by Karen Lynch
“I know all of that. What I don’t understand is why you wanted to make the barrier unstable.”
She scowled at my interruption, and for a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to answer me. Her actions had caused so much harm, and people had died. I’d nearly died, and I deserved to know why.
“I have never understood the fascination faeries have for your world.” Her lip curled. “It’s dirty and contaminated, and humans are so frail and prone to diseases. After my son was born, I knew the only way to protect him and his future was to cut off all contact with your world. I warned Oseron that this filth might one day spread to our world, but he dismissed my concerns. I cannot seal the barrier alone, and Unseelie has refused to do it.
“When Rhys came to me and said he wanted to explore the human world, I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. I had the ke’tain taken from Faerie to show how fragile the balance of magic is and to prove Faerie is not safe as long as the barrier is open. I will do anything to protect my son and my world.”
You mean my brother. I bit my lip to keep myself from saying those words to her. Anyone else might believe her act as the doting mother and selfless monarch, but I knew what she was. And as the missing pieces began to fall into place, I realized her true motive for taking the ke’tain. She did want to coerce Unseelie into closing the barrier, but not for the good of Faerie.
Twenty years ago, she’d taken a human child, secretly made him Fae, and passed him off as her son and heir. When he announced he was going to the human world, she knew there was a risk, however small, of someone discovering his real identity, and she would do whatever she could to keep her secret safe.
What I still didn’t know was why she had stolen my brother. She didn’t hide her revulsion of humans. Why would she convert one and raise him as her own child? What was I missing?
“That brings us to our current dilemma. After all that has happened, Unseelie is still unconvinced we must close the barrier. And now they insist it is healing faster than expected.” Queen Anwyn sat up and fixed me with an accusing stare as if she somehow knew I was behind that. “The only way to change their minds is to take the ke’tain and force their hand.”
“You can’t do that.” I tried to stand, but Bauchan’s hand clamped on my shoulder, roughly pushing me down into the chair.
“Don’t you see what will happen if you take it out of Faerie again?” I asked her. I thought about everything I’d done to restore the ke’tain’s power. It had pulled energy from the other ke’tains, and I didn’t know if they had enough power in them to do that again so soon without weakening them too much.
She looked at me like I was a simpleton. “The ke’tain will stay in our world. I don’t need to change the balance of magic this time because people already know what could happen. Their fear will drive them to do what needs to be done.”
“They won’t close the barrier if they think the ke’tain was taken from Faerie,” I said.
She nodded, looking pleased with herself. “That is why it will be found along with the thief. We were going to pick a random person from Unseelie and make it look like they were the culprit. That was until your timely capture in the temple. Your mysterious ability to get past the temple wards and your unwillingness to explain it make you the perfect suspect. Add to that your escape from the cells, and no one will believe you are innocent. I could not have planned it better myself.”
A sour taste filled my mouth because she was right. It didn’t matter if Lukas believed in me or if he told his father about my goddess stone. The evidence against me was damning. Not that it would matter to me because I’d be dead. There was no way Queen Anwyn would let me leave Seelie alive knowing what I did.
I lifted my chin, refusing to show her my fear. “Is that why you had me brought to your quarters? You wanted to tell me about your plans and gloat?”
“I do not gloat.” Piqued, she stood so she could look down at me. “I told you all of this so you would know you have nothing to gain by not cooperating with me. Whether it happens today or in a week, I will have the ke’tain in my possession. How you spend your last days does depend on your cooperation.”
She smiled at her head of security behind me. “Bauchan has creative ways of extracting information. If you wish to die with all of your body parts intact, you will tell me what I want to know.”
I swallowed convulsively as cold spread through me. It was one thing to endure the dannakin, which didn’t cause any real physical damage. I could not hold out against the kind of torture she was talking about.
A door opened on the right side of the room, and I started as Queen Anwyn turned that way. I followed her gaze and gasped when Prince Rhys strode into the room.
“Mother, I know you asked me to stay at the mountain house, but I –”
The prince stopped walking so fast he nearly tripped. His stunned eyes met mine before they went to Bauchan and then the queen. “Mother, what is going on? Why is Jesse here?”
Before anyone could speak, he took a few more steps into the room and caught sight of my shackled hands. His nostrils flared, and he started toward me. “What is the meaning of this?”
Queen Anwyn moved with surprising speed to intercept him. “Rhys, what are you doing home?”
“I think my question is more important, don’t you?” He pointed at me and demanded, “Why do you have Jesse in shackles?”
She let out a pained sigh. “I didn’t want you to see this. I know you are fond of Jesse, and I wanted to spare you.”
He shifted his gaze back to her. “Spare me from what?”
“Come sit down.” She took his hand and led him over to sit beside her on the chaise. “Bauchan and the Unseelie head of security were summoned to the temple two days ago. They caught Jesse in the act of trying to steal the ke’tain.”
“That’s not true!” I cried and winced at Bauchan’s bruising grip on my shoulder.
Queen Anwyn went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “She was taken to Unseelie and questioned, but she refused to talk. I learned she was going to be released because she is Prince Vaerik’s lover, and I could not let such an injustice stand.”
