I stared through the barred window at the dark pines that rushed by and caught the barest glimpses of the star-filled night sky between their thick branches.
There was a reason I didn’t look like a murderer.
I hadn’t tried to kill the prince.
And my name wasn’t Maeril Orilana.
But none of that mattered now.
Chapter Two
The Black Garden holds all the most dangerous flowers in the Seelie and Unseelie kingdoms. Murderers. Thieves. Rapists. Poisoners. Schemers. Plotters against the throne and pretenders to the crown… And now me.
The secrets of both kingdoms withered behind those ivy covered walls.
The guard had been right. I would have been better off dead.
It had seemed impossible, but the weight of my sentence and the weight of the sorrow I carried had overwhelmed me, and as the carriage rumbled over the pitted dirt roads to the edge of the Golden Kingdom I had slept.
But my dreams were a kind of torture all their own.
My sister’s face, covered in blood, hovered in my mind, and her choked screams echoed in my ears as I ran through twisting stone corridors in a vain attempt to escape the nameless, faceless creature who pursued me. I could hear its heavy footsteps and smell its foul breath, but I couldn’t escape. Couldn’t not get away. Every breath I took was ragged in my throat, and my chest was tight with pain and sorrow, and every inch of my body was made up of raw nerves and barely contained screams.
I forced myself awake. It was a struggle to open my eyes and I shook my head to clear the image of Maeral’s contorted face from my mind. It didn’t matter what I did, she was imprinted on my eyelids, and I knew that every time I closed my eyes I would see her agonized face and hear her calling my name in the dark.
My waking life had become a nightmare—why should my dreams be any different?
The wagon stopped abruptly and I was thrown to the floor despite the chains that held me in place. I struggled to get to my knees and groaned at the pain in my feet and ankles. If my feet ever touched the ground again, walking would be painful.
I looked up through the barred window and squinted at the brightness of the early morning light. We had come a long way during the night, and from the look of the dark, ivy-covered stones that loomed over the wagon, the driver had not wasted any time in delivering me to my destination.
The man’s face appeared in the window and his violet eyes narrowed as he focused on me.
“The Garden is too good for the likes of you,” the driver snarled. “Bradwr.”
He spat on the ground and glared at me.
Traitor.
It was going to take some time to get used to the insults. I had to be strong. For Maeral.
The driver turned away from the window and shouted up to the gatehouse. “Prisoner delivery from the Golden Citadel!”
“What kind? We wirnae expectin’ any deliveries. Especially not from the likes of you.”
“An unexpected arrangement,” the driver explained. “A message should have arrived for the warden by now.”
“No one told us,” the guard shouted back.
“Y’haftae take her,” the driver said. He stomped around to the back of the wagon and fumbled with the enchanted chain that held the doors closed.
As they loosened, so did the ones that bound me. I took the opportunity to wriggle my arms and managed to work one hand free. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do. Maybe I could take a chance and escape… If I could find my way into the Unseelie lands maybe I could escape—
The driver flung the doors open and reached into the wagon to snap his fingers at the ends of the chain that were secured to the iron rings in the floor.
The chains didn’t move and I dared to smile just a little.
The driver snapped his fingers again and swore under his breath.
It took him three more tries, but finally, the iron links slithered to life and unhooked themselves from the rings embedded in the rough wood floor. When I was awaiting my sentence, each link of the chain that wrapped around my body had burned painfully against my skin, but now they were just cold metal.
Perhaps we were far enough away from the Golden Citadel that their magic was weakened—or the Black Garden’s own protections were strong enough to drown out any other magic.
That would explain the need for the wagon… No magic in the Garden.
With a grunt of frustration the driver reached into the wagon and grabbed the limp end of the chain with both hands. He yanked on it hard and I stumbled to my feet. My knees gave out as my ankles cramped and I fell against the side of the wagon. The driver pulled on the chain again, and I gritted my teeth against the pain as the feeling began to return to my legs.
He looked over his shoulder to shout at the guards who were, no doubt, waiting in their gatehouse.
“Hurry up!” one of the unseen men shouted. “We havnae got all morning. We have some actual prisoners coming in from the Grafmark Ranges… Real criminals…”
The driver grumbled and wrapped and chain around his forearm. He leaned back to look at the guards.
“This one is a real criminal—”
I might have been at a disadvantage—but he was off balance and I had to take my chance while I had it.
I rushed forward, stumbling as my ankles screamed in pain. The driver turned toward me just as I leapt out of the wagon and planted both feet in the center of his broad chest.
The weight of the chains and the force of my leap knocked the man off his feet, and he landed on the muddy ground with a surprised grunt.
“What’s taking so long?” one of the guards shouted.
