He looked back up at me and extended a leg. Peering closely, I saw a teeny-tiny roll of paper tied there. Carefully, unsure if he’d decide to gouge me with his claws, I removed the miniature scroll from his leg. The paper was very fine and delicate, and I was half afraid it would tear before I could unroll it. When I finally got a good look at it, I could see a handful of words scrawled in tiny writing:
ROOM IS UNDERGROUND. SCOUT IS INVESTIGATING.
Cryptic but promising overall, I decided. I was about to give the bird a return message when I suddenly heard the lock being opened on my door.
“Get out of here!” I told Spots. “Come back ... er, later.”
He was already up in the window before I could finish talking and wiggled his way out through the bars just as some guards entered. Their faces were grim. One jerked my hands forward while another bound them with chains.
“Her Majesty wants you. Now.”
For a moment, I thought the time I’d been dreading had come. Varia was going to give me some terrible ultimatum. Yet, something about her and her flair for the dramatic told me there would have been a lot of setup and fanfare. This had a hurried feel. An urgency, like something was wrong.
The feeling further intensified when I wasn’t marched to the throne room. Instead, I was taken to Varia’s own chambers, shoved roughly inside a posh sitting room done entirely in periwinkle velvet. Varia was there, lounging on a divan, looking as though she’d gotten out of bed in the last hour. She wore a robe that matched the room, as well as some furry slippers. Her brown hair was worn down but didn’t look like it had been brushed. She stayed in that reclined position, as though trying to present an unconcerned air, but the anger in her voice betrayed her when she saw me.
“Where are they?” she demanded. The dogs were at her feet and began yipping. She silenced them with some treats.
I glanced around, looking for some kind of assistance or context for her question. “Um, where are what?”
“The people you traveled here with.” She sat up and fixed me with a glare so icy that it was easy to see her as the blight’s creator. “Where are they, and how in the world did you break them out?”
Chapter 21
I said the first thing that came to mind.
“Sooo ... you lost them?”
Varia glared, not nearly as serene and commanding as she’d been yesterday. “This is not a game! Tell me how you accomplished it. You are still in possession of your powers. How did you escape and set them free?”
I put my hands on my hips. “I may still have my powers, but I’m also being kept in a locked room surrounded by guards and magic users! The kind of magic I’d need to escape would involve me blowing out the door, and I think someone would’ve probably noticed that. Besides, why the hell would I then go back to my cell? I would’ve walked out with my friends.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Varia. “No one can escape those dungeons. They must have had assistance.” The dogs started their racket again. More treats.
I shrugged and tried not to look too smug. “My friends are pretty resourceful. Maybe your security’s not as good as you think.”
Inside, I was jubilant. Jasmine and the others had gotten away! At a basic level, I was simply happy they were safe. In the greater scheme of things, it also meant my hands were no longer tied. I could summon a storm right now and have no fears of retribution. Of course, that would be pre-emptive since the rest of my plan wasn’t yet fully developed. The more I studied Varia, though, the more it became obvious I wasn’t the only one who’d reached this conclusion about my new freedom.
“I wouldn’t be so arrogant if I were you,” she said. “As I said before, I hold a lot more game pieces than you do and control a lot that’s dear to you.”
I kept my face neutral, but inside, my heart was racing. I remembered her previous lists of threats. Right now, my friends were off the table, and I sincerely doubted she’d found Isaac and Ivy. What did that leave? My kingdoms. She was pissed off enough about the escape to do something drastic, and nightmare scenarios ran through my mind. What if she blasted one kingdom to show me she was serious about the other? There was a staggering amount of innocent lives in my hands, and if she did attempt to hurt them, I really would blow her apart now, storm or no storm.
Varia smiled cruelly. “Soon you’ll see just how much I control when—oh, for the gods’ sake! Get them out of here!”
Her moment of drama had been derailed when those wretched little dogs began barking again. A servant quickly scooped them up and scurried out of the room. She swore when one of them bit her.
