by A Lonergan
No.
“Hello brother, did you miss me?”
Chapter Fourteen
The King
Armia stood before me in her usual attire. Skin tight pants and a tunic cut above her belly button.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” I fought against the chains that bound me to the wall and prayed that she hadn’t touched Willow. Willow was staring at me with wide eyes, but I couldn’t address her at the moment. “You always had to be so chivalrous.”
I scowled at her. “This was you all along?”
“I don’t know why you’re surprised.” She picked at her nails and looked at me with a bored expression.
“What do you want? What do I owe this grand gesture?” I pulled on the shackles that bound me to the wall and gritted my teeth against the magic in them. They sent an electric jolt through me and my back arched against the wall.
My sister laughed. “I want my genies.”
Dread filled my veins. “No.”
“You have always loved your subjects.” She tilted her head while she was considering what to say next. “Wouldn’t it be really fun to have one of them dead every single day until I get what I want?”
“When did you turn into a monster?” I asked while fear filled my entire being. She would do it. She was as nasty and vile as they came.
“The moment I found out that you weren’t really my brother, and I was adopted. That it was kept from me my entire life, that I was stolen from my true family across the Wasted Sea.” She jabbed the air with her finger as she spoke every word.
I frowned. “How would you even find this information? I didn’t even know this.”
She smiled and shook her head like we were having a pleasant conversation. “How did you not know? We are as different as you and Lady Bane are!”
Willow stayed quiet beside me, but I could see the gears turning in her head and I knew she was planning something. She had plucked a knife from the air like it was fruit from a tree. If anyone could get out of this it was her. But it left me with the question of how my sister knew who Willow was.
“I never paid attention to what made us different.” I said, sadly. “I loved you even though we were different. But you never loved anything but yourself.”
Armia looked at the dirty ground beneath her slippered feet and didn’t say anything else. “I came for what is mine and I will destroy your kingdom to find them.”
She twirled her hand in the air and was gone, along with the light.
I looked over to where I knew Willow was, even if I couldn’t see her. “Are you okay?” I whispered.
“Yes, for now.” I could hear her tinkering with the shackles. “I just need to figure out how to get us free.”
“You won’t escape those.”
“And why not?” she replied back angrily.
“You might not be able to feel it but they are magic suppressing cuffs, and they were tested on giants, and dragons a millennia ago to make sure once their magic was stripped they couldn’t escape.” I said into the darkness.
“I don’t think you know who you are speaking to.” It was almost like I could see her stubborn determined face in mind. “I am not only one of the Emperor’s elites, but I am also his assassin.”
There was a small part of her voice that sounded defeated, but the rest was courageous. “I have heard of you.” I whispered. “He brags about you and makes sure that every kingdom fears his prized killer. But no one knows that this person is a woman, it makes sense. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.”
She didn’t say anything and I wondered if I had gone too far, but everything I had said was true. It wasn’t like we were going anywhere anytime soon. Getting to know each other seemed like the only option.
I didn’t know how much time had passed but when the elven henchmen came to deliver us food but, I wanted to fight. I could feel it flowing through my veins, the anger and hatred preparing my body for war. I had been bred a soldier. I was never meant for the role of king. But here I was and yet, they had managed to capture me. Thinking back on it, I couldn’t even remember what I had done wrong besides run to save Willow… Alone. I pushed my head back into the bricks behind my skull and groaned.
“Not even twenty-four hours and you’re starting to break,” Armia cackled from the doorway. “How cute.”
I kept my expression neutral. “I know we have been in here longer than that.”
She grinned from the shadows. “You may never know until I start bringing bodies in here.”
Willow finally broke through her silence. “What do you think that’s going to do?”
The door slammed in our faces and the little light we had gotten was taken back.
“So she’s the tyrant.” Willow said. “And she’s the keeper of Ifrīt and Marîd’s lamps, isn’t she?”
“You’re awfully perceptive.” I pulled at my binds to check their hold for the millionth time.
“It pays to be.” Her cuffs clanked against the brick and I pondered on what her plan was. There was no way she hadn’t made one already. “How did you come to gain the genies without their lamps?”
I bit my lip. “It’s a long story.”
Willow moved around and I imagined her trying to get comfortable for the tale I was about to disclose. She murmured and I almost didn’t hear her. “I have time.”
Chapter Fifteen
Willow
I perked up and tried to get as comfortable as I possibly could being chained to a wall. I didn’t know how my body would ever get back to normal after all of this… if we even survived.
“Awhile back a woman quite literally fell into this kingdom. She was only here for a brief time, and when she was, she awakened something inside of me. Something that I didn’t know had been there. I guess my body had been trying to fight it off and Freya was the only one that could set me free.”
That name. It sounded too familiar to be a coincidence. I had heard it somewhere.
