by Frost Kay
“My lady?”
Sage blinked and shook away the memories. She turned to Jacque. “What?”
He hesitated for a moment. “Are you all right?” he asked gruffly, jerking his chin toward her face.
Sage lifted her hand to her forehead and followed the bar’s impressions down her cheek, discovering it was wet. She hadn’t even realized she’d been crying. Sage scrubbed her face with her arm and dismissed the guard’s concern, choosing to focus on the cell and its occupant.
The prisoner had woken, and she stared at them with midnight eyes so dark it looked like she had no pupil. The perfect symmetry of her face struck Sage as odd and then the breath in her lungs froze. What had the princes done?
A Scythian.
She had seen few Scythians growing up. The ones who sought refuge in Aermia tended to live in relative solitude, but when she did come across them, she had always admired their beauty, but this woman looked like none she’d ever encountered. She was unearthly, as if her features had been carved rather than born of flesh. Sage suppressed a shiver. In a way, the woman probably was. She didn’t doubt for a second that this woman was one of the ‘Flawless’ Scythia manipulated into existence.
Sage watched the woman watch her. “What’s your name?”
The woman cocked her head. “I have been asked many questions since I have arrived here, but none of them have been in regard to my name.” She spoke with a faint, lilting accent. “Why would you ask me such a thing?”
Sage shrugged. “It’s fairly standard practice when meeting a new person to ask their name. You’re a person, aren’t you?”
The Scythian woman let out a short, harsh laugh. “I am indeed.” She lifted her wrists and rattled her chains. “But in here I am little more than wasted space.”
“I doubt that.”
“Why are you here, princess?”
Sage regarded the woman with interest. She knew more than a prisoner should know. Interesting. “You know who I am?”
The prisoner waved her hand. “I’ll not answer your questions. Did the commander send you? Did he think a woman would goad me into speaking? Have the last three months taught him nothing?” She lifted her chin and looked at Sage with haughty eyes. “I am unbreakable.”
“No one is unbreakable.” Everyone had a weakness.
“Lies.” She scanned Sage from head to toe. “You are a close companion to the lie. Your new nuptials are not as perfect as everyone believes.”
Sage kept her expression blank as her mind spun. The only ones who knew about their agreement were the Circle and the Crown’s advisors. How did this woman have that information? Was she guessing? Or had someone passed it along to her? Either way boded ill. The question was, did they have a traitor or a spy?
This was nothing like what she had expected to find. She thought she’d encounter a broken woman in need of care, but what she found was a woman strong enough not only to converse but to play at words and toss out threats. She’d bet her best hat the woman was a spy. She smiled and crossed her arms, she knew how to deal with spies. Lie. Believe the lie.
“I love my husband.”
The woman snorted. “Indeed. You love him like you love a snake in your bed.” A sly smile appeared on the woman’s face. “You’re good. Your façade at the moment is flawless but that is also your tell.” Her eyes slid to the guard, hovering just behind Sage’s back. “It won’t be long now.”
Sage refused to inquire further for she wouldn’t rise to the bait, as that was what it was. Time to throw her off guard.
“Are they feeding you?”
Confusion wrinkled the woman’s brow at the change in subject. “Yes.”
“You’re not sick? Or wounded?”
“No.” She jiggled her wrists. “I have sores but nothing life threatening.” Her eyes narrowed. “What is your angle? Are you going to befriend me? Attempt to have me betray my people? What do you want?”
Sage squatted in front of the bars to better look her in the eye. “Nothing.”
The woman froze and suspicion filled her gaze. “Nothing? Likely story. No one wants nothing.”
Sage smiled sadly. “What a bleak world view.” Sage shook her head. “In truth, all I want is for you to be healthy.”
“I don’t trust you.”
Sage sniggered. “And I you, but that doesn’t mean I want you to suffer.”
Silence.
The woman scrutinized her for long minutes. “You mean that.” The woman squinted at her, obviously baffled. “I am your enemy.”
“You have done nothing to me. Have you hurt any of my loved ones?”
“No.”
“Then I harbor no ill against you.”
The woman lunged toward the bars, chains jerking her back a touch. Sage was careful not to flinch; instead, she simply watched the woman who was now a mere hair’s breadth away.
“You’re dangerous,” the woman whispered.
“Indeed.”
A sharp smile flitted across the prisoner’s face. “I like you, so I will tell you a secret.”
“I don’t want a secret. I would like your name.”
The woman brushed aside her comment without breaking their stare. “Darkness approaches your land. You think you understand its magnitude…” Her eyes unfocused. “But you do not. It is like nothing you have ever seen.” She focused back on Sage. “Prepare yourself. It will not be stopped, and there will be war, the likes of which will put the Nagalian Purge to shame. Prepare yourself now or you will all die.”
Sage pushed aside the spike of fear she felt at this revelation. It was not so much the words but the way the woman seemed to feel about them as she said them. She hid it well, but there, at the end, fear had seeped through for she had not been able to stop her voice from quivering when she spoke of all their deaths. Sage was an expert at hiding fear. She had to do it every day when someone touched her unexpectedly or surprised her. Whatever was coming terrified this warrior woman.
