Chapter 14

“Y our wife?”

“My wife.”

My limbs had gone numb, and my brain wouldn't do what I needed it to do. “Your wife?” I said again, completely stuck on the revelation.

The Prince moved to a bookcase, the central shelf covered in glass decanters. He poured something into a tumbler, then came back to stand before me.

“You are the Prince of the Shadow Court,” I whispered. “Why in the name of Odin would you marry a gold-giver ? A human?”

Nothing made sense anymore. Except why the Queen had been so mad.

Fae-bound marriages were unbreakable, everyone knew that. Well except of course… unless one of the couple died.

“You intend to use me for whatever it is you need me for, then kill me.”

He said nothing, just stared, an amber liquid in the glass in his hand.

“Why do you have to marry me before killing me? Is it some sort of torture, or twisted mind game?”

“It is my turn to ask a question,” he said. “What did you see on the root-river that made you unwell?”

I blinked. That was not the question I had expected. “I don’t remember.”

“Lies.”

“You expect me to trust you?” I found myself on my feet as my voice rose. Fear of him had given way to a panic that was bordering on hysteria. “You have kidnapped me, brought me to a place where humans hang from hooks on the fucking ceiling, I just watched your stepmother licking the blood of a dead man from her face, and I haven’t even seen yours!”

“Take this,” was all he said, thrusting the drink he’d poured at me.

Without pause, I knocked it from his hand. The glass shattered and the amber liquid disappeared into the thick black carpet.

Without a word, he turned back to the bookcase and poured another one, before returning and holding it out to me. My hands shook as I tightened them into fists by my side.

“No.”

“It will not hurt you.”

“I don’t want it.”

“It is the finest mead in our Court. It will fortify you.”

“Go to Hel .”

“I need you alert and able to deal with what is coming, not in this…” he waved his empty hand at me. “Agitated state.”

“Agitated?” If I’d had an axe in my hand I would have swung it at his head. “Agitated? You’ve just told me I have to marry you!” I bellowed. “You’re a demented fucking monster!”

To my surprise, I thought I saw him flinch. But when he spoke, his voice betrayed nothing, calm and level. “Drink this and I will tell you what you need to know.”

“No. I want to see my friends.” I wanted to be alone, truly, but I guessed that wouldn’t be an option.

With a grunt, he reached around and picked up his staff. Shadows flowed from the end of it, and within seconds they were surrounding me, forcing me back into the chair. I kicked and shouted, but they were impossibly strong. “You are making this hard for yourself.”

“Oh yeah, I’m the problem here,” I hissed, thrashing around. After an indeterminable amount of time trying and failing to fight the shadows, I collapsed back into the padding of the chair. The shadows lifted slowly, moving to the Prince. He transferred the glass from his hand to a ribbon of smoky shadow, which immediately made its way to me.

“I will force you to drink it if I have to, but I would rather not.”

With a growl, I took the glass. The Prince nodded in satisfaction. “Better. I need your skills to help me with a problem. I do not anticipate it taking long, but I am yet to understand the extent of my undertaking.” I opened my mouth to interrupt, but the shadows whipped under my hand, banging the glass against my lips and sloshing some of the mead into my mouth. I tried to spit it out, but the shadows moved my jaw, clamping it shut.

If I hadn’t been convinced he was trying to induce some detrimental effect, then I would have savored the liquid; it was absolutely delicious. But as it was, I swore at the Prince as much as I could through forced-shut lips.

“As I was saying,” he said. “I will honor my word and keep your friends alive as long as you co-operate with me. You will be treated as my betrothed, given fine quarters in my wing of the palace, and expected to take part in Court functions. I will do what I can to delay our vows until our work is complete.”

I tried to speak and was surprised when the shadows moved to let me. “At which point you’ll what? Marry me or kill me?”

He stared at me a moment. “So far, you’re making the decision quite easy.”

I glared at him. “Your kind are known far and wide for your cruelty, and you especially. But I won’t let you torture my friends.”

His stance changed, anger in his eyes. “You are beginning to try my patience. Your friends are only alive because of me.”

“Horse-shit! You barged into my home and kidnapped us and you want me to be grateful you haven’t killed anyone yet?”

“I am done talking with you.” The shadows rushed back to his staff suddenly, and without another word swept from the room.

* * *

Before I could hurl the glass at the door slamming closed behind him, there was a knock on it. Frima pushed it back open, a small human girl behind her.

I struggled out of the chair.

“Come. I’ll show you to your rooms.”

“Did you know I’m supposed to marry him?” The words tumbled from my lips, and the human girl’s eyebrows flew up.

Frima shrugged. “I doubt you’ll live long enough.”

“Why?”

“Why do I doubt you’ll live long enough? You really have to ask? You’re a massive pain in the backside. You’ll almost certainly get yourself killed, if Maz or one of us doesn't lose our patience with you and do it ourselves.”

“No, I meant why did he bind me to him for marriage?”

“Are all gold-givers as thick as you?” I glared at her. “The Queen was ready to string you up. As his betrothed, she has no power over you. I thought it was pretty obvious.”

“You’re missing my point,” I said through ground teeth. “What does the Prince want with me?”

“I look forward to finding out myself,” she said. “Now, come.”

I shifted my stance, ready to argue, and she sighed. “If you come with me, I will leave you locked in your room with food, drink and a bath. Nobody will bother you until dinner time. Except for your new handmaid.” She gestured at the girl beside her.

