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Istared at the electrified bars holding me prisoner. I hadn’t been inside the Tower of Solitude since Jake was held prisoner here all those years ago, and at that time,hehad been the one in the cage. Now, it was me sitting on this cot, forlornly reflecting on the events that had led to me being here, fretting about my loved ones.
Sid hopped closer to my perch on the edge of the cot and nuzzled his beak against the back of my hand. I raised my index finger, and he nipped gingerly at the back of my bent knuckle.
“You don’t have to stay with me,” I murmured, knowing full well the raven couldn’t understand me, not like he would have been able to with Liam, Garath, or Fin.
Sid shook his head suddenly and rustled his wings, then cawed, “Tough stuff!”
I pulled my hand away, cocked my head to the side, and narrowed my eyes. As a raven, Sid could mimic human speech. I had taught him every word and phrase he knew, and I definitely hadn’t taught him to saytough stuff. In fact, I hadn’t heardanyonesay that since... Since Fin called metough stuffduring our adventures together a decade ago. It had been his nickname for me when he believed me to be merely a castle servant out running an errand for her masters.
“Fin?” I breathed, glancing at the usurper’s guard in pale-gray leathers standing at the glassless window beyond the electrified bars of my cell. The gap between the bars was just large enough for Sid to have threaded without frying his feathers.
The guard was an Elemental, his presence keeping the bars of my cage electrified. I wasn’t sure what he found so fascinating about the view of the moonlit castle, but at the moment, I didn’t really care, so long as his attention wasn’t focused on me or Sid, and the man I suspected was attempting to communicate with me through the raven.
I hunched my back, leaning closer to Sid, and searched his beady black eyes. “Is that you, Fin?”
The raven cawed again, bobbing his beak up and down.
The guard glanced my way.
Tears welling in my eyes, I slid off the cot to kneel before Sid—Fin—the stiff, feathered skirt of my coronation gown mounding up around me. I touched my index finger to my lips, signaling for him to remain nonverbal, before folding my hands together on the cot like I was praying.
“Liam?” I whispered. “Is he with you? Did you all get out?”
Again, the raven’s head bobbed in what I assumed was assent, and he hopped back and forth on the edge of the cot.
A sob burst from my chest, and I clapped my hands over my mouth. “Oh, thank the Patrons,” I mouthed. I sucked in a shuddering breath and sniffled, hastily wiping under my eyes. “Whatever happens to me, you have to protect him.” I leaned in closer, and the raven cocked his head to the side, watching me through one eye. “Promise me, Fin. Promise me you’ll keep him safe.”
He bobbed his head again, then hopped closer, resting the side of his feathered face against my cheek.
I squeezed my eyes shut and bowed my head, my face screwing up as tears streamed down my cheeks.
The clang of metal echoed up the winding stone stairway, and my head snapped up. Someone was unlocking the door at the base of the tower.
The Elemental turned away from the window and strode over to the stairs as the screech of hinges in need of greasing announced that the door was now open.
I stood slowly and faced the stair landing, my hands gripping the heavy skirt of my gown.
“What doesshewant?” the Elemental barked down to whoever had opened the door, hands planted on his hips.
“She has a change of clothes for the prisoner,” another man called up the stairs. “She worked in the castle and wants to put the impostor in her place—to make her look like the commoner she truly is.”
“Did you search her?” the Elemental asked.
“Fuck you, Brax.”
The Elemental let out a cruel chuckle, glanced back at me over his shoulder, and sneered. “You ready to strip down, sweetheart?” He smirked. “Give us a little show?”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t even react with a change in my expression. I merely stared at him, imagining all the ways I could kill him.
His lip curled. “Bitch,” he muttered and turned away from me once more. “Send her up. I’m going to enjoy this.” He backed away from the landing at the top of the stairs just enough to let the newcomer pass.
I nearly sagged with relief when I saw who it was. Ada. Her pale hair gleamed like spun silver in the moonlight streaming through the tower windows.
The Elemental followed close behind Ada as she approached the bars of my cell, a packed leather satchel strung across her body. Her gaze roved over me like she was searching for injuries, but all of my wounds were the invisible kind.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, careful to keep my voice cool, my expression stony. We weren’t supposed to be friends. Inside, adrenaline surged, making my blood feel like it was humming in my veins.
Ada flashed me a tight-lipped smile, side-eyeing the guard lurking behind her. “Are you deaf as well as stupid?” she asked snidely. “Take off that gown. It doesn’t belong to you.” She rolled her eyes at me, then smiled sweetly at the guard over her shoulder. “We’re going to burn it at the equinox bonfire to celebrate the start of a new era under King Nolan’s rule.”
