Chained, page 35
“Okay,” I said weakly, my lungs not filling with nearly enough air.
“I love you,” he whispered against my hair.
“And I love you,” I whispered into his chest.
Kazimir did not break eye contact until the doors closed behind them. I rearranged my makeshift security system, then went to my room, closing that door too. The desk chair was shoved beneath the handle, preventing anyone from opening it from the outside.
Hiccuping, I stripped out of my gown in my closet and searched for soft leggings and a tunic to wear while I waited for Kazimir to return. I ripped some fabric from another tunic, tying it around the door handle on the living room side and securing it to one of the dressers in the closet. No one would get to me without me knowing.
I snuggled into the unfamiliar bed, straining my ears for a click in the wall that indicated my beloved male’s return.
30
Leaving Izidora hysterical in her room tore me to shreds. My soul screamed at me to stay and protect her, to save her at all costs. She needed me more than anything, and I left her. Endre’s firm grip on my arm was the only source of grounding as he dragged me to the High House wing. Our family’s apartments were adjacent on the first floor, so no one saw us as we slipped into mine.
My father stared absentmindedly into the hearth with a glass of wine in hand. The purple liquid swirled in a hypnotizing circle, the dancing flames reflecting across the crystal glass. Endre marched me to the couch and planted me there, breaking my father from his reverie.
“What happened?” my father asked, looking between us.
“Izidora had a panic attack right before we left. She didn’t want to be alone,” Endre explained as I buried my fingers in my hair.
My father’s aged hand steadied my shoulder. “Is it difficult for you to leave her when she is upset?”
I nodded, fighting an internal battle to remain seated rather than tear the castle apart to get to her. My forearms bunched and corded and my whole body vibrated with the force of my efforts to remain seated. Endre quietly exited the apartment, returning moments later with Viktor.
“I promised I would find a way back to her,” I choked out.
Viktor understood what I meant immediately. He jerked his head to Endre, motioning for him to follow. “We will find it and be back,” he promised.
Once the door shut behind them, a heavy sigh escaped my father’s lips. “I looked all afternoon for information regarding the prophecy. The head librarian and I scoured texts both new and old for any sign. We found books where information had been, but the pages were ripped out or burned. It was like someone did not want the information to be discovered again.”
“Who would do that?” I croaked, grateful to my father for the distraction from the situation at hand.
“Someone who stands to benefit from that information. But we don’t know when these pages were taken or burned. The librarians don’t have any memory of anyone inquiring about it. It could have been before Izidora was born or as recently as this week. Though they would have needed to know where the information was prior to this week, because it was difficult to track down the tomes.” My father pinched his brow between his fingers.
“That makes before Izidora was born more likely,” I stated. “Fucking Fates, what if that is why Izidora was taken in the first place?”
“Then whoever it was had more knowledge than we do now. There must be something in the prophecy that would tip them off…” my father trailed off.
“What do we know about Izidora now that could have been apparent before she was born?” I pressed.
My father shook his head. “That I do not know. It is hard to know anything about a child before they are born, save for the approximate time they were conceived and the approximate time they will be born.”
“What about Queen Liessa? Could it have been something about her?” I was frantic as my protective instincts surged like a tidal wave from the depths of my belly and crashed into my chest.
“Breathe, my son. You cannot think straight if your head is not clear,” he commanded.
My nostrils flared as I tried to inflate my lungs, but they were crushed under the pressure of the ocean drowning me.
“What do you know about mates, Kazimir?”
“Only that they are rare and everyone desires one,” I gritted out.
“As you know, King Airre and Queen Immonen of the Crystal Realm are mated. King Airre saved Queen Immonen from an avalanche when he was surveying a melting glacier seventy years ago. They did not accept their mating bond for ten years after that because King Airre was promised to another. The two tried to deny their bond for ten years because they did not believe they were chosen to be mated. King Airre always found an excuse to postpone his nuptials, and after the tenth excuse, his betrothed broke their engagement because she knew he was mated to Queen Immonen, even though he himself was blind to it,” my father elaborated.
I blinked a few times, failing to see how this was relevant.
“Anyway, they both realized what they had been denying and accepted the bond. Once it snapped into place, they both felt great relief. The people accepted Queen Immonen immediately after they announced they had been mated. Not long after that, they married and she was crowned queen. Everyone in the Crystal Realm was happy their love succeeded.”
“What does the Crystal Realm have to do with Izidora?” I asked flatly.
My father opened his mouth to respond, but Viktor and Endre burst into the room, the door nearly banging against the wall before Endre caught it.
I jumped to my feet, ready to race to Izidora’s side. “What happened?” I demanded.
Viktor spoke first. “We found the right passageways, but we also found another that leads to the harem. We heard King Zalan in there, speaking to someone.”
That piqued my interest.
“He was talking about Izidora,” Endre wheezed.
“What about her?” I clenched and unclenched my fists, freeing some of the agitation that threatened to cascade over me.
