Twenty-Five

ELLIS

Iwoke in the middle of the night, my hand still curled around Eve's through the iron grate separating our cells. My muscles ached and protested from the awkward position, but I didn't dare move. Eve needed rest, even if I was wide awake. It might have been my fae blood, but I never needed as much rest as others in the castle.

Instead, I tried to process everything that had happened yesterday.

Hayida had told me in the fae language to starve Eve, but not why. Well, he hadn't said that directly. He'd told me not to let her eat the food.

The only thing I could think of was that it had something to do with the old wives' tale that was told back in our realm: that once you ate food from the fae, you became trapped in their realm forever.

It was ludicrous. And was a moot point, anyway. Eve had to have eaten many times since we arrived, and confirmed it when I asked her. She ate at the welcoming picnic the same as I had, after all. Hadn't she? I tried to stretch my memory back, and couldn't recall a clear memory of her eating.

I shook my head.

I would not starve her! Regardless, I didn't have any power or control over anyone's food as a prisoner myself. Hayida was a crazy old man who'd been stuck here too long and clearly gone senile—why else would the guards have to use their combined magicks to knock him out? I didn't miss the similarities between him and Fennis, nor how he'd hinted at being a political prisoner. All the signs pointed to him being a disposed royal of Fennis's court; someone who'd displeased those in power.

I wasn't sure how long I lay there, gently stroking Eve's arm and cheek before the pink sun's rays drifted down the hallway. The cold air eased into a warmer temperature, and the goosebumps all over Eve's skin eventually went away.

I'd go toe-to-toe with Strumo if it meant getting a blanket for her.

A blast of an instrument exploded down the hallway, startling me badly. Eve jerked as well, eyes screwed shut tightly as she groaned and rolled over.

The loud, horrid sound that was somewhere between a toad and a dying horse exploded again in the air, and Eve's eyes shot open.

"Morning sunshine," I managed, hoping my attempt at a smile didn't look too much like a grimace. "How—"

Eve winced and covered her ears as the noise kept going, this time accompanied by shouts and yells of other prisoners.

I got to my feet and helped Eve up, both of us trying to stretch out the kinks in our backs.

Our doors slammed open on their own, and tentatively we each walked to our respective entrances. Peeking my head out, prisoners lined the hallway, already forming the same line as last night.

"Let's go! Line up!" barked a guard, but even as I stepped into line, he grabbed Eve by her upper arm and yanked her backward. "Not you! You stay."

He shoved her back into her cell so hard she stumbled, tripping over the hem of her dress and falling to the ground.

Heat flooded my fingertips, my hands smoking before I could control it. A group of guards were on me in moments, the cuff on my wrist burning a blistering trail into my skin. Nerves and tendons were already charred to a crisp underneath my cuffs from the damage I'd done yesterday.

I smirked. Nothing to lose. Just how I preferred it.

"Don't touch her like that," I growled to the guards, the light from their staves bathing their faces in an amethyst glow.

One guard grabbed my hair and yanked hard on it, forcing me to meet his eyes. "I heard everyone touched her however they wanted. Didn't she come from a pleasure house?"

I took all of my anger and frustration and gathered it inward. Not just the helplessness I felt being here with Eve, but every time my parents had made me feel less than because of abilities and magick that no one understood. I took every bit of self-loathing I felt when forced to turn to drink to soothe myself so I didn't set my world on fire, even knowing what it would do to me.

And then, in one moment, I shoved it all out through my hands.

The guard holding me shrieked and dropped me as my hair exploded into black flames.

It didn't last long as the cuff on my wrist glowed bright red and burned into already-dead flesh, sucking my magick into itself as the fire disappeared and my hair returned to normal.

Drained and exhausted, I couldn't dodge or defend myself as a hand sailed through the air toward my face.

WHAM.

Something wet dripped down my face, which was far more irritating than the pain. He hit like my younger sister had. Besides, the pain from my charred wrist was far greater.

"Get in line. Move."

The guards frog-marched me into line, and my legs automatically kept pace with the other prisoners, and in distress, I was forced to leave Eve behind. I craned my head around, seeing her leaning up against the bars of her cell, fingers wrapped around the bars.

What did it mean that we were leaving her behind?

It didn't take long before I had my answer.

