Page 81 of Royal Captive
I jumped and the ball slipped from my hands, but I caught it before it hit the ground.
Hayida waved at me coyly from just beyond my square. “See? I knew you weren’t stupid. Why go through all the trouble to prove you’re clever only to drop the ball now?”
He spoke in riddles and double meanings.
I hated it and hated him. I hated how flippant he was. I hated how his magick seemed unaffected by the cuffs, and I hated how I suspected he kept himself here. But most of all, I hated how Eve trusted him.
It would be so satisfying when I turned him into Fennis.
Hayida gave me a nod of approval. “Now, if you used that look on them, we might get somewhere.” He paused then asked, “Who are you angry with?”
My head snapped up, but Hayida wasn’t talking to me. His question was directed at the other fae in my block, who all refused to look Hayida in the eye.
“Fine,” Hayida sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Compete in your silly games, pit yourselves against each other and lose sight of the true enemy. It’s worked for hundreds of years, why stop now?”
I turned to ask Hayida what he meant, but the older fae was already halfway across the yard. Why was he able to come and go as he pleased as a prisoner? Why didn’t he have to participate in this facade of exercises?
My teammates’ expressions had faded from murderous to grumpy, but I’d take it. We stayed like that for what felt like hours, but was probably only twenty minutes or so until the guard’s voice echoed over the yard.
“Game play is concluded. You may have an hour of leisure time before chores.”
The squares with their white lines dissolved around us, including the ball in my hands. It turned to sand and slipped through my fingers, only to blow away in the wind.
The blue-haired female shouldered past me hard, almost knocking me off my feet. “Hayida has taken a liking to you. Don’t think that will last long. It never does.”
She and the rest of my ‘team’ pushed past me, regrouping with the others in their small posse. Glancing around, it became obvious that everyone here had a group of some sort, whether it was fae, human, or otherwise.
Everyone had someone except for Eve and me. And Hayida.
I was no closer to getting out of here with Eve than I’d been before. Hayida was a troublemaker who was far too powerful, but he was already in prison. What would I gain from turning him into Fennis? Nothing. I needed more people and morenames. I needed to get closer to Hayida and get him to spill information that I could use to bargain for our release.
I collapsed onto a picnic table in the middle of the yard.
“Little halfling. One foot in each world, plagued with visions of the beyond, yet still unable to see what’s in front of him.”
This time I didn’t so much as flinch. “Go away, Hayida, if you’re going to be cryptic.”
His mocking grin faded. “You want direct? Very well. Fennis isn’t your ticket out. He never was and never will be. Idiot that he is.” Hayida’s glance raked up and down my form. “Maybe youaretruly related to him. I would know, after all.”
My suspicions turned into full blown paranoia. “What is Fennis to you?”
Hayida’s trickster facade faded into a harsh, cold mask. I resisted the urge to step away at the hard fury coming off him.
“Fennis is my greatest regret. I should have killed him in his cradle and saved all of us the bother.”
I blinked at the startling revelation, and pushed past it. I’d marvel over what he’d just revealed later, when I was alone in my cell. Right now, I needed answers.
“You’re powerful,” I complained. “Why don’t you do something? Is your magick too weak from siphoning the guards’ staffs?” I asked, desperate to get as much information as I could while he was in the mood to be serious.
Eyes colder than the fae world’s morning air met mine. “I stay in the hopes of helping correct what I unknowingly created. That when the time comes, I will serve a greater purpose that benefits all.”
His stare was unnerving, and voices exploded in my head.
“Mad queen—”
“Mad king—”
“Fire and damnation—”
