Page 22 of A Crown of Darkness

But the only thing he managed to say was her name, before the guards swarmed over him once more and, this time, they beat him to unconsciousness.

CHAPTER 12

FINN

The shackles bit into his wrists and the chains weighed him down. Finn knelt on the dank floor of the cell because he no longer had the strength to stand. Nor the will.

Wren had chosen the sisterhood. She had chosen the Nox.

And, in truth, he hardly blamed her. He had no idea what Leander had done to her, all the things he might have put her through, all while wearing Finn’s face. The thought churned his stomach and tormented him. It was far worse than any agonies the torturers of Sidonia or Pelias could inflict on him.

No wonder she had chosen the sanctuary offered by the sisterhood. It was the easiest escape. From everything.

He might have been able to fight their way out. He had to believe that. But it would have been a slim chance. He had already failed her in every way possible. He’d betrayed her, placing that bracelet on her arm. True, it had been intended to save her, to keep her from being lost to the Nox, and then he had brought her to Sidonia against her will. Or tried to. He couldn’t even protect her from Leander when he had finally followed them here.

Who was he kidding? The royal guards would have slaughtered him before they reached the doors to the throne room. Just as they believed he had slaughtered his father.

Perhaps it was better this way. Finn could die in the darkness and join her in another life somehow. Wait for her beyond the veil.

There was no way out of this for him, not now.

He was going to die here, in the dark, beneath Sidonia. That had always been his fate, no matter what he might have hoped, no matter what dreams of salvation had been dangled in front of him for most of his life. All lies, as it turned out. Fate had a way of ensuring what was written would come to pass. It was only a matter of when and how.

Leander had managed to turn the whole court against him. Hardly a great feat, but he might have hoped for some sympathy once upon a time. Not anymore. He’d been parading around here in Finn’s body, doing whatever he wanted, tormenting Wren and finally murdering their father. There was nothing Finn could do now to clear his name. Nothing.

He didn’t even have a hope that Wren would forgive him. She might realise the truth, he prayed for that much. But he knew how trauma lingered.

And whenever she saw his face now…

He could tell that much just from her expression when she chose the protection of the Sisterhood of the Nox over him.

‘This is a sorry state of affairs, your highness,’ said a voice from beyond his cell. He lifted his head and tried to make out who had spoken. On the far side of the bars, he saw General Gaius. Just the general alone.

Finn let out a long breath. ‘Is Hestia alive?’ he asked. That had to be the first question. Hestia had drained herself of magic to bring him here. And even if everything had gone wrong after that, he owed her.

‘Hestia? I thought you would be asking about the princess. Or your brother, perhaps.’

‘What happened?’

‘After you were…removed from the throne room, the sisterhood departed with the princess, and Lady Rayden. And the boy. The late king’s body is being prepared for his funeral. King Leander was overcome by his injuries sustained in Pelias, but is stable now. We have him safely in the hands of the finest healers.’ He was carefully skirting around something, Finn realised.

‘There isn’t going to be a trial, is there?’ Finn asked.

Gaius shook his head. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any need, does there?’

‘It wasn’t me.’

‘And yet we all have the evidence of our eyes. Your behaviour has been erratic of late. Everyone can attest to that.’

‘Hestia will tell you?—’

‘Lady Rayden is unconscious. Her magic drained her and whatever spell she performed to bring the new king back to us, well…I’m not sure she will recover.’

He said that last part so quietly that Finn almost missed something in the tone. He cared about her. Deeply.

‘I’m sorry for that. She…she’s always been there for me.’

‘Not this time. And for that, I too am sorry, Prince Finnian.’

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