.

The manacles had been removed. Which was only because the second the guards had put Kaed in the Cage, he had crashed to his knees again. The council member with warm brown hair, Rionna Darrion, had come with us. She was fae, tall and looked like a godstatue forged from bronze.

At first, I wasn’t sure if she was here to ensure Kaed remained in the Cage or otherwise. But when Celeste unlocked the manacles through the bars, Councillor Darrion relaxed somewhat. The escort guards parted and backed away at Rionna’s glare.

The shriek that came from Celeste when she grasped the manacles from Kaed’s wrists was deafening in the chamber.

“That snivelling—” Celeste bit down on her curse as she threw the metal bindings to the ground with a clatter.

As soon as Kaed’s wrists were free, he stood more easily. The chains of the faebane bindings were gone, but they’d done worse damage to his reserve than last time. His swagger and air of “bastard without a care” didn’t surface.

“What is it?” Rionna asked as she and Gavrin both went for the manacles, their eyes locking as they nearly knocked into one another.

“Don’t,” Celeste urged. “There’s probably ten times the faebane that should be on them. We don’t use things like this anymore. Cruelty is not what we offer here. Despite what some members of this council might have you believe.”

“Who?” Gavrin looked ready to rip bone from flesh.

“Varris. Who do you think?” Kaed’s voice was heavy. Tired.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” the warrior female said, with tightness laced in her throat.

“I had no idea Varris was planning something like this.” Rionna’s voice was kinder than her imposing structure would suggest. Beneath the hardened and muscled exterior, she had a softness to her.

If Viverna had taught me nothing else, it was that people wore masks over their true nature.

Kaed inclined his head to the councillor.