“Help!” the driver cried as I struggled to shake off the chains and scramble to my feet. “Help, she’s escaping!”
The last length of chain fell to the ground with a muffled thud as I pushed it off my shoulder and ran headlong for the forest.
The driver reached out to catch my ankle, but he missed and was rewarded with the edge of my boot crushing his fingers as I ran past him.
His strangled cries for assistance had finally caught the interest of the guards in the gatehouse and I heard more shouts as they emerged to see what the commotion was.
I was almost there. The dark trunks of the pine trees looked cool and inviting, and I was more than prepared to deal with whatever was in there if it meant I could avoid being taken through those ivy-covered gates.
I could smell the treeline, if I could just get close enough—
I reached out for the trees, but just as hope flared in my chest I cried out in surprise as a sharp pain lanced through my leg.
“Not that easy, bradwr,” a man cried out. Braying laughter followed as I fell to the ground so hard and gasped as all the air rushed out of my lungs.
The world tilted and I had dirt in my mouth and in my hair. My left leg shivered and burned and I couldn’t stop shaking. I managed to twist enough to grab for my ankle, and yelped in pain as my fingers were burnt by the glowing golden rope that was wrapped around it.
The laughter of the guards echoed off the trees as they approached.
“She doesnae look like much,” one of them said.
I looked over my shoulder at the approaching men and pushed myself up onto my feet. My legs were unsteady, and I couldn’t put any weight on the left one.
“Don’t you touch me,” I growled.
“Hobbled. I told you these work like a charm,” one of the men said with a cocksure grin on his face. He patted the loops of golden rope fastened to his belt. The same rope that was wrapped tightly around my left ankle. “They said we couldn’t have ‘em, but I got these through a… different source.”
The second guard shoved the speaker. “You’d best be keepin’ your mouth shut about that shit.” He pointed to me. “Are you sure this is the one?”
The driver who had brought me to this accursed place came up behind them. He rubbed his chest painfully and fixed me with a deadly glare. “Certain of it,�
�� he said through gritted teeth. “If she’s broken any of my ribs, I’ll be filin’ a complaint—”
“Shut your mouth,” the first guard said. He pulled another length of the golden rope from his belt and swung it like a lasso at his side. “You’re comin’ with us, girl… This fella says you’re a murderer. But you dinnae look like much of a killer to me.” He said the last words with a sneer, and I felt my chest tighten with rage.
“Come closer,” I growled. “Find out for yourself.” I hadn’t used my magic on another living creature in years—especially not in anger—but if I had to, I would.
I raised my hands defensively and tried to call on my magic… Would it even obey me in this place? My palms itched; but there was nothing more.
“You won’t be able to do any of that here, Darlin,” the guard with the lasso said mockingly.
Frustrated at myself, I curled my hands into claws—at least those could do some damage if they got close enough.
The second guard chuckled as his partner smiled grimly swung the lasso faster.
“Get it over with,” the second guard said. He pulled a baton from his belt and flicked his wrist to extend it.
“You’re making a mistake,” I said. “I’m not supposed to be here—”
“Oh yes, I’m sure it’s all a terrible misunderstandin’,” the first guard said grimly. He whipped the lasso faster and then flung it in my direction.
His aim was wide and I dodged it with ease, and the guard pulled another lasso from his belt. I tried to back away, but the pain in my left leg hindered me enough that I almost fell again, but before I could regain my balance, something struck me in the center of the back and I screamed in pain as every muscle in my body contracted.
I fell to my knees as the lasso wound around my chest, pinning my arms to my sides, and then tightened enough to make me gasp.
“That’s better,” one of the guards said. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but it was almost impossible. My body was flooded with pain and my vision was blurring at the edges. The men’s voices sounded impossibly far away.
I blinked up at the black pine trees and they seemed to sway and shimmer above me. I screamed as the lasso tightened and my muscles contracted again. I fell forward, unable to stop myself as my face slammed into the ground.
This time—everything went black.
It was the smell that woke me.
The familiarly sharp tang of Nassia made me recoil as I tried to move as far away from the noxious scent of the herb as possible.
“Ah, awake. Good.”
I blinked hard and tried to lift my hand to rub at my eyes, but I couldn’t move. My face was stiff with dried mud and my hands were bound together with a length of chain that glowed red with magic.
As my eyes adjusted to the strange dark light of the stone chamber I struggled to push myself into a sitting position. I was wet, cold, hungry—and I felt sick to my stomach.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten anything. Worse than that, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been able to keep any food down.
A voice floated out of the darkness toward me.
“You have proven to be a very disruptive prisoner, Maeral Orilana. Or should I call you Evadne, instead?”
“What?” I choked out.
“But that is the name you are known by in the ranks of the Sapphire Fang, is it not?”