“He said that she was undermining him to take his crown, that the prophecy was going to come to pass despite their efforts, that they needed to make a new plan if they wanted to stop it,” Viktor panted.
“So he knew, this whole time?” My vision slipped into red, and images of me strangling the aged king were all I saw.
My father’s hands clasped in front of his mouth as he was stunned to silence.
“That’s what it sounds like. We didn’t hear the other person speak though,” Viktor added.
“Why not? Why didn’t you listen longer?” I interrogated.
“I sneezed. This damn castle and all its mold, ” Endre cursed.
“We sprinted back here after that,” Viktor confirmed.
This changed everything. King Zalan was more dangerous than we presumed, and he was planning something new to keep his throne. A desperate man is a dangerous man.
“Can you take me to Izidora? Someone needs to be with her at all times. We don’t know what King Zalan could be planning,” I warned.
“We will, but first we need to devise a plan,” Endre promised, looking to Viktor to produce one.
“First, we need to get one of King Zalan’s guards in our pocket. He doesn’t take a shit without them there, that paranoid fuck. They will know who he has spoken to about this, even if they aren’t familiar with the actual plan,” Viktor swore.
“Ask Kriztof or the twins to find some leverage on one of them, they are the ones with the most access,” my father instructed.
“And tell them to get themselves assigned to the Royal Wing’s guard rotation,” I added.
“We should learn the passages better, clearly there is a larger network than we are aware of currently. That might help us in the event of an escape,” Endre suggested.
“We need to get Izidora in the public eye every day, so if she turns up missing the people will wonder what happened. Though she is already very popular thanks to…” Viktor trailed off, stopping himself before he admitted our plan to my father. We all knew when we swore an oath to her that that was a step toward this eventuality. That oath put us on this road and there was no turning back now.
“She needs to know all of this. Keeping her in the dark is not going to help her. I will protect her above all else,” I hissed. “Any other ideas?”
“Just an observation. If you make your relationship with Izidora known, you will become a target too. Anyone will have to go through you to get to her. Think before you act,” Endre cautioned.
“All the more reason to make it known,” I growled.
“You know, I actually agree with this one. You are popular with the people, and if they see the two of you together it will send a positive message,” Viktor concluded.
“But it will draw a clear line in the sand with King Zalan,” my father warned. “We need to be prepared to react quickly should the need arise.”
“We already have a plan,” I admitted, finding my knuckles more interesting than the male who had given me life.
“I see.” My father’s lips pressed into a thin line. We did not need to say more. When I returned my gaze to him, the wrinkle between his brows looked like a chasm. He looked older than I’d ever seen him, as if the weight of everything spinning out around us was aging him years every second. I had been so concerned with my own emotional battle that I forgot to check in with him about his. It was my turn to kneel in front of him, putting my hand on his shoulder to steady him.
“Are you alright, father?” I nudged.
“Just missing your mother a little extra at the moment. She would be so proud of you.” His sad emerald eyes sparkled at her memory.
I pulled him in for a tight hug, conveying my love for him in our embrace. “Do you need anything before we go?”
He waved me off. “No. Please stay safe. All of you.” He looked pointedly at Viktor and Endre.
With one last look through the crack in the door, I left my father behind with his wine and notebook. The three of us padded to the end of the hall on silent feet, not wanting to draw the attention of the other High Houses that slept on this floor. Viktor pressed a brick near the corner of the end wall, and a door swung inward with a soft whoosh, revealing an extremely narrow passage beyond. With our large frames, we had to sidestep to enter the passageway, my chest scraping occasionally against the rough walls. Viktor checked left and right one last time before closing the door behind him.
I shuffled after Endre, cursing the coffin walls as I went. When we broke into a larger passage, it felt like bursting from a grave into the open skies. Glancing behind me, I could barely make out the slip we emerged from; one would miss it if they didn’t know what to look for. The network of passages in this castle was like being caught in a spider's web, with the tangled lines designed to trap an unwitting intruder.
Walking downhill, then uphill, turning left, then right, we traversed the maze of darkness, barely lit by our floating spheres. It reminded me too much of the cave where I saved Izidora. We hit a dead end, and I almost broke our silence to curse our bad luck. Endre shimmied between the dead end and the wall to our left, a hint of an opening barely revealed by his half-disappeared form. Whoever built these passages had been clever in their design.
This sliver of space was cleared in only a few side steps, another section of the maze revealed when we spilled into a wide passage. A dozen steps later, the spoke from our earlier trek in darkness appeared. That familiar tug pulled me left, and I rushed past Endre, knowing Izidora was waiting just down that passage.
We dead ended at Izidora’s room, and I lightly rapped on the wall separating us. A shuffle preceded a crack of light, and with a little too much force, I threw the door to the side to reveal swollen aquamarine eyes.
“You came back,” she whispered, then jumped into my arms. My galloping heart slowed to a trot when our skin made contact, and my nose found her chestnut locks, inhaling her floral scent. Viktor closed the door behind us, then put his ear to the door separating us from the sitting room. Izidora lifted her face from its burial site in my chest. “No one is here besides me. I set up my vase thing after you left and then shut myself in tight here.”
