35. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Power is having a choice. Strength can crush or build. Sharpened steel can cut flesh or prepare food. Power is having a choice, and goodness is choosing what is best for the most. Not what is most obvious.

~Sidon the Strong, A History of Magic and Dragons

This isn't what I'd expected when I'd asked Cole to pamper me. He told me that he'd treat me like a princess, and I guess that this is the definition of that in Draenyth. A small Immortal from a race I don't know stands beside me. Lithe, and built like a willow sapling, she's thin with silver hair that hangs down to the middle of her back, unbound and unbraided.

Her face is human shaped, though longer than normal. Her eyes are a little rounder and seem to sense more than the average person, as every time I have an emotion, she turns to me. Her skin is as pale as moonlight, and long, thin blue veins line her body.

Her movements are erratic and sharp, like a bird rather than a person. You'd think that all of that would be the pieces of the female Immortal that I'd be focused on. All of the non-human traits. But it's not. No, the part of her appearance that I can't get over is the steel collar that rings her thin neck.

Everything else she's wearing seems normal enough. Thin, tight-fitting clothes that are made of blue cloth and sewn with silver thread. She's shoeless with long feet that match her long fingers.

"Good morning, Sia," Cole says with a soft smile. He's wearing a nice white silk shirt with a fiery red vest with gold buttons that glitters in the candle lights of the bedroom. Going without a coat today, he seems almost relaxed, almost at home here.

Sia looks to him more often than she does to me, which I assume is normal. He is the Prince, after all. Just like Nevan, Sia doesn't seem to have any kind of ill-will toward Cole. In fact, it almost seems like she enjoys his presence.

That silver collar draws my attention as she moves. The physical item that lets the High Fae enslave other Immortals. When wearing a steel collar, because of its positioning, no magic works. That keeps most Immortals from ever even dreaming of escaping their slavery. It's forever, and there isn't any way out of it.

"Let me get you out of that collar," Cole says, and when he puts his hand on the back of the seamless steel ring around her neck, a click sounds. The ring splits in two, and before they fall to Sia's shoulders, Cole catches them.

"My betrothed, Maeve Arden, would like to relax. Is there any way you could help me with that?" he asks her.

Sia smiles wider, and I hear a voice in my head rather than a sound. Good morning, Lady Maeve. What would you like to experience? What would I like to experience ? I don't understand. Instead of feeling relaxed, I'm feeling very stressed by an Immortal talking in my head.

Don't worry, Lady Maeve. I'm a Djinn, and just as Master Cole can command flames, I can command your experiences. As if to show me what she means, her long, thin fingers brush my arm, and I'm away from the Keep of Flames, no longer seated in Cole's chambers. Instead, Cole's holding me as he soars through the air, his legs and arms wrapped around my body as we look down at Draenyth.

"Trust her, Maeve," he whispers in my ear. "That's why I brought her to us. So we could relax without ever leaving my chambers."

"That's why she's kept here, isn' t it?" I shout over the wind. "A slave to your father's court." My mind goes to all of the things that people have probably forced her to show them. Fantasies of terrible things.

Speak the truth, Sia, I think. Do you enjoy doing this for the people in the House of Flames?

I can hear her hesitate. No. But it is my place, Lady Maeve. I am a slave, as all djinn are. We have been collared for thousands of years.

"I want this to end," I say and think at the same time. There's a blurring of the world, like blinking my eyes, and then the entire world seems to shatter, disappearing in a way that waking up from a dream never feels like, and I'm back in Cole's chambers. The real world where Cole and I are sitting next to each other with Sia standing in front of us.

Cole turns to me looking quizzical. "Why not enjoy a relaxing flight over Draenyth? Would you rather go somewhere else? A mountain lake maybe?" he asks. He turns to Sia, the same look on his face and then back at me. She told him something.

"I don't want to abuse slaves any more than I want Darian and Lee to become them. You grew up here, Cole. Slaves are normal to you. But if things had gone differently, I could be the one wearing a steel collar, used until my master no longer had interest in me and then disposed of. Unable to fight back against the power that people like you and your father wield."

Cole looks at me, thoughts running through those beautiful, sparkling blue eyes, and he runs his hand through his hair. "What would you like to do, then? I don't know how to pamper you without slaves."

I'm not angry at him. Like I said, this is normal for him. Normal for his world. No different from the fact that humans are sold like livestock in the market here. I won't take advantage of them, though. And maybe I can do something different, something that will remind Sia that the world is better than what she's used to.