“Now then.” Varia nodded toward a guard. “Bring him in.”
The guard gave a curt salute and hurried out the door. He returned a moment later with a prisoner—Dorian.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten an early wake-up call. Dorian looked a little worn around the edges but otherwise showed no signs of injury or distress. Indeed, he wore his typically indolent look, as though he’d wanted to come here in chains and Varia had been kind enough to oblige him. His eyes flicked briefly to me before focusing on Varia. He gave her one of his charming smiles.
“Your Majesty. How nice of you to call me to breakfast. And I must say, you look very fetching this morning. I’m always saying women don’t go to enough trouble to match their décor. I also always say that brushes are overrated. Right, Eugenie?”
I didn’t answer, mostly because I was too preoccupied with what Varia’s next move was going to be. I didn’t think Dorian’s presence here was a good sign. She studied him for several long moments and then turned her attention back to me.
“I should not have given you the night to think things over,” she said crisply. “That was an indulgence on my part, one I won’t repeat. I want your fealty. I want the Iron Crown. If I don’t get them, I will execute the Oak King as part of my dinner entertainment later.”
I laughed in spite of myself. “You can’t kill him. You need him. You want him to sign his kingdom over to you.” I didn’t know the exact details of yesterday’s conversation, but I had to assume she’d given him the same ultimatum about surrendering his kingdom to her. I also assumed he’d refused.
“True, it’s simpler when I have a land’s monarch on hand, but his is only one kingdom. His death will serve me better than his surrender. Someone else will simply claim the land, and although it may take longer this way, the Oak Land will become mine once that new king or queen swears allegiance.”
Dorian was still smiling, though there was a tightness in his features that hadn’t been there earlier. He narrowed his eyes. “Say what you want, but even if the lowest scullery maid in my castle seizes control of the land, she still won’t surrender to you. And Eugenie certainly isn’t going to yield the Iron Crown to your control simply for my sake. She doesn’t like me nearly that much. This is an absurd waste of time. Why don’t we all just sit down for a delightful morning meal of tea and pastries and put this absurdity behind us? Where are your charming pets, by the way?”
There was some truth to his words. I wasn’t going to give up the Iron Crown, even to save his life—but that decision wasn’t nearly as carefree as he made it sound. It was a head-over-heart choice, one that I knew accomplished the most good but which would probably kill me in the application.
“This is no joke. The Oak King will die if my request is denied. And,” Varia continued to me, “as I said, I’m not going to let you debate in luxury.”
Was my cell considered luxury? I really had to see what passed for dismal lodging around this place. Before I could question her further, a slight gesture from her brought a guard striding toward Dorian. In one smooth motion, he halted before Dorian and punched him hard in the stomach. Dorian doubled over, and a spasm of pain crossed his face, but he otherwise made no sound. Me, on the other hand ... well, I had a few things to say.
“You fucking bitch!” I exclaimed, straining forward. Guards were already in place to restrain m
y arms, probably having anticipated my reaction. “I am going to kill you!” Without further thought, I had drawn the magic of air and water around me. The room grew thick with humidity and tension. All I needed was a source to blast it into.
“Eugenie,” said Dorian sharply. All mirth was gone. “Do not do anything rash. You have a lot to think over.”
I met his eyes, which were greener than ever in the morning light streaming through Varia’s windows. I caught the subtext. If I unleashed my magic now, it would be without a well-formed plan. Again, I had a head vs. heart decision here, and my head’s argument didn’t seem so compelling just then. Still, after a deep breath, I dropped my magic and fixed a glare on Varia.
“Perhaps the Oak King is more reasonable than I suspected,” she mused. She nodded toward the same guard again. He stepped forward and punched Dorian in the face, hard enough that I heard a thwack.
“Ow,” moaned Dorian, wincing from the pain. “My greatest asset.”
