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“You are far from fucking innocent, Kingslayer,” he hissed. “And there is nothing more important than preventing what is happening in Aftermath from moving south. I thought you, of all people, would understand that.”
“I would understand that?” A note of hysteria crept into my tone. “Me? The person you have been accusing of being a part of this absurd rebellion for over a year? By the Source, why wouldIunderstand that?”
His eyes narrowed, apparently not liking being mocked the way he constantly mocked me. “You lived in Aftermath, did you not?”
That was the second time he’d either referenced or seemed unsurprised that I’d lived in Aftermath before coming to the capital. I narrowed my eyes. “So?”
“Do not pretend you don’t understand the threat of the afflicted.” He took a small step closer until there were barely inches between us. “And as for the rebellion, you proved to me earlier that I have been…mistaken. No one who truly worked for the rebellion would have returned to the castle as you did. We would be the last souls on the continent you would ask for help.”
He didn’t look particularly happy about having been mistaken, but his expression was the least of my concerns. If that was Prince Scion’s idea of an apology, he could shove it up his ass.
“So does that mean you’re sorry for imprisoning me? Does that mean you admit that you’re wrong? I never thought I’d see the day.”
He paused, holding his breath. “I had every reason to think you were guilty.”
For some reason, those words sounded like a cell door closing. “So you’re not sorry, then?”
His expression darkened, and he bared his teeth, looking more dangerous than I’d ever seen him, even when he was threatening to kill me. “I will never apologize for protecting the kingdom by any means necessary. If I’d been right, it would have been worth it, and I’d do it again. If you can’t understand that, it’s further proof that you’re unworthy of the crown.”
“Fine,” I sneered. “As long as you understand why I will always find you unworthy of redemption.”
His eyes shuttered, yet he moved infinitesimally closer until I could feel his breath on my face. “I know.”
Distracted by our argument, by his all-too-consuming presence, I realized slightly too late that the shadows of the forest were growing slightly darker around us, shifting, churning, dancing, like arms creeping between the trees and over the ground. I hadn’t noticed—hadn’t realized it was anything more than the slight rustle of the leaves or the movement of the wind until it seemed as if night had fallen early.
A shadow crept up from somewhere near my feet, twisting around my forearm like a slithering vine. I let out a sound of alarm and tried to pull back, but it only gripped me tighter like a rope, pulling taut, imprisoning me where I stood.
The prince’s silver eyes met mine as I stared up at him in horror, his shadows continuing to whirl around us like a twisted, translucent cage. He smiled, looking entirely too beautiful and too horrible at once. Like the first bloom of deadly nightshade.
“Fortunately, I have never needed your forgiveness, only your surrender.”
18
LONNIE
THE CUTTHROAT DISTRICT, INBETWIXT
Shouts of drunken laughter, catcalls, the clang of metal, and distant music reached my ears as Scion and I trudged out of the trees and up a short hill toward a high, wooden wall. The fortification was broken only by the roofs and spires of buildings peeking over the top and a large iron gate in the center. Two lightly armed guards stood at the gate, and they made no move to stop us as we strode inside.
“By Aisling,” I breathed.
I’d expected something like Cheapside, the human village on the outskirts of the capital city, but Inbetwixt was far larger than I’d envisioned. The houses that lined the street were easily as large as those in the Fae district of Everlast, and there were nearly twice as many people walking past, even though it was nearing sundown.
“Inbetwixt has the largest city on the continent, even eclipsing the size of the capital,” Scion said, answering my unspoken question. “What little you saw of the province already was only the Wildes—little more than no-man’s-land. This is the northern district of the actual city. The road we entered on would ultimately lead to Overcast.”
I glanced up at the prince beside me with narrowed eyes and debated if I should respond at all. I gave a small tug on the shadows that wrapped around my arm, only to feel it pull back as if it were alive. I scowled.
Scion’s shadowy rope twisted around my arm like a vine and seemed to end nowhere, vanishing at the end into thin air. Yet, whenever I tried to pull at it, there it was, solid and visible again, like he could feel my tugging and was only ignoring his end out of convenience. The prince was not literally dragging me, but it was a near thing, and I was very aware that if he wanted to force me to walk faster or in any direction he pleased, it was more than possible.
Motivated by the rapidly setting sun and my rumbling stomach, I’d finally reached the conclusion that I could just as easily hate Scion in the city as in the forest. My desire to prove uncooperative did not extend as far as freezing to death or starving myself, or worse, letting him physically drag me through the street, in protest of his refusal to return to the capital, nor did I want to be eaten by one of the many monsters that lurked within the Waywoods. I already had my hands more than full with the silver-eyed monster beside me.
“If the city is so large, then why is it not the capital?” I muttered, my tone mutinous.
“Tradition,” he replied just as stiffly. “And their leadership is often in flux. Inbetwixt has four gates and four corresponding districts that all operate somewhat independently of each other. Cutthroat, the northern district, is overrun by the guilds.”
“The who?”
Scion stepped out of the way of a man passing on horseback and was separated from me for a moment before he could answer. I took the opportunity to see if I could escape, only to find that the rope on my arm was just as sturdy as ever, whether he was standing beside me or not.Fucking fairy magic.