I glance up at her while she silently watches us, listening to the words that are probably as foreign to her as they are to Cole. Who knows how long Sia has worn a collar?

Then she speaks, with far more hesitation than I expected. Directly to my mind. I don't mind showing you beautiful worlds, Lady Maeve. Your dreams are pleasant, and I enjoy watching them. Far more than the dreams that I am ordered to give to so many. It doesn't displease me to help you to relax.

I smile at Sia and then at Cole. "Go get Lee. She'll show all of us, Sia included, a little pampering. I bet that she has an idea of some less slave-based pampering we could enjoy."

Cole looks at Sia, and I notice the barest hint of a nod to her. I take the collar from Cole, ignoring the nod and the fact that they're having a private discussion. "Go on, Lord Cole. Get your friend. Sia and I are in desperate need of pampering."

His huff doesn't surprise me. But the look of worry in his eyes does. He still gets up and leaves the room. Sia studies me carefully, but she doesn't say anything.

It's not right that anyone should have to do things they don't want to do. In another life, it could be me sitting there, forced to provide leisure to some Great House noble. Knowing the cruelty that Cole's father embodies and the way that everyone talks about the denizens of Draenyth, I have a feeling that Sia's existence as a slave has been one of constant torture even if her body is unmarred.

And today I'm going to show her that there are other experiences in the world. Maybe even some that are enjoyable, but I'll be happy if it's different than what she's used to. Because what she's used to is terrible.

Darian, Lee, Cole, and Sia all seem very uncomfortable with the current situation. Sia keeps staring ahead, and Darian, Lee, and Cole glance at each other nervously.

"This is it?" I ask.

Lee nods. "This is a place for women to go to relax."

What is so complicated or strange about this? Why can't they just go with it? From the moment I was thrown into this magical world, everyone has just expected me to accept one crazy thing after the next. It's more than a little difficult to believe that only two months ago, I was just a girl living in a village without a bit of magic in my life.

Now… Now I'm betrothed to the Prince of Flames in a city full of Immortals that would have eaten me a month ago. It's only fair that I'm not afraid to make everyone else a little uncomfortable. "Cole, why don't you get us girls set up here, and then you and Darian can go do something else?"

That makes him frown even more, but when he looks at Lee, she shrugs. And Sia just stares straight ahead, expressionless, as if this was just another task for her to complete. Nothing other than luck has kept me from turning out like Sia or worse, and the thought infuriates me. At least she's not being forced to wear the collar right now.

Sia's appearance should be off-putting. I should be nervous because I don't know anything about her. Not about djinns or her, personally. She can get into my head, and I'm sure that's at least part of the reason that all djinns were enslaved. They could have manipulated people so easily.

Who knows how far her powers extend?

It doesn't matter. That's the truth of it. Sia didn't do anything wrong, and she's been forced to do whatever Cole's family has wanted her to do for hundreds of years. Like Cole said, it'd be better to be murdered than to be enslaved. Especially to be enslaved by someone like Casimir Cyrus.

"Fine," Cole says, his face becoming emotionless. What's he so uncomfortable about? Is it because he won't be around to watch over me? Lee will be with me, and I doubt that anyone is going to attack me after he set this all up. The owners of the establishment will know that he'd rip them apart.

I watch his back as he enters the nondescript building. Made of stone with obvious flecks of red, it's not very noticeable compared to the madness of the marketplace or the opulence of the Keep of Flames. It's wider and longer than most of the other discrete buildings we've passed, but it has the same simple architecture which is so forgettable amidst the rest of the gorgeous city.

Lee whispers, "What are you trying to do?"

I chuckle. "I don't know, Lee. I'm just trying to relax for a day, and I don't want any slaves to have any part." Lee glances at Sia. "No, by…"

Cole steps out of the building then, the door shutting behind him. "It's set up. Just go in there, and they'll take care of you."

I know that Lee's wondering why I'm bringing Sia with us instead of just ignoring her like most people that are against slavery would do. It would have been easy enough to ignore her even if I hadn't wanted to use her powers. We could have sent her back to wherever she lives and come here.

But she's not treated like a living person. Like someone who deserves kindness or happiness, and I don't even know what we're going to do. If Lee thinks I'd enjoy it, I'm sure that Sia will too. At least more than she'd have enjoyed that steel collar around her neck. Even if it's just an excuse for her not to wear that collar for a few more hours.

"Thanks, Cole. Now, you and Darian go do boy things." I give him a smile and lead the way into the building, not at all afraid of what I'm going to find. It's an unusual sensation, trusting Cole and Lee. Not knowing what I'm walking into but walking in without any fear at all.