We marched straight through the yard and under another archway on the far side that had been closed yesterday. Through it was a low ceiling but a space big enough to fit five long tables with benches. Other prisoners peeled off to designated benches and seats. Staying with my line, I soon found myself seated across from Strumo, and next to a purple-skinned female fae on my right. The last seat on my left was empty.

Well, until Hayida materialized into it from thin air.

My lips parted in shock, but this must be a common occurrence, since the other prisoners around me barely glanced up. They were much more interested in the food that had also materialized.

And the worst part was that it looked just as delicious and filling as all the fae food had so far. Warm bread with butter, ham, potatoes, gravy, cheese, and sweets. I eyed it all hungrily, but guilt kept me back. Eve was likely just as starved as I was.

"Eat. You're no good to her grumpy and weak," Hayida said.

Shooting him a glare, I attacked the food with gusto. We didn't have plates or utensils; instead, we just tore chunks of whatever we wanted and put it straight into our mouths. I half-expected there to be a mad grab for food; surely, a fellow of Strumo's size would hog the meat for himself, growing boy he was.

But no. The only one grabbing at food and acting like an animal was me.

"Slow down," the female fae next to me chastised, eyeing me like I'd just licked the table itself.

"I'm hungry," I growled in between bites.

Hayida snorted. "Leave him be."

The female's eyes flitted quickly to Hayida, then away from me.

And everyone let me be.

Despite the lack of implements, everyone ate politely and with excellent manners. Even though I know all of us ate well, there was just as much food on the table at the end of the meal as there had been when it had first appeared.

More fae magick. We could do so much good with it back in my realm. I could feed every hungry person in each kingdom!

I was just contemplating how many rolls I could fit down my tunic for Eve when they all disappeared, even the one in my hand.

"She can't eat it anyway. Or have you forgotten already?"

I flinched as Hayida had somehow gotten behind me, whispering into my ear. The rest of my table stood and filed out into line, but the guards surrounded Hayida and me again.

"Wrists out," one ordered.

Hayida complied, sticking his arm out while not taking his eyes and that stupid grin off me.

I growled, tucking my injured wrist back into my chest.

"Stupid boy, just—"

A jolt of purple energy shot out of a guard's staff and zapped me, setting every nerve on fire in a way that was so much worse than anything I'd ever felt, even through the cuffs. My muscles seized as I lost control of them, and they pulled my arm out and cut the old cuff off.

Tutting at the blackened skin and white bone showing through my wrist, one guard swore while another recoiled. Hayida made an impressed whistle through his teeth, bending down closer to get another look. Nausea rolled in my stomach, and I kept my eyes anywhere but on the injury.

The guard who swore dug in his pockets and produced a small vial with a bright green liquid. He uncorked it with his teeth as the four other guards held me down. I didn't have time to panic as he unceremoniously dumped the contents on my wrist.

Pure, unfiltered agony.

I didn't scream. There was no point. Screaming wouldn't stop my nerves from lighting up like fire or the white-hot, searing intensity that shot through my veins. The same guard slapped a new cuff on my wrist, and I chanced a glance, seeing nothing but pure, unblemished skin. The pain still lingered in my veins like a phantom's kiss.

The guards let me collapse to the ground, a twitching, convulsing mess. They moved away, backing at the other prisoners to get a move on and to quick gawking.

"Not bad. Most fae scream like little elflings the first time pure magick hits their skin." Hayida hovered over me, one eyebrow raised with grudging respect.

Too bad I didn't give a shit.

Deep breaths. Embrace the pain, don't fight it.

Eventually, I realized there was a hand hanging over me. Hayida's. I accepted, and he pulled me up to my feet like I weighed no more than a sparrow.

"Why did they single her out? What's going on?" I demanded of him.

"I like your little female. And that's saying something, coming from me. She reminds me of my queen." Hayida pulled me along beside him, refusing to relinquish his hold on my hand. I couldn't help but notice it was the one with the cuff.

"Come, little princeling. Sometimes mysteries get solved by simply waiting. We have much to do. Try to use the time without her distracting presence to focus."

My mouth opened to argue with Hayida, but I slammed it shut as he pulled me out into the yard and I saw how it had been transformed while we ate.

White paint lined out the perimeter of dozens of boxes, each separated into four smaller boxes.

Hayida hit me on the back, nearly knocking me over with the force. "Like I said, you must forget about her for the moment. We have our own problems to worry about."

Unease crept into my veins. "What is this? I'd thought I was done with this."

Hayida bared his fangs. "Princeling, welcome to your first practice trial."