by Jaime Marks
“With all due respect, female…”
“You would do well to remember to who you speak,” Ryo interjected firmly. “The Princess Staryana a Reyana asked you to leave and she is correct. It is highly improper for you to think you can enter her and the Prince’s chambers when he is not present. I am certain he, her Mother and her Fathers would also agree and I doubt any would tolerate such disrespect.”
Talerys breathed deeply as he stared at Astryn a moment before bowing. “Of course, your majesty.”
Without another word she closed the door in his face. Sometimes she loved being the Princess. Turning to Astryn she smiled. “Sorry, but I overheard you two arguing and thought you could use a break.”
The girl bit her lip, obviously trying not to laugh but quickly composed herself. “Thanks, he can be a pain.”
“He’s not your courted is he?” She asked curiously although she doubted it.
She shook her head as Star began sorting through the materials, setting them on the desk. “No, but he wants to be. He’s one of my suitors. I can’t stand him, honestly, but my Father seems to think he can do no wrong.”
“If he’s not your mate don’t let anyone twist your arm into something you don’t want. You’ll know when you find the right male,” she offered with a shrug thinking back to how it felt the first time she met Byryn. How the two of them had stayed away from each other so long was beyond her.
“I know. I’m not in any rush. My Father seems to think that I need to be betrothed immediately, but really until I’m mating age they can’t really force the issue,” she shrugged. “They just give me a headache about it. Anyway, I guess I should probably leave you to your privacy, my lady. Thanks for your help.”
“It’s no problem. Are you from Earth?” She asked noticing her dialect and the contractions. Most full Fae spoke more formally and she almost never heard their young curse. “You speak differently, more like me,” she added when Astryn looked embarrassed.
“No, I was raised in the Realm of Light. Both of my parents are Fae, but I also study a lot of Earth culture and I read a lot of their fictional works when I can manage to get a hold of them.”
Star studied Astryn, wondering why she felt so drawn to her. If she grew up Fae then they obviously knew her lines so she couldn’t be one of the Lucerna Lines. They’d already know about her. There was just something about her. She grabbed one of her romance novels tossing it to her. “You can borrow that. It might be a bit too…sexually explicit, but it’s a good read.”
“Thanks.” She smiled looking over the cover. “I actually like them a bit racier.”
“Hey baby are you…” She looked up as Byryn paused in the door and offered Astryn an apologetic smile assessing her shrewdly. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention, brightness.”
“That’s alright. Astryn, this is Liaison Byryn a Grifyn, my mate,” Star offered. “She just stopped by to drop off the materials I requested from Scholar’s Hall.”
“Nice to meet you, Astryn,” he offered with a nod as she rose and bowed but he waved her off. “Don’t worry about the formalities. It’s fine. Really you’re saving me a trip anyway.”
She hesitated seeming uncertain but nodded. “It’s no trouble.”
“Come on,” Star offered. “I’ll show you the other way out in case your friend is waiting for you.”
Byryn smirked shaking his head but said nothing. She knew he’d purposely interrupted because they needed to get going and he wanted to meet the girl. He’d followed everything that happened. “Was there a problem I can help you with, Astryn?”
“Uh, no, my lord. It’s nothing really,” she grimaced staring off into the distance as they exited through Grifyn’s sitting room. “My Father’s assistant and I were just having a disagreement. In all honesty, as much as I appreciate the assistance, Princess…it might be best if this stays between us?”
Sensing her nervousness she nodded. “I understand. Just remember what I said and if you need anything just ask, even if you’re just bored and need someone to talk to.”
Byryn nodded with a teasing grin. “Staryana will likely finish the materials you brought her in a days’ time and be looking for some other trouble to get into.” Astryn smiled as she watched her shove him slightly but didn’t comment. He nodded to Tryxia, “Guardian Tryxia will see that you get to where you need to go without issue. We hope to see you again, Astryn,” he offered.