Even in Draenyth.

Which is why it's so surprising when a satyr is standing behind a desk at the end of a hallway. Inside the extremely large building is just the one hallway with dozens of doors branching off and ending at the satyr.

The walls and doors are made of a bright white wood that's been stained. Symbols are marked on each of the doors in what looks like blood, but I barely notice them. The satyr's eyes are focused on me, and I walk straight toward him. Lee and Sia are right behind me, but the satyr's eyes don't turn to either of them.

He looks indecent with his bare chest moving down to a fur-covered abdomen as his human-like upper-half blends with what appears to be a goat's hind-quarters. I try not to stare at the obvious erection that keeps him from standing too close to the desk.

"Good afternoon," he says, his voice smooth and stately, not at all what I'd imagined when I'd seen him. "I assume that you are Lord Cole's betrothed?" he asks.

I nod, and it's only then that his eyes move to Lee and Sia, and on Sia they linger. "You have a djinn?"

"Yes, will that be a problem?" I say it with as much coldness as I can muster. I have no idea whether the satyr sees through my attempt at seeming noble. Most likely he does since it's not only High Fae that can tell that I'm a Wyrdling, and there's no way that any Wyrdling was brought up to act like a noble.

The satyr continues to stare for a few moments before shaking his head. "We do what we can for the House of Flames. Its patronage is how we manage to pay the best nymphs in all of Draenyth. Even if catering to a djinn would be insulting to any other ecstatic springs, we will make sure that even she enjoys herself."

I almost lash out at him, but Lee's hand on my wrist stops me. The satyr walks around the desk, and that's when I notice the overflowing cloth coin purse on the desk in front of him.

My other hand balls into a fist, my nails digging into my palm, as we follow the satyr to one of the doors. My anger is buzzing inside me like lightning in a bottle, and I have to remind myself not to let my emotions steer this boat. I'm not in Blackgrove or the middle of a forest. I'm in Draenyth, where my magic will get me executed.

He puts his hand against the wood, and the symbol shimmers and fades. The door swings open, revealing a room with a large pool inside of it. The floor is paved in smooth river stones, and a haunting melody reverberates through the room, soft and demanding.

It's so much darker than I'd imagine, the edges of it barely lit at all by the candles floating above the pool. Under the water is nothing but inky blackness, the current flowing from one side to the other almost like a… river .

There are water nymphs hidden in a room behind where the satyr stood! That's why he called it the ecstatic springs! The song they sing and the water they bathe in is known to make people forget everything else. Everything except their lust and ecstasy.

My eyes open wide, but it seems that I'm the only one who didn't know what this place was.

When the satyr says, "Place your hand against the door when I have gone, Lady," no one seems perturbed at all. "This will lock it to everyone except you and me," he continues. "When you are ready to leave, simply get dressed, and put your hand on the door. It will open at your touch."

He nods, not giving me a chance to say another word, and shuts the door behind him. I glance around at Lee and Sia, both of whom are still acting extremely awkward. There's nothing I can do, but maybe getting into the water and letting some of the nymph's magic wash over us will help them both to lighten up.

I put my hand on the door and turn to them. "I… I haven't ever been around nymphs. Since I'm a Wyrdling…"

Lee chuckles. "Don't worry about it, Maeve. You may end up a little more lost than us, but I won't let anything bad happen."

I nod to her, and she walks to the edge of the darkness. Sia walks to another side, the darkness enveloping her as well. Then I hear boots being kicked off and realize that this is a bath. That means no clothing. I'm beginning to rethink this entire idea. At least it's just the three of us and Cole and Darian aren't here.

I figure that if I can't see them, they can't see me. I back against the wall and begin to take off my clothes. The simple gown, in comparison to the one I'd worn to dinner with Casimir, is much easier to remove. Sure, there's still some corset strings, but compared to the layers and layers of last night, this is easy. I toss the silk and satin dress far away from the water, and quickly pull my undertunic off, tossing it on top of the dress.

I hear the soft splash of someone sliding into the pool and it helps me to get up the courage to do the same. I sit down on the edge and put my feet in the water. Warmth like I can't remember flows through my feet and up my body. It's nothing like a normal bath or dip in the river. My body is drinking it in, and there's no way I'll ever have enough. I slip the rest of my body into the water and let that warmth flow through me.

