Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series
Page 65
I looked between the faces of the men I’d spent years amongst. I’d never fooled myself into thinking they held any love for me but I had believed they harboured some fondness. I’d made each of them laugh more than once and had spent countless evenings gambling, drinking and talking with each of them.
If they could remember any of that now, they showed no sign of it. Nice to know I’d meant as little to everyone here as I’d always believed.
At least I can go to my death knowing I was right about that much.
We were shoved into the corridor and marched along at a brisk pace.
I was jostled between them, separated from Cassian by a wall of unwashed bodies.
“I always knew you’d end up here,” Balthazar muttered as he traded places with one of the guards and took hold of my left arm.
“And I always knew you harboured secret intentions towards me,” I jibed. “Have you come for that kiss you’ve always dreamed of? Did you figure I might give it up now that I’m marching to my death?”
To my surprise Balthazar snorted a laugh instead of biting back at me.
“I know you too well, Aladdin,” he said. “I won’t count you out of this life just yet. I’ll wait until I see blood spilled before I place my bets on this outcome.”
“You think I might be the first man to ever survive Egos’s trials?” I asked in disbelief.
“I think that you’re the slipperiest bastard I’ve ever met,” he countered. “And if anyone can find a way to dodge death in this situation then it’d be you.”
I smirked at the unexpected compliment, dragging another inch of my cocky swagger back to myself as we continued to march towards my fate.
“Well if I don’t, I guess it wasn’t always horrible knowing you,” I said, offering him a genuine smile for possibly the first time in my life. Because despite the fact that I didn't want to admit it, Kyra might have had a point about him. Balthazar had been the most constant presence in my life as I grew up and deep down beneath the rivalry and resentment, I might have been able to sense the faintest glimmer of fondness for him in my heart. And if I was going to die, then maybe it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to let him know that.
We made it to the wide space in the centre of the room where Egos awaited our arrival.
“Good luck, Brother,” Balthazar muttered and though his tone was mocking, I sensed that he may have truly meant those words.
I looked around at him in surprise and he patted my side in a gesture that could have been patronising or possibly affectionate. I wasn’t sure which but what I was sure about was the hard press of a blade which had somehow found its way into my pocket.
Balthazar’s eyes glimmered with knowledge before he turned and strolled away from me to join the crowd. Somehow, unbelievably, Balthazar of all people had just come through for me. I wasn’t going into this fight unarmed at all. And if I could just draw my hidden weapon at the right moment then it was possible that we might not die here today.
A manacle was clapped around my ankle and chained to a heavy bolt in the ground. Cassian received the same treatment while Egos began to tell the gathered thieves about me lying and stealing from him. All lies. I wondered if the other men he’d killed on this spot had actually done the things he’d accused them of either. I’d never questioned it at the time but this suddenly seemed like a perfect way for him to keep control. Any man he took a disliking to or who posed a threat to his position could just be accused of breaking the gang rules and disposed of publicly.
Cassian caught my eye and I tried to convey to him the fact that I had an ace up my sleeve now but his confused frown only confirmed the he didn’t understand me. I rolled my eyes at him but didn’t dare try and make my message any more obvious.
“Do you have anything to say for yourselves?” Egos demanded, drawing my attention to him as he drew a long, silver scimitar from its sheath.
“That’s my blade!” Cassian snarled angrily.
Egos smiled wickedly in response. “I’ll be sure to reacquaint you with it shortly.”
Cassian bristled as though Egos stealing his sword was the worst thing to have happened to him today and I stifled a laugh which could have been just a little hysterical. I was still almost certain we were about to die but the little blade in my pocket was offering me a glimmer of hope.
“Does anyone here wish to speak on behalf of the accused?” Egos asked the gathered thieves.
There was no response. Of course there wasn’t. Anyone who dared speak out would end up joining us here in death.
“Good,” Egos said. He swung the blade side to side almost lazily as his gaze locked on me.
