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Percival brought her to a point in the center of the black carpet that ran up the middle of the room. “Kneel before your prince.”
She stared at him flatly. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“If you would like me to force the matter,” the knight said under his breath, his expression turning grim. “I will happily break both your kneecaps.”
“Leave her be, Percival,” Mordred interjected.
Percival walked away, taking his position to the right of the throne. Another knight, one she hadn’t met before, was standing to the other side. His helm was off, and his boyish appearance caught her by surprise. He looked barely any older than she was, with a bright-eyed farm-boy expression that almost reminded her of her old boyfriend Mick. His armor was made of an oddly tinted, shiny silvery metal that might have been tin, but she wasn’t sure.
Mordred was watching her, expression unreadable. “You are accused of treason, Gwendolyn Wright. Of betraying my hospitality, my trust, and conferring with our enemy, the demon Grinn. How do you plead?”
“I—whoa, wait. Hold on. Am I ontrial?” She blinked, stunned.
“It is not much of a trial, believe me.” He began to tap his claws on the metal arm of his throne.Tick-tick-tick-tick. Tick-tick-tick-tick.The sound of it carried eerily in the enormous stone room. Oh, he waspissed.“How do you plead, Gwendolyn Wright?”
“I—I didn’t know who he was until after the Crystal was shattered. I would have told you if I’d known.” This was bad. This was very, very bad. Would Mordred sentence her to death? Would she find the answer to the question of what happened between her and Grinn if her head was chopped off?Fuck fuck fuck fuck—“I’m sorry, Mordred. I never meant to hurt you.”
“You have not harmed me, young elemental. It was I who broke the Iron Crystal, if you recall. Not you. Your betrayal of my trust broke the laws of Avalon. I am certain I needn’t remind you how highly we value adherence to those rules of hospitality which protect our guests?” His voice felt like it reverberated in the room itself. “They also protect the host.”
Gwen’s heart was racing. She fought against the panic attack that was welling in her chest. She nodded numbly. She remembered. How could she forget? Mordred had snapped the neck of the mayor who had broken those laws on her very first day in Avalon.
“Tell me why you continue to aid the demon.”Tick-tick-tick-tickwent his claw on the arm of the throne.
She shut her eyes, feeling tears streaking down her cheeks. This was it. This was how she died. She bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
“And why not?”
“It—it’s complicated.”
“You do not argue that you continue to help hide him, protect him, and aid him in continued attempts to overthrow my rule and seek my ruin?” His tone stayed calm and untouched. It scared her more than if he had been shouting at her.
“I’m stuck in the middle—I don’t want to be.” She stared down at the carpet in front of her, feeling herself start to shake from adrenaline and fear. She struggled to keep her breathing calm and normal. She didn’t want to faint right now. She really didn’t want to. “I’m not his friend. I’m not his ally. But I have no choice right now.”
“Why?”
“I—I can’t tell you, I’m sorry.” She shut her eyes.Because you’ll kill me to get to him. I know you will. Because you’ll sacrifice anything and everything to protect Avalon.She felt so small. So little. She bowed her head. “But I won’t help him hurt you either.”
“And why should I believe you?” Mordred’s tone was as cold and unflinching as the element he represented. It cut her deeper than it should have. “What have you done to keep my trust?”
She shook her head numbly, not knowing how to express how she felt. She cared about him deeply. She had missed him while they were apart. But in front of his soldiers, in front of his knights, kneeling in the middle of his throne room like the prisoner that she was? She didn’t know how to say it. Shutting her eyes again, her tears redoubled their efforts. She gave up. Her shoulders slumped. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
He sighed, and his voice went a little softer, even if the words themselves were just as firm. “If you are unable to provide me any reason as to why you continue to aid the demon, then I shall be forced to treat you as his cohort and spy, Gwendolyn Wright.” He paused. She waited for him to order her execution. “You shall remain here as my prisoner until the stars blink out from the sky.”
She looked up, shocked. Percival was staring at Mordred in disbelief. The young Tin Knight looked oddly relieved.
Mordred ignored the two knights beside him. His gaze was locked on her with an edge of sympathy. “You have lost all rights to freedom for your unabashed betrayal of my hospitality. Moreover, you will no longer be afforded any kindness from myself or others until you confess to me the details behind your inexplicable connection to the demon.”
“My prince—” Percival started to argue.
Mordred lifted a hand to stop the Knight in Copper. “She is an elemental. I am unable to take her head as a trophy without the agreement of all the others who remain free. And as we are unable to call a tribunal at this point in time, her life shall be spared.” His tone left no room for any further complaints. “Unlikeyou, she does not serve me by right and, therefore, is not subject to my whimsy as to whether she lives or dies. Do we understand?”
Percival looked as though he had gone two shades paler. The threat was very clear. “Yes, my prince.”
“Good.” Mordred placed his hand back down on the arm of the throne.Tick-tick-tick-tick.He sighed again. “Take her back to her cell.”
Two armored soldiers came forward and half shoved Gwen out of the room. They pushed her back into the cell and attached her chain to the loop on the wall. Then they left her alone. Even the broken soldier by the wall was gone.
But folded up on the bed was a single, rather threadbare blanket. Sniffling, she flopped down on the hay-stuffed mattress and wrapped herself up in the gift from the soldier. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