The song that floats through the air seems louder. Soft melodies sung by multiple nymphs. I don't know the words. I don't even know if there are words. The only thing I'm sure of is it's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. My back rests against the lip of stone as I sit on a boulder that provides the perfect seat in the dark water.

Every muscle in my body seems to release the tension in it that's been building for two months. Ever since that first day that I accidentally tried to kill Hazel. A memory flashes through me that I haven't thought of in a very long time.

It's the day I moved in with Aunt Prudence and Uncle Trevor. I'd nearly forgotten that day. Vesta had been with me, her expressionless face had stared down my Aunt and Uncle. She'd forced them to take me in. This was before they'd had money. It was before they'd begun receiving the money set aside for me by my mother, the Queen of Shadows. They'd been poor back then. They'd had a small farm, but neither Trevor nor Prudence had been good farmers, and mostly they grew food that even they didn't want to eat, much less that anyone would want to buy.

Their livestock was slightly better off, but they had little enough of that, mostly just goats. My father had always helped them out, and I think they depended on his kindness much more than they ever let on.

But that day, I'd shown up with tears barely dried on my cheeks after my father had disappeared three days before. I'd spent those three days living in the trees, trying to survive the heartache that filled me. My father was gone, and even Vesta couldn't tell me where he was.

When I stared at my Aunt and Uncle, I'd felt nothing but cold, heartless anger from them. Hazel, though, was nothing but warmth and happiness. "You're going to live with us?" she asked, barely more than six years old.

I'd nodded to her, and she'd run across the floor and given me the tightest hug I think I'd ever felt at that point. "We're going to be best friends," she whispered in my ear. "We'll get to play together every day."

I remember not understanding what she'd meant by playing. I'd never experienced "playing". My father had told me stories and sung songs and had loved me, but he'd never played with me. I'd never been around other children in Blackgrove, and I'd only been around Prudence and Trevor and Hazel a handful of times.

I had never played before. But Hazel had.

It was that day that I realized there was more to the world than my father and Vesta. I should still be sad that he was gone, but I shouldn't be sad forever. Hazel showed me that I could still smile. She taught me to laugh and play and be utterly purposeless.

She's my best friend. My only friend. She's the person that taught me what it was like to be human because Vesta and my mother—and even my father—didn't. Only Hazel.

I smile as the water flows over my body, washing away the stresses and reminding me of what's important. Taking care of Hazel. I've gotten so wrapped up in everything else that I've lost sight of the reason I came to Draenyth.

Then I hear a voice. It's so soft I know only I can hear it. "Don't say a word," it whispers. I slowly turn my head and see him. The black cloak only a foot away, the shadows of it rolling off and moving toward the water. The tendrils of darkness fade as soon as they touch the enchanted water. My hands move to cover my breasts, but the Shade isn't looking at me. He's turned to face the wall.

"You play a dangerous game, Maeve. Bringing a djinn out of the Keep, uncollared, to a place where nobles relax. You're supposed to be keeping your head down, aren't you? You're risking my investment."

I go to speak, but shadows wrap around my throat, constricting. It's not enough to actually stop me from speaking, but it's enough to make me pause and recognize he doesn't want to have a conversation.

They flow over my skin and remind me of the night I'd repaid a debt. He'd shown me what he could do if he wanted. He'd shown me what it was to be desperate for him, to be willing to give everything to someone in return for nothing but his touch. He'd shown me how cruel a Fae could be.

The water splashes over my hair and shoulders, trying to pull my mind away from any kind of real thought. I should be lost in memories and feelings. The song of the nymphs calls to me, begging me to forget the world. I could be at peace here. I could be lost.

I can't separate myself from memories and desires in this water. Under the spell of the nymphs' song, I can't control the shadows that uncoil from my fingertips and dissipate immediately. I can't stop the fact that the Shade has spent every moment we've been together drawing out my desire for him.

He was the reason I felt my body throb for a man for the first time. He's the first to touch me intimately. His voice, his body, and even the expressions hidden by his cloak make my core smolder. And he's pushed me back at every turn.

The last time I saw him, he bound me in shadows and taught me what desire could be. The nymphs' song fills my mind, making me lose all sense of reality. What's right and what's wrong. What consequences are. Why I haven't let myself do the things that I want.

Here in the darkness, I won't let him escape me again.

I won't let him tease me.

He may be the Shade, but I am the Princess of Shadows.

The drumbeat is overwhelming in my core. My body aches to be touched by him. To feel those long, sharp nails over my naked skin. I stand up, the water running down my body like tiny rivers, and I reach out. My hand moves to the cloak, wanting desperately to see the Immortal under it.

