Page 13 of Bound in Violet Ink
It truly does seem as if Silas plans to marry her off, one way or another. Rage fills me in ways where, for the first time, Ifeelthe confines of this prison.
I don’t burn this letter. If anything, I keep that scent under my pillow and risk it.
I need it.
Two days pass beforeI write Victoria another letter, a series of events occurring before then that put everything into motion. There are many in here who are waiting to be bought like cattle. What would they do for me if I freed them? And just how many would be willing to cut off Silas’s head while I string up his corpse over his castle’s doors to let them know what happens when anyone evenhintsat coming near my mate?
It’s time to see how they will act.
I can’t help but wonder how much Victoria thinks of me in the absence of a letter, knowing that very soon she will be greeted byme, not the lady’s maid who hands this to her.
When I finish writing her that night and hand it off, Osman comes to me, his usual poise slightly broken as he pants, “There’s a riot.”
Standingin the threshold of the castle, I’m allowed to wear pants today, even if I’m nottraining.
Shouldering my healer’s bag, I’m heading to the Carrows, where an insurrection from a factionnotbelonging to Kane resulted in the duskborn being used to control the crowd. I heard Kane had sat back, watching. Waiting. Observing. Until the entire place broke out in a battleground and he killed over thirty prisoners and even a few duskborn, single-handedly.
A very firm reminder that this isnotan ordinary fae. His unofficial claim as the leader of the entirety of the Unseelie is for a reason. What’s said to have stopped him was a duskborn using a dagger laced with grimroot to subdue him. An option that will result in his fatality if left untreated.
To say I panicked when first hearing this news is an understatement.
Silas struts toward me underneath the heavy clouds that hang low like most days of the week, his judgmental eyes two things I abhor in this world. “You will heal him, and if lucky, return.”
Hesitation binds my tongue until I can’t help but ask, “I know you don’t care for me, but my hand in marriage is something you prize. Why risk my life when you need my beating heart and womb to sell off?” If some aspect of survival wasn’t speaking, I’d be as silent as the clouds that cast their shadows above. But I can’t. This is just too bizarre. He even allowed me my healing pendant, which is currently tucked underneath my tunic as it hangs around my neck.
Usually, it’s locked away in his stupid room where I’m only granted access when necessary.
“You complain endlessly of your marriage proposals,” he remarks, taking a step forward, his hands clasped behind his back, the crowd of his armada giving us space to speak. “If you come back, you may come backcompliant. If you do not wish to obey, then you remain.”
My eyes widen, my nostrils flaring.
I understand now.
“You’re effectively imprisoning me there,” I mutter, my mouth so dry it’s as if I chewed on cotton. “At the Carrows.”
His grin is wicked. “Poor Kane is growing unruly in there, and thought a fight might free him. He willneverleave, and I need him alive to keep the Unseelie controlled. Strip away theirleader, and then I have to figure out who thenextone is before cullinghim. So, go. Heal the man you obsess over so his men can then defile you after—yes, I know you write him. I know you’re probably obsessed because of what he did to Lawrence. It doesn’t mean anything to me. With him in the Carrows, you might as well be writing aghost.
“I’m showing you what prison istrulylike. What a ruthless leaderreallyis. He slaughtered thirty prisoners in there, all because a fight broke out, and he was killing all those associated, like a common beast claiming its territory. So enjoy being nearthatmonster of a creature.” A revolting pleasure floods his gaze. “And if you’re idiotic enough to remain, then there is no hope for you as an ordained wife of a High Lord. I won’t even risk it with Faust, who might just end up killing you before you’re useful. Only you going to him compliant will help me.”
My heart pounds so hard I can hear it in my ears, my head growing dizzy. Glancing down, I try to examine the way Silas’s eyes glint with victory, and that he knew of me writing Kane this entire time. “But Kane,” I question. His name on my tongue is like revealing a secret so tightly guarded I suddenly feel naked. “You want me to healKane. You said you think I’m writing him letters, and now you want me to heal him?”
Gods it’s disgusting how he looks at me, like a starving wolf that’s finally cornered its prey so perfectly, as if I’ll cut my own leg off to feed it to him. “You believe yourself to be such a victim, Victoria. Him scarring Lawrence was not for your benefit, Kane was asserting himself tomycourt, and for whatever reason, he thinks being in the Carrows sends a preferable message. It keeps him out of the world, so I don’t care why he wants to be in there. He’sneverleaving. Hewillbreak you when you’re no longer a benefit to me. And hewillbe healed, either by you or others. I know he’s trying to get to me, through you. And in the same stroke, I show myself as a caring High Lord, even tohis prisoners. Even to theUnseelie. Sending in his own adoptivedaughter. Perhaps it will quell the noise of further insurrection.” He leans in so far his breath is on my ear, and he smells of lemons. I nearly push him away, but the idea of him knowing he got to me is almost worse. “You will come back broken so I can use you without listening to your groveling, and Faust will be grateful to have you so shattered you’ll behappyto see him at your marriage ceremony. I am done with this version of you.”
It tookthe entire ride on horseback down to the docks for me to process the conversation, even as we board the ship that will get us there, seagulls yapping in the air. My hand never quite leaves my healing pendant. It’s so foreign to have it as if I own it.I do own it. It’s literally made with my blood.
What if this all works in Silas’s favor? What if Kanehasbeen using me, and now he gets to mold me? Will he laugh maniacally when he sees what Silas has done? Like I’m the small rabbit that two wolves are toying with? Turn me into a weapon to use against Silas? Or just kill me and get me out of the way?
While making Silas looknoblefor healing his enemies…
Do I still have to heal Kane? I have to, right? Letting him die would leave me to the fate of his men. It was entertaining interacting with him from the safety of written word on paper, but evenIhave heard how brutal it is to be among Kane, and I live in a tower. Now that I see the dark, imposing walls of the Carrows on their own island in the distance, I’m struck withfear.
I sent that man letters with my scent all over them.
Despite the cold winds, my cheeks feel like they’re on fire.
The prison island is larger than I thought, looming over us like a mountain among violent tides, windows carved out of the rock as if the oceans sprouted out a prison. The ship I sail on to reach the island pulls into a carved-out levee, the waters rising until we meet land. It’s all entirely cold and made of the same gray stone, my nose numb in the frigid air. I keep tucking loose strands of black hair behind my ears, although I suppose worrying about my appearance is the least appropriate thing right now.
The monotonous grey of the Carrows is loud against the vibrancy of Silas’s castle.