Astryn hesitated at the top of the corridor a moment turning to look down the Familial Lines Corridor with a quizzical look. Star tried to figure out what she could be sensing but she didn’t know enough about her to know if she knew anyone staying there or not. In all honesty she was surprised her quarters weren’t in that corridor.
After a moment she gave her head a slight shake, turned back with a smile, and bowed. “Thank you my lord, my lady. Have a good morn.”
They watched her as she followed Tryxia and Star almost wanted to go after her. She couldn’t really understand it, but she felt like she belonged with them in some way. It made absolutely no sense.
Byryn kissed her temple. “If she does then it will in time, baby. Don’t stress it for now and I’ll make sure we keep an eye on the situation with her and Talerys. I believe her Father accepted a seat on the Council so she should be here for a while, although I think Mythos mentioned that she wants to train at the Order.”
“Hmmm,” Star offered with a shrug. “I’m not stressing it…it’s just this odd draw. Did you feel it too?”
“No, but just because she’s connected to you doesn’t mean she would automatically be connected to me. You’ve always felt a draw to Steph and I’ve never picked up on it,” he reasoned. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
She sighed watching Astryn round a corner. Byryn would make sure nothing happened to her, but she couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t enough, almost like she needed to be closer. There was something about Astryn that had made it so the Darkness in her didn’t feel so Dark for a few minutes. She couldn’t explain it but she knew that female was important to them both in ways they didn’t even comprehend yet.
Making a mental note to post extra guards in Astryn’s corridor and run a check on Talerys, Byryn pulled Staryana with him down the hall. They were already a little late but he doubted Cymeryn would care. It only meant John had to stew a little longer.
As he walked beside Staryana holding her hand he wondered if this was the wisest of ideas. He had agreed to this at the time of her request but now he was beginning to question if he really wanted her to see this side of him firsthand. She said she understood but it still scared him. They had survived the brunt of his past, but he knew what it would take to obtain what he needed from John. Could she handle seeing that truth in him? Knowing that the Darkness still existed somewhere within him?
“I can hear you, Byryn,” she sighed pulling him to stop and face her. “You need to trust me. Trust me to be strong enough to walk beside you and still love you. Our path won’t always be easy and you need to know I can handle this…and I need to know you trust me to.”
He kissed her head. “I’m just not sure this is something I want you exposed to baby, and not just because it’s me.”
“I’ve already been exposed and conditioned to it. I can still feel that Darkness slithering under my skin. This isn’t some innocent you’re interrogating, it’s John. He raped my best friend and soon to be Aunt.” She shook her head as if even saying that caused her confusion.
He chuckled at her reaction and kissed her head. “Yeah ok, your right it’s weird when you think of Steph and Mythos in that respect.”
“Told you,” she said as she began walking again and he fell in beside her.
“But that doesn’t mean you should have to face this,” he reasserted bringing her back to the subject at hand.
“Cymeryn knows I’ll be there and he didn’t have a problem with it,” she reminded him.
Byryn glanced over at her. “You do realize h
ow sadistic Cymeryn has been in his past, right? If Marcus or Mythos knew we intended to allow you to sit in on this they would likely skin us both alive.”
They descended the stairs and entered the cell block below. It wasn’t Dark and dank like the dungeons in Trevyn’s safehold but the thick plexiglass walls and iron bars didn’t exactly provide a welcoming environment despite the white walls and bright lighting. They walked down the hall to the end where the solid iron door of the interrogation room sat and Byryn knocked reaching out his essence to Cymeryn who appeared beside them offering a slight nod.
“Are you sure you wish to be here, Princess?” Cymeryn asked looking her over. “I am not questioning your ability to tolerate this, but merely if you want to. It is not necessary, in truth, and I plan to ensure between Byryn and I that we have all the information we need.”
