Page 14 of Across an Endless Sea

“Just let me go,” I whisper, biting my lips to stop my teeth from chattering. “Or better yet, take that dagger and slit your own throat.”

I’m surprised by my own vehemence, but Prae isn’t. She turns back around, holding a bundle of fabric.

“Question one,” she begins, ignoring my words. “Other than the time you healed him, did you use your magic on my cousin?”

I open my mouth to tell her no, I did not.

But the words won’t come. I try again, opening my mouth, then closing it in confusion when nothing comes out.

Prae sighs. “You know, watching a fae try to lie is the weirdest damned thing.”

But Ihaven’tused magic on Caed… have I?

“If I did,” I finally choke out. “I never meant to.”

Shit. I shouldn’t have admitted that.

“Can you fly?” she demands. When I hesitate, she tries again, her tone coaxing this time. “Do those wings on your back work? Tell me, and maybe it’ll spare them from being clipped and bound.”

I snap my lips closed and glare at her. She won’t get any more answers from me. At my continued silence, she smiles an evil grin. “Maybe I’ll just hack them off. I do love the noise that fairies make when you rip their wings away… If you do it right, and pack the wounds with iron powder, regenerating them is a real bitch.”

“Why should I tell you anything?” I retort. “You tried tokillmy brother.”

“Aww, still sore about that? Don’t worry, it’s basically tradition at this point for our families to kill one another. After all, your grandparents killed mine.”

“I had nothing to do with that! Neither did Florian. If this war is just a family feud, you’ve killed me once already. Let that be the end of it.”

Prae scoffs, bending down to my level. “I hate to break it to you, but this is a bit deeper than that surface level bullshit.”

I wait, hoping she’ll tell me more, but she doesn’t. Instead, she straightens, becoming an impenetrable fortress once more. The silence soon becomes too much, but I don’t want to be the one to break it. I reach instinctively for my bonds.

Ignoring Caed, I quickly find Bree and Drystan. They’re close, maddeningly so. But I know their presence won’t help me now. Jaro is with Lore, whose bond hasn’t stopped flickering in my chest since I revived. There’s little chance of my redcap coming to rescue me any time soon—though I’m sure he’d have the best chance of managing it.

Prae sighs and folds her arms.

“Can. You. Fly? This is the last time I’ll ask nicely before I get the bone saw out.”

I chew at my lip as I try to fight past the iron and think clearly.

Bree and Drystan saving me is now a distant dream. There are too many Fomorians around me for even them to go up against. If my captivity is going to become a long-term situation, my best chance of escape could be learning to fly. I can’t do that if my wings are bound up in iron, but I might be able to do my exercises and teach myself if they aren’t.

“No,” I spit. “They’re underdeveloped.”

Prae grins. “It’s cruel, really, how little preparation your goddess gave you before chucking you out into the world. There’s almost no glory in trapping a defenceless fairy who can’t even fly.”

She leans back against the dresser, pinning me with her gaze.

“Final question,” she says, throwing the bundle of fabric at me. “Why did you heal my cousin?”

I grimace. “I wish I hadn’t.”

Reluctantly, I gather the leather in my hands and unfold it. It’s a pair of leggings and a loose top that was clearly made for someone far larger than me. Prae unties my wrists just long enough for me to shrug them on but doesn’t move to steady me as I struggle to co-ordinate my weak limbs. Before she can rebind my wrists, I shrug Caed’s coat back on. I hate myself for it, because it makes me feel small, like a possession, but the iron has sucked the warmth from my bones and I need the warmth.

Practicality has to trump pride if I’m going to make it out of this.

“Not an answer,” Prae informs me.

She’s not going to let this go, is she?

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