Chapter Seven

The cell wasn't as bad as Tanitha expected.

She'd fully anticipated that she'd be thrown in the dankest of dungeons, hidden away from sight and dismissed from thought. But this, she decided, was more of a holding cell. Yes, it was built from basalt, which would severely dampen her soul-speaking abilities, but it was about five paces across and three paces deep. There was a narrow cot and a table—both bolted to the ground—with a metal washbasin that was chained to the wall. It also had a window which, though heavily barred and several paces over the height of her head, let the afternoon light in, so it didn't look as if the intent was to let her languish in darkness.

She hadn't been left alone since the guards had departed, either; there had been several visitors, human elementalists, including a pair of soul-speakers trained in the healing arts. They'd examined her, then withdrawn to murmur among themselves. Tanitha, straining to overhear, had caught their whispered agreement that she was indeed pregnant.

She sank down on the cot, then tucked her knees to her chest, trying to force tears back by reminding herself that she'd succeeded. Her plan had been to secure the child's life and Darius' freedom, and she'd done that. With her imprisoned, they had no need to fear that she might be able to communicate with or control him. They'd release him, though she doubted he'd be able to come see her.

That was assuming he'd even have the desire to do so.

Several tears leaked from beneath her eyelids at that. A part of her had certainly hoped that Darius cared for her enough to try to prevent her death, given enough time. So she'd provided time. But would he care enough to do anything for her? She didn't want to believe otherwise, certainly, didn't want to believe that the depth of feeling she had for him might not be returned, even after what she'd done. She bowed her head to her knees. At least, in the end, he'd know that she'd made what restitution she could. Perhaps that would soften his feelings enough that he could find it in himself to forgive her.

She focused on her breathing, counting the seconds between each inhalation and exhalation. She wasn't a fool, and she wasn't inclined to lie to herself. Even if she knew for a fact that Darius wanted to spare her, to preserve her life one more time, there was every possibility that he might simply be unable to do so. She was in the prison of a demon queen who had decreed her death months ago, for reasons that were still unknown to Tanitha. And it wasn't as if recent events would have made Naratha feel more charitable on the matter of Tanitha's survival.

Tanitha stood, her thoughts demanding the release of motion, and she forced them away from Darius, Naratha, and the rest of it, knowing she'd drive herself halfway to madness in hours otherwise. The stone floor was cool beneath her bandaged feet, and she began pacing from one end of the cell to the other. She'd seen three other cells along this hall when she'd entered, and she suspected that there were more, but she'd heard no other sounds when Naratha's guards had brought her here, so it seemed that the other cells were empty. Perhaps they were just short-term holding cells while other arrangements were made. Perhaps, consequently, her relief at not being consigned to a damp dungeon filled with mold and rats was premature.

She had just shaken her head at herself, frustrated at how her mind seemed to be determined to dwell on the worst right now, when she heard the door that led to this block of cells open with a loud creak.

She stopped her pacing immediately, standing as still as a deer that feared it had been sighted just as a demon rounded the corner.

He was several inches taller than her, with a lighter build than many of them, but still with the defined muscles of someone trained well in physical combat. He had ash-grey wings, an unusually subdued color for his kind, and there were small grey scales on his forearms. Tanitha lowered her gaze quickly in what hopefully passed for respect, as she'd just recognized him; this was Queen Naratha's foster son, Prince Kaion. Darius' brother.

He regarded her for several seconds.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked. Tanitha gave a quick nod, her gaze still lowered.

"Good," the prince said. He sat down on the wooden bench just outside her cell, then leaned against the wall, watching her steadily for several seconds with a clear note of assessment in his gaze.

"You can sit as well," he told her. "There's little use for propriety in situations like these, in my opinion. Queen Naratha asked me to see if I could make any sense of you, so you may as well be comfortable while we talk."

Tanitha sank down to perch on the edge of the cot, more out of a desire to appear cooperative than any real wish to sit. She waited, but he didn't speak again. Silence stretched between them.

"Darius spoke highly of you often," Tanitha said at last, finally raising her gaze. His dark eyes gave no hint to what he might be thinking. "He said that you were helping him make arrangements to send me to Sarthen."

He raised both eyebrows. "And you think that means I might be friendly to you?"

Tanitha folded her hands together on her lap. "Well… yes," she said, though she could hear the doubt in her own voice.

