Page 22 of Claimed By Shadow and Blood
I squeezed his shoulders and let my claws emerge. They cut into the ecru fabric of his tunic, the points pressing deeper with each breath I took. “Arguing would be a very bad choice. Anything other than the vow I require will result in even more pain and suffering. Is that what you want?” My eyebrow twitched upward as I dared him to defy me again.
Thalen watched with his fingers tensed, ready to send more of the wind blades shooting forward.
Deln whimpered and stiffened, his breath shuddering in his chest. Sweat had darkened the collar of his shirt. “I vow it,” he gasped. “I vow it on my life, and to my great…agonizing…suffering, if I do not speak the truth.”
There. It was done. Reluctantly, but binding nonetheless.
His suffering didn’t concern me. My anger and hatred would push me through until Briar was free, and this bastard was as guilty as he was a dead man walking. He had dragged my beloved away and put her in the hands of my enemy, who would no doubt use torture to force her to admit to something she hadn’t done. But first, I would make him acknowledge every scrap of truth. “You are one of the two guards who seized my beloved, are you not?”
He nodded slowly. My shadows curled back closer to me while remaining within his line of sight, a reminder that, beyondthe vow, I would inflict great pain upon him if he crossed me. “Y-yes. I was, but we—” He stopped short.
I gripped his shoulder tighter. “You what? Were you going to tell me you didn’t mean to hurt her? That you didn’t mean any harm? Then you realized it was a lie. You can’t say you didn’t mean her any harm because that isn’t true.”
“He doesn’t give a damn about Briar.” Thalen made the tiny blades dance. Two of the blades became hooks as his magic transformed them. “When I asked him, he called her a scaffing bitch and a copper-haired whore. I overheard him saying that no one would mourn her. Very strong opinions on the future queen. Treasonous opinions.”
With each word Thalen spoke, my blood seared hotter and hotter, thundering in my ears. My shadows flared, and my wings tensed, intensifying the darkness. The need to kill and seek vengeance pulsed within me, and my mind flashed up images of this man dead on the floor with his throat ripped out and his spine snapped. Acid rose in my throat along with the hatred.
“It was—it was—” He strained as the impacts of the vow pressed against him and the lie he debated speaking into existence pained him.
“Why would you call her such things?” I spoke each word with piercing clarity and hoped that the terror was already ripping him apart.
He squirmed in the chair, and the wood squeaked. He couldn’t get any traction with his feet, and his fingers twitched.
“Well?”
He paled even more, his complexion now like parchment paper. A vein in his temple throbbed. “One of the Aureline Councilmembers instructed us to be prepared in case we were summoned, and we were told to stay close. He said that we were to take a prisoner away immediately, no matter what else was said.”
“Who told you this?” I demanded as my claws cut deeper into his skin. Blood blossomed along his shoulders, and he began to stink of fear.
“I—I couldn’t see his face, but he was one of the younger members. He wore gray leather gloves. Maybe sealskin. There was nothing notable about him.”
“Was he in the garden with us?” I didn’t loosen my grip, but I didn’t push my claws deeper either.
“M-maybe? I don’t know. I swear I don’t know.” He winced as if preparing for a blow.
“What about the Shadow Councilmember who was with him?”
“I don’t know him either.” Deln stared up at me with white-rimmed eyes, his pulse thundering in that vein. “I don’t know any of their names. No one ever gave them. The council member just told us to come to the northern entrance of the garden because there would be a situation.”
“When did you receive this instruction?” I demanded.
“Perhaps an hour before midnight. Maybe a little after. I don’t know the exact time.”
“Were you on duty?”
“Preparing to start at the second watch,” His breathing turned labored. “He said that we were to report at the garden’s entrance and be prepared for the signal.” He tensed and leaned in, trying to ease the pressure on his shoulder from my claws and grip. “The signal came through a voidglass coin. Two flashes of light.”
“Was there talk of Briar before this?” I released his shoulder and slowly walked around him again. My shadows branched off, three morphing into sharp spear-like formations and posing themselves at his jugular, the base of his throat, and along that throbbing vein.
His jaw worked. “Y—yes.” Another nervous swallow and tightening of his body spoke as plainly as his words.
I returned to stand before him again and spoke in a low tone. “And what was said of her?”
“I want it to be clear that I didn’t say this—the Aureline Councilmember said that she was a ruinous wretch and that her existence was a blight upon every fae realm, and she had to be removed for the good of all fae."
“Was there ever more than one council member present?” I seethed.
“Not that I saw.”