I bit my lip so hard that I tasted blood. But I had to do something to stop myself from striking Varia down with lightning. “What is the point of this?” I asked Varia, once I had some semblance of control. “To convince me what a badass you are? That you can bully a chained-up man? Or is it just so I’ll believe you really will kill him?”
“Oh,” she said. “You can rest assured that I will kill him. Mostly this is to emphasize what I said before: no more time to lounge around and decide with no consequences. For every moment you waste deliberating today, the Oak King will be in the hands of my torturers, experiencing the most excruciating pain. Your delay extends that agony.”
“Oh, irony,” murmured Dorian.
I stiffened. This was not good news, first because I simply didn’t want Dorian suffering. What also sucked was that I was certain the torturers were not on the same floor as my cell, meaning I wouldn’t have Dorian on hand when I attempted my great coup. Jasmine and the others’ escape had given me one less variable to worry about inside the palace. Dorian being taken out of my sight was a brand-new complication.
Varia continued. “And believe me when I say that my professionals make Garik’s attempts here seem quite childish. No offense, Garik.” The punching guard gave a bow of acknowledgment to his queen. “Fortunately for the Oak King, his pain will be short-lived—either because you’ll make the right decision or I’ll be forced to kill him at suppertime.”
“Remember—nothing rash, Eugenie,” said Dorian, far too cheerful for someone whose face was swelling rapidly. “I can take as much pain as I can dole out—and you certainly know how much I can dole out. Don’t worry about me.”
Again, I caught the message to carry out the other plans with caution. There was also, I suspected, a joke in there about some of Dorian’s sexual preferences, which tended to run toward BDSM. I had little appreciation for the weak attempt at humor just now, however. It took every ounce of strength I had to remain hard and impassive to Varia. Otherwise, there was a good chance I’d fall to my knees and beg for Dorian’s release.
“I’m not swearing any loyalty to you,” I told her. “And I’m not going to use the Iron Crown on your behalf. That answer’s not going to change.”
“Suit yourself,” she said. “We’ll see what you say later today.” She gave us a wave of dismissal. “Take them to their respective locations.”
I wasn’t able to exchange another word with Dorian because we were both hurried out too quickly. The urge to unleash a storm surged within me one last time, and I again fought it back. I would do this right. So, I allowed my escort to take me back to my cell on the third floor. They again gave me the faux courtesy of removing my chains before locking the door. Glancing around, I saw that someone had left a covered meal tray on my palette. I lifted the lid and found a piece of bread and some water—and a rat that quickly darted off the tray. Talk about adding insult to injury.
“Oh,” I said. “That’s just lovely.”
Yet, before I finished speaking, I noticed something weird about the rat—mainly, that it wasn’t actually a rat. Instead, it was a rat-sized miniature red fox. I caught my breath.
“No way. Kiyo?”
The rat-fox scurried to the center of my cell. Within moments, he transformed, and I had a full-sized Kiyo standing before me. I cast a wary look behind me, half expecting guards to come busting in. Then, I had to remind myself that his kitsune magic would not be readily detectable to gentry.
“How’d you do that?” I asked Kiyo. “Did a mad scientist give you a shrink ray?”
He smiled, but his eyes looked tired. “Afraid not. It’s just another variation on the shape-shifting, just like I can turn into a super-sized fox. I’ve just never had much reason for the small size. Turns out it’s terribly convenient for poking around a palace.”
“I thought you were a rat,” I admitted.
“So did one of the cooks in the kitchen. I have a new respect for brooms.”
“Is that how you guys escaped? Where’s everyone else? Are they okay?”
He leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his dark hair. “The chains couldn’t stop me, especially once I shape-shifted. Once I had a moment to free myself, I got the chains off everyone else, and then we just kind of busted our way out in the night. Why haven’t you done that?”
“Would if I could,” I muttered. “Varia’s keeping me in check with a few things. First, it was you guys. Then she tacked on the destruction of my kingdoms and finding Isaac and Ivy for good measure. Now she’s got Dorian with torturers and his execution penciled in.” I gave him a brief recap of my morning meeting.
