Page 68 of Zel
Energy erupted from him with something almost like his hair tendrils, but these golden whips were made of pure sunlight.
The spectral hair tripped Gregor and Sophie before either could take any determined swipes at each other and returned to Lothar as fresh bindings, keeping him on his knees. Zel grabbed his distant dagger with the incandescent hair as well and lurched it back into his hand—his left, since his right still held the dagger pressed into his palm by his parents.
He was marvelous to witness as he stalked toward a shocked Lothar, a true force of nature, even more powerful than Ulrich could have anticipated. He had never felt so proud.
“You menace—”
“That’s right,” Zel said, staring at one of Lothar’s hands that his tendrils of light forced to the floor and yanked outward. Lothar wore several rings, but one in particular Ulrich recognized, for the symbol carved into it matched the bisected circle on his own palm. “I remembered why that symbol looked familiar when I saw Ulrich’s. Long life, is it?”
“Pipers—” Lothar attempted to call out, but Zel leapt forward, brandishing both daggers that he crisscrossed to slice together through Lothar’s wrist, removing his hand. “Noooo!”
The rapid aging was instant, as with any such trinket that was a pale comparison to how Ulrich had become what he was. Zel’s parents remained paused, awaiting their next order, but no order would come.
“Youbitch!” Lothar seethed, having become an old man in his seventies with his silver hair falling out in clumps, a worthy retribution of Zel’s having been cut.
“Actually…” Zel knelt in front of Lothar, who was bound by tendrils to the point of being forced into a subservient bow, “I was born a boy. Raised a girl. And apparently, have grown to surpass both.”
“Pi—”
Zel sliced across Lothar’s throat.
Lothar gurgled blood, but when he was about to go limp, Zel grabbed him by his remaining hair to hold his head upright and watched the light leave his villainous eyes.
“Hush,” Zel said as those eyes dimmed. “We do not mourn our marks. They are already dead.”
Perhaps this was the moment when Ulrich had never felt prouder nor more enamored by his betrothed.
As soon as Lothar was dead, gasps sounded from Zel’s parents. Their collars unlatched on their own, and the pair tore them from their necks before descending upon Zel.
“Sweet child!”
“You were marvelous, Zel! Marvelous!”
They embraced him, one on each side, uncaring of Lothar’s blood nearing them as they knelt. Zel’s sunlight tendrils dissipated, and he had already dropped Lothar’s head, but his daggers clattered to the floor now too, as he surrendered to their embraces and wept.
It was some time before Zel spoke, but even still caged, Ulrich wouldn’t have considered interrupting them. He gave them their moment, finally prying his fingers from the bars so his wounded skin could heal.
“Did you call me Zel?”
Gregor and Sophie laughed.
Then Gregor, who had spoken the name, said, “We read your letter.”
“Right before that bastard collared us,” Sophie added.
“We had heard you correct others, of course, but we assumed you preferred for us to use your full name, or you would have corrected us too.”
“We would have listened,” Sophie affirmed. “Even if we had chosen the name ourselves, your preference always would have trumped ours.”
With more tears threatening to pool in Zel’s eyes, whatever he might have been about to say was cut short by the door bursting open and a dozen or more Thieves Guild members entering. Someone must have noticed the unconscious bodies.
“How do I free Ulrich?” Zel demanded, leaping to his feet.
“Fifth stone up, centered behind the throne,” Sophie said. She and Gregor both stood, freshly drawing their weapons to defend against anyone foolish enough to go after their child.
Zel wasted no time rushing behind the throne to find the stone and pushed it into the wall.Fitting, Ulrich thought, as the two halves of the cage parted to free him. ‘Twas the similar depression of a stone in a wall that had started all this.
Ulrich let his aura pulse from him like a rolling purple mist through the room, and any of the guild members who had seemed twitchy backed up as if fighting the urge to flee.
