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And it was one I’d never get to leave. Magic would bind me to Oberon’s side. The only way out would be his death or mine, and he was an immortal bastard. He might no longer have access to his elite powers, but that didn’t mean he was weak.
All that on top of what I’d learned about my father. My eyes blurred as I pictured his face in my mind. His kind eyes and soft smile. Could he have truly been capable of that? I had to admit hehadbeen acting strangely for a while. Closed off. Distant. Constantly drinking ale.
The kind eyes I always imagined slowly morphed into red-streaked, purple-rimmed pupils as dark as the night. He’d lost his way at some point. I’d seen it with my own eyes. But had he really fallen that far?
I blew out a breath and focused on Nellie’s words, thinking back to the forest dreams and those nights I’d spent roaming the mists. Through the murky haze, the stars had been difficult to spot, but there’d been that one night in Itchen when the mists had cleared. The stars that swept through the sky had shone like millions of souls lighting up the dark.
Sighing, I stopped my pacing to join her on the bed, the rusted springs creaking beneath my weight. “You want to know about the stars? I don’t even know where to begin. We think of the night like the pitch black of our bedrooms in Teine where we cannot even see our hands in front of our faces. But night is nothing like that, not out there. The stars and the moon drench the world in silver. You look up and you realize this world is a beautiful, enormous place, and we’re only a small part of it. It sounds scary, but it’s not. If anything, it just makes me believe that things don’t have to be the way they are. If the universe is that big, there’s hope for things to be different. We can have a better life, Nellie.”
If only we could get out of this place.
As if reading my mind, my sister reached out and clasped my hand. A watery film covered her eyes, and she shook her head. “Maybe others can, but I think this is it for us.”
“No,” I said fiercely, squeezing her hand. “Don’t you say that.”
“What are we going to do? Escape?” She let out a bitter laugh I’d never heard from her before. It made my heart ache. I wasn’t the only one who had been beaten down by this place—by these fae. ByOberon.
Furious fire whipping through me, I leaned forward and hissed, “I am going to get us out of here, and then I’m going to kill him. This time, I won’t fail.”
“You sound so certain.”
“Because I am.”
“But how?” She flicked her gaze down the hallway, where the guards stood watch beside the door leading out of the dungeons. There were six of them, and they seemed to rotate at regular intervals. They were too far away to hear our words if we spoke quietly enough, but I was still wary of saying too much. One could never be too careful around the fae.
“Don’t you worry about that,” I said.
I didn’t want to tell her what I was planning, partially because I was likely to fail. It would be my last resort, and it was one I hoped to avoid. On my wedding day, I would grab whatever sword I could off any soldier nearby and chop Oberon’s head off. Or at least die trying.
Unless I was lucky, I’d never even get close to succeeding.
I had to find a way to get Nellie out of here first, though. Otherwise, her life would be in danger the second I fought back.
My sister gave me a frank look, one I’d seen from her before. She always knew when I was hiding something. It was how she’d found out about my gemstone stealing and midnight visits to the captain—to the Mist King. She knew me too well. “You’re planning something. I already don’t like it, judging by that look in your eye.”
I opened my mouth to tell her not to worry, but the sound of door hinges creaking snatched at my attention. Turning toward the guards, I spotted Morgan striding down the passageway with her silver hair pulled into a tight bun and her steel armor glistening as if it had just been polished.
The rest of the guards stayed back and allowed her to approach on her own. A breath whistled out from between my clenched teeth, but I tried to keep my face blank. I couldn’t let her know that I’d spoken to Kalen, that I had doubts about her and what she’d told me. If Oberon was using her, I couldn’t risk him finding out any of this.
“Good morning,” Morgan said, easing to a stop outside our cell. “Sleep all right?”
My heart pounded against my ribs. Did she know about Kalen’s dream ability? “Not particularly. Being trapped in a cell while your loved ones are being threatened doesn’t lend itself to relaxation.”
Far too late, I realized the snap in my tone. One of my worst faults. I couldn’t seem to keep my emotions at bay, especially when they were raging inside me like a bonfire.
She frowned in at me. “Has something happened? You seem angrier than you were last night.”
“I’m a very angry person, Morgan. This is just my natural state.”
Her frown deepened. “Is this because I’m not able to do anything to help you right now?”
“Well, you probably could dosomething. You could cause some sort of commotion and leave the key where I can get to it. Five minutes is all I need to get us out of here.”
I knew what her answer would be before she spoke it.
“I told you. I can’t go against Oberon’s orders, even when I want to.”
“But why not?” I asked, leaning forward. “You’ve done it before—at the wedding when you got me out of Albyria. Is there another reason you’re not able to go against his stated orders?”
