Page 93 of Ocean of Silver

I was about to open my mouth to tell him why we couldn’t do that when the door burst open.

THIRTY-NINE

TEZYA

Shit.Scotlind stood frozen, only a breath away from Sie. This looked bad, really bad. I bit back my jealousy from seeing her with him and focused on the moment, trying to figure out how the hell I was going to get her out of this. I should have known that the meeting was a ploy. They kept me there long after it was officially dismissed, claiming they needed information from me regarding the latest rebel attack. I should have known it was all bullshit.

I didn’t have the time to be hurt by the fact that Scotlind didn’t listen to me, that she opened the door for him and invited Sie into her room when I warned her not to. I didn’t understand. I couldn’t think about it right now. I knew they shared a past. I knew it was probably torture for her to see him again. I knew she struggled with it, but I thought… Fuck, this wasn’t the time for this. What was done was done. I couldn’t change it. I just had to make sure she got out of this alive. My mind whirled, circling over every possible scenario on how I could make sure she wasn’t to blame.

“What is this?” Synder asked. The current King of Tennebris made an effort to look appalled, but I knew it was all a facade. “This is how you treat your Kingdom the night before you are to be crowned.”

Sie dropped his hold on Scottie. Another member of the Tennebrisian Council ripped a note from his hands.

“It’s a love letter fromher,” the male sneered as he met Scotlind’s wide-eyed stare. Her blue eyes looked depthless. He turned the note over in his hands. “It seems the two of them have been continuing their affair this entire time.”

“I hope you two are aware of the consequences of this. An affair between the Kingdoms is treason,” the Lux King said coolly.

“Take him away,” Synder ordered. “Lock him up in the prison for now. We will discuss what will become of him later.” Sie stiffened, but he didn’t say anything.

“And the girl?” someone questioned.

The Lux King interjected. “I will deal with her. It’s only fair, as she is from Lux, that she will be dealt with and punished in Lux. The boy is Tennebrisian. Do what you want with him.”

The males didn’t hesitate as they launched themselves at the Dark Prince. He willingly obeyed and went with them. Sie took one last glance at Scotlind before he held his hands up, allowing them to be shackled. Shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Why the hell wasn’t he fighting back? If he did, if he made an effort to stop this, if he tried to escape with Scottie, I could cover. I could pretend to go after them while making sure they made it out unharmed. But he did nothing. He just gave up. He was letting them take him away. Fuck.

The Lux King turned to me. “Tezya, watch her. Make sure she doesn’t leave this room. We’ll deal with her when we return.” He tossed a pair of chains at me, inching closer to me so only I could hear. “Do not get any ideas.”

Then everything happened at once. Commotion rippled through the room as they secured and led the Dark Prince to his doom. The rest of the Council filed out with him until it was just her and I left. The moment we were alone, Scottie fell to the floor. “I’m sorry. He came in here. I didn’t know—”

“Shh. It’s okay. This isn’t your fault.” I dropped the chains onto the floor and went to her, holding her close to my body.

“What’s going to happen? What are they going to do with him?”

I wiped the tracks running down her freckled cheeks. “They’ll take him to the prison. They won’t kill him, not yet anyway.”

“Will he be okay?” she asked.

I thought about lying but figured it wouldn’t do any good. This was our new reality. There was no coming back from this. “No one escapes the prison once they are sent there.”

“What have I done?” she sobbed further, rocking back on herself.

“This isn’t your fault, Scotlind. He came here tonight knowing the risk. Do not blame yourself for this.”

Her eyes drifted toward the shackles on the ground. “Those are for me?”

I hated this. I hated what was ahead for her. I shook my head. “We can leave right now.” It would make everything ten times more riskier to do it now, but I didn’t care. There was no way I was going to hand her back to the King in chains.

“What?”

“I can get you out of here tonight. We can leave together. I won’t let them hurt you.”

Her eyes flashed as she thought it over. A long moment passed, and then, “I can’t.”

“What? Why not? Scotlind, I don’t think you understand. He will punish you for this. You will forever be his prisoner. I can’t let that happen. I can’t sit by and watch…”

“Tez, he has my friend,” another cry broke from her. “If I leave with you tonight, he’ll kill Peter. I can’t—”

“Scotlind, what he has in store for you will be worse than death.”

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