A shiver raced down my spine and suddenly that sliver of hope drained away. Of course I couldn’t beat him. He’d had me beneath his heel since I was little more than a boy. I was a product of all he’d made me and nothing more. If he’d decided that this was my end then I had no hope in hell of stopping it.
As the despair rose up to swallow me, something else tickled at my mind and I found myself picturing a pair of wide, green eyes. Kyra hadn’t stopped fighting for me. And I wouldn’t stop fighting for her either.
I swallowed thickly, forcing my knees to bend a little and my posture to remain light. I had to fight him. I had to try. For her.
The dagger was burning a hole in my pocket but I didn’t dare to so much as glance at it. He couldn’t know I had it. Not until the last moment.
Cassian took a measured step towards me, his posture tightening with all the essence of his years of training.
Egos’s smile only widened as he watched us preparing to fight. He thought he had this won already. And maybe he was right.
He leapt at us suddenly, swinging the scimitar in a vicious arc which forced us to jump apart.
Egos yelled as he swung the blade for my head and I leapt back, cursing as the chain around my ankle almost yanked me from my feet and the blade passed a hair’s breadth from my nose.
Egos came at me again and I tripped as the chain stopped me from dancing aside as I’d have liked. I rolled across the hard floor as the scimitar hit the ground where I’d been a moment before.
Cassian aimed a kick at Egos’s back and The King of Thieves snarled angrily as he struggled to stay on his feet.
I scrambled upright as Cassian was forced to retreat and laid a punch into Egos’s kidney.
He whirled on me faster than should have been possible and the keen sting of the scimitar raked across my arm.
Blood flew and I swore, slamming my shoulder into Egos’s chest in an attempt to knock him away from me.
He lifted his arm, the scimitar poised to strike me and I scrambled for the small blade in my pocket with desperate fingers.
Cassian punched Egos hard enough to knock his strike wide but the blade caught my friend’s leg as Egos hacked at him.
Cassian fell to the ground and Egos raced forward to finish him.
I ripped the small dagger from my pocket, crying out a fierce refusal as Cassian’s life hung in the balance.
Egos turned towards me at the last moment, the scimitar swinging straight for my throat.
My heart leapt. I ducked low. I thrust high.
Silence fell thick and sudden as the dagger was buried to the hilt into Egos’s chest.
The scimitar fell from his grip with a loud clamour. His one eye found mine as shock, horror and dawning comprehension filled him.
I gritted my teeth, my chest heaving as I ripped the blade free again and Egos collapsed to the ground in a huge puddle of blood.
Cassian caught my eye with triumph flaring in his gaze as he plucked the scimitar from Egos’s grip.
It took me an endless moment to look up at The Forty. They stared back at me in confusion and wonder. Some seemed pleased, others horrified. It didn’t matter. I’d done it. I’d won.
“Why are you all staring at me like that?” I demanded, a cocky smile winning over my features. “Haven’t you even seen a King before?”
My heart hammered and thumped as I was drawn out of the room, the sound of applause following me from the small gathering of noblemen and women. My hair had grown right down to the floor, but if any of the nobles had noticed, they hadn't said a word. I half wondered if Gothel had already impregnated them with her bugs and this was all just a performance to ensure no one ever questioned her son's rule over Osaria.
The slim gold band on my ring finger was making me feel ill. It chained me to this beast at my side and tethered me to a miserable and inescapable future.
And though I'd tried my hardest to remain calm, I was starting to fear that all was lost. That Cassian and Aladdin were already dead. That Kyra would be enslaved to Gothel for the rest of her days, forced to do the unspeakable. And I… I would be made to bear children for the cruel man who'd claimed me as his wife.
He looked like an angel again; his auburn curls flowing over his shoulders, his nose straight and his jaw defined. Not that that made any difference to how repulsive I found him. I had once pitied him, but Gothel’s blood ran too deep in his veins. And in his own way, I wasn’t sure if he would ever be free of her either.
