Page 184 of The Last Syphon

“What?”

“Do you care for my brother?” she asked again.

Inara sensed urgency in her tone.

“I—” She couldn’t bring herself to answer the question, no matter how hard she tried. Why was she asking Inara this? Why did she want to know? What did it even matter? Her fate was pretty much sealed. As far as she knew, there was no power to turn back time. There would be no way to erase her secret being found out. Even if Inara did care for Prince Walder, it wouldn’t change anything.

Princess Phaedra produced a set of keys from within her dress robes. “My brother gave me this key with secret orders to set you free. He has arranged safe passage out of Arelia for you both to the dense mountains of Roylan, and you need to leave immediately if you are to make it, however, I hope you will not take what he is offering.”

Maybe Inara did not get enough rest because nothing was making sense to her right now. “Why do you hope that?”

“The High Council has ordered him and the Arelian Army to confront the enemy to the south.”

“They what?!” Inara lunged forward, gripping the bars in front of her, her knuckles turning white.

A shield appeared in the blink of an eye between Princess Phaedra and the cell.

She didn’t care, ignoring the deathly glare from Kronan at her actions. “Tell me he didn’t go. Tell me he didn’t fucking go.”

The princess just stared at her, and Inara knew without her having to voice it that the idiot went.

“He’ll die!”

Prince Walder was powerful, one of the most powerful beings Inara had ever met, but against a Syphon? Someone like her, but with thousands of years more experience than her? Someone who actually understood the full extent of his powers and what he could do with them?

He couldn’t win.

Prince Walder couldn’t win.

The image of him withering away, fading as the Cursed King drained him of everything he had, pounded in her head. Of the light dwindling from his eyes. Of his skin, shriveling, disappearing until all that remained was bones.

Tears formed, and she desperately fought to keep them back.

The sound of her cell door unlocking snapped her out of the thoughts consuming her. Princess Phaedra walked in, grabbed her by the wrists and unlocked the suppression cuffs keeping her captive.

Magic rushed back into her body, and Inara closed her eyes, breathing in deeply at the sense of euphoria washing over her. She could feel it once again, running through her veins, heating her blood, thrashing inside her, as if it, too, had missed her.

The soul-link snapped back into place next. Fraener’s powerful presence entered her mind like a tidal wave, and with it, all the emotions the beast had been feeling in her absence.

Inara placed a hand to her chest, the bright hum of their bond back where it belonged.

Fraener, she murmured lovingly inside her head.

His mind brushed against hers, and an image appeared behind her eyes of them reunited, him curled up in her lap, whimpering and crying with happiness while she hugged him tightly.

He might have been thousands of years old and powerful beyond measure, but every creature needed comfort during hard and difficult times.

Inara included.

“I will honour my brother’s wishes, and should you desire it, I will take you to the boat and get you out of Arelia safely,” Princess Phaedra began, handing the keys to Kronan. Her Shielder moved over to Felix’s cell and released him, her best friend breathing a sweet sigh of relief when his magic returned. “But if it is true, that you are truly a Syphon, then I fear you might be the only one who can stop this threat and save him. So, I will ask once again. Do you care for my brother?”

Inara didn’t hesitate this time. She nodded.

“Good. Move quickly. Just outside the room is a set of stairs on your left that will take you to the roof. Command your dragon to meet you there.”

“Wait. Roof?” Felix squeaked.

“You need to avoid the ground or you will be apprehended,” Princess Phaedra continued as if she had not been interrupted. “Once in the air, fly out as quickly as you can. The Chosen and their Guardians are patrolling Arelia as a last line of defence in case my brother and the army fail. While I am confident they will not engage, as your status is not widely known to the public yet, I suggest you avoid them if you can. May the Fates be with you.” She bowed low at the waist, holding the position for a few seconds before Kronan took the princess’s hands and helped her to her knees. She lay down, keeping her back against the cell opposite Inara’s and only once she was comfortable did Kronan join her.