Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

FINN

The shackles bit into his wrists and the chains weighed him down. Finn knelt on the dank floor of the cell because he no longer had the strength to stand. Nor the will.

Wren had chosen the sisterhood. She had chosen the Nox.

And, in truth, he hardly blamed her. He had no idea what Leander had done to her, all the things he might have put her through, all while wearing Finn’s face. The thought churned his stomach and tormented him. It was far worse than any agonies the torturers of Sidonia or Pelias could inflict on him.

No wonder she had chosen the sanctuary offered by the sisterhood. It was the easiest escape. From everything.

He might have been able to fight their way out. He had to believe that. But it would have been a slim chance. He had already failed her in every way possible. He’d betrayed her, placing that bracelet on her arm. True, it had been intended to save her, to keep her from being lost to the Nox, and then he had brought her to Sidonia against her will. Or tried to. He couldn’t even protect her from Leander when he had finally followed them here.

Who was he kidding? The royal guards would have slaughtered him before they reached the doors to the throne room. Just as they believed he had slaughtered his father.

Perhaps it was better this way. Finn could die in the darkness and join her in another life somehow. Wait for her beyond the veil.

There was no way out of this for him, not now.

He was going to die here, in the dark, beneath Sidonia. That had always been his fate, no matter what he might have hoped, no matter what dreams of salvation had been dangled in front of him for most of his life. All lies, as it turned out. Fate had a way of ensuring what was written would come to pass. It was only a matter of when and how.

Leander had managed to turn the whole court against him. Hardly a great feat, but he might have hoped for some sympathy once upon a time. Not anymore. He’d been parading around here in Finn’s body, doing whatever he wanted, tormenting Wren and finally murdering their father. There was nothing Finn could do now to clear his name. Nothing.

He didn’t even have a hope that Wren would forgive him. She might realise the truth, he prayed for that much. But he knew how trauma lingered.

And whenever she saw his face now…

He could tell that much just from her expression when she chose the protection of the Sisterhood of the Nox over him.

‘This is a sorry state of affairs, your highness,’ said a voice from beyond his cell. He lifted his head and tried to make out who had spoken. On the far side of the bars, he saw General Gaius. Just the general alone.

Finn let out a long breath. ‘Is Hestia alive?’ he asked. That had to be the first question. Hestia had drained herself of magic to bring him here. And even if everything had gone wrong after that, he owed her.

‘Hestia? I thought you would be asking about the princess. Or your brother, perhaps.’

‘What happened?’

‘After you were…removed from the throne room, the sisterhood departed with the princess, and Lady Rayden. And the boy. The late king’s body is being prepared for his funeral. King Leander was overcome by his injuries sustained in Pelias, but is stable now. We have him safely in the hands of the finest healers.’ He was carefully skirting around something, Finn realised.

‘There isn’t going to be a trial, is there?’ Finn asked.

Gaius shook his head. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any need, does there?’

‘It wasn’t me.’

‘And yet we all have the evidence of our eyes. Your behaviour has been erratic of late. Everyone can attest to that.’

‘Hestia will tell you?—’

‘Lady Rayden is unconscious. Her magic drained her and whatever spell she performed to bring the new king back to us, well…I’m not sure she will recover.’

He said that last part so quietly that Finn almost missed something in the tone. He cared about her. Deeply.

‘I’m sorry for that. She…she’s always been there for me.’

‘Not this time. And for that, I too am sorry, Prince Finnian.’

‘Are you here to execute me?’

That would be the quickest and most efficient thing, wouldn’t it? A soldier’s death wouldn’t be so very bad, and Gaius would make sure it was quick. Roland would have done as much for him.

The general’s hand fell to his sword, as if the thought had not actually occurred to him.

‘I fear the king would be displeased if that was to happen. No, I am not here to kill you, Finnian. I’m here with a message.’

‘A message?’

‘Yes. And given the current state of affairs and the general unrest, I’m not exactly thrilled to be an errand boy.’

Finn just stared at him. What else could he do? The general wasn’t given to humour, dark or otherwise. He never had been. He was Alessander’s man, and his strong right arm.

And now, Finn supposed, he was Leander’s. Although Gaius didn’t seem so very enamoured by that prospect.

‘And who is this message from?’ Finn asked at last.

But Gaius didn’t say anything. He just tossed a piece of mangled metal onto the stone floor. It clattered to a stop in front of the cell bars and all Finn could do was stare.

It was twisted and broken, as if some force had torn through it like paper, but he couldn’t mistake the delicate patterning or the sheen which marked it as shadow-wrought. It was half of the bracelet which Leander had once worn, the same one Finn himself had put on Wren’s wrist to dampen her dark magic.

Slowly, Finn dragged his gaze from the remains of the bracelet back up to the cold steely eyes of the general.

‘And the other half?’ His voice sounded hollowed out and broken, like it belonged to someone else or he was hearing it from far away, echoing back on him.

‘With the king.’

Half for him, half for Leander. There was no doubt who sent it. Who destroyed it the moment it was removed from her skin. And it was certainly a message.

‘Just this?’ Finn asked.

She had to know he was here, that he was a prisoner. She had to know what Leander would do to him.

But he had betrayed her. He had chained her and left her helpless. And he had done that long before he’d activated the spell to bring them here or fallen victim to Leander’s enchantment to swap their bodies.

He had no excuse but that he had thought he was doing it for the best. Clearly he had been wrong.

Gaius just stared down at him, a grim expression, and Finn wondered if he had in fact changed his mind, and would draw that sword to put an end to him after all.

‘The sisterhood is hers now. She serves no king, no crown, no one. She is the goddess incarnate and all of Ilanthus will bow to her. All of Asteroth too. There is nothing to stand in her way. Queen and goddess, embodiment of power, lady of the darkest night… Do I need to go on?’

Finn shook his head. ‘Leander won’t like that.’

‘He does not. It is a call to civil war, Finnian. Religious war, in fact. And your princess is at the heart of it. She’ll tear this kingdom to pieces with her demands.’

Finn sucked in a breath to still himself, to try to grasp equilibrium in a world that seemed intent on tearing him apart like that ragged bit of metal.

‘She’s not my princess,’ he whispered at last.

Gaius just nodded. ‘She doesn’t belong to anyone now.’

‘And where do you stand, general? With the king?’

‘With Ilanthus,’ he murmured softly. ‘But who is to say what that means anymore? What have you and your brother done, Finnian? What have you created?’

‘This isn’t my doing.’

‘Isn’t it? We should never have gone to Pelias. I said that at the time. But Hestia was insistent and Alessander listened so I obeyed. Just as I will obey now. The princess…’ He paused and then shook his head. ‘The goddess incarnate has issued an ultimatum and Leander has no choice but to agree.’

Finn lifted his head, staring at the general. ‘What are her demands?’ he asked.

Gaius curled his lip. It was not a comforting expression but, then again, it wasn’t meant to be. He was not like Roland. There was a cruel streak to him, especially when it came to those beneath him.

‘As the Nox, she holds the crown in her gift. She knows it and so does the realm as a whole. Many will choose her over the king and why wouldn’t they? She is a living power, magic itself in human form. Without her agreement to his rule – her signature on it, as it were – your brother will never be secure. She has a price.’

A chill crept up Finn’s spine as he guessed where this was going.

A price…

‘And what’s that?’

‘The sacrifice promised to her twenty years ago. You.’ He nodded to the guards behind him. ‘Bring him.’