“I’m so proud of you and your ingenuity.” I tapped her on the nose.
“You forgot to teach me the locking magic,” she pouted.
Shit, I did.
“I’ll teach you before we go to sleep,” I promised. “But right now we need to talk to you.”
She furrowed her brow. “Did something happen?”
“Sit down and we will talk about it.”
She nestled among a pile of pillows like a sparrow, and I kicked off my boots to join her on the massive bed. Viktor and Endre followed suit, Endre laying on his side and Viktor sitting cross-legged facing us.
“We overheard your father talking to someone about you,” Viktor began.
Izidora’s tiny fingers drummed across the pillow in front of her, the soft patters increasing in tempo as she waited for the axe to fall.
“He was speaking with someone – we don’t know who because we didn’t see or hear them – about how you were trying to undermine him and take his throne. He said that their original plan failed, and they needed to create a new one to stop the prophecy from coming true,” he continued.
“He knows about the prophecy?” She pushed herself upright with eyes as wide as saucers.
Rubbing my hand over her shoulder, I relayed what my father told me. “It seems so. My father spent all afternoon searching the library for a mention of it. He found many books with pages missing or burned that once contained information about the prophecy.”
“Holy fucking fuck,” she cursed.
That about summed up my feelings on the matter. I dropped my voice, low enough that she could hear me but no one trying to listen in could. Viktor and Endre scooted closer, and we put our heads together, forming a barrier to the outside world.
“So, we talked to him, and we have a few plans we need to share with you. Our timeline needs to accelerate, but let us handle that part, okay?”
She nodded.
“We want you to make a public appearance, every day, from now until our plans are complete. You’re already doing a great job endearing yourself to the Night Realm. Continue it so you will be missed if something happens,” Viktor explained.
“And I want to go with you. I want to show the world we are a united front,” I added.
She narrowed her eyes as she assessed me. “So we would be public about our relationship? Didn’t we discuss that not being a good idea before? Because of all the scheming at court?”
“We did, but we need to switch tactics. If your father is planning something, it will make his planning a lot more difficult if I am involved. They will have to go through me to get to you, and there aren’t many who are brave enough to take me on.” The smirk that pulled at my lips was sinister, and I welcomed any challenge to my claim. It would only show Izidora that I was the right one for her, the one who deserved to rule this realm with her. I saved her once, and I would continue to be her hero until I took my last breath.
She looked at the velvet canopy sheltering us from the impending storm. “You should see my dress for the feast tomorrow night. It will send a statement to the whole realm, but especially my father.” Her bright blue eyes leveled on the three of us. “I think daily public appearances will help our cause, but I have one condition. I want all of us to go. I want them to see more High Lords and Ladies and Knights interacting with them, so we can build a stronger foundation to launch from.”
“We will make it happen,” I promised. Endre and Viktor dipped their chins in turn.
“Now, let me show you how to use your magic to seal these doors.” Sweeping under her arms, I carried her off the bed, leaving a trail of amusement in my wake. Viktor and Endre excused themselves, promising to check in with my father one last time before they retired for the night.
It was late, and it had been a draining day. Izidora swayed on her feet as she sealed each door in her apartment with a pop. Her eyes were hollow as we returned to the oversized bed. I stripped her out of her clothes, then piled blankets over her and framed her body with pillows. She deserved every bit of my care and more with all that I asked of her. Working my way in behind her, I draped my arm over her stomach and pulled her flush with my chest, creating a refuge for the female who held my heart.
I fell into a dream of Izidora and I on the throne, ruling with level heads and fairness, and saving the Night Realm from King Zalan’s crazed whims.
31
A male stalked toward me from the shadows, his bloodthirsty glare pinning me in place. No chains held me as I scooted back, yet fear gripped me all the same. He was hauntingly beautiful, and the pale light highlighted every angle of his tortured face. Membranous wings protruded from his back, their massive span blocking out all light as he stood over me. A dripping sword scraped along the ground, leaving a garnet trail in his wake. The onyx-tipped pommel brushed against his sternum, and the tip bled red. Wickedness encased his grin, and my body turned sluggish as if I tried to run away underwater. In two steps, he straddled my half-prone form, blade soaring higher before white light burst around us and–
My eyes burst open only to be blinded by the waking sun. Gauzy curtains did nothing to block out the light glittering off the raging ocean beyond the wall of windows that separated us. I thanked the sun for waking me from yet another deadly nightmare – I had yet to die in one, but it was only a matter of time. I sought comfort from the warmth of the male at my back, his sleeping form melting the chill that wracked my spine as that dripping sword danced behind my eyes.
A hot shower would wash away the remnants of the nightmare. Easing Kazimir’s furred arm off of me, I slipped from the bed, padding in the direction of my enormous bathroom. The tiles were cold beneath my feet as I stared in confusion at the multitude of knobs lining the wall outside the shower. I needed Kazimir’s help.