He snorted. "I suppose, then, that Darius never told you how many times I tried to convince him that he should kill you? That you were dangerous to him? That keeping you alive was begging for pain?" Tanitha blinked, and he gave a single shake of the head. "You're a captive in a demon palace, Tanitha. Try to be a little less trusting."

Tanitha looked at him, suddenly unsure—despite his casual manner, there was an unmistakable current of hostility in his expression. They were both silent for several seconds, and then he spoke.

"You know, I almost believed it," he said abruptly. "Perhaps I did believe it for a few moments. That this was an accident. That he was telling the truth, that you really did care for him." Tanitha blinked, alarmed and apprehensive. Prince Kaion's mouth was drawn in a grim line. "He was convincing, and I think I wanted to believe it. I think I wanted to believe that you didn't mean him harm. That he hadn't been so badly fooled."

Tanitha's brows knit together, but her heart was beating hard. "He wasn't fooled," she said. "Why would you think— I came here willingly," she said, anguished. "I came here to help him. I want him to be let free!"

He scoffed. "I might have believed that you surrendered yourself for his good a few hours ago," he said. "But you've shown your hand. That little maneuver of yours was clever as far as self-preservation goes, but it also paints a rather clear picture of your motives."

Tanitha looked at him, a deep sort of confused dread coming over her. "A few hours ago," she said slowly, "I was surrendering myself. What motives can you possibly see in that beyond wanting to make this right?" Her voice trembled. "I hurt him, and I am trying to make this right. I know… I know you're probably going to kill me," she managed. "But I still came here. To protect Darius!"

"Then why the trick with the doves?" he demanded. "If this was about protecting Darius, why would you do that? Do you have any idea how much trouble that caused? Publicly flaunting your relationship with him, publicly humiliating Alethia?" Tanitha started to speak, utterly confused, but he overrode her. "Do you have any idea what the consequences of that are going to be? Maybe it will preserve your life— maybe — but that was not the action of someone willing to sacrifice herself to save him!"

"What trick with the doves?" Tanitha asked loudly, her confusion and indignation overriding any care that she was interrupting a demon prince. "I don't know what you're talking about. "

He finally stopped talking and looked directly at Tanitha. He went still. "Wait," he said slowly. He stood so quickly that she had to restrain a flinch, then stepped close to the bars, looking at her searchingly. Tanitha met his eyes, knowing that her utter bewilderment was clear. He took one slow step back.

"Tell me what happened when you entered the city," he said finally, frowning.

"I surrendered myself to Ivathi Yarun," she said, still bewildered. She'd certainly done one thing to deserve demonic anger, but she wasn't eager to take credit for more than she had earned. "At the West Gate. I told him I was with child, and that I was surrendering myself. And then I was brought here."

"What else?" he pressed.

Tanitha shook her head, her brow creased in frustration. "There wasn't time for anything else," she said. "You said something with the doves? I thought you had people watching the Sanctuary. You should know I wasn't there." She straightened her shoulders, hoping for poise. "What is it I'm meant to have done, exactly?" she asked again, keeping her tone level.

He regarded her for several long seconds, weighing her words. Slowly, he returned to his seat, then ran a hand through his hair, the motion short and stressed.

"You're very good at playing the innocent," he muttered. She started to protest, and he held up a hand. "All right. For the purposes of this conversation, I'll pretend I believe you really don't have any idea what I'm talking about. Although I should mention that the fact that we didn't see you enter or leave the Sanctuary counts for very little, with your apparent abilities." Tanitha frowned, but this seemed the best she was likely to get, so she contented herself with waiting.

He let out a short exhalation before continuing. "Not long ago— about the same time you were arrested— someone sent out hundreds of messages by dove. Something to the effect of an announcement that the Crown Prince of Karazhen had chosen a bride. A human woman."

Tanitha started in surprise. He leaned back, regarding her. Her surprise must have struck him as genuine, because slowly, the wary assessment began to fade from his expression. "The messages weren't bearing the royal seal, but you can imagine how word spread regardless." He gave a quiet exhalation, almost a laugh. "A human woman, a common human woman, no less, who somehow captured a demon prince's heart… Seal or no seal, the common people want to believe it. There are already celebrations in the streets."

Tanitha's heart beat hard. Ivathi Yarun. It had to be— he'd said there was something he could do, something that might protect her.

