Page 3 of Ocean of Silver

“Yes,” I gritted.

“Good,” King Lunder remarked with a wave of his hand. “Get her out of here, Kole. Throw her back in her cell until it’s time.”

Kole smiled as he pulled on my chains, and I had no choice but to follow him as he led me back to my damp, dark prison.

TWO

SIE

Another two weeks had passed,and I was still at a loss for what to do. The Lux King would be arriving tonight to collect Scotlind. That meant that today we would be forced to annul our marriage, and she would no longer be my wife. I didn’t want to think about what those extra weeks did to her. She was skin and bones and withering away before my eyes when I last saw her in the council room, and that was only from one week in the dungeons.

It was killing me slowly. My mind kept replaying the expression on her face when I told her that we were annulling our marriage. Then, her horror as King Lunder told her the news that she now belonged to the Lux King. I could barely stomach looking into her sapphire eyes, pleading with me, willing me to step in, to defend her like her husband should. But instead, I did the opposite. I just let it happen.

I wanted to murder everyone when Synder had Kole fetch her. How he stood possessively over her. How he grabbed and pulled at her chains, and how his gaze kept roaming over her naked body. I wanted to kill him then and there. It was made worse seeing how his presence affected Scotlind too. She hated him—feared him. Our time in the warehouse haunted her just as much as it haunted me.

A knock sounded on my bedroom door. Peter cracked it open before I could mutter a word. “Hey,” he said as he stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. He leaned against the frame. “You ready?”

“Am I ready to destroy my marriage with the girl I was falling in love with? Am I ready to willingly send her to be King Arcane’s prisoner?” I snapped. I knew it wasn’t Peter’s fault, but I couldn’t help it. Peter frowned but didn’t say anything. “What are we supposed to do, Peter?” I started pacing my room. “We are playing a dangerous game. We can’t let them take her.”

“You know what to do, Sie. Send me,” he answered flatly.

My head snapped up. “I can’t ask that of you. I won’t.”

“You aren’t asking,” he said. “I’m volunteering. Send me. I’m half the reason that she’s being sent to Lux in the first place. I want to do this for myself as much as for you. She’s my friend too.”

“I know,” I admitted as he pushed off the frame and walked toward me. Peter and Scotlind spent every day and night together leading up to our wedding. I knew the two of them were close. I knew this was hard for him too. “But Lux is stronger than us. They’ve been breeding warriors for centuries, and King Arcane and his children are no different. If you get caught…” I shuddered. “You know what the royals would do to you—”

“Then I won’t get caught,” he cut me off. “Think about it, Sie. You know my ability. You know I’m capable. I will look out for her. I can try to uncover what Lux is up to while I’m over there. I can finally get to the bottom of their connection to what happened with Scottie. You and I both know that whatever is happening here isn’t over. Someone from Lux is working with someone from Tennebris, and we need to find out who and why. We only have guesses. We know it’s probably Synder, maybe even your father, but we need proof. The only conclusive thing we know is that Kole is involved, and now the Council welcomed him with open arms.”

I looked over at my only friend as I contemplated his words. I didn’t want to send him. I didn’t want to think about the fact that the only two people I cared for would be on Luxian soil. But Scottie would be safer with Peter there. He would make sure she didn’t get hurt. And if he could figure out Lux’s connection to all of this… Why Kole had Alluse, and who he was working for… “Don’t get caught.” I finally said.

He flashed me a wicked grin, his usual warmth gone from it as he replied, “Never.”

* * *

A camera crewwas hovering around Scotlind as I walked into the throne room. She had been cleaned up since the last time I saw her, and that pissed me off even more. Had they forced her into a tub? I couldn’t stop seeing her fear of it after the warehouse, how she refused to go near one. She was dressed in a plain gray dress that didn’t hide the weight she’d lost since spending the past three weeks in a cell. She was still chained, but this time, the shackles only claimed her wrists.

A male I didn’t recognize stood by her side. The male, I was told, had relations with someone from the rebellion, and no one survived once they were linked to the rebellion. Both Kingdoms feared what would happen if the lower ranks fought back, which was exactly what was starting to happen. If they didn’t comply with the jobs given to them at their Trials, our system would crumble.

The male was sweating profusely, probably aware they weren’t planning on letting him live after today. He was told if he kept his mouth shut, his wife and child would go unharmed. Once someone from the rebellion was caught, their entire family was found guilty and slaughtered. It didn’t matter how many generations back it went. It was the only time that Advenians didn’t honor and protect the youth. It didn’t matter how old you were or how rare children were to our kind. If you threatened the way things were, there was no going back. I hoped, for this male’s sake, that the High Council would stay true to their word and let his loved ones live.

I stole a glance at Scotlind. Everything about her was paler, except for the color of her eyes, the blue hue from the stained glass windows illuminated them. They were so bright I had to question how no one recognized them as Luxian before. But even the shape of her eyes had changed. They seemed sullen, sunken in. Black circles had developed under them, so dark it looked like ink had splattered and was spreading as it slowly took over her face. It was like the darkness was draining her of life, slowly consuming her from the inside out.

King Lunder informed me that this event would be turned into a broadcast and mandated for all of Tennebris to watch. A lot of citizens from Palm were seated in the audience, but anyone from the other fives villages would be forced to watch from a monitor screen.

They mostly kept me in the dark about what they wanted Scotlind to say during the broadcast. But whatever it was, it would have required her to do exactly as she was told. I didn’t trust her. I couldn’t shake my gut feeling that she’d mess up on purpose. That she’d use this as an opportunity to say Goddess knows what about our ranking system. It terrified me. I couldn’t stop thinking about what they would do to her, or worse, makemedo to her if she messed up. All I knew was that if I was forced to kill her, I wouldn’t be able to. Like Scotlind, I would go down as a traitor. I would forfeit my life, my title, everything. I couldn’t do it.

Which was why I suggested to Synder that Kole should compel her. That way she couldn’t mess up, and they couldn’t kill her for not doing exactly what they wanted. It was another thing she’d hate me for, but I didn’t care. I had to keep her alive.

King Lunder and Synder stood on the dais as Braven gestured for me to join them.

“Good evening, fellow Tennebrisians,” King Lunder bellowed, ushering the crowd that had gathered into silence. “Thank you for tuning in today for this mandatory announcement. It displeases me as to why we are meeting today. Our Princess has betrayed and deceived us all. We call her forward today to speak the truth as to why our Prince has been absent recently.”

King Lunder gestured to where Scottie stood chained. All the cameras turned their attention toward her. To my surprise, she held her head up high. Her sapphire eyes met mine and pinned me to my spot above everyone else. Her expression held a promise of revenge. But she didn’t say anything. She just kept staring me down to the point where I felt like I would crumble beneath those eyes.

I held my breath as I waited for her to say something, anything. I knew the general gist of what they planned. They wanted her to admit to having an affair with the male next to her. It was some stupid, elaborate story that Synder concocted in order to keep her identity hidden while still meeting the Lux King’s demands. But Scotlind didn’t speak. She didn’t do anything but stare straight ahead.

Shit. Was she trying to get herself killed? Would she really choose death over being sent to Lux? I thought about speaking to her over the past couple of weeks to explain why I agreed to send her away. To explain that I was doing this in order to keep her alive, but I knew it was cowardly. I was willingly sending her to the worst Advenian alive. I was sending her somewhere she would probably get treated far worse than she had been here, all because I selfishly couldn’t let them kill her. I needed her alive. I knew deep down that this sentence was probably far worse for her than death, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t let them kill her.I couldn’t be the one to kill her.It would break me.

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