Ember (22 page)

“No, I just didn’t want to add any more complications. Declan was already on high alert, and I knew if I told you guys, it would just cause more problems. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal at the time. I told Evan. I thought maybe he’d handle it.” Even if I told him not to. “There were other more important issues to take care of at the time.”

Kai opened his mouth like he wanted to tear me limb from limb, but he thought better of it and shut his mouth, shaking his head with a clenched jaw. “I’m going to pretend you never said anything because if Declan ever finds out you kept that from him, he just might kill you himself.”

I nodded, knowing he was probably right.

“I’m not going to let you go down there alone,” he insisted.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, but I doubt either of them will want to talk to me with you lurking around.”

He closed his eyes and breathed through his nose. He was silent as he tried to calm himself. I thought about speaking up, but the look on his face was enough to keep me quiet.

“Fine,” he conceded.

Kai guided us down into the basement of the castle, through a long, dark corridor. It was so unlike everything else in Faylinn. There was hardly any green and definitely no color. The walls were stone and lined with cells secured by thick wooden doors. At the end of the corridor were two cells side by side. The top half of the doors had windows cut out. Where bars would normally be, teeth the size of a wooly mammoth replaced them.

“Tag and Jaryn are in the ones on the end,” Kai said. “Tag is on the left. Jaryn is on the right.”

Before I proceeded down the corridor, I asked, “Are they the only ones down here?”

He nodded. “We haven’t had a need for the cells since before Favner. Either they were put to death or disappeared.”

A shiver ran down my spine. “You can wait here. I’ll be fine.”

Kai looked at me disapprovingly, but agreed and walked until he was hidden in the rock stairwell.

Straightening my shoulders, I took a deep breath. I’ve got this. I marched down the dirt floors with a false confidence. I wouldn’t show them weakness. Once I reached the end, I peered into Jaryn’s cell first. Jaryn lounged on a makeshift straw bed overlaid with a thin brown blanket. His hands locked behind his head, his ankles crossed. He peered up at me as I watched him through the mammoth teeth and smirked. The mischief in his eyes churned my stomach. I decided then that I would talk to him as a last resort. Getting information out of him was going to require my Supremacy.

When I looked inside at Tag he sat on the straw bed against the stone wall with his knees pulled to his chest. He peered at me with vulnerability, but was attempting to remain composed and doing a poor job of it.

“These cells are smaller than I imagined,” I began. “You can’t be comfortable. It’s what … a seven-by-seven cell?”

He glared at me, but didn’t say a word.

“You know I might be able to help you, Tag. All you have to do is help me out in return.”

“I have no reason to help you,” he muttered.

“You know … I think you do. You see … as of right now, death is the only option on the table. I can take it off. It’ll just take a little something from you.”

He grunted and looked to the dirt floor, determination written across his face.

“Tag, I have a little leeway. After all, it wasn’t your hands around my neck and yet, you are being dealt the same consequence as Jaryn. Maybe if you tell me why or tell me if there are any others, we can work something out. Were you just trying to finish what Favner had started?”

He set his jaw, refusing to meet me in the eyes. This was going to take more than I thought.

“I heard Dahlia.” It was a shot in the dark, but one of them had to have some sort of connection to her. “She obviously knew there was some sort of plan in place. I could easily link her to you. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Don’t,” he bit off. “Just.” He sucked in a breath and stood up. “Just leave her out of this.”

I suppressed a smile. “I can as long as you give me a little bit of information. What do you gain from following along with this plan against me? It’s over for Jaryn, but I might be able to save you.”

“Favner knew if you were to take his place, you would be worthless. How could you possibly help? Human blood runs in your veins,” Tag snarled. “You can’t possibly be what this kingdom needs. Your powers are tainted.”

Something snapped inside of me. The insult hit me deeper every time someone used it. “Tainted? You think my Supremacy is tainted? Because I’m half human?” If only my Supremacy was tainted. I would never be forced to use it. I never would have been able to separate Raina and Brokk.

“You never use it. You clearly can’t. If you could, you would have forced the information out of us days ago. Why would we follow someone who obviously has no idea what she is doing? Nor has the true power to lead?”