Time alone? That was exactly what I needed. I had to work out a way to escape. And maybe the handmaid could help me.

“Fine.”

We walked along more corridors, but no stairs, until we reached a door decorated with a large raven perched on a skull. Frima opened the door. “Don’t think about running. Trust me when I tell you, if anyone other than me, Ellisar, or Svangrior finds you, you’re in for a world of hurt. And if Maz finds you…” She gave me a look, then gestured into the room. The maid entered, and I bit my tongue as I followed her. “I’ll be back to escort you to dinner in three hours.”

“I don’t want dinner.”

“You don’t have a choice. The Queen demanded dinner. So, you will eat with royalty tonight.”

Before I could say no a second time, Frima closed the door, and I heard the distinct sound of a key turning in the lock.

The maid looked at me nervously. "Would you like me to draw you a bath, my lady?"

"My lady?"

"You should prefer I call you something else?" Her wide eyes blinked up at me, reminding me of Kara. She was not as slight or waspish as my protege, and her fuller hips and bust made me think she was probably older. She wore a clean and simple dress laced over a white cotton shift, and her hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"Call me Reyna. It's my name. What's yours?"

She glanced at the rune on my wrist before answering. “Brynja. Are you... rune-marked?" It was a rhetorical question.

"Yes. I'm a gold-giver ."

"I'm from the Gold Court too," she whispered.

"How'd you end up here?"

"I was captured. I'm from a town on the outer edge of the Court and the raids are pretty bad down there. But I guess you lived in the palace?"

"Yes. I'm sorry you've been taken from your family."

She gave a tiny shrug. "I didn't have it great, to be honest."

I swallowed before asking her my next question, nervous of the answer. “And here? How have you been treated?”

Fear flicked through her eyes. “I have only served the Prince and his warriors since I’ve been here, not long at all,” she said quietly.

“And…” I prompted, when she said nothing else.

“They have not asked me to do some of the things the gold-fae asked,” she said, her cheeks coloring. She was a pretty girl, her round eyes and full cheeks giving her a profoundly innocent air. Just the kind of face the folk of Yggdrasil took as an invitation to be corrupted.

I fisted my hands. “I’m glad you have not been violated. Have they beaten you?”

“No more than I was back home, my lady.”

“Reyna.”

She shook her head mildly. “I’m sorry, but I have to call you my lady. You are betrothed to Prince Mazrith. I would be punished if I were heard to call you anything else.”

I let out a long breath. “Okay. Do you know where my friends are?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “They are in the thralls’s quarters for this wing.”

“Are they okay?”

“I believe so.”

“Good.”

“Would you like that bath, my lady? They have hot running water here.” There was marvel in her voice, and I chose not to tell her that the workshop in the Gold Court palace had had hot running water too.

“Thank you, yes.”

She scurried off, like she knew where she was going, and I took a moment to scan my surroundings.The room was decorated the same as the one I had just come from, mercifully lacking in red. Black fur rugs covered the floor, and there was a four-poster bed draped with deep purple blankets and furs.

There was a wardrobe and a fireplace on one wall, along with a desk and a bookcase covered in tomes and scrolls on another. The door to the bathing chamber was on the other side, and I could just see Brynja bent over a large claw-foot porcelain tub.

The room wasn't overly large, but it would definitely be the most comfortable place I'd ever slept. That was assuming I’d ever be able to sleep again.

* * *

When I slipped into the hot water in the bathtub, I forced my racing mind to calm.

As methodically as I could, I went over everything that happened since I had stood in front of Lord Orm in the Gold Court. The journey along the river, the gold rune floating from the Prince and the glimpse of the Starved One all seemed like they were a lifetime ago now.

One thing kept pushing through the rest.

Betrothed. Engaged to be wed.

I ducked my head under the water as fury threatened to overwhelm my thoughts again. I took the bar of soap from the side of the tub and began to rub it across my hair, thinking hard.

To my surprise, the more I replayed the conversation, the more I found myself believing that he wouldn't harm us. He, nor any of his warriors, had even raised a hand to us as yet. In fact, I had rarely gone this long in the Gold Court without a beating of some sort.

Not that I trusted him. Just one look at the throne room in his own palace would rid me of any trustworthy notions about the place I was in. I had no doubt he would show his true colors the second he no longer needed me. Whatever I was going to do must require me to be healthy and strong, I reasoned, as I washed the grime from my skin too hard.

Why else would he be going to such lengths to keep me away from his obviously demented stepmother? The discord between the two of them was clear. Perhaps whatever he was trying to do had to do with his feud with her?

But why me? Try as I might, I couldn't think of anything I could do for the Prince that no other gold-giver could. That was assuming that what he needed was connected to gold, I realized. It could be something else altogether.

Eventually, I gave up on giving myself a headache trying to answer impossible questions. I needed to work on what was within my control, and that was staying alert, staying strong, and staying alive.

As long as the Prince needed me for whatever the fuck he was planning, then me and my friends would stay alive.

I needed more information if I was going to find a way for us to escape, like the layout of the palace, and routes to where the boats were moored. I thought about how I had planned to flee the Gold Court, relying on bribed guards and stolen resources. If I were to do the same here, I needed to learn about my surroundings, and I needed allies. And I couldn’t do that when everyone was watching me like a hawk because I was making trouble.

Lhoris was right. There was a time for doing what I was told, and this was it. I only had as long as I was useful to the Prince to form a plan and get us out of the Shadow Court.

And out of this betrothal.