Kaion shrugged, his voice turning wry. "Naratha is furious, obviously, but I thought it was a rather clever gambit, even if I was angry over it as well. Getting the public on your side is an excellent tactic to make killing you look much less attractive." He shrugged one shoulder. "No one likes dealing with mobs of outraged subjects."

"But…" She blinked. "I didn't…"

"Yes, I see that," he said quietly. "It seems you have a friend in the Sanctuary." He made a face. "I'm going to refrain from speculating on their identity, though I think there's a fairly obvious suspect." He met her eyes again, his gaze serious. "I'd recommend you take credit for it regardless, if anyone asks. I assume you don't want to give Her Majesty a reason to look closer at any of your friends." Hesitantly, Tanitha nodded, though she was more than slightly discomfited at the prospect of accepting advice from someone who'd moments before told her he'd been a previous advocate for her death.

"Please," she said, a faint tremble in her voice. "Can you tell me… is Darius all right?" He didn't answer, just watched her for a long moment. Her heart beat hard in her throat, making it painful even to breathe. "They're saying two dragons fought, that the night was filled with their screams," she said. "And Alethia said that he'd been imprisoned. Because… because of what I did." She blinked back tears. "Is that true?" she managed.

Prince Kaion sighed. "Before I answer that," he said at last, "what else did Alethia say to you?"

Tanitha swallowed. "She said that she was betrothed to Darius," she said softly. "Is… is that true?"

He regarded her for several painfully long seconds. "Let me see if I understand the chain of events here," he said. "You soul-bind Darius— unintentionally, yes, I understand," he said impatiently when she started to protest. "And Darius responds by…?"

"By leaving," Tanitha said softly. She looked away, pained. "He said he was going to find out if the soul-binding could be undone," she said, fighting back tears. "And then… that he'd send me away as he'd first planned."

Kaion was quiet for a moment. "And shortly thereafter, Alethia arrives," he said. "Telling you that Darius had been imprisoned. And she casually mentions that the man who sired a child on you was betrothed to her ." Tanitha couldn't meet his gaze, not while he recited these facts so calmly. "So, following this, you flee the Hold. That part's sensible enough, easy to understand." Even without looking at him, she could readily identify the frown in his voice. "But then, you came here. And offered your freedom in exchange for his." It wasn't precisely a question, but he seemed to be waiting for something, so she just nodded, uncertain.

"So," he said, "to sum up, the man you'd fallen in love with had more or less cast you away from himself shortly after you learned you were carrying his child. Immediately after that, you learned that he was betrothed to another woman. Then you had to deal with both those things while fleeing for your life while a pack of demons pursued you. And then , instead of making good your escape, you came here ." He leaned forward, eyebrows drawn together. "Do you see why we're all a little confused right now?"

Tanitha wrapped her hands together, trying not to shake. "He saved my life," she said softly. "He saved my life and… and now he's paying for it. Because I did something terrible." She pressed one hand to the side of her face, taking a shuddering breath. "I don't know if he can ever forgive me for what I did," she said, her voice breaking slightly. "I don't know if he ever wants to see me again. But I couldn't just let him suffer for saving me."

He was silent, his expression once again unreadable. "You're an odd one," he said at last. "Entirely too trusting and too forgiving. But… I see why he likes you." He gave a sigh. "All right. My turn to answer some of your questions, I suppose. Yes, Darius is imprisoned. No, he hasn't been harmed beyond that." Tanitha looked up, her heart lifting. "Well, not beyond what injuries he sustained while trying to get away and then throwing himself at the cell's bars after we locked him in there," he amended with a quiet sigh. "As for Alethia… she and Darius had entered the first contractual step preceding a betrothal, but it hadn't been made official. That part was supposed to happen in a few days." He shrugged, his wings rising and falling with the motion. "Not that it excuses him for lying to either of you, but as far as I know, he'd never been intimate with her. So perhaps it's not the level of betrayal that you might have feared."

Tanitha looked away, considering this. She wanted to feel relieved, but she couldn't see why any demon, even Darius' brother, would care to try to reduce any feelings of betrayal she might be experiencing right now.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked finally.

He pursed his lips. "That's an excellent question," he said. "Perhaps it's just because I'd rather not believe that my brother was taken so thoroughly for a fool. But unfortunately, there's no way for us to have any evidence of that without either binding you to him properly, which no one is certain is even possible, or just killing you." He let out a quiet, frustrated exhalation. "No way to know if his words are his own."

