Page 94 of Ocean of Silver

She continued sobbing, her mind made up, as she held her hands up for me to chain.

* * *

A week had passed,and I hadn’t seen her since that night. It was killing me, not knowing the state she was in, if she was okay. I cursed myself for listening to her, for allowing her to talk me into returning to Lux. I should have taken her away that night. Damn her Tennebrisian friend. I knew by agreeing that it would make my job harder. I knew the King would keep her locked up, but I hadn’t anticipated this. I thought I would have been able to find her by now, that I’d know where she was, and that the only challenging task would be getting her out. I thought I could use my senses to track her down, but everything was blocked. There was no trace of her throughout the entire damn castle. I narrowed in on her friend and knew he was alive, but I was going crazy not knowing where she was being kept.

I checked the entire dungeons at least twice a day, even the restricted section, and still, I never found where the King was keeping her. Every free moment I had, I used to look for her. And now, tonight, the Lux King requested a mandatoryfamilydinner. It was bullshit. We didn’t dine together, not unless he was hosting someone he wanted to either impress or intimidate. Whether I liked it or not, he made sure that his three children were feared throughout Lux, another power play he liked to flaunt.

I was pissed that my nightly check would have to wait. The thought of sitting down and dining with him while Scottie was suffering made me sick. But I knew if I refused, if I didn’t show up for dinner, I’d be punished, and as much as the thought crossed my mind, I wouldn’t be strong enough to help her then.

I halted at the door when I made it to the dining hall. “Welcome, Tezya. I’m glad you could join us,” the King smiled. He took a sip from a goblet of red liquid that I knew wasn’t wine. But my eyes flung to Scotlind. She was here, standing behind him, chained to the floor. A piece of tan fabric stretched across her breasts, leaving her entire abdomen exposed. Two slits of the same matching material were tied together at her waist, leaving her full legs on display.

“Do you like my newpet?” he grinned as he took another long sip of the thick liquid. I scanned her face, searching for any signs of injury, searching for any indication that she was okay. But her eyes never met mine. “Well, don’t just stand there. Sit down. The food is going to get cold.”

I didn’t move—couldn’t move. I could barely breathe as I took her in. I just kept staring and staring at Scotlind. Something was wrong, horribly wrong. I felt it deep in my bones. Her posture, the way she was pointedly ignoring me. Her emotions were radiating toward me now and mixing with mine, and I realized he must have kept Alluse on her until this moment to prevent me from finding her. Her pain flooded into me now, with bits of fear and frustration intertwined. I could feel her fighting against something. I just couldn’t figure out what.

“Don’t worry, she won’t disrupt our dinner,” the King mused as he noted where my eyes had drifted. He took another long sip from his drink. “She has been compelled not to look or speak to you. I do enjoy having that Tennebrisian boy around. If only compulsion was a Luxian trait. It’s marvelous.”

My fists clenched at my sides. They fucking compelled her to not look or talk to me. Rage surged through me. Dovelyn and Arcane were already seated. Dove was chewing her food pointedly, trying to remain calm. I forced my feet to move, to walk toward the table and sit down.

“Did you only call a family dinner to flaunt her in front of Tezya?” Dove asked coolly after she swallowed her bite of food.

“No, daughter. That’s just an added bonus. I called a dinner to update you on the happenings at Tennebris.” Scottie’s chest rose slightly, but her eyes were still fixated and glued to the floor. “Sie has been sentenced to life in the prison, and Synder has officially accepted the role of King,permanently.”

“That is only for the next ten years, you mean,” Arcane spoke. “Since they have a King’s Tournament every decade.”

“Wrong. The first law he passed since becoming King is abolishing that stupid Tournament. Tennebris will now mimic Lux. They will rule by bloodlines just as we do here.” He paused and turned slightly so that he could gaze up at Scottie. “They also eliminated everyone in their guard that isn’t a four or five. The fact that they used to have two and three’s serving is astronomical.” I tensed, realizing that he didn’t mean that they were dismissed. They were most likely all murdered. Fuck. This was so much worse than I thought.

No one spoke after that. No one dared. My siblings knew not to piss him off.

The King threw his knife down on the table when he finished his meat. The sound clattered and echoed across the dining room. “I’m done eating. Arcane, take her back tonight. I expect updates on your work soon.”

My brother nodded his head as the King rose from his chair. “Goodnight,pet,” he crooned as he stroked her cheek. My fists clenched at my sides. I tried to take steady breaths as I was forced to watch her flinch. Repulsion came to the center of her emotions, but she didn’t respond. She couldn’t say or do anything as he touched her.

Arcane stood as soon as the King left, none of us really wanting to eat this dinner. “Let’s go,” he ordered her.

“You aren’t taking her anywhere,” I seethed, knowing full well the kind of work Arcane dabbled in. He loved mortal practices and liked to mix our abilities with their synthetic magic, orscience, as he called it.

Dovelyn stopped eating. “Tez, he doesn’t have a choice.”

“I know what kind of shit you do, Arcane. You aren’t running any experiments on her.”

Arcane cleared his throat. “They are harmless. He just wants to know if her blood can be manipulated in the same way I can make Alluse objects. If I can perfect it, someone would just have to wear it and their abilities could be enhanced.”

“I saidno.”

Dove rose from her seat. “Tezya, what is the alternative? If Arcane doesn’t succeed, this will be her life.” She pointed to Scottie from across the table. “She’ll be in chains following the King around like a puppet. Drinking her blood does nothing to his abilities, at least not in the way he seeks, so he will force her to use enhancement on him if Arcane doesn’t figure this out. How is that any better?”

My gaze snapped to Scottie as I assessed her. She looked exhausted, similar to how I found her when I first started her training.

“And if he does figure it out, he will drain every fucking drop of blood she has. I’m not allowing it.”

I saw Scottie wince at my tone, but she was still looking at the damn floor. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t stand to finally be near her, and she couldn’t even look at me. I had gone crazy all week searching for her, feeling like my heart was being ripped out of my chest every time I never saw those sapphire eyes. “Scotlind,” I breathed. A tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek. Her head bobbed like she wanted to meet my gaze, but she couldn’t.

I couldn’t take it any longer. I turned to my sister. “Dovelyn, it’s happening now. Get Kallon.”

Dove’s silver eyes flared. “We can’t. Brock isn’t ready. He isn’t healed yet. We still don’t even know where he is.”

“Then only her and I will go. Meet us when he is ready. If you stay, you can gather more information to help.”

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