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A prick in my neck has me sucking in a sharp breath. I reach up and pull out a dart. Daimis and I look at it. The world goes blurry, and I hear Daimis call my name, but it’s muddled. My limbs grow heavy, and I fall limp in his arms just before the blackness takes me. One thought races through my mind;drugged.
Chapter22
Chained
Iwake through a sticky fog of disorientation. I can’t move, but my hearing slowly comes back. Angry voices, an argument.I first recognize Daimis’s voice, then Kellan’s, then the Regent’s. I try to make out what they’re saying, but it’s like listening under water while spinning in a cyclone. I focus on my breathing, on what’s real. The cold ground beneath me, the burning sensation around my wrists, even my aching head. The more I ground myself, the clearer the words become.
“She will not be freed,” the Regent says. “She directly disobeyed orders, time and again. First by interfering with the ogres, then by going out onto that bridge with you. Her actions are too erratic. She could have killed you.”
“She saved my life!” Daimis shouts. “Does that count for nothing?”
“It’s her fault your life was in danger in the first place. I am in charge here, Prince, and I decide what will happen. The criminal proved she’s not to be trusted to follow simple orders. She stays in her chains. End of discussion.” Footsteps fade.
Chains, that explains the burning. Not just any chains, they’re ash-steel chains because Kellan knows I’m a magic user. I trusted him with my secret and he’s using the knowledge against me.
“Daimis,” Kellan says pleadingly. “Look, I want to believe the best in Sky, too, but you heard the way she was talking to the ogres. She spoke to one in its own language. It has me wondering where exactly she came from, and where her loyalties lie. And, Daimis, she’s a sorcerer. I didn’t tell you before, because I didn’t think she would ever use her magic in a way that would endanger lives, but I believe she was the one who set the ogres free. If I’m right, she’s directly responsible for the death of one of our guards. She’s dangerous.”
“Then help me convince your father that I’ll keep a close eye on her,” Daimis says.
A pause. “From what I could tell, you’ve kept a close enough eye on her.”
“Is there something you want to say, Kellan?” There’s a dangerous edge to Daimis’s voice.
Kellan sighs. “I know I’m always telling you to let loose and have fun with women. But Sky’s not the type to do that with. She’s more predator than prey. Don’t let her charms and good looks fool you the way they fooled me, friend.”
Oh, if he thought I was a predator before, just wait until I get out of these chains. He’ll be sorry he ever laid eyes on me.
“Perhaps it was the other way around,friend,” Daimis says with that same sharp-edged tone.
A pause. “As your adviser, let me just advise you to remember you’re the prince, and with that, every decision you make must be in the best interest of Thaaryn.” A movement of steps comes closer to where I am. “Don’t let her out of your sight for a single moment. And the manacles stay on, no matter what.”
“Yes, sir,” three voices answer. The steps change direction and fade away.
I hear a curse from Daimis.
“If any of you harm her in any way, you will meet the end of my blade.” His steps fade away. I don’t know where he’s going but I hope that whatever he’s planning, he doesn’t do anything stupid. He’s smarter than that, I remind myself. He knows I can take care of myself just fine. Unlike me, he’s kept the bigger picture in view all this time; he’s not going to jeopardize that now just because I came back into his life…I hope.
My mind races through the last moments Daimis and I had before I was struck by the dart. I still can’t quite wrap my brain around it all. Daimis claims that I’m the daughter of the most powerful of the fae rulers? My father was married to the queen of the fae? But why didn’t he tell me? And what’s more, my motherisalive. My father told me she died during childbirth. How could he keep her from me? And what kind of mother would abandon her child, and let her think she’s dead? How can I still feel so betrayed by a man who’s been dead for twelve years, and a mother I’ve never known? And yet the sting of it is there and has taken its place next to the other unhealed pain my father caused me. I’m half-fae? How can that be, and what does it even mean?
After another hour, I can just barely open my eyelids to slits. I’m inside a mostly empty tent, with three guards surrounding me, watching me like I might break out of my chains and attack them at any moment. I’d be flattered by the security precautions, but since I can’t even move my mouth to speak, three guards, magic-blocking chains, and drugs just seems like overkill. I’m lying on my side with my bound hands pulled in front of me, chained to a tree the tent is backed up to. Like a leashed dog.
The Regent is going to reveal the reason he brought us all here soon, and I can’t be chained up when he does. I might not be able to use my magic, but that doesn’t mean I’m helpless. I have to find a way out of this, just as soon as this damn drug wears off.
* * *
The next morning my strength is back, though my muscles are achy, and my head is pounding. The ash-steel manacles burn my skin where they touch it, and the blanketing effect they have on my magic is suffocating. I can still feel my magic, I just can’t access it no matter how hard I attempt to.
I try to escape my restraints, but they’re much too strong for me to even bend, let alone break. I then try to talk to the guards, hoping one of them might take pity on me, but they pointedly ignore everything I say. I tell them I need to pee, hoping they will unbind me from the tree and perhaps I can fight my way out, but instead I get tossed a chamber pot. When I ask about privacy, they simply turn around.Bastards. Just for that, I relieve my bladder and then throw the pot at one of their heads with pin-point accuracy, if I do say so myself.
I was hoping it’d rile him up enough to get him close to me so I could wrap my chains around his neck and threaten to kill him if they didn’t let me go. But they must have been given very strict instructions, because aside from a murderous glare and flared nostrils, the soiled guard simply leaves the tent while another guard takes his place.
I don’t know where Daimis is, but I hope he’s finding out what the Regent is planning and finding a way to stop him.
“Where is the Regent? Come on out Galen Fareway!” Daimis calls out from across the camp. “I am the prince! The next in line to rule! I demand answers, and I want them now!” A pause. “No, I will not wait. I’ve been waiting long enough! What the hell is all this stuff? What are we even doing here on fae territory?”
The guards all look out the tent flap, curious about the scene Daimis is making.
“You don’t want me messing with any of this?” Daimis yells, followed by a crash.