She nodded obviously resolved and Cymeryn sighed opening the way. John was chained to and iron table of sorts that stood at about a hundred degree angle in the center of the room. He sneered at them as they enter his brow lifting in an amused smirk when his eyes settled on Staryana. She glanced at him dismissively as she allowed Byryn to lead her to a chair he positioned back against the wall. Cymeryn stood leaning back beside her and his eyes bore into John as his raked over her taking in the changes from her awakening.
He walked over and yanked the gag from the bastard’s mouth. “We’ve been here before, you know how this will end. I’ll give you one, and only one chance to tell me what I want to know, John. How did you get into Steph’s room?”
John scoffed at him. “You honestly expect me to believe your gonna do anything to me with your pretty little mate in here, Byryn?” His gaze ran over her again. “Your Granddaddy’s gonna be pissed he…”
Byryn cracked him directly in the jaw. “You will not address her and you will answer me.”
He spit his murky Darkened blood on the floor. It wasn’t the black sludge of a full Shade but the Darkest of the unawakened tended to have blood that was a deep murky red which almost looked black without enough Light to reflect its color. “Fuck you.”
Byryn slammed a fist in to his ribs right where they had recently healed from his last beating and the scumbag grunted but held in his pain. “So now your ribs are broken, not sure about your jaw yet. What would you like me to break next?”
He shrugged, speaking through clenched teeth. “Do what you want, Byryn. We both know you no longer have the stomach to break me.”
A soft had landed on Byryn’s arm and he met her eyes as she drew his dagger from his waist. He glanced up to Cymeryn who was watching her with an odd curiosity but merely nodded when he met his eyes. He reached up and caressed her cheek. This was too close to the world he wanted to protect her from and he allowed all his concern and fear for her to flow over their bond. “Are you sure, Staryana? These are things you can’t undo.”
He could feel her resolve and confidence as she leaned up and kissed him. “I can handle this, Byryn and I need to know more than what you’re asking.”
“I will be outside if you need me,” Cymeryn spoke softly. “I made a promise to my brother that there would be no more secrets between us. I am going to assume you will talk her out of this…” He gave him a coy smile and misted from the room obviously more than aware that he wouldn’t.
“So, the Princess believes she has the guts to torture me?” John laughed. “Bring it on, baby.”
Byryn grated his teeth but kissed her head and took a step back watching her as she studied John with a cruel calculating glare. She walked over and sliced deeply into the muscle on the underside of each of his arms, watching as the blood spilled out in a rush from his wounds. John’s eyes were narrowed in pain, rage…and shock. His jaw clenched tightly as he watched her.
“You and I, John, are going to play a little game,” she murmured in contemplation as she watched his reaction. “It’s called let’s see how much you’re willing to bleed before you tell me what I want to know.”
“And what is that, Princess?” John gritted.
“I want to know where my brothers are. I want to know how you got into Steph’s room. I want to know what Alayne had planned and when he’s coming back. And I want to know it now,” she spoke coolly in a dismissive tone not even looking at him.
She was calm but there was a callousness to her voice that Byryn had never seen in her. He sensed her but she was perfectly balanced, not shifting towards Darkness. She had the resolve and determination of a soldier facing death on the field and as much as he respected the hell out of her for it, there was a part of him that worried what this meant. This side she was showing him, a side he knew damn well had never been consciously present in her before, and was more Dark than Light.
“I see…” John sneered his eyes raking over her. “Thing is Star, I think you’re bluffing. You were always too sweet, too innocent, just like your brother. Had you woken Shade I may be concerned, but in your current state, the Light I see in you? You don’t have the stomach for this, Princess.”
She didn’t comment, unwilling to play his game. She merely walked over and jammed the dagger into the right side of his gut twisting it slightly. Her face remained impassive as he groaned through the pain. The dagger twisted again and she withdrew it and wiped the blood on his cheek.