“Why tell me this? Why lose the element of surprise?” Tactically, it made no sense to share such information.
“No one likes an easy fight and…” The Scythian hesitated. “The strong deserve to live. You are built from strength. You wear it like armor.”
Sage tilted her head. “I believe you and I are alike in that way.”
“Indeed, princess.”
“Sage.”
“Your visit has been interesting, Sage.”
“Likewise.” Sage stood and began walking away.
“And Sage?”
Sage peered over her shoulder.
“My name is Blaise.”
Sage smiled and nodded before continuing. A name. She counted that a success.
Jacque took the lead, making their way out of the maze of cells. When Jeffry came into view, she slapped a hand against his desk.
“Is she being given food?”
Jeffry eyed her hand and brushed it off his documents. “She’s given rations and cared for by no one but myself. She has not been harmed.”
Not like her.
Sage jerked her arm back and closed her hand into fist. “Are they interrogating her?”
“One of the princes has been here every week since she was first imprisoned.”
That was at least twelve times. “Excuse me, Jeffry. It seems I have some business I need to take care of.”
Sage sprinted up the stairs and burst into the courtyard, startling a few doves pecking the ground. She stalked into the palace, ready to tear someone’s head off. Demari’s eyes widened when she stalked over to him. “Where’s the crown prince?”
“In the war room,” the royal steward answered.
Sage nodded and stormed through the castle toward the war room, irritated even further. She should have been invited. Were they keeping her from other meetings as well? What else was she being kept in the dark about? Did they think her merely ornamental? If so, they had another thing coming; she was not a pretty thing the prince could take out when he wa
nted and then shelf when he felt she wasn’t useful. The closer she got to the war room, the more she fumed. The whole reason for their marriage was for her to check his power. Was this the first war meeting since their marriage? She doubted it. How many had she missed so far?
Sage smirked when she finally caught sight of the doors. They weren’t prepared for the storm they had coming.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tehl
“Where is she? She’s your consort, your check to power. Why isn’t she here to represent us?”
Tehl pinched the bridge of his nose. This was their third meeting since adding the rebellion leader and it wasn’t going well. They rarely agreed and it usually ended in them arguing with one another until he shouted over them all.
He lifted his head and glared. “I agreed to make her my wife and consort, but I never agreed to her sitting in on the war council.” That shut the little rebellion weasel up.
“The attacks along the border have stopped,” Zachael put in, but he said it like it wasn’t a good thing.
“That’s a good thing, right?” William asked.
“No,” Rafe’s deep voice rumbled. “It means they’ve focused on something else. Something we know nothing about. So now we’re blind.”
The group quieted.
“Have you no spies in Scythia?”
Sam stiffened and sat forward at the question. “No, not at the moment. I have sent many but, as of yet, none have returned”
“None? How many have you sent?”
“Twelve.”
Gasps and a few curses echoed around him.
“We need to find out what they’re planning,” Rafe stated, but, before he could continue, the double doors were shoved open, slamming against the walls, and through them sauntered Tehl’s wife, as if she owned the place. Tehl caught her eye and swore to himself. The furious glint in her eyes did not bode well for him.
She looked around the room. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. Have I interrupted anything?”
Tehl jerked his chin to the two guards accompanying her. They closed the doors while she smiled as his council scrambled out of their chairs to bow.
His eyes narrowed when Rafe stood, kissed her hand, and whispered something in her ear that made her smile. Zachael and Garreth tossed him questioning glances. He shrugged; he didn’t like the exchange anymore than they did. He liked it even less when she lifted onto her toes and kissed the corner of Rafe’s mouth while watching the table of men. When she turned away, she didn’t catch the heat in Rafe’s gaze as he eyed her covetously, but Tehl did and he didn’t like it. It was true that many men admired his wife, she was after all a beauty, but it was different with Rafe and her actions certainly weren’t helping. She was playing with fire, but why?
Sage walked up to Sam and patted him on the cheek a bit harder than was friendly.
“Always the sneaky one, aren’t you, brother?”
Sam’s brows furrowed at her mocking tone.
Sage skirted around Sam and moved next to his seat. Tehl about choked on his tongue when she leaned down and smacked a loud kiss against his mouth before ruffling his hair. “Hello, husband of mine.”
Tehl scrutinized her. Something was definitely wrong.
She plopped down onto the arm of his chair and waved to the group of men. “By all means, continue.”
The council members were obviously taken by surprise, some gaping while others watched her through narrowed eyes, no doubt attempting to figure out her angle.
Rafe coughed, eyes twinkling, obviously enjoying her show.
Bloody mischief-maker.
“We were discussing the need for information on Scythia,” the rebellion leader supplied.
“Indeed.” Sage pulled out a wickedly sharp dagger and, somehow, produced an apple out of thin air.
Where the hell did the apple come from? How did she keep doing that?
She sliced a piece, stabbed it with the blade, and held it out to him. “Hungry?”
Tehl’s brows lowered in confusion. “No… I am not,” he drew out the words, trying to make sense of her odd behavior. What was she up to?
She shrugged. “Suit yourself.” His wife crunched into the apple and gestured with the knife. “So, you need information?”
