Page 58 of Songs of Retribution

I clutched my fingers over his and my voice wobbled. "She won't be nearly as happy if you aren't there to celebrate with us."

A glint crossed his eyes. "I know, mate." He squeezed my arm. "I didn't have a family until I met you lot. I ain't one for sentimental talk much, but it's meant everything to me. Tell Elisa how beautiful she is on the wedding day for me. I'm sure she will be."

My heart ached, and tears reached my eyes, one trailing down my cheek. Elves clattered down the hall and approached the cell. Orman hadn't turned towards them; he kept my gaze, tears swimming across his eyes as well. I gave his fingers another squeeze, and he tightened his grip on my shoulder before releasing me, brushing a thumb under his eyes, and turning towards the bars.

An elf with wrinkles around his gray eyes bowed his head after he opened the cell door. "It does not feel honorable, Orman Kuninkaan, to do this today. I apologize."

"No apologies needed, mate. I'm not afraid to face the consequences of my choices."

Orman raised his wrists, and the elf placed a pair of shackles around them. Another elf stepped around them and towards me. I was so shaken by the previous minutes I struggled to orient myself and find my magic. I took a stumbling step back.

The elf frowned at me. "Don't make this difficult."

A shadow whispered, a haven, far from this moment where Orman willingly walked to his death, where he wouldn't return to see Elisa and I wed, to be a part of our family where he belonged. I dipped into the shadow like a breath. It felt like sitting after spending the day running, dropping into the easiest movement.

The elf gaped and looked around. "What the…"

"What is it, Oiva?"

"The fairy girl. She just… disappeared."

Orman chuckled. "Yeah, she's a slippery one. Plus, she's gettin' married soon. I don't imagine she's wishing to end it all here." I could hear the relief in his voice despite the levity of his words.

The elf searched the cell as if I could hide in that bare space scarcely big enough to lie down in.

"Hopefully," Orman added, his tone turning grave, "she'll take the opportunity to run back home where she belongs."

My sadness shifted, turning back to anger. Saints damn Orman. As if I'd run with my tail between my legs and leave him here for this bullshit execution the council had arranged. He'd never leave me or any of the others in a similar situation. What an asshole. If we made it out of this alive, I was going to chew him out until he took back saying I was the one he wanted to spend his last days with.

I'd wasted so much time trying to talk Orman out of this line of action, I didn't ask for details about the execution. How did they plan to kill him? If it was something quick like a firing squad of archers, I'd have to hurry.

Saints be damned. I wish Luz and Sai and Elisa were here. I wish it wasn't solely my responsibility to figure this out. But it was.

The elf in the cell looked over his shoulder. "Some of us will stay back and search the jails. Escort the prisoner."

The elf holding Orman nodded and walked him down the hall, a few guards following. I waited until the man in the cell moved and slipped past him. I needed to stay in the shadows, and I didn't even know what time it was. There were shadows during the daytime, of course, but less of them. Jessamine had used these powers successfully on a ship during a cloudy day so perhaps I could manage regardless.

When they reached the door and used a key to pull it open, I moved past them like a breath, a breeze ruffling Orman’s sleeve. The elves stalled and Orman kept his face stoic, though his lips twitched. He knew I'd made it out. If he thought I was running, he was an idiot.

Outside it was dark and crystal stars scattered across the sky like jewels spread over a blanket. Almost everything was a shadow, and that made it easy for me to slip through the crowded streets as the guards ushered Orman through them and towards the town’s center.

Someone jerked back and bumped into me, and that's when I learned that my shadow-self had no physical form. I didn't feel the impact, and the elf stumbled right through me. It was a startling sensation but encouraging. I began making a faster pace, grasping for shadows like vines I could swing on from one spot to another.

The guards led Orman to a raised wooden dais in the square’s center. They attached his cuffs to a post and stepped back. Large stones circled around the entire setup.

Another elf stepped forward with a torch and lit a stacked pile of wood beneath the dais. It sparkled for a moment, scarcely catching, then it caught flame, fire roaring across scattered dry hay, making the boards Orman stood on glow.

He stared out resolutely. The council members watched on one side, their faces stern, shadows flickering across them. A few had uncertainty in their eyes, but none moved to stop the action.

My heart raced. Orman was about to be burned alive—for what? For the crime of loving someone who society didn't find fucking acceptable? For her having a father who held clout and could execute him if he willed it?

Orman called this honor.

I called bullshit.

I needed to act fast. My gaze skimmed the crowd, and I located the clumping of guards who'd escorted Orman. The one who'd spoken regretfully looked up at Orman with a pained expression.

I slipped through the crowd easily in my shadow form, and reached the guard, snatching a knife from his side. He turned towards the motion and clapped his hand over the empty sheath. He whirled around, but his eyes searched an innocent crowd.

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