Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

FINN

They dragged Finn from the cell. Not unkindly, but more as if the men involved didn’t want to have to touch him for too long, as if he had some sort of terrible infection which could be passed on just by touch, or association. No one spoke directly to him after Gaius and no one made eye contact if they could avoid it. Whether this was because they all thought he had murdered his father, their king, or because they knew what his fate was to be, he couldn’t say.

A jug was held up to his face but, desperate for water as he was, he jerked his head back. Finn knew what this entailed. They wanted him pliable, biddable. It would wear off far too soon for him but for now…

Someone grabbed the back of his neck in a grip like iron, squeezing. He gasped without thought and his mouth filled with the sickly sweet liquid. It choked him, and he tried to spit it out but still they kept pouring until he thought he’d drown in it. He swallowed down far too much of it, far more than he should, but they didn’t stop. Why would they? The more he took now the easier their job would be.

‘Don’t damage him,’ someone murmured, a soft and delicate voice. He jerked his head to one side, which made everything twist and blur as if he was underwater. A woman dressed all in black stood there, beside the general. One of the sisterhood. He didn’t recognise her. Not Hestia or Oriole, but someone who served them. She sounded younger, though her tone was implacable. ‘My lady will not be pleased if he is hurt in any way.’

She was just here to oversee matters.

Don’t damage him. As if he was nothing more than some kind of delicacy, a gift…

Which, in fact, he was…

This was always your fate. The voice whispered at the back of his mind, a laugh rippling through its soft tones. You are mine, Finnian. Just as you were always meant to be. A prize…and bait…

What little strength he had flowed away with his breath. Conscious thought became a chore, something he couldn’t quite grasp. He knew what was happening, but not what to do about it, or how to stop it. There didn’t seem to be any way to resist. Not anymore.

He was stripped and washed, the water bitingly cold on his skin. And then scrubbed clean. The women who came in to do that took their time, revelling in their power over him while all the time the black-clad sister watched, like she was supervising the preparation of a feast. Warm oils came next, worked hard into his muscles, numbing his flesh at first and then, as they took effect, making him unbearably sensitive. His skin felt every breeze, every sigh and every laugh. And there was nothing he could do.

When his cock started to stir under their ministering hands, one of the women made a comment which was met with a sea of soft, knowing chuckles.

The woman in black hissed a command he didn’t understand, an admonition of some kind, and they all fell silent. When they released him, he sank down to his knees, waiting.

There was something else he should be doing, he thought vaguely. Running, fighting, breaking free…maybe? But he didn’t have the strength and his body betrayed him. Besides, there was nowhere to go. The drugs in his system had stolen any rational thought.

The woman stood over him now, leaning in close, her long black veil brushing against him. ‘You are blessed,’ she told him. ‘And beautiful. You will serve as you were always meant to serve. We witness this, son of Sidon. Your blood is chosen. Bring our goddess back to us. Lead us to the crown.’

Her words flowed around him like music and Finn felt his mouth lift into a smile. Her hand cupped his face.

‘Fear not,’ she said in formal tones. ‘Our lady will come for you and your life will be hers. There will be no more fear.’

His life was already hers, Finn thought absently. It always would be. It had been since he had first seen her. He thought of the forest, of the lush green leaves pressing close, wrapping themselves around him and tightening their grip. They had drawn him into the darkwood and he could smell the same fragrances now, the ones that had beguiled him, and stolen all his wits.

Memories of Wren filled his head, dizzying, intoxicating. Her touch, her kiss, the way she opened to him and wrapped herself around him. The way her hair moved against his skin, tangling him in her power. She was everything, all he longed for, and that had been the case all along. Like he had always been meant for her and her alone.

Wren, not the Nox. He had to remember that. The difference.

It was like a spear of agony running through him. Wren thought he had betrayed her. And Wren would be the one to take his life.

And perhaps that was fitting too. He couldn’t fight it, not anymore.

The Sister peered into his face. ‘Yes, he’s ready,’ she said. ‘Time to go.’

Gaius nodded to the guards who seized him again, but this time they had to carry him rather than drag him. And that didn’t matter either.

‘Wait,’ an unwelcome voice cut in. Leander. Of course it was Leander. Even now he couldn’t resist having the last word. One final dig.

Finn tried to focus on him, but his head flopped forward and his eyes closed.

‘Look at me, you pathetic bastard.’

Leander grabbed his chin and wrenched his face up. Finn forced his eyelids open again, fighting against whatever seemed to be gluing them together. The sickening swirl of drugs in his system wanted him to comply. It didn’t seem to matter who was asking, and even Leander could command him now.

Whatever Leander saw in his face as he studied Finn, a slow and vicious smile spread over his fine features in response. ‘So that’s all, is it? This is what you’ve come to? Great darkness, I hope she tears you apart. I hope you’re looking into those pretty eyes while she does it. And I hope she knows what she’s doing to you.’

‘Leander,’ Finn tried to say, as if naming him might help.

‘Your majesty to you,’ his brother sneered. ‘You thought that Hestia would save you? Make you king in my stead? No, this is what they always wanted for you, all the sisterhood. And I’m glad it’s going to be your precious little bird who finally destroys you. Maybe she’ll be more amenable after she’s torn you apart, brother, when she comes into her power.’ He leaned in close to Finn’s ear and whispered, breath playing on his tormented skin. ‘I’m going to have her, Finn, one way or another. Have no doubt about that. I’ll make her forget you ever existed. You aren’t a sacrifice, little brother. All you are is bait.’

Something in him rebelled at that, something which reared back in rage. He didn’t know where it came from or how it broke free, only that Leander said those things, and he shouldn’t. No one should.

Finn jerked his head back and then slammed his forehead into his brother’s face. There was a satisfying crunch.

Cursing, Leander reeled away from him, clutching his nose. Blood splattered Finn’s eyes and he smiled as he felt it drip towards his mouth. All around him weapons were drawn and people were shouting. A laugh burst out of him and then Leander’s foot slammed into his stomach, sending him back in a sprawling heap. It knocked the air out of him and he thought he heard something crunch inside him but he didn’t care. There was no pain.

‘Enough!’ the Sister snapped and a ripple of shadowy power filled the room. It sang to him, laughed at him, and lapped at the blood on his skin. Finn sank beneath its spell without a struggle. ‘Someone help the king and remove him. He shouldn’t even be here. You, we need to get this over with. Now. Bring him.’

Finn didn’t fight. He couldn’t. He just let them draw him into the darkness. The walls of the dungeon gave way to the walls of a tunnel and the walls of the tunnel gave way to a cavern. It arched high about him, and all he could think of was the warmth of the air and the fragrance of the forest and how those things shouldn’t go together.

They bound him in the middle of the chamber, on his knees, his arms dragged behind him and tethered to his ankles. Shadow kin coiled around him, guarding him or restraining him, he didn’t know, but their touch was soft and seductive, an impossibility. They sang to him, lullabies and songs of long ago.

As the darkness that had always lingered deep inside him finally took hold, he had one final desperate thought.

You’re bait , Leander had said. So had the Nox.

Bait for Wren.

Bring our goddess back to us. Lead us to the crown.

They had plans of their own. This wasn’t so much a sacrifice as a trap.