“Yes,” Sam drawled, placing his hands behind his head.
“Perfect. Especially since I have some and you might find it fairly useful.”
Suddenly, she had every man at the table leaning forward, both suspicious and eager. She continued to snack on her apple, studiously ignoring them.
Information? Tehl placed a hand on her thigh to get her attention. She stared at it for a beat before placing her dagger against his hand and pushing it off. Point taken. Don’t touch her leg.
She grinned at him before biting down on the apple with a loud crunch and smacking her lips.
Tehl twitched. If she smacked her lips in his ear one more time he’d push her off his chair. He hated people chewing in his ear.
“Are you going to tell us your information?” Jaren snapped. “Or just dangle the promise of it in front of us all day?”
Half the table stiffened. The pompous windbag didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t care. No matter how it came about, she was now a princess of Aermia and therefore ought to have been accorded due respect.
“Watch your tone, old man,” Tehl warned.
Jaren scowled and his face reddened so much he was almost purple.
“Is he going to explode?” Sage whispered loudly.
Several chuckles, poorly masked as coughs, had Jaren glaring round the table as Tehl held in a groan. Why today? Did she always have to be a thorn in his side?
Abruptly, Sage pushed from his chair and sat on the table’s edge, swinging one leg. “As much as I would like to keep you in suspense, Jaren, I have much to do. So,” she paused tracing the grain of the table with her blade. “Would it interest you if I told you Scythia will invade soon?”
“That’s nothing new, Scythia has been a threat for some time,” Garreth stated. “We’ve suspected invasion for awhile now.”
“True.” Sage locked eyes with Garreth. “But I collected information that confirms they plan to move against Aermia, and that it will be soon.” Sage dropped her eyes and continued to trace the grain. “I have it on good authority that the invasion will be on a scale we have not previously anticipated. It will make the Nagalian Purge look like child’s play.”
The room stilled, and Tehl’s stomach soured.
The Nagalian Purge was the worst crime ever committed within living memory. Two entire races, Nagalian and Dragon, destroyed at the behest of a single nation. Women and children were not spared and every aspect of their cities and culture were reduced to rubble before the surrounding nations even heard of Scythia’s betrayal. Then, the warlord had claimed it was necessary to purge the world of the Nagalians and their ‘undesirable’ and ‘debased’ ability to communicate with the draconian species.
It wasn’t purification. It was genocide.
“Where did you come by such information?” Garreth probed. “I wasn’t aware the rebellion had spies in Scythia.”
“We don’t,” Rafe replied while watching Sage.
“You don’t know?” Sage lifted her face and took in the council’s expression before throwing her head back, roaring with laughter.
Now was not the time for laughter. “Love, could you get to the point?” Tehl growled.
Her head snapped to him and all laughter cut off. “You don’t need to use such endearments here my lord. Remember that all these men were witnesses of my sale.”
Tehl blinked. He had called her that in public so many times this last month that it now came out naturally. He didn’t even think about it. “It wasn’t deliberate.”
She waved a hand at him, that malicious glint returning to her eye. “It’s nothing, but if you insist on using pet names…”
Tehl stiffened and her smiled widened. “I think I will go with po
okie.”
He grimaced.
No. Not now. Not ever.
“Not so fun is it?”
Tehl released an exasperated breath. This was so not the time. Patience, he needed patience.
Sage dismissed him and turned to the table. “Let’s expose some secrets, shall we? Pookie, here—” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder at him. “—has been hiding things.”
Tehl glanced at Sam and Gav wondering what the hell what going on.
“He’s had this information for months.”
Tehl’s nose crinkled in confusion. He glanced to Sam and Gav who were wearing the same expression.
“What are you talking about?”
She smirked at him over her shoulder. “Imagine my surprise when I discovered the Crown was keeping another woman chained to the dungeon’s floor.”
His heart sped up. Damn it.
“A Scythian woman.”
Gasps filled the room.
“What?” Lelbiel hissed.
Sage’s smile turned triumphant just before she turned to Lelbiel, face serious. “You heard me. From the looks on your faces, I can tell you have been kept ignorant of this fact too, just as was I.”
“Is this true?” Zachael asked.
“Yes, but she has been useless,” Sam interjected. “We have interrogated her for almost three months, but we have gained absolutely nothing. Unless she provided us with any new intelligence, she wasn’t noteworthy to the council.”
“We still should have known,” William commented.
“It wasn’t for you to decide,” Tehl stated. “Her capture didn’t affect you in any way unless she had information to share with us. Which she didn’t.” Tehl stared at the back of the rebel woman’s head. “She didn’t feed us lies, as you did, she gave us silence. There was only so much we could do. Her experience has been completely different from yours.”
His wife stilled, and his advisors quieted at whatever look was on her face.
Slowly, she turned toward him and spoke, her voice indignant. “So she should be thankful she’s been chained to the floor in a tiny dirty cell for ninety days? That’s better than what I suffered at your hands?”
He squinted at her trying to see the trap she was weaving. “She made the choice to attack Silva, leaving children without parents and burning homes, so these are simply the consequences of her own actions. She struck first.”