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He ignored the urgency that tightened in his gut at her absence, determined to remain calm until his jailers revealed themselves. His resolve lasted for an hour, and then another, before he was chomping at the bit to be free, agitation increasing with each step as he paced in the small quarters.
He needed out of here now. Needed to find Cordelia and ensure she was safe.
He’d spent enough time waiting.
Ezul snarled, his mist fanning out around him and slamming into the glass wall of his cage.
The glass wall was the only way in or out of his prison. It could alter its form, going from solid to a type of liquid you could walk through with the push of a button set on the outside of the chambers. The same button would return the glass to a solid mass.
Typically, Ezul would never attempt to break free of a holding cell as it could lead to disciplinary action, but he would fight through fire and brimstone itself in order to find his Cordelia.
Ezul slammed his mist forward and connected, lightning dancing along his fingers when, again, the glass refused to break.
Perhaps with enough voltage, he could melt the glass. Sending out so much power at once would likely drain him for a time, leaving him defenseless. But it would get him out of this chamber. His mist and sheer bulk could handle the rest.
His hands began to glow with electricity, the pulse growing until his entire hand was engulfed in a bright light.
“Enough, Ezul.” His father’s voice boomed throughout the room.
Ezul winced, his lightning dying as he clutched his ears from the echo. “Once you have calmed down, we will discuss your law-breaking actions.”
Ezul’s brows rose. Law-breaking?
Taking several deep breaths, he relaxed each muscle until he was the picture of calm. The opaque glass shimmered, clearing to reveal his father standing on the other side of the still-hard surface. It allowed Ezul to see them without being capable of breaching the exit.
Jakkar, Ezul’s father, was a sight for sore eyes. Given that most of his time was spent on other worlds, conquering them, Ezul never took spending time with his family for granted, even given his current situation.
Jakkar was an older male with flecks of silver streaking through his black hair. He was tall, like all of his sons, with the same gray skin, nose shape, and strong jawline. Whereas his warrior offspring possessed prominent glowing veins, markings identifying them as warriors, Jakkar and Ezul’s youngest brother, Cazar, had ordinary gray skin.
Beside Jakkar were three politicians he was unfamiliar with as well as a harem guard wearing a customary blue overcoat with an alphabetical symbol for the harem emblazoned on his right breast pocket.
Ezul’s brow furrowed. Why were there so many people present?
“My son, you have been found in possession of a missing harem female,” his father stated.
Jakkar’s expression was severe and his hands were folded behind his back, his gray robes encompassing him like a shroud. It was customary for politicians and healers to wear similar garbs, as they were vessels for the people.
“I believe,technically, that is true,” Ezul commented, sensing that one wrong word could spell disaster.
“I am unsure how I have raised two sons hellbent on breaking into a harem and taking any women they covet.” Jakkar sighed, casting a wary look around at the males beside him. “That ploy worked for your brother only because he was already mated and his woman was falsely taken for The Harvest Games. What do you have to say for your own actions?”
Ezul stiffened at the reproach in his father’s voice. Denial was on the tip of his tongue but he stopped himself when he saw Jakkar shake his head once, discreetly. He shifted his gaze to the other politicians beside him and then back to Ezul, quirking a brow.
He tensed, hoping he was deciphering his father’s odd behavior correctly.
His father eyed him appraisingly, sending another covert look to one of the politicians near him and then back to his son.
His father didn’t wish for him to admit the truth? What was he hoping to tell Ezul with just a few glances?
He wasn’t sure, but it was prudent he proceed cautiously.
“What happens if I have not committed this crime?” he asked. “If Cordelia left the harem of her own accord?”
His father’s shoulders relaxed at the question, and Ezul felt some of his own tension ease. He’d asked the right question, it seemed.
“If your story corroborates with the human’s, who insisted she left of her own free will, she will be found in breach of her agreement with The Harvest Games results and will be forced to spend the rest of her year in the mines.” Ezul sucked in a hard breath as Jakkar continued. “I beseeched the senate to see reason as she may be able to produce viable offspring, but it has been determined she is to be treated like any other citizen of Aragnok.”
Ezul’s mouth dried. A year in the mines for an Aragnokan was severe enough. Some did not survive such extreme labor. But Cordelia? His Runa? Her precious body would not sustain even a day forced to dig up Aragnok’s precious resources.