Rhys gave me a confused look, and I shook my head. His expression said he didn’t want to believe what she was saying.
“You abducted her?” His tone was incredulous when he faced the queen. “Mother, what are you thinking? You have to send her back.”
A tiny spark of hope flared to life in my chest. She had sent him away so he wouldn’t know what she was up to. Now that he was here, could he actually intervene and help me?
“I did what is best for Seelie and Faerie,” she said as if she was speaking to a child. “When you are king, you will understand the difficult decisions we have to make for the good of our people.”
I don’t know who was more surprised when he retorted, “I hardly think starting a war with Unseelie is good for our people.”
It was clear from her expression that she was not used to him challenging her. It took her several seconds to recover. She let out an indulgent laugh. “War? It’s not like we stole the consort. And she will be returned to them after we interrogate her.”
Rhys did not look convinced. “You could have done that in Unseelie. You did not have to bring her here.”
“I tried to question her, but Korrigan allowed his son to stop the interrogation before she could answer me,” Bauchan said. “The safety of the ke’tain is too important to risk her going free before we know what she was planning to do with it.”
“It was Jesse who returned the ke’tain to us,” Rhys reminded him. “Why would she want to steal it?”
Bauchan’s fingers dug into my shoulders. “That is what we want to know.”
The look Rhys gave me was pleading. “Jesse?”
“I didn’t. I…”
“You see?” Queen Anwyn laid a hand on Rhys’s arm. “She will not even tell you the truth, and you are friends.” Her lip curled slightly on the last word. “A few days in the tower with no foo
d or water will make her more willing to talk.”
“The tower? With no food or water?” Rhys stared at her aghast, and I realized how naïve and sheltered he was if he thought that was so awful. He had no idea what happened in an interrogation or how cruel and ruthless the queen and her guards could be.
She patted his arm. “I’m sorry you have to be here for this, but it must be done.”
“But –”
“You know I would do anything for Seelie, don’t you?” She stroked his hair as a mother would, and a ball of anger formed in my chest. She had no right to touch him like that. It was one of a million things she had stolen from my mother – our mother.
Rhys nodded, but his eyes were still troubled when he looked at me.
“Then you have to trust me on this.” Queen Anwyn stood, and he did the same. Taking his arm, she walked him to the door. “Do not worry about Jesse. I promise when all of this is over, she will go home to Unseelie.”
She lowered her voice and said something to him I couldn’t hear. Then she ushered him out of the room and shut the door before he could say another word. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line when she turned back to us.
“Bayard was supposed to keep him away until I summoned him home,” she said tightly.
Bauchan eased his hold on my shoulder. “Rhys’s guards are as loyal to him as yours are to you. They will not go against him when he wishes to do something unless it puts his life in danger.”
Something in his voice told me this was a discussion he and the queen had had before, and her answering pout said she was not happy about it. At least, it answered a question I’d had about whether or not Rhys’s guards were in on her plot.
She went to a side table and poured herself a glass of juice. “It complicates things, but we will proceed as planned. Take her back to the tower for now.”
I said nothing as I stood, and Bauchan took hold of the chain between my wrists. He pulled me to the door like I was a dog on a leash. I should be glad the chain was on my hands and not around my neck. He’d most likely take perverse pleasure in leading me through the palace that way.
“Jesse,” Queen Anwyn called as we reached the door.
I looked back and met her brittle eyes.
Her smile was more of a sneer. “You have earned a brief reprieve while I deal with this. You should use that time to rethink whether you want to cooperate or have Bauchan extract what we want from you. The choice should be an easy one.”
When I didn’t respond, her mouth tightened, and she looked at Bauchan. “Have Aibel give her another taste of the dannakin. We would not want our guest to get too comfortable.”
* * *
I shivered and curled myself into a tight ball on the pallet that stunk of old sweat and urine. The sun had gone down less than an hour ago, and already it was freezing in the room. It was going to be a long, miserable night.
My teeth chattered so hard they hurt. Desperately, I reached up and plucked the goddess stone from my hair. It had helped me create powerful glamours. I should be able to use it to keep myself from freezing to death.
Holding it in my fist, I imagined a warm bubble around me, as I did for the glamour. The stone grew warm in my hand and then…nothing. I tried again with the same result. Then I attempted a glamour to see if I could do that, at least. Nothing.
I sank down onto the pallet, defeated. Either the stone didn’t work here for some reason, or I was too weak from the two hours of the dannakin I’d endured earlier. I should be thankful that my clothes were dry because I had avoided the humiliation of wetting myself this time.
My stomach rumbled painfully, adding to my discomfort. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten, and I couldn’t tell if my weakness was from hunger or cold. I smacked my cracked lips together and tried to swallow, but my mouth and throat were too dry. I didn’t know what was worse: the bitter cold or the extreme thirst.
I was so wrapped up in my misery that I didn’t hear the door open or notice I was no longer alone until my visitor spoke.
“Jesse.” Rhys’s voice was harsher than I’d ever heard from him.
