Untold

12. Mind Games

"Come for more, have you?" The grimy fae in irons leered at me from the pile of straw in his cell. "A pretty little lass you are," he added. I bit my lip. If I had to do these things as queen, I don't want it. I couldn't go searching through someone's mind. It seemed intimate. Personal. I didn't want to invade their thoughts. "Don't listen to him," Evaris murmured at my shoulder. He put his hand on the small of my back. "Push forward with your mind like I showed you. Once you get into his mind, it'll be easy to find what we need." He pulled my hair over my shoulder and out of my face. I leaned into his touch as his hands lingered around me. 

I turned to the cell again and closed my eyes, reaching inwards and pushing out. I felt Evaris' mind, swirling and dark next to me, and a trembling presence close by. I surged forward, Evaris following close behind. His mental wards were easy to knock down. My eyes fluttered open and I saw the fae in the cell grimace. I shut my eyes again and continued my search through his mind. I eventually found what I needed to. Lasthbur was planning an attack in a month's time on Arcana since they can't get to the Darkworld. I looked over at Evaris and he nodded, pulling me behind him a bit. He stepped in front of me and I saw him slash his arm through the air. "Go," he muttered. I turned and left, but not before I saw a gash on the fae's throat, blood streaming down his neck. I told myself not to think anything of it. This was war. War was death. Death was unpleasant. 

"She's not yours!" I was on my way to Minuvae's rooms when I heard muffled yells coming from one of the many parlours in the Darkworld's palace. I stopped in my tracks and peered through the open door. Nicodemus and Evaris were glaring at each other, both wound up. We had started living in the Darkworld when we found out about the war. I hadn't failed to notice mine and Nicodemus' bedrooms were placed on separate floors. "You need to quit urging her to become queen! It's her choice, Evaris, not yours! She'll do it when she's ready! If-"
"But Edrisa-"
"The law clearly states that if you're unavailable another from the royal family can take your place until then!" I watched Evaris run his hands through his hair and turn away from Nicodemus. "Edrisa doesn't care about who's standing in for me. She'll kill them."
"She'll kill Iowyn too!" Nicodemus sounded panicked at this. 
"If Iowyn becomes queen, Edrisa won't be able to do anything. Iowyn will legally have taken the throne instead of being a stand-in for me." Evaris sat down on a sofa. Nicodemus crossed his arms, then shoved them deep into his pockets. "You are putting Iowyn's life in danger."
"She'll have the whole army to protect her," Evaris countered. 
"Where, exactly, will you be for this to become a problem?" Nicodemus' voice was hard and disapproving. 
"She'll probably try something after the war."
"And if she doesn't?" Nicodemus pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed them over his chest again. It was unusual for him to be so fidgety. Evaris sat forward and hung his head in his hands, not answering Nicodemus. "Then what? Iowyn will be bound for life to the Darkworld's court? Something she was forced into by your paranoia?" His long hair rippled as he shook his head. "I won't allow it. The Darkworld's laws are ridiculous, for a bunch of demons and dead people."
"Not dead. In limbo," Evaris corrected.
"I don't care! She's sixteen! We have been alive for centuries! Her life has barely begun, and you're willing to make her throw it all away?" His voice rose to a shout again. I hadn't thought of it this way before. I had just accepted it as something I'd have to do. But Nicodemus was right. I shouldn't be pressured into it. I've got centuries ahead of me now, and I can't tie myself in place because of a war. 

"I don't know what we're going to do," Evaris sighed. 
"That's what I thought," Nicodemus spat before turning and leaving. I jumped back, hoping he wouldn't see me. He saw me and grabbed my hand. His magic swirled around us, replacing the corridor with my bedroom. When the room had finished materialising around us, he gripped my wrists urgently. "Did you hear what we were saying?" I looked down at my feet, ashamed for eavesdropping, and nodded. "Then you understand that I don't want you to become queen."
I bit my lip and looked up at him. His eyes roamed over my face as his hands ran up my arms and stopped on my shoulders. "I hadn't really thought of it that way, in all honesty."
"Well think about it now. You've barely had a chance to live, to see all there is, and he's asking you to tie yourself to the Darkworld. You can't do it. You're about to turn seventeen, you have eternity ahead of you. I know he's used to getting his way, since, well, he's a king, but you can't let him have it this time. He's the one who decided to barter with Edrisa, so he gets to bear the consequences. It's not up to you, Iowyn. He's technically hasn't asked you, it's just been put out in the open that you're expected to take the throne." I opened my mouth to speak but felt the familiar prickle of tears behind my eyes.