“Eventually she left this land and I realized that my own sister wasn’t what she was pretending to be. Once I was able to free myself of her magic, I did it to the rest of the guards and staff in the castle.” I could hear his labored breathing and knew something was happening with his magic. “With the magic being gone, I was able to see past the illusion she had conjured up before everyone… except the city. They knew exactly the type of woman and tyrant she was. She held public beheadings in the square and taxed my people far beyond necessary. I continued to pretend like I was still her puppet, and when she proposed her possible engagement with the Elven Prince, I was joyous.”
“She didn’t seem too be suspicious?” I asked.
“No, she was working with a ruthless witch in the Mortal Realm and knew she would never have more power in Rosalia.” His cuffs clanked again and he swore in anger. “I had feigned being loyal to her and told her I would keep all her pretties safe, but when she wanted to visit…” He paused, unsure of how to continue. “She couldn’t come back into the kingdom. The city was spelled against her and her magic.”
“How was she able to get into the city then?” I glowered. This didn’t add up.
“I don’t think we are in Rosalia anymore, Willow.” The King sounded so distraught, I didn’t know what to do.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.” And I was. He could lose everything from the woman that wasn’t even his sister.
“Please,” he chuckled. “Call me Cal.”
It was too casual, but then again, our conditions weren’t exactly elegance.
“Cal,” I tested his name on my tongue. I didn’t think the Emperor had ever spoken his name. I didn’t remember any of the subjects mentioning it either. But, it was practically treason to be that friendly with royalty. “How did you find the genies?”
“I found them naked and bound in her bed chambers days after I had freed myself from her spell. I had gone snooping and stumbled upon them. I wondered how she had managed to do as much as she did in such a short s
pan. She had them working to do anything and everything she wished. I managed to free them and hide them with an inn master until my sister left. I could see that something was bothering her, but she couldn’t risk letting go of her biggest secret and the fact that she had lost them.”
I licked my dry lips. “That doesn’t explain why they still serve you.”
It was a few minutes before he answered. “They were bound to serve Rosalia and the way Armia bound them left too many loop holes, but not enough for them to actually leave the service of their king or queen.”
“But, she holds the lamps, so if she were to find them, she could change that.” I finished for him.
“Yes,” he sighed.
I dozed off, for what I thought to be a few hours. When I opened my eyes there was a little twinkle of light coming from Cal’s direction. It was so odd to think of him with a name and not just a title. My head lolled to the side and I groaned against the ache starting in my neck. There was tingles in my fingertips and I was losing feeling in my arms.
Cal had somehow managed to get magic to his fingers, but that was about all he could do with the way his hands were positioned above his head. He was smiling when my eyes made it to his face. I licked my lips again and prayed for water. It had been too long.
In response to my thoughts, my stomach growled. “How do they expect us to live down here?”
Cal looked around us and blinked a few times. “I don’t think we are going to live for much longer, Willow.”
Sadness gripped my heart and my legs started to shake. They were starting to lose feeling too and the cuffs holding me upright had cut into my wrists, just enough to draw blood. Blood had dripped down my arms while I had slept and dried near my shoulders, from what I could see. There was probably more, but I couldn’t focus on that.
“I always hoped that I would escape.” I finally whispered, and I didn’t know if I was speaking for Cal’s benefit or mine. “I had always hoped that I would free my mother from that hell across the Wasted Sea. When I first saw Rosalia, I had a brief moment of where I imagined her with me, and that we were free.”
“Emperor Hildiguard uses your mother as leverage,” Cal’s face showed exactly how he felt about that.
I nodded my head as best as I could manage. “If I don’t make it back there, he will kill her. I am not a willing elite, but none of the others are either.”
Cal pulled on his restraints again. “I promise you that I will get you out of here to save your mother. I swear to you that I will get your freedom.”
I couldn’t say anything as I looked at him. His face was genuine and his eyes spoke things that I had never seen or heard before. He was a one of a kind man and I didn’t understand why Freya had left. She was a rutting idiot. Freedom was something I had dreamed about for so long, but hope had gotten me no where. Hope had gotten me thrown in here.
“I wonder what they’re going to do when you don’t show up for your own ball.” I couldn’t help but smirk as I thought of Nico’s face. But then I sobered up, he would be horrified and out of his mind with panic. He had managed to lose his king.
“I doubt anyone will realize that I’m not there until they want to smooze me into their beds and buy the kingdom with their bodies.”
I snorted. “They actually do that? They throw themselves at you in that way?” His body was decadent, but I wouldn’t admit it out loud.
He gave me an incredulous look then waggled his eyebrows. “They can’t resist.” He rolled his light eyes. “I’m sure Adder will more than make up for my absence.”
I pretended to gag.
“Oh, you mean you aren’t fawning over him like everyone else?” Cal asked with mock disbelief. It was almost like we weren’t chained to a wall. Like we were friends.
I let out an exasperated sigh. “I grew up with that lout. He’s about as dumb as this brick wall.”
Cal shook his head. “No, he’s smarter than you give him credit for.”
I laughed. “How did you come up with that?”
“I think he likes to play dumb so he’s under estimated.” Cal bucked against the wall and the chains managed to slightly come loose from the brick holding us in place. He looked at me with shock.