“I was giving you all a choice,” I spat, losing my cool. “You don’t want a choice? You want me to show you my Supremacy? I’ll show you my Supremacy. Kai!” He shot in the hallway with a look of alarm and determination. When he saw I was fine he relaxed. Somewhat. “Let them out.”

“What?” he gasped, strutting toward me.

“I want you to let them out,” I instructed. “We’re going to go outside and have a little show.”

“Calliope,” his tone was a warning.

“What are they going to do, Kai? Try and kill me in front of everyone? It’s fine. Let them out. I want them and everyone else to see how tainted my powers are.”

Kai begrudgingly stalked forward and unlocked Jaryn’s cell. Jaryn walked out with his head held high. Before Kai could take hold of his hands he threw a punch that Kai caught just before striking his face and pulled his hand behind his back. “Oh, that was so unwise, Jaryn,” Kai hissed as he tied his hands tightly together with vines, keeping his hands behind him where I could see them.

“Don’t even try, Tag,” I warned, letting a hint of Supremacy tangle with my words. If it meant the safety of Kai, I would use whatever powers necessary. Tag emerged from his cell looking a little less confident, but attempting to hide it. After they were both secure, we made our way through the castle and out into the meadow.

There were quite a few faeries out and about working and socializing, so I had picked a perfect time to make my demonstration. I hated that I had to prove myself at all, but at the same time, I knew they deserved it. They deserved to know the truth.

“Excuse me,” I announced at the top of the steps to get the attention of everyone close by. “If I could have everyone’s attention please.” One by one a silence fell across the three hundred or so faeries who were near. “It has come to my attention that a few of you might be a little concerned with my bloodline. That you might think my powers are
tainted
.” A few more faeries appeared from their houses and the trees when they heard my raised voice.

I turned to Kai and calmly asked, “Kai, will you cut Tag and Jaryn free please?”

He peered at me incredulously, gritting his teeth to keep from talking back to me in public, but he couldn’t help himself. “What are you doing,” he hissed under his breath.

“Trust me,” I whispered back. “I know what I’m doing.”

We held a staring contest for a few more seconds until he backed down. He grabbed the dagger from his ankle. After cutting them loose he brought them forward, front and center, so everyone who was present could see.

I looked out over the crowd and caught sight of Evan walking toward me from the far end of the meadow. He looked very concerned with this impromptu performance of sorts. He would stop this, so I had to do it now before it was too late. “I don’t think it’s right of me to make you question my abilities. I’ve tried playing nice, but clearly that isn’t what you’re used to.” I gestured to Tag and Jaryn. “Tag, Jaryn, I would like you to dance for us.”

Jaryn darted his face back to me. “Excuse me?”

The power developed in my chest, swelling and spreading through my veins. It was a part of me now. I knew what to feel for. I knew how to control it. I knew when I needed it. Supremacy was as much a part of me as my wings or my ears. If Supremacy was what they wanted, Supremacy was what they were going to get.

“Dance,” I commanded. “Like ballerinas. Twirl. Put your arms in a circle above your head. Leap. Pirouette. Stand on your tiptoes. Dance like freaking ballerinas!” So I had officially lost my cool, but they started to move, and I could see the exasperation forming in their eyes as they realized with every word I spoke they were compelled to copy everything I prattled off.

Chuckles grew in a wave across the gathering. There was probably at least five or six hundred fae present now, watching Tag and Jaryn dance like little girls in tutus. It took everything I had to stifle my own laughter. I heard a huff of amusement beside me. Kai stood with his arms folded in front of his bare chest and a pleased expression danced across his face as we watched them leap and spin.

“I wouldn’t have tried to stop you had I known this was what you wanted to do,” he whispered near my ear.

“I didn’t really have any idea what I was going to have them do until you placed them in front of everyone. I thought about just giving them different actions to follow, but this sounded like much more fun in my head.” I dared to lift my eyes to him.