Heels clicked across the flagstones behind us and I glanced over my shoulder, spotting Gothel towing Kyra out of the throne room. She hurried to catch up to us with a calculated look on her face.
My thoughts whirled and finally hooked on the one thing I might be able to do in this dire situation. I yanked my hand out of Kahn's, turning fully to face the woman who'd just been upgraded to my mother-in-law.
“I did what you asked,” I said evenly, refusing to let my voice quake. “So do me one kindness and heal my father. Use Kyra's magic to save him from the illness you placed on him.”
Gothel continued to smile but no warmth reached her eyes. “I'll think about it, dear Rapunzel. But you must behave a while longer and perhaps then we can talk about such things.”
“Please,” Kyra begged on my behalf. “Let me help him.”
Gothel glanced at her then back to me. A long pause passed then she shrugged her shoulders. “No,” she said simply. “Now come along, I'll escort you to your quarters daughter-in-law. It's time you got ready for your wedding night.”
Something shattered inside me and a thousand shards scattered through my body, sharp and deadly. “Never.” In a surge of desperation, I lunged for Gothel's purse, determined to take the lamp from her and free Kyra. If I could get it, I'd be her master and we could get the hell out of here. Maybe even save Cassian and Aladdin if it wasn't too late.
My hand landed on it and Gothel shrieked, throwing up an elbow to force me away. A huge arm locked around my shoulders and I cried out as Kahn dragged me back against his chest in an unbreakable hold.
“Enough,” he grunted.
I stamped on his foot as hard as I could, refusing to accept his ownership.
“I won't go along with this any longer!” I yelled at Gothel, thrashing uselessly against Kahn as he continued to restrain me. “I'll scream and scream until someone comes to help.” I glanced at the door to the throne room, wondering if any of the nobles I'd known my whole life would actually risk their neck for me. We'd shared idle chit-chat for years, but were any of them really my friends? Maybe not. But perhaps they were still loyal to me.
“Quiet or I will kill your father,” Gothel said in a deadly whisper as chatter broke out in the hall. “I can do it with a mere thought, girl. Don't test me.”
I shuddered, my insides clenching into a tight ball. I couldn't bear it. I wouldn't see him hurt.
But this fate. It was too much to face.
“We will have no more of this, will we?” Gothel surveyed me as I continued to try and wriggle free of Kahn's hold, biting my tongue against answering. “Then again...you did escape once already.” She tapped her chin, gesturing for Kahn to walk as she pulled Kyra along beside her. She said no more as we headed through the long corridor of pale sandstone, heading toward my quarters.
I dug my heels in, I bit, I scratched, but Khan acted as if I was no more than a fly buzzing around his head.
I can't let this happen.
I have to fight.
“I'm sorry,” Kyra whispered to me, her expression pained. “I wish I could help.”
Gothel yanked on her arm like she was a dog on a leash and fury bled through me.
As we arrived outside my rooms, two guards opened the doors for us, bowing low.
Gothel halted our group, pulling me from her son's arms. She tutted at my hair as it trailed around my feet, still growing longer with every passing minute.
“I don't trust you,” she whispered as if I was the cuckoo in her nest.
My lower lip trembled as I held her gaze. “You shouldn't,” I agreed. “The second I get a chance to run, I will. And I will take my father and Kyra with me too.” I didn't have much chance of that actually happening, but it was the damn truth at least. And even as I voiced it, my mind slid to a blade I had hidden under my bed. If I could catch Kahn off-guard...
“Genie,” Gothel purred, stepping away from me toward Kyra.
“Yes master?” Kyra asked, her cheeks paling and her shoulders trembling.
“I wish for Rapunzel's room to be a fortress. Secure. Somewhere she can't get out of herself.”
“No!” I gasped.
Kyra gave me a wild look, her eyes flaring with magic as the wish pushed through her body and forced her to act on it.
Gothel snatched hold of my overly long hair, dragging me toward the door by a fistful.
