Page 5 of Royal Captive
The king studied his nails. “Not that it matters much. Whatdoesmatter is that someone must be punished for the catastrophe. Never have I seen such pathetic games. Many strange, idiotic things were said, and the people are repeating them like parrots. There are riots.”
Cassus’s head hung low. “I beseech you. Please let me see my daughter and my mate before my execution.”
Sweat dripped down my back as though I was the one on trial and not Cassus. I hated Cassus’s guts, but compassion swelled in my veins at the sight of him kneeling in front of his king, pleading to see his newborn daughter’s face before he died.
The king smirked. “Beg.”
My hands curled into fists at my side. Iknewthis guy was an ass. All his talk of ‘guests’ and ‘mistakes’ had been simply that—talk. I wasn’t sure what game he was playing, but I wouldn’t be stupid enough to trust him. The daughter sitting on his armrest smirked. The one standing had a face carved from stone.
Cassus dropped lower onto his belly, face pressed into the cold stone floor. “Please, my most magnificent King Fennis,allow me the honor of seeing my newborn daughter and mate before I endure the punishment so rightly given to me.”
The fae court laughed and snickered, guffawed, and pointed. The sound was sickening, Cassus’s body tensing and tightening as he lay prone on the cold ground, fingertips curling inwards on his palms.
I never thought I’d feel sorry for Cassus, yet here we were, a myriad of conflicting emotions twisting my face. This was the same fae who’d help orchestrate the murders of the royal families—women, children, and even the unborn. Seeing him brought this low should have filled me with glee, or at the very least a sense of justice, yet I was just as horrified as when I had witnessed the murders of Ellis’s family.
All murder is awful. It doesn’t matter who is involved.
Cassus waited with bated breath on the ground, fingertips inches from his king’s boots. Fennis let the tension grow, thick silence falling in a suffocating blanket around the entire court as their laughs faded into uncomfortable silence.
“After a millennium of successful games, you allowed the barrier to fall,” Fennis began. “You alone handled the first ever games without a conclusion, and through your failure, have cut off our access to new humans. These transgressions are unforgivable.”
Cassus shook, but kept himself down on the floor. Even as Ferar boldly raised his head and stared straight at the princess in purple.
“I deny your request,” Fennis intoned, satisfaction dripping from his voice.
A long, keening moan rang out from Cassus as guards moved forward to grab him. Dennis’s hands went to the massive sword at his hip.
Another murder.
“You’re full of shit, Fennis.” Ferar hadn’t shouted, but his voice rang out clearly in the crowded hall, bringing everything (and everyone) to a halt. The princess in purple gripped the back of Fennis’s throne so hard her knuckles turned white.
The king’s eyes narrowed, jaw tightening as his grand bit of theater was interrupted. A moment later his face smoothed out, one eyebrow lifting with a mocking challenge.
“Oh really?” Fennis drawled. “How—”
“Cassus tried to kill the queen in the prophecy many times, but I stopped him. I helped facilitate the human wins and contacted the fae descendants who had foreseen her coming, working together to thwart you. You will not win. Freedom will rise.” Ferar said it all in one breath, his tone matter of fact and his head held high.
The princess sitting on the throne stood in anger, fists balled at her side. Her sister put her hands on her shoulders, clutching onto her sister. Both looked angry.
It was so silent in the court I’d wondered if some magick had frozen time. But then Ferar stood, turning to face the court. “All of you are complicit. I have heard with my own pointed ears what is coming. Blood will run in the streets, and none of you will be safe. Fennis—”
I jerked back, nausea rolling my stomach as the king walked up behind Ferar and severed his head with one clean blow of his sword. It bounced once and rolled, with court members pushing and shoving to get out of its path. Ferar’s golden eyes spun crazily in his head, his mouth wordlessly working as blood spread out in a pool around his severed neck. His body crumpled to the ground.
The two princesses made different sounds; the one a horrified gasp, and the one standing a sound of disbelief as she went white and stoic, like someone in shock.
Fennis grinned nastily, wiping the blade using Cassus’s shoulder.
I turned toward Ellis simply to avert my eyes; he stared at the headless body, face paling out. Cassus choked, drawing my attention back to him. His face was also pale, his lips parted with horror. Silver eyes swam with heavy emotion that took me aback.
“Well, I guess the good news is that I have my execution,” Fennis began again. “And the fae have their justice for a wretched game cycle. Aren’t you lucky?” Fennis waved his arm dismissively to Cassus, a clear invitation to get out of his sight.
Cassus tried to stand, his hands and legs shaking uncontrollably. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Ferar’s corpse.
“Don’t be sad,Cassus. We need you to run the breeding manors, after all. He was just a hunter. There are dozens more like him.” The king sheathed his sword and sat back down on his throne.
My mind whirled. Had anything Ferar said been true, or had he simply been baiting the king into killing him quickly instead of Cassus? It was easy to imagine the fae as nothing but ruthless killers, but the truth was much more intricate. They were people, like us, with relationships who loved and hated all the same. I couldn’t imagine anyone caring for a cold-blooded killer like Cassus, yet clearly, Ferar had.
Which meant Cassus was a good friend. And a father. And a mate.