I lifted my head sluggishly to peer at his outline in the doorway. I saw movement, and then a laevik crystal filled the room with light. I put a hand up to shield my eyes after being in almost complete darkness. It took a moment to realize he wasn’t alone. Bayard must have entered ahead of him and another of his guards stood behind him.
“Rhys,” I croaked and dissolved in a fit of coughing that caused my parched throat to burn.
“Water,” he ordered briskly.
A few seconds later, a flask touched my lips, and I drank like someone who had been lost in the desert. The water hit my empty stomach, and I immediately retched it back up onto the floor. It soaked into Rhys’s pant legs as he knelt beside me, but he didn’t seem to notice it as he lifted my hair out of my face. His hand grazed my cheek, and he swore.
“Kaelen, get some blankets and a clean pallet,” he said, laying the back of his warm hand against my icy cheek.
“The queen will not be pleased if we interfere with her prisoner,” his guard replied.
Rhys looked over his shoulder. “I will handle my mother.” Anger laced his voice when he looked at me again. “They put her up here without heat or a blanket. Even the tarrans are covered with a blanket on cold nights.”
Bayard came to stand behind the prince. He wore his normal hard expression, but for the first time, I didn’t think it was directed at me. I was probably hallucinating from hunger and cold.
“Oh, Jesse, how did you come to this?” Rhys asked softly.
It felt like forever since I’d heard a kind voice in this horrible place, and a tear leaked out to drip onto his hand. He wiped it away tenderly and whispered, “It will be okay.”
Kaelen wasn’t gone long before he returned with a new pallet and several soft wooly blankets. Rhys picked me up and sat me on the new pallet, and Kaelen wrapped the blankets around me.
“T-thanks,” I said through chattering teeth, already feeling my body getting warmer under the thick blankets.
Rhys held the water flask out to me, and I took it with shaking hands. This time I sipped it, letting the water soothe my throat and quench my thirst.
“Here.” Bayard took the flask from me and pressed something else into my shackled hands. It was warm and wrapped in cloth, and when I opened it, I wanted to cry at the sight of the meat pastry.
“Eat it slowly,” he ordered when I started to take a large bite. I remembered throwing up when I drank too fast, and I took a tiny bite, chewing it well before I swallowed. My empty stomach growled so loudly at the first food I’d had in days that it sounded like a wild animal was hiding under the blankets with me.
“Is that better?” Rhys asked when my stomach finally stopped making noises.
I nodded and continued to eat, half expecting Bauchan to burst through the door at any second and snatch the food from my hands. I needed all the nourishment I could get to help me stay strong for whatever Queen Anwyn had in store for me.
Rhys sat beside me. The expressions on his guards’ faces said they weren’t happy about their prince sitting on the floor, but they said nothing.
“Jesse,” he began kindly. “How did this happen? No matter what my mother says, I cannot believe you would ever steal the ke’tain.”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I wouldn’t.”
“Why are they saying you were caught trying to take it?” he asked. When I didn’t answer, he said, “I want to help you, but you need to trust me.”
I glanced up at Bayard and Kaelen and whispered, “Just you.”
“No.” Bayard crossed his arms. “I am not leaving you alone in here, Rhys.”
Rhys arched his eyebrows at his guard. “She is shackled, weaponless, and as weak as a newborn hama. If I am not able to defend myself against her then you, my friend, are a very bad trainer.”
Bayard’s scowl slipped for a second, but it was
back in place when he looked at me. “We will be right outside the door.”
I waited until after the door closed to speak. I didn’t agree to talk to Rhys because I thought he could save me from the queen. He might try, but he was not strong enough to go against her and her guards. I did it because I knew I would probably die here, and there were things I needed to say to him before it was too late.
“I was caught at the temple, but not trying to steal the ke’tain. I can’t tell you why I was there, only that I was trying to help Faerie. I understand if that’s not enough to convince you I’m telling the truth, but it’s all I can say about it.” I paused to take a sip of water. “It’s true that Bauchan questioned me in Unseelie, and he was angry when I wouldn’t answer all his questions. But that’s not why he arranged to have me kidnapped and brought here.”
Rhys was hanging on every word. “Why then?”
I hesitated for a moment and plunged forward. “He did it because when I was in the temple, I overheard one of the queen’s guards talking to someone about how to get past the wards to steal the ke’tain. He had to get me out of Unseelie before I told someone what I knew, so two of the queen’s guards snuck into my cell and took me. They made it look like I escaped and used a portal to go to my world.”
Rhys inhaled sharply. “Bauchan wants to steal the ke’tain? I have to tell Mother.”
He started to rise, but I snagged his sleeve to stop him. “The queen knows. Bauchan is acting on her behalf.”
“No. You are mistaken.” Rhys shook his head.
“I’m not,” I said firmly. “She told me so herself. Just like she admitted she had the ke’tain stolen the first time.”
He shot to his feet before I could stop him. “That is impossible. My mother would never do anything to harm Faerie.”
At his outburst, the door opened, and Bayard leaned in. “Is everything okay?”
I looked up at Rhys’s agitated face and waited for him to say no. He surprised me when he said, “Yes.”
He paced to the other side of the room and back. “Tell me this. What possible reason could the Seelie queen have for stealing our most sacred relic and endangering our world?”