Page 42 of Claimed By Shadow and Blood
Selvan lay where my shadow had yanked him down, still wrapped in the tendril.
My hands remained at Briar’s mouth and throat. “Let him loose, Thalen. I’ll handle both of them.”
Obeying, Thalen released Oathfeln and moved to stand by the wall behind me. My shadows immediately bound Oathfeln’s wrists, and the air chilled further. My shadows dragged both men to the opposite side of the room, their boots scraping the floor. Thalen snagged Selvan’s dagger, and I tightened the shadows so hard that Oathfeln's dagger dropped from his hand and clattered out of reach.
Briar whimpered beneath my hand and jerked her head sideways as if my grip was hurting her. Smart. She was playing along, though it required little acting—her face was already streaked with tears, grime, and blood, and her body trembled from cold and exhaustion. I kept her pressed firmly to the wall, letting my weight pin her while my shadows cushioned her. For show, I flexed my hand on Briar’s throat and gave a mock squeeze.
Both guards struck the far wall and crashed to their knees with wet groans, shadows binding their arms and yanking their chins up. The shadows constricted especially hard around Oathfeln, twisting around his throat and forcing him to arch so much that his entire body would snap if I willed it. He shuddered as my shadows squeezed his windpipe tight enough that he couldn't even croak. Selvan’s veins bulged, and his lips strained in a silent scream.
"Did you truly think rushing into a room in which the Shadow prince is executing his judgment and attacking him was wise?" I asked in a cold, flat tone. More shadow tendrils flared up in the inky darkness, my shadows covering almost the entirety of the floor now, ensuring anyone who entered would be vulnerable to them.
“What is all this commotion—” Colm appeared in the doorway with his hands already pressed palm to palm and claw tip to claw tip. He scanned the room, his eyes widening briefly as he took in the scene. When he saw his guards kneeling on the slick stone floor, bound with shadows, his nostrils flared, and his jaw tightened. He did not step far enough into the room to cross my shadows but instead remained just beneath the stone archway.
“Were you eavesdropping on us when I explicitly said not to?” I lifted my chin and sneered.
“They shouldn’t have been.” Colm grimaced. “I was tending to other matters.”
“Then your training of your men leaves much to be desired.” I spoke slowly, ensuring he understood each word. “Are you in the habit of permitting such flagrant abuses and violations? This may well be considered an act of war.” I could treat it as such, but offering that little bit of room for negotiation meant I could set the rest of my plan into motion.
Thalen scoffed. “Apparently so. Imagine the scandal if they had succeeded. Another death. Another assassination. One might think the harsh treatment of Briar is a ruse to cover up the fact that you were involved in the king’s assassination too.” He remained still, though I knew he was prepared if things went poorly. His circle of silence had vanished as well, disappearing into the natural muting and chill of my shadows.
Colm’s expression soured, and he bowed his head. “Not at all. Not at all, Your Highness.” These guards had shamed him—unless they could offer some good excuse for attacking me, and there was none. “I am certain they thought they had good cause, though it is likely that this is a misunderstanding.”
“Let them defend themselves then.” I loosed Selvan, and he collapsed and clutched at his throat.
I kept Oathfeln pinned, ensuring that the chill of my shadows intensified and that his position was as excruciatingly uncomfortable as possible. “Speak,” I growled.
Colm nodded, but his posture remained tense. His lack of confidence confirmed that he had not ordered them to enter, and the nervous energy in his manner broke through his typical calm.
Selvan struggled to his knees, his leather trousers creaking. He pointed at Oathfeln. “He said the prince is still in love with her.”
“In love with her?” I barked. For good measure, I intensified the shadows around Briar as well as Selvan and Oathfeln, and she gave a muffled cry while they grunted and cried out. Making sure the shadows beneath her skirt still held up her legs, I wrapped more shadows around her throat and pretended to choke her.
I made no such pretense with the guards. “You are suggesting that I am in love with the assassin who murdered my father and king?”
“Oathfeln saw...” Selvan whimpered. His hand continued to work at his throat.
Oathfeln grimaced as he fought for breath. “You—you weren’t torturing her. You were leaning against her and caressing her…with your shadows.”
“You think this looks like affection?” I tightened my shadows on him. A surge of nausea passed through me, and my head spun, warning signs of my powers starting to strain.
I’d been using too much magic, and it was already weakening. The fact that I was not in Shadow territory made my energy drain all the faster.
I needed to wrap this up without giving any sign of weakness. The tension in Oathfeln’s arms and shoulders had to be nearing their breaking point. “You think my shadows are warm and cuddly? Do you feelsafeandlovedin them?” I sneered these last words, and Briar offered a muffled protest.
Colm’s lips pressed into a tight line. “Do you have any other evidence?” He hadn’t asked me to release Oathfeln, and he had stepped back a whole pace, as if that would keep him from my shadow’s grasp if I decided to restrain him. His jaw was clenched so tight I marveled I didn’t hear his teeth cracking.
I’d make sure I heard it when I killed him.
All in due time.
Oathfeln turned his white-rimmed eyes toward Colm and pleaded, “I know he loves her. I—swear?—”
His lack of impulse control was to my benefit. I cut my eyes at Colm. “You expect me to accept this wretch’s interpretation of my interrogation and permit him to stab me in the back while I am your guest? Not only your guest, but the heir apparent of the Shadow King himself.”
Composure fracturing, Colm pressed his hands tighter together. “There is no excuse, Your Highness. This matter will be handled appropriately. I give you my word.”
I lifted a hand. “Your guard has shown himself untrustworthy twice. Under fae law, his life is forfeit...or do you have another interpretation? Your High Council is arriving soon to speak with me on the matter of my father’s assassination. I’m sure they’ll be deeply concerned to hear that there was an attack upon the heir apparent.”
