Page 1 of Unseen Lord

Chapter 1

Iris

This isn'twhat it looks like. I swear. You see, though I may be shackled to a cave wall that makes the Black Lotus prison look like a five star resort, and yes, though my blood might be used to annihilate all of humanity by giving vampires free reign over all the worlds, I am in complete control. Utter domination. You get the picture. So, don't worry. All children and sensitive souls may read on.

But what's the plan, Iris, you might be asking.

That's an excellent question. The first part of my plan is to wrap my head around the total plot twist I was just thrown by my childhood hero. I’m the Unseen Lord?

Mind = blown.

I'm also trying to wrap my head around the fact that said childhood hero is sitting right in front of me, shackled just as I am, and in need of a serious bath.

I'll tell you this… when you go to sleep at night hoping and praying to all the gods that may or may not give a shit that you'll get to meet your hero someday, be more specific than I was.

Cuz this ain't how I imagined meeting the great Arianna Spero, Midnight Star of Avakiri, High Queen of Inferna. I saw this going down verrrry differently. So remember: details matter.

But here we are. There's no avoiding that. Unless someone's got a time machine they could lend me for a quick sec?

No?

Alrighty then…

That's unfortunate. Because the next part of my plan is to bury the pain of seeing Elias die. I'm gonna bury that shit until it grows into a mother effing Rage Tree. And that tree is going to tear Arias to pieces and suck his marrow as a snack.

You know, as soon as I figure out how to get out of here.

Minor details.

The final part of my plan is basically to escape, free the queen and find Aya… yada yada yada. You get the idea. Easy peasy. No problemo.

"I have so many questions," I say to my cell mate.

She nods, her listless knotty hair flopping in her face. Girl's gonna need some seriously deep conditioning when she's outta here.

"I wish I had more answers," Ari says.

I can see in her eyes that her heart is broken. Her son is dead. Killed by her other son, whom she thought was dead for most of his life. Her kingdom is in ruins. Her legacy collapsing. And I was her last hope.

Good job, Iris. You really nailed this one.

"I'm getting us out of here," I declare with a confidence I'm totally not faking. Not even a little.

"I believe you," the queen says, and she almost sounds like she means it. That's good. We can work with almost.

"How did you end up here? And where's the king?" In the stories, King Fenris never leaves the queen's side. They are inseparable.

"I received a message, inviting me to a meeting to learn more about my son. About Arias," she says, her voice cracking. Likely she hasn't done a lot of talking lately. Except in my head, but I don't think that exercised the vocal chords much.

"Let me guess, it was a trap."

She nods. "I was arrogant. I became too used to my power and couldn't imagine someone could strip me of it so easily. Even my Spirit dragon, Yami, was captured and imprisoned, though I don't know where."

"Shit. He captured youandyour dragon? How?"

"I let my guard down. When I saw him, all I could think about was the fact that my son, my baby, was alive. He used a powerful binding spell on me and entrapped us both with trimantium. When I woke, I was here. I don't know what happened to Fen. I just hope he's okay."

I hope so too, for everyone's sake. “So, what do you figure the rider wants with me, the oh-so-evil Unseen Lord?”

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