Page 108 of Royal Captive
“Why did you lie?” I asked.
Feyanna sniffed. “Why does anyone lie? The fae court is surrounded by lies. I keep my cards and skills close to my chest to stay out of my father’s notice.”
“So you’re saying you played the role of the dumb sister on purpose?” Eve questioned, her voice sharp.
Feyanna rolled her eyes and turned away toward the mountain.
“Can you climb that?” I asked Feyanna dubiously, brows furrowing. Confused, her gaze went to the peak of the cragged rocks and then back to me.
“It is hollow. There is a catacomb of sorts, and stairs. How would we ever bring the new slaves in and structure the games if we couldn’t get up?” She trailed off, possibly realizing how crass and unfeeling her tone was.
My hands balled into fists at my side. I could feel sympathy for Feyanna all I wanted, and even forget we were on oppositesides of this conflict of fae and man, despite my half-blood status. But mentioning death games and rampant slavery with such a casual air made it all come crashing back down. This was a game for her and her society, mere entertainment.
We were not the same.
My anger dissolved as quickly as it took for Eve’s hand to slip into mine, drawing my attention to a dark hollow at the base of the cave. A small square of red fabric stuck out, an oddity among the black and gray rocks.
“I think it’s hollow. Perhaps there’s a way up from the inside?” she asked.
This damn language barrier between Feyanna and Eve guaranteed me to have every conversation twice between the two of them. I swallowed my frustrations.
“Yes, it appears so,” I grit out instead, my patience waning.
Eve squeezed my hand hard, but her gaze was on the mountain. I knew that squeeze intimately. She was wary and not of the mountain.
I gave Feyanna my most disarming smile. “Why don’t you lead then, since you are much more familiar with all of this than I am?”
Her lips thinned but that was the only outside sign of displeasure she made, quickly turning so that her torn, borrowed cloak fluttered around her ankles.
I returned the squeeze to Eve’s hand and followed as Feyanna disappeared into the black crack in the mountain’s side.
“I don’t trust her. She—”
“I know,” I whispered back to Eve. “Something isn’t right. I feel it, too.”
But we had no choice, did we? Besides, what could one princess do against the two of us? I felt confident that between Eve and I, we could handle Feyanna.
Into the darkness we went.
I was glad I had Eve’s hand. The darkness was absolute, but strangely, it was warmer under the mountain than it was outside. Feyanna’s footsteps echoed loudly ahead of us, the only reason I didn’t call out for her to wait for us.
Though there were other sounds, too..
A mild background humming thrummed all around us. It was as if the very mountain itself were alive and buzzing. Scuffling and muffled thumps echoed all around me, but I tried to block it out and focus on Feyanna’s boots hitting the hard rock.
Whispers erupted in my head, moving outward and around with a maddening dizziness that left me unable to tell if they were real or not.
The queen approaches. The one who will burn it down. The one who will break it all.
I’d heard these voices before.
Normally, they only appeared in the dreams that haunted my sleep, the same dreams that had driven my obsession and addiction to drinking. I’d thought myself crazy until Viana had admitted to hearing the same voices in the dark quiet of her own room at night.
I stopped, Eve’s grip on my hand the only thing tethering me to reality. “Ellis. What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t know. I’d already let slip too much. If she thought me mad, would she desert me entirely? Would she go home without me? She could rule the Northern Realm without me. I was still angry and hurt that she betrayed us, but she wasa strong ruler. No one needed a mad king. No one needed a pathetic, addicted drunkard as a husband.
Let alone a father.
