Page 78 of Marked By the Dark Lord
“What do you make of that, half-breed?” the Lady challenged.
“I don’t know,” I said, just a bit too quickly.
“Yes, I think you do,” she replied, lifting a hand toward me.
Cobalt tendrils sped from her fingertips, wrapping around me like the tentacles of a kraken, lifting me in the air until I hovered in front of her.
The other hand came up, and a single line of blue magic pierced my breastbone. I screamed as the bond mark Korr’ok had implanted there glowed a bright red, revealing itself.
“Yes, I think youdoknow him,” she cackled. “Aurr’av, gather an escort for our wayward foe. This shall be interesting.”
The bond marker burned again, eliciting another ragged scream from my throat.
“Very interesting indeed,” she said with a happy purr as she leaned forward, her eyes burning in their sockets.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Korr’ok
I’d never been to House Mirgave before, but it was about what I would expect. Ostentatious and over the top, with references to the glory won by the house. And it was blue. Blue everywhere.
We’re not so different, are we?I thought, reminded all too clearly about how House Duloke was no different.We just use red instead.
With the two Houses on the brink of open warfare, I took a huge risk by appearing at the border. However, given my prolonged absence from Faerie and my younger brother’s apparent coup, I banked on the Dark Lady’s curiosity to work in my favor.
Killing me would further stabilize her archrival. Letting me live, on the other hand, would provide her with an opportunity to sow discord and perhaps even weaken the House if I chose to go after my brother.
Unfortunately for her, I had no intention whatsoever of doing anything of the sort. I despised Kraw’ok for what he’d done, but Duloke was not my home. Not anymore. I was there for Mila and nothing more.
“She awaits you inside,” said Aurr’av, the Dark Lady’s captain, who bowed respectfully as he pushed open one of the bronze doors, the huge metal panel swinging easily on perfectly balanced hinges.
I strode inside, bracing myself at the sight of Mila, held high in the air by the Dark Lady’s magic.
“Korr’ok!” she shouted, turning mid-air to reveal the red glow of the brand I’d placed within her chest. The Dark Lady’s magic was testing it, causing it to show itself.
That couldn’t feel good. Mila had to be in a lot of pain.
“Enough!” I barked, surprising myself with the break in protocol. “Put her down.”
“Who are you,” the Dark Lady hissed, azure flames exploding from the fires to either side of her ominous throne. “to come into my hall, intomyhome, and make demands ofme!”
I glared at her, knowing my eyes would be blazing as bright a red as hers did with blue. My magic shunted aside hers as I marched down the blue carpet toward the two women, doing my best to ensure I didn’t burn footprints behind me out of spite. It was tempting, however. The arrogance of the Fae had never sat well with me.
The Dark Lady was powerful beyond doubt, but I was the scion of an equally powerful family, and she would not intimidate me. My powers might not bequiteequal to hers, but they were more than enough to ensure she didn’t want to risk getting into a knockdown fight with me.
After all, if shelost, I would become ruler of House Mirgave. I was pretty certain the faction would implode at the idea of a Duloke being in charge. It was so tempting that I almost wanted to try to see it. Almost.
“You know who I am,” I replied instead. “I am Korr’ok, eldest surviving son of Char’ok, and I am here to bargain. But only if you put her down.”
I shouldn’t have cared so much about Mila. She was a liar and no longer meant anything to me besides being my prisoner. Thus, her pain shouldn’t have mattered. But it did. I was furious beyond measure at the sight of her trapped in the air, the Dark Lady’s magic inflicting pain on her with every passing second.
“This one is the half-breed offspring of a traitor,” the Dark Lady said, Mila not moving from where she hovered in the air to my right. “Tell me why I shouldn’t finish the job before she tries to do as her father did?”
Half breed?I tried to smother my surprise. That was new information.
“Because she is my charge,” I said, pointing at her breastbone. “You can see the mark I have made. I haveclaimedher, Lallandri’av. If you kill her now, I will have to take issue with that.”
The air hung heavy before us. It was exceedingly rare that a lord or lady of a Fae House was ever challenged. That was, essentially, what I’d just done. I didn’t want to fight her. But if she killed Mila, then I would. Protocol demanded it.