“You were smart not to act then,” said Kiyo, when I was finished. “Dorian’s strong. He’ll hold out.”
I wondered if Kiyo meant that or if he just didn’t really care about Dorian suffering. “You never told me where the others are.”
“Hidden in the city,” Kiyo said. “Your Hemlock friends helped us find a safe place.”
“Hemlock ...” A light went off. “You’re Alea’s scout, aren’t you? You’ve been looking for the room with the talismans.”
“Found it,” he said, in a manner far too casual for the importance of those words. “Like I said, you can get to a lot when you’re rat-sized.”
“Is it in the basement, like Alea said?”
“Well, yes, but there are a bunch of basements here. This place goes as far underground as it does above. The room’s about four floors down and has lots of guards. The objects are inside, in two collections, surrounded by some magic I can’t really figure out. But then, gentry magic isn’t my specialty.”
“Two collections ... let me guess. One for the lands actually in the blight and one for those who’ve sworn allegiance. But obviously, she’d still keep their tokens around as leverage.”
Kiyo nodded. “That’s what I thought too. Not sure if this makes you feel better or worse, but the blighted pile was much larger. More are resisting than giving in.”
“How do you know it was the blighted pile? Did you recognize Maiwenn’s gift?”
“No, but there was a marble bust of Dorian in there, which I figured must have been his kingdom’s ‘humble’ gift.”
That normally would’ve brought a smile to my face, but thinking of Dorian only served to remind me of the trouble he was in because of me. The image of him being punched in the face was etched in my mind.
“We have to expedite things and get out of here,” I said. If Kiyo had talked to Alea, she probably would’ve mentioned me telling Spots that I would free her king. But, obviously, there was a lot more to the plan that Kiyo needed to be caught up on. I quickly explained about the other captive monarchs and how Volusian had been in contact with them. Kiyo’s eyes were aglow as he listened.
“That’s brilliant,” he said. “So long as they haven’t been badly treated, they’ll be a huge force to have on our side.”
I nodded. “Volusian didn’t give me the impression that they’d been physically harmed ... just that some wer
e kind of defeated mentally.”
“Understandable,” said Kiyo. “But if they can fight, we may not need to figure out the key to the enchantment around the objects. You guys can just overpower it.”
“We talked about that too. It’s an option. Still, if there’s any edge we can get, I want it. I don’t want to go down there with my little posse of six or so, only to find out Varia used six hundred to cast her spell and that we can’t even come close to matching that.”
“I can ask Orj and the rest of the Hemlock group about it. Along with some dissidents from other kingdoms, it seems Varia has a number of malcontents within her own borders.”
That was a surprise. “Everyone I’ve met sure seems devoted, though. She’s massively powerful and controls lots of other kingdoms. Seems like her subjects would be happy about that.”
“They’re devoted because they’re afraid of her,” Kiyo pointed out. “And from what I’ve been hearing, the people in her own kingdom don’t always fare much better than those she subjugates.”
That also surprised me, since I regarded protecting my subjects as my main job as queen. Of course, Varia and I were coming from very different points of view, seeing as I also didn’t really feel the need to blackmail the innocents of other kingdoms with death and suffering in order to expand my empire. So, it was reasonable she and I would have different ruling styles in general.
“Well, find out what you can,” I told him. “One thing I know for sure—we need to get Dorian out before we launch our master attack.”
Kiyo shifted uncomfortably. “We might not have time for that. We can get him once everything else is taken care of.”
“We may not have the chance! The whole reason she’s holding him is to ensure my good behavior. If we start some commotion up here, he could end up dead before we get back to him.”
I admit, part of me had been a little amazed this whole time that Kiyo and I had been having such a civil conversation. It was almost—almost—like we didn’t have this history of blood and betrayal between us. Nonetheless, I think I’d been subconsciously waiting for something to pick a fight over, some reason for our tenuous alliance to fall apart. Kiyo, to his credit, seemed to take his time in forming a civil response.
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