“I don’t really care what you think.” She motioned to Byryn. “My mate is dying to jump in and tear you apart. If you won’t tell me, once I’m done with you he’ll simply take over and you will answer because if not, he may well kill you this time for how you’re looking at me.”
Byryn gave him a stiff nod noticing the lust in the dick head’s eyes. They weren’t supposed to be torturing him, just roughing him up a bit, but Staryana had already opened that door and he would gladly step through it for her. He watched as she jammed the dagger deeply into his left side this time twisting as she spoke.
“If you don’t start telling me what I want to know, I’ll make sure that next time you manage to assault Steph she won’t have to worry about you raping her because you won’t have the capability.” Her eyes pierced into his as she withdrew the dagger running it down his chest in a deep gash that settled just above his manhood.
Byryn debated his options. He had no idea what was driving this behavior in her, but he couldn’t let it continue whether John answered her or not. He was just about to step forward when to his shock John’s head dropped in submission. When she stepped back he looked up to her with more respect than disdain or desire.
“You hold the strength of your line, Princess, and I know better than to challenge it. Never let any of them tell you you’re weak because from what I can sense you’re stronger than even you know…There’s a hidden passage that Tomas showed me. It goes directly into her closet through the floor. It empties out into the storage cellar and there’s another in there that goes off the plateau.” John replied through grunts, the pain in him obviously mounting. “They left me behind to obtain you and Steph figuring Byryn would follow.”
She nodded. “And the rest. Don’t push me John or I’ll see to it you sing soprano for all eternity.”
“Kyle’s brother…” He shook his head, something that almost looked like regret passing through his eyes but continued. “Your younger brother, Calvin, is in the Nerivyne Home. Byryn will know how to locate it and Kyle can confirm that. Phil lives with his Mom in town but Syneous made mention of reclaiming him soon. If you plan on retrieving him I wouldn’t wait long, your Father’s fucking pissed and without Kyle around he will take it out on him if he takes him. Syneous had always been a spiteful bastard,” John replied levelly looking her over. “As far as when Alayne will return or his plans, I don’t know. He won’t wait long, Star. That bastard wants you and I can see why…your strength is formidable and the power you’ve invoked in Byryn is immense. He won’t stop until he owns you. You’ll either have to kill him and take his place or submit to him. There is no other way but you just might have the strength to pull it off, especial
ly if you work with your brother. When you claim your place among us, Princess, I’ll be proud to serve under you. You will be Shade, it’s in your blood.”
She smirked removing the blade from his skin and tossed it to Byryn not even bothering to look back at him but knowing he would catch it none the less. Byryn smiled catching her thoughts still confused by her behavior but more than a little relieved. He watched as she raised a hand in front of John and flowed Light and Gray essences over his skin easing the pain in the unawakened, the wounds she had inflicted reknitting and beginning to heal at an accelerated rate.
She looked him over with a shrewd gaze. “There’s a difference between Darkness and knowing what it’ll take to get the job done, John. The Darker sides of life embody the Night, but Darkness is the epitome of evil. I will never give myself over to the evil and therefore I’ll never be Shade. I, unlike you, am stronger than that.”
Cymeryn appeared with a smile on his face obviously having monitored the situation regardless of his desire for plausible deniability. “I am very proud of you, Staryana.”
She smiled warmly and allowed him to pull her into an embrace before walking over to Byryn and wrapping her arms around him and kissing him chastely. “I’m going to go get changed into my formal attire before Devyn arrives. Do what you need to do, baby. Just don’t take too long. I’ll be waiting and we’re short on time so as it is.”
He waited as she left without another word before walking over and slamming his fists so hard into the scumbag’s ribs and jaw that he heard the cracks echo through the cell. “I know you John and I know you gave her the bare minimum of what she asked you. I know your still planning something and I mean to see to it you stay chained here until I’m sure of exactly what it is. In the meantime, I promise you that if you attempt to get anywhere near her, or anyfae else that I care about, I will skin you alive and feed you your own flesh.”
