Page 91 of Untamed

My fists and upper lip curled in frustration at our need for silence and the mystery of the flower.

Zichri’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. She was so insistent in a way I had never seen in her. If we didn’t fear for our lives, I would have demanded why.

I reached for a flower in Zichri’s palm, and she jerked my hand away again. Was she trying to kill Zichri or me? I knewZichri trusted her and so did Cosme, but this strange behavior made me question why they had so much faith in a girl entangled with so many kingdom loyalties.

Zichri hesitantly brought the flowers to his mouth and chewed them. Minerva glowed with anticipation showing in the upturn of her mouth and the expectation in her gaze. What was supposed to happen? His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. But nothing changed.

He lifted his shoulders and flipped over his palms in question, but Minerva tapped her finger over her mouth again to shush us. She crept along the hedge toward the building with a vigor that hadn’t been there when we’d reached the field.

We continued toward the building and squatted along the wall once we arrived. The door to a servants’ entrance enticed us to peek inside. Nerves bundled in my stomach at the thought of blindly plunging into the enemy’s lair. I released my powers, forming instant connections that strung me to every person in close proximity. Anxiety vibrated from Zichri and Minerva. A third line connected with someone behind the door.

I signaled for Minerva and Zichri to hide, but the door whipped open a second later. A giant man in a rough spun tunic and simple trousers peered down at me with an icy glare. Minerva reached for me, but the man lifted me by my arm, blocking Minerva from whisking me away.

His grip dug into the tender skin of my upper arm. I bit back a grunt. The connection between us grew stronger as information danced like the colloquial quick steps done by commoners.

Pouring fear through my fingertip, I pushed the sentiment like a storm through the three connections to scare away my friends from exposing themselves and to loosen the grip of the bulky man holding me. But the man whistled with one sharp note into the field and toted me into the castle.

The dim corridor swallowed me in one swift gulp. I whipped my head toward the open door.

Ancient One, please let them get away. This was my idea. Truth be told, I had hoped to find Laude and Jaime onLa Laviawhere we could swipe them from the deck and disappear into the horizon. What was I thinking?

The gap of light in the open doorway shrunk, but the lines connecting me with Zichri and Minerva did not break. Instead, a hand gripped the edge of the door, and a group of guards lugged my friends in behind me. Why wasn’t Zichri fighting? Why wasn’t Minerva whisking us to safety? Part of me already knew we couldn’t waste her energy, and we couldn’t slash our way out without Jaime and Laude.

Through a maze of passages, I tripped over myself and was held up by the arm. A bruise surely would form in the shape of sausage-like fingers.

Windows poured sunshine onto more polished stone and paintings of the flowers we’d seen outside. The lovely white flowers were sprinkled across the canvasses as if they were lead performers in the theater. So many questions clogged my mind and sent my heart into a panicked frenzy. I was supposed to be a tamer, yet I couldn’t even calm my own wild emotions.

The giant lugging me pushed open a polished door into a solarium with walls of windows overlooking the fields of fragrant flowers. Elegant couches and armchairs curled around the edges of the room, and small tables filled the gaps. At the one end, an older man with a slender face and a long black beard streaked with gray stood from his seat with a polished pewter mug in hand.

A blushing Laude sipped tea beside him in a radiant floral gown that made her appear like a porcelain doll with perfect ringlets. This whole trip I’d imagined a person with rope strangling her wrists and a sword at her heels.

Instead, she had the audacity to smile at me, cheeks bubbly and posture impeccable. By the Ancient One, I’d risked my betrothal and life for her.

Did she also betray me like Lux had? Laude mouthed the wordsorrywhich left me even more disoriented.

Whyzer Patro chuckled under his breath, a raspy sound. “I suppose our dear Minerva facilitated an escape?”

Minerva shrunk into herself even as one of her captors held her upright.

“And pray tell me, is this Prince Hugo’s younger, stupid brother?” Whyzer Patro’s voice dripped with pure acid.

“You forgot to add dashing.” The challenge in Zichri’s broad shoulders stole any playfulness from his statement.

I bit the inside of my cheek and allowed my energy to flow. The immense sunlight pouring through the windows hid the glow of my gifting in use along the markings.

“Whyzer Patro?” Laude’s shrill voice drew all our attention. She gulped and avoided making eye contact with me.

The curl of the whyzer’s lips was anything but pleasant. He motioned to the doors, setting the other men in motion. “To the dungeon. Our queen lacks the willpower to face her old companions.”

My fists curled. Blood boiled in my stomach. Most of all, I wanted to scream and then cry. I thought Laude was loyal.

Chapter 39

Laude

I have never wantedto leap off a couch and wrap Beatriz in a hug more than now. A look of pure betrayal crept into Beatriz’s rounded eyes and her petite nose flared. Her lips scrunched tight, and her fists balled tighter. I thought she might take those invisible talons and slash me to pieces.

How I wished to release more than a whisper of fire from my fingertip. If I could, I’d tell Beatriz that I haven’t been able to get the poison into Whyzer Patro’s wine and that he had me change dresses and kept me close. He hadn’t used the branding on my shoulder, and I kept praying he wouldn’t bother me. I’d tell her to find Jaime and get Minerva to teleport them all away where Whyzer Patro couldn’t use him, or any of them, against me.

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