His indigo eyes were smiling, and I’ve never felt more validated. “Genius.” He nodded his head back to the castle, bringing his eyes back to Tag and Jaryn twirling in the open pasture. “You were pretty good down there. I shouldn’t have underestimated you.”

“I’m the daughter of one of the most sought after prosecuting attorneys in South Carolina. I would hope, that I learned something from her over the years.”

“I have no idea what that means, but okay.”

I chuckled and looked back out at the ballerinas. Though it was definitely entertaining, they had probably been humiliated enough. “You can stop,” I directed.

They dropped mid-leap, and Kai immediately took hold of them once more, securing them in place. Dugal stepped forward out of the front of the crowd to show his support in case they stepped out of line. Jaryn and Tag eyed me wearily as Kai brought them and placed them next to me.

“I might be part human,” I spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, “but the True Royal Bloodline runs through my veins. I’m just as much fae as you are. But I refuse to use my Supremacy to control you unless it’s absolutely necessary. That might have been what was done before me, but it’s not how I work. It’s not how I want to rule.”

A hush consumed the space. Evan’s eyes grew wide with fear. He thought I was making a huge mistake. I couldn’t have felt more true to myself.

“But if you think it’s wise to try and harm me or any other fae in our kingdom … think twice.” I paused. “Tag and Jaryn might have nearly succeeded, but this was only the beginning. They will forever be under my control now. You want to try and take away someone’s life. I will take away yours.”

Every knee began to kneel and heads bowed as, one by one, faeries dropped to the grass. Stunned, I spun and saw Kai force Tag and Jaryn to their knees. He followed suit, taking a knee, but lifted his eyes to me.

“Don’t ever underestimate your power,” he whispered. “You are their Queen.”

Act like it
. I could almost hear those words even without him speaking them. It was exactly what his eyes conveyed. And exactly what I needed to hear.

• • •

I was met by Declan a couple mornings later when I walked out of my chamber. When he saw me he straightened his shoulders and nodded. “Good morning, Calliope.”

“Declan, hey. How are you this morning?”

“I’m doing better. Thank you.” He motioned for us to walk. “I understand I missed quite the show the other day.”

I couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled up. “They got what was coming to them.”

“It was a bold move, but I understand why you did it. Though I still don’t think it’s the end.”

“I know it’s the not the end, Declan, but I sacrificed a lot to come here. I needed everyone to understand that I’m one of you—that I’m not taking this lightly. I’m here for a reason. I may not always understand it or like it, but I hated the thought of them thinking I didn’t deserve to be in this spot when everything inside of me is telling me I’m exactly where I need to be.”

The corner of his mouth tilted up. “You’re right.”

Declan’s appearance surprised me. He didn’t look like someone who just lost his father. I guess I didn’t really know what that would look like, but I could only assume I’d have bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair. Declan’s dark hair was trimmed, and his eyes looked well rested.

“Allura was really worried about you. We all were.”

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. “Yeah. She can be pretty persistent. I know she meant well. I just needed a few days.”

“I understand. Just let me know if you need anything—if there is anything I can do.”

“Thank you. I will.”

When we reached the dining room I asked, “Is Kai taking the day off?”

“I told him to catch up on some sleep. He’s been pretty nonstop since … since …”

“I know,” I covered for him. I didn’t want to make Declan say it. “I tried to offer Dugal for some help, but he refused to let me ask him.”

Declan snorted in amusement. “He probably wanted to make sure you were comfortable. He knows how you feel about anyone else as your Keepers.”

“I would have put up with it for a couple of days so he wouldn’t wear himself out. I’m not that demanding, am I?”

Declan chortled. “No, you know how stubborn Kai can be. And you mustn’t forget that we still don’t know for sure who we can trust. Especially after Tag and Jaryn. They’ve always been so quiet. I never would have guessed.”

“It’s always the silent types that lurk in the background. Are you hungry?” I wanted to change the subject. I was done with the stress over my safety. It was giving me anxiety. I gestured toward the eggs and fruit on the table.

He lifted his hand to decline. “I already ate. Thank you.”

A smile grew on my face at the thought of having him around again. “It’s good to have you back.”