“How long can you keep that light on at your fingers?” I asked and mirrored his movements.
He gave me a look of uncertainty. “No food equals no energy, which equals no magic.”
I nodded my head. “Turn it off, don’t waste it. The cuffs are draining enough of it as it is and when we pull free from this wall, we are going to need it more.”
The light went out and I continued to throw myself against the wall. It went on for hours until mine finally slipped just a tad. The noise echoed around the room and I was terrified it would send Armia dancing into the room. We waited in silence for what seemed like eternity until we continued.
Cal’s chains broke free from the wall long before mine did. He toppled to the floor with a low grunt and I pulled harder against my restrictions. Sweat was running down my face in a current I didn’t know possible. I had always worked hard with my trainings, but I had never perspired like this.
“Are you alright?” I strained and yanked against the wall with all my strength.
A loud CLANG notified me of Cal breaking through the chains, that I imagined were holding his feet to the wall. He groaned again and I could hear the rustling of his clothes on the brick floor. Panic set in my chest. “Please,” I sounded broken, even more broken than I had been before. The darkness would do that to you. “Don’t leave me.” I didn’t want to have the same fate as the other women.
There was a pause in all the sounds around us, like the world was waiting to hear what he had to say. The anticipation held everything at bay.
“Why would I leave you?” he said, breathless.
“Why wouldn’t you?” I retorted as I continued to struggle.
“Because I would never do that.” He paused. “I came here to find you, and I won’t leave without you.”
I pulled on my cuffs one last time and snapped free from the rock behind me. I flew forward and tried to brace myself for the hard ground, but instead of hitting rock, like I had been expecting… I landed on something soft, that let out an oof upon impact.
“Cal?” I asked incredulously and tried to roll off of him. “I am so sorry! I didn’t know you were there.”
How had he even made it there? He had to have known that I wasn’t far behind him, hadn’t he? That I would come off of the wall and fall right where he was laying.
Light illuminated the room and I could finally see his face. “I am fine, I promise you. It didn’t hurt too badly.” He smirked up at me.
Then it hit me. “You softened my fall.”
He looked away from me, bashfully. “That was the plan.”
I didn’t know how I felt about the admission, but it sent warmth to my core. Warmth I had never experienced before. I could feel my cheeks turning red. I ducked my head and tried to maneuver myself off of him. He sat us up and I tried to brace myself to the best of my ability but with my legs still cuffed to the wall, I couldn’t do much. My arms could only be separated by about a foot between them because of the cuffs still in place. I imagined breaking the chain between them wouldn’t be too difficult if we had managed to free ourselves from the wall.
“Do you have the strength to pull yourself free?” He laid me gently on the ground beside him as I focused on the chain holding my hands together. It appeared to be rusted and worn, but I wondered if that was just another illusion.
My legs felt like static and when I tried to pull them free, they protested with pain shooting through them. “I don’t think so.”
He bent forward and yanked my legs from the wall. They screamed in pain and I fell over with the brunt of it. The floor was slightly damp and the room stunk beyond belief, but I couldn’t help but lie there. My entire body ached like never before. Cal leaned against the wall with his arms braced over his legs, and watche
d me.
“Why aren’t you trying to figure out an escape plan?” I asked, as I cringed against the sound of rats in the hall. A shiver took over my body and Cal looked ready to come to my rescue.
“Because it would be no escape plan if you can’t get up and fight, would it?” He cocked his head and gave me a look of bewilderment.
I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked at the light glowing from his fingertips. I pointed to the glass orbs at the top of the ceiling. “Why don’t you put the light in there?”
“Holding the magic at my fingertips and throwing it, are completely different. The cuffs will only allow my body to use this magic, for whatever reason. I wouldn’t be able to throw it and then sustain the power there.”
I nodded my head. Getting used to this magic and this land was confusing. Nothing made sense here, but to Cal it made perfect sense. The King held on to the light and made it to the door. With the cuffs and chains still around his ankles, it was humorous to watch him move about. He pushed against the door and it pushed back. He flew across the room and hit the wall we had been shackled to. His head snapped against the stone with a loud thwack and the light went out in the room. I scuttled across the floor as quickly as I could and tried to find his face. My hands fluttered across his chest and shoulders until I found his face. I knew this time checking on him would be numbered, there was no way Armia wasn’t notified by what had happened. Someone had to have felt that wave of power wash over them, besides me.
I tapped his cheeks, gently at first then more frantic as time passed by. “Cal!” I could hear footsteps down the hall from our cell and I knew my time was up. I slapped his face one last time and he jerked up, barely missing my face in the process. The door that had knocked Cal unconscious swung open and banged against the wall beside it.
Armia looked at us in panic then she started to smile. “How cozy.” She tilted her head a little bit and I realized that I had been shielding Cal from her, that I had the protective stance over his body. Even though now he was conscious and no longer vulnerable. “Do you honestly believe that you can protect him?”