"I didn't give him any commands," she said softly. "I will swear it by any oath you ask of me. I never—" Her voice broke, and she pressed a hand to her temple for a second before managing, "I never wanted to have this power over him." Silence stretched for several seconds, and finally she was able to make herself look up again. Kaion's expression was still carefully neutral.

"You're not going to release him, are you?" she asked finally, her heart aching. "If you can't trust that I didn't give any orders… if you don't know what I might have asked him to do… he's trapped as long as I'm alive. Isn't he?"

He regarded her, and to her surprise, she caught a quickly stifled flash of pity in his gaze. "That's true," he said, glancing away. "I'm sorry."

Tanitha closed her eyes for several seconds, forcing back tears. She'd been a fool, she thought, her right hand clenching tight. To think that she could help Darius, that she might somehow be able to stand between him and the consequences of what she'd done and somehow survive it.

"And the child?" she asked, a tremble in her voice. Kaion didn't answer immediately, and Tanitha's heart constricted. "Am I to be allowed to live long enough to bear it?" she managed.

"It's under discussion," he replied, not quite looking at her. "Naratha didn't want to even think that you were telling the truth about being with child initially. I think she didn't want to believe that Darius had been with you like that. She's accepted it now, which is why you're still alive. But her mind is far from settled on how to ultimately deal with you."

Tanitha hunched, pressing one hand to her forehead, her other unconsciously moving to press against her abdomen. She didn't speak— what was there to say? What plea could she possibly make, what point could she possibly raise that these people hadn't already considered, and already rejected?

"I don't have any way of knowing what your true intentions are," Kaion said. "And frankly, even if I did, what I believe on the matter is irrelevant. However," he continued, still quiet, "you should know that Darius asked me to advocate for you." Tanitha looked up, uncertain if she should trust the faint rise of hope these words brought, and he continued, "He knows about the child— I told him. He told me that if I couldn't trust that he was speaking of his own words when he asked me to protect you, that I should at least believe that he would want his child to live."

Tanitha's breath caught. "If he knows about the child, then… does he understand why I… why I…?" She trailed off, unable to make herself say it, and she glanced away, still too full of the shame of what she'd done to give voice to it. She took a breath, then forced herself to continue.

"That was why I did it," she said softly. "Because I wasn't sure of what he really was. Because I wasn't sure if the pregnancy was safe."

"I know," Kaion said quietly. She gave him a questioning look, unsure how that could be true, and he added, "It was easy enough to deduce, once we knew you were with child. Maybe we brought this on ourselves, with how secretive we can be about such cases." There was a faint hint of omission in his voice, as if there was something else he wanted to say, but then he gave a quick, almost imperceptible shake of the head. He continued, his tone carefully neutral, "So, yes, Darius understands what happened."

Tanitha swallowed, still holding herself tight. "Is there any way I could speak with him?" she managed, though she already knew the answer. "I just… I need to tell him I'm sorry." She took a stiff breath, trying to brace herself against the storm of pain inside of her. "And… I need him to know that I tried to make this right."

Kaion looked at her for an agonizingly long time. "I can't allow that," he said at last. Tanitha looked away, giving one small, miserable nod. "I'm sorry," he said, and to her surprise, there was sincere regret in his voice.

He stood. Tanitha's shoulders dropped as he turned away. He paused, then looked back at her, clearing his throat. "The child isn't dangerous to you," he said. "I know this has to have frightened you badly, so I think Darius would want me to tell you… you don't have anything to fear on that front," he said. "The young of shapeshifters match the mother's form. They don't develop the ability to change form until later. This child isn't any more dangerous to you than one with a human father would be."

Tanitha let out a small, quiet exhalation as a tiny bit of tension within her dissipated at his words; with everything else happening around her, with all the other threats that faced her, she hadn't realized that she still had some lingering fear on that subject.

"Thank you," she said, her voice soft.

He gave a small laugh, utterly devoid of humor. "I'm the last person you should be thanking for anything," he said. Tanitha almost asked what he meant, but he spoke again, cutting her off. "I'll do what I can to advocate for you," he said. "I gave Darius my word on that." With that, he turned away once more, leaving Tanitha alone.