Pain tore through my scalp and I yelped in surprise. She was frighteningly strong and even though I clawed at her arms, I couldn't get her off of me. She shoved me through the door and fear tangled with my blood as she gestured for Kahn to follow.
I backed up, thinking of that blade. If I could run to it, get there first-
“Your wish is my command!” Kyra yelled and the whole room shuddered.
A weight seemed to press down on me and a ripping, roaring noise thundered in my ears. The door slammed shut between me and the others and I ran toward it with a shout of fright, hammering my fists against it. The room began to shake more violently and portraits fell from the walls, crashing to the floor.
I gasped, running for the balcony, wondering if I could climb out of here before something terrible happened. I nearly fell over as a mighty tremor gripped the floor and a tremendous crack tore up one wall.
Clumps of plaster cascaded around me and a strange pressure weighed heavily down on my shoulders.
I covered my head, my pulse drumming in my ears. The roaring grew louder and the floor shook harder.
By some miracle I managed to stay upright, racing onto the balcony with adrenaline thick in my blood.
My heart stopped beating for an eternal moment. I clutched onto the railing, my knuckles turning white as I gazed far, far down at the palace roof below. My room had been forced into the air, enclosed in a sheer tower built of the same pale bricks as the palace walls, rising up at the edge of the east wing like it had always been a part of the building. Except it was far higher than any structure I'd ever seen built by hand.
I could see for miles over the city to the very verges where the shimmering heat of the Lyrian Desert swirled on the horizon. A blood-red cloud gathered there, warning of the oncoming storm, but it was the least of my worries now.
My stomach churned from the dizzying height as I stared down without blinking, searching desperately for a way out. But there was none to be seen.
The structure was perfectly made to Gothel's demands. This was Kyra's revenge. Twisting the Shaitan's words to buy me time. But from the looks of the impenetrable tower I was now enslaved to, there was no way in Osaria I would ever be able to get out.
Gothel’s lips parted and she tilted her head back to look up at the immense tower I’d created at her reques
t. The roof of the hallway had broken away above us and we had to tilt our heads back to look alllllll the way up to the top of it.
This is the kind of crazy I can get on board with.
I smirked to myself as we finally agreed on something.
“Are you wilfully stupid or were you just born delinquent?” Gothel hissed, turning hard eyes on me.
“Depends who you ask,” I replied, lifting my chin.
She struck me with the back of her hand so hard that I was thrown to the floor, the taste of blood blossoming in my mouth and staining my lips deepest red.
“I wish for a door into that tower so that my son can enter and find his wife. The sooner this marriage is sealed, the better.” Gothel clicked her fingers at me and I inhaled deeply as my magic flared beneath my skin. I had no choice but to grant her request but I intended to sabotage every single wish she made of me.
She’ll cast you aside. Lock you in the lamp where it’s dark and oh so quiet.
“I don’t care,” I hissed, setting my magic loose to meet her request. Sort of.
A door came into existence three quarters of the way up the side of the sheer tower, way above our heads.
“Why haven’t you done as I asked?” Gothel snarled.
The corner of my mouth hooked up as I raised my hand and pointed to the inaccessible door.
Gothel’s mouth fell into a firm line and violence flashed in her gaze.
“Shall I teach her some manners, Mother?” Kahn asked, cracking his knuckles as he took a step towards me.
Fear rose in my chest but I refused to balk. My body could take any pain that he inflicted and remain intact but I didn’t relish the idea of accepting the rage dealt out by his fists. Of course, I didn’t have to unless I was ordered to.
I smiled insolently and turned my body to smoke which I coiled around him mockingly. I’d like to see him win a fight against a cloud.
“I don’t have time for this,” Gothel snapped. “I wish for you to create a door, right here.” Her hand landed on the tower, giving me no room for manoeuvre.
I spilled back into my human form, landing on my feet as I released my magic. A door no bigger than the palm of my hand appeared precisely where Gothel had demanded.