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“Disgusting,” the male’s voice scoffed. Shavarra gave him a look that told me she had little sympathy for the man she led inside.
“My apologies, Milo, but you’ll need to suffer in the corner. I’ll be so kind as to not tell you who is in the room with us.” King Windre pulled a chair from the round table and slid it across the floor with a kick of his satin slippers.
Milo, his eyes covered with a thick blindfold, held his hands in front of him, letting the chains direct him as he shuffled his feet.
“Who is this and why is he chained up and blindfolded?” I tapped a finger against the table as I spoke. With my other hand, I brushed my fingers over the back of Ryker’s hand.
“Ah, this is Milo.” King Windre nodded. “Also, might I add that I'm the only one here that was polite enough not to comment on the smell of the room.”
“King Windre, you know we don’t need to use our manners when we are in the circle.” Graceson motioned to the table, leaning back in his chair.
“I made this table circular so we could all appear as equals, not so you could refer to us as ‘the circle.’” King Windre flicked his braid over his shoulder.
“It’s a cool nickname.” Graceson nodded, looking around for others to agree. Jerydin shrugged and nodded, which was satisfying enough for Graceson to smirk and finally sit correctly in his chair.
Milo plopped down in his seat, his posture rigidly straight. “Ugh, Randsin is here, I can smell him over the stench of fornication.” He bared his teeth with a low growl, the veins in his arms popping out as he tensed.
I could feel the severity with which my eyebrows were furrowed, looking at this odds and ends group, trying to comprehend what was supposed to be playing out in front of us. Both winged Fae sat next to King Windre, close enough to provide any council needed. On King Windre’s other side was the Nymph who looked like she’d eaten too much bitter chocolate. Randsin sat to her side with his palms spread out on the table, ready for his magic to dip into our brains. Ryker and Hattie sat clasping each other's hands, waiting while I took a seat between them and Randsin.
What a group.
“So, care to fill us in?” I shot down to King Windre.
“Yes, you see, uh, there are many problems we would like to resolve and I think one that you could prove most helpful in.” Ryker watched me carefully as King Windre spoke. “First and foremost, we have a guest who has traveled here from another realm.”
“I’m sorry, from where?”Is he suggesting that other worlds exist?I held back a sigh as I got the overwhelming feeling that King Windre was just about to add many more issues to my already full plate. Then I shot a glance at Milo.
“There are portals. Holes in the seams between our worlds, stitches that the Mother and the gods could never mend. I’ve seen this other world, so has Randsin.”
My eyes shifted to watch the former Heathern Court guard. He lifted his chin, watching me with the same calculation I offered him.
“Our guest has come seeking the tokens. Now, we also know that King Ganglin has one of these tokens and is searching for the second. If these two pieces are combined, it spells disaster for the rest of us.”
“Do we know where the second token is?” I tried to think over everything that had happened in the past few months. The speed at which things had accelerated and bombarded us clouded my mind, making it hard to track it all. Some of this was new information to me. Did I know that King Ganglin had this token? Did I know that there was a second? A king does not have time to play stupid, so I would ask the right questions at the right time to gain knowledge and protect my ignorance. A feeling of shame covered me, knowing I’d wrapped myself up in my own issues enough that I was blind to problems much greater.
“Randsin has it.” Milo strained against the chains, lips curling to reveal his teeth.
Shavarra kicked at his shin. “Heel, you rabid animal.”
“Randsin holds it,” King Windre repeated to Randsin. “Would you care to explain?”
Randsin’s fingers spread across the wood of the round table. His voice carried through the materials that we were all touching till his voice rang out in our ears. “King Ganglin had the first token under his nose all along, though I doubt he knew it. The second was the one he stole back from the Avery family, the one he created this entire race war over. I have seen this other realm, Tierasia. I have felt the wrath of its queen.” He paused, looking down as he thought before he lifted his gaze and continued, “I helped steal away the token. I hid it in plain sight, specifically so I could keep it safe.”
“Where is that? Where do you have it right now?” I folded my hands on the table and leaned forward.
The cold snake of magic that Randsin wormed into our heads retreated, causing a shiver to move down my spine. His hand lifted from the table, gripping the bottom of his long sleeved black shirt as he peeled it off of him. I’d never known Randsin to show his skin, not even in the heat of the Heathern Court’s worst days.
Swirling images of gray and black spread out over nearly every inch of him. Faces of monsters were depicted so realistically that I could hear their snarls. Tattoos covered his chest, stomach, and flowed down over his arms. Over many of them were gruesome scars, much like the ones that Ryker wore. They were jagged lines, some faded, but many still tinted with pink. Randsin stood, breathing heavily as he let us all take it in.
“Is there a map on you somewhere that takes us to the token?” Ryker said skeptically.
“This is stupid,” Milo spat, trying to tug at his blindfold. I was sure he was going to start rocking himself back and forth pretty soon. His shoulders hunched as he let out a low moan.
“Is he okay?” Ryker watched the man with concern.
“He is fine.” King Windre brushed it off, standing, a familiar glimmer of awe and hope in his eyes. “Randsin has no map, but he does contain secrets. King Ganglin has been collecting creatures, monsters of myth and legends, for decades of his life. I presume he took the task over from his father.” As he spoke he made his way over to Randsin, standing behind him. King Windre’s hands gripped Randsin’s shoulders, a whimsical smile lighting his face. Randsin winced at the touch, remaining totally still, his eyes pressed tightly closed.
“A Fae bound spell. A flesh prison within his son.” I murmured. Just as the which has said.