No . The voice echoes in my mind. You do not want to do this, Maeve. The Shade cannot be revealed. Not here. Not by you.

It breaks me out of the almost dream-like compulsion that the waters had filled me with. Sia must have reached out to the Shade as well because he whirls around and stares at me. My body bared in the darkened world of the pool. He doesn't distance himself from me, but he doesn't look away either.

Shadows stream from his body, and they wrap around me, tightening and constricting until it's almost painful. One tendril across my stomach. Another around my legs. Two more around my arms. And then they lift me into the air.

Supported solely by the shadows that the Shade controls, I keep my head up, not trying to cover myself at all as his shadows carry me to him. "Maeve," he whispers so that only I can hear. "I thought we understood each other. Why would you try to look under my hood?"

I try to say something, but as soon as my mouth opens, shadows move to fill it, slipping into my throat and stifling any noise I try to make. My eyes open wide as I realize just how easily he could suffocate me like this. Silently so that no one could know even in the middle of a locked pool.

No wonder the House of Steel was terrified of the House of Shadows.

"Maeve." He says my name as soft as a caress, and the shadows blocking my breathing dissipate, leaving me gasping. The rest of my body is held tight. Naked and exposed, I stare him down even as he steps closer to me. Those black tinted nails run over my cheek just as they've done so many times before, and I shiver as they move to my throat. Then down to my breast, curving around it, but never actually touching them.

So soft, yet so impossible to ignore, his nails graze my stomach and keep moving down. I have to bite my lips as he traces the most intimate curves of my body. He stands inches away from me, so close that I can feel his breath come out as he looks down at my naked body.

"You owe me three debts. How would you feel if I held you like this for hours and teased you? What if that was how I wanted you to repay me? To be tormented for hours or maybe even days? What if the only reason I helped you was to see you bound and teased until you broke under my hand?"

I may be out of those waters, but the nymph's song still beats in my mind. Just as loud and just as powerful as the drumbeat in my core. My body is radiating with desire. With the need to touch and be touched. Not like this. Not impossibly soft.

His words make me shiver. Do I want him to spend days doing this? Absolutely not, but does the thought make my very soul throb? Like never before.

But then the Shade turns away from me. The nymphs' song is still weaving its magic through the air. The water that had been enchanted by them still clings to my body.

I want the Shade's touch. No, I need it. Something inside me snaps, and though I can't make the kind of shadows that would be required to hold the Shade in place while wearing my mother's ring, I don't need to. They're already there, wrapped around my body.

Just as when I had crafted the Shade out of shadows before, I feel the magic of the shadows that cling to my body and make them mine. I am not just a stupid Wyrdling any longer as I wrest control of that inky darkness away from the Shade. They release me, and I nearly fall, my feet catching me in an awkward position, but it doesn't matter. The shadows are mine, and I send them back to the Shade, to wrap him in them just as he'd done to me.

I can't help but smile as they tighten around his arms and legs, slowly lifting him into the air just as he'd done to me. I can feel his body under the shadows, the muscles that are toned and taut, a warrior's body. They strain under my grip, but it's nothing. The power that flows through me right now is unbreakable.

I am the Princess of Shadows, and I am done being controlled. I am done with the lies and the secrets.

"If you try to remove my hood, you'll regret it," he whispers, and I hear the slightest bit of fear in that voice. He wasn't expecting me to do this. He wasn't expecting me to be able to take his shadows from him. He wasn't expecting me to be as strong as him.

Behind this monumental moment, the world is silent other than the song of the nymphs and the gentle splashing of the river. Shadows fighting in the darkness. The world should be shaking, but it's not. In this hidden corner of the world, there's nothing but silence.

"No I won't," I respond. I reach out, my hand moving through the darkness. The magic of the nymphs is fading with every drop of water that falls to the ground, but I've wanted this for so long. I've dreamed of the Shade since the first time I saw him, since the first time he touched me with those nails.

When he'd marked me.

The cloak ripples in the darkness on a hidden wind. The sound of the last few drops of river water fall to the stones at my feet, soft splashes in the near silence. I stare into the darkness under that hood, and I know that in a moment, everything will change. My entire world will be different.

I touch the dark fabric that I know so well. The linen that's survived so many years. Dyed with blood and tears. The fabric that smells of salt and cedar. Today, I'm going to find out who it is that I've been dreaming of. Who it is that I've been indebted to. I will see the eyes that haunt my dreams.

I rip the hood away.