The dark voice came from the shadows, and I could not see the speaker’s face. All I knew was that she was female.
Was this the warden? Where was I?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
“You have no secrets here,” the woman said. “There is no need to pretend that you have not done the deeds you have been accused of. Once you enter the gates of the Garden, there is no turning back. No begging for forgiveness. There is no redemption within these walls.”
I was so confused. So exhausted. And in so much pain.
I didn’t know anything about the Sapphire Fang—what had my sister been doing? She had told me so little about her life in the Hollow World… and I hadn’t asked for details.
“If I have no secrets from you, then you shouldn’t need to ask me any questions,” I said through gritted teeth. “Just leave me here and let me be.”
The woman laughed. “This is not your cell,” she said. “You will be introduced to my Garden soon enough, and we will see how you thrive among the weeds. Word of your arrival will have already spread through the vines. And if there is any truth to your reputation, you will not find it a hardship to take your place here.”
I swallowed thickly.
Maeral would have been fine.
I was fucked.
My sister had obviously been much more enmeshed in the plot to overthrow the Summer Kingdom that I had ever imagined. As far as Maeral had told me, she had been working in the human cities as a translator. The political dealings the Golden Citadel had with the Hollow World were none of my concern—I’d had my own duties in the Citadel to worry about… I was a healer. Not a warrior.
What would Mae do?
“I don’t belong here,” I said shortly.
The woman stepped out of the shadows and crossed her arms over her chest. She was small, smaller than any fae I had ever seen before. The expression on her round face was stern and her dark hair was pulled back in a tight chignon at the back of her head.
“That’s what they all say—at first. But before long, they all come to realize that the Black Garden is the only place that they have ever belonged. You will come to that same clarity. In time.”
The woman snapped her fingers and red sparks flared in the lock of a door I hadn’t noticed. It opened and she turned to walk through it.
“You can’t just leave me like this!” I shouted.
The woman looked at me over her shoulder and smiled. It was a cold smile, and I felt something like despair clutch at my stomach.
“I can leave you any way I like. You are no longer important, or influential, Maeral Orilana—now you are a part of my Garden. And I will do with you as I wish. The rulers of both kingdoms, dark and light, have granted me this power… and you would do well to remember that whatever happens behind these walls, is done with their blessing.”
The door slammed shut before I could say anything else. The same red sparks flared in the lock and I listened for the woman’s footsteps as they faded away down the corridor.
The enchanted chains that bound my wrists tightened for a moment as I stared down at them, and then the red glow faded and the chains slithered from my wrists and fell to the dark stones with a clatter.
I kicked them away and swore under my breath as I rubbed at the sore spots where the chains had made the skin raw and red. When the woman returned I had no doubt that they would spring to life again to hold me captive.
My stomach lurched and I wiped at my face to try and distract myself from the horrible thoughts swirling through my mind. I pushed myself to my feet and tried to think of what my sister would do.
My sister.
Her blood covered face—exactly like mine.
Her terrified eyes—eyes the same color and shape as mine.
We had been inseparable as children… But over the years our lives had pulled us apart and it was obvious to me now that I hadn’t even know my own sister.
I should never have let her into the Citadel that night. I should have known something was wrong. I should have known.
I touched the stone wall. It was cold and damp and I leaned my forehead against it.
Whoever had sent the Fennen Owl had overturned my sentence and sent me here. I knew that I should be grateful to be alive, but didn’t know if I should be thanking by benefactor them or cursing them straight to the fiery pit for putting me here.
But I wouldn’t get that chance.
As far as anyone knew, I was Maeral Orilana…
A spy.
A double agent for the Hollow World who had attempted to murder the man
I loved—the Crown Prince of the Golden Citadel.
Liri Orilana had been left for dead in the stone corridors as the assassins had made their escape. She was a casualty of a war that had not yet been announced—
I pressed my palms against the damp stones and gritted my teeth.
Maeral would be strong. She would not crack under the pressure that was coming, and I couldn’t either. All I had to do was keep my mouth shut, and my mind clear. But the warden was right: Maeral’s reputation, my reputation now, would have arrived before I did… I would have to be on my guard, and I had no idea how I was supposed to do that.
But I was a fast learner, and I had nothing to lose.
THE END
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About the Author
Niobe Marsh is a penname of a prolific author of many genres of romance.
Here you will find monsters, ghosts, paranormal lovers, dark heroes, and adventurous heroines in search of their happily ever after—whatever that means.
Current Series:
"Heart & Souls" - Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance
Book 1 ~ Lost Soul (Coming March 2020)
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Book 3 ~ Free Spirit (Coming SUMMER 2020)
Black Garden Penitentiary - Paranormal Prison Series
Book 1 ~ The Darkest Rose (Coming April 2020)
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