Xanthy's head snapped up as a groan escaped her lips. Her back throbbed with a kind of pain that gripped her whole body. What happened? Where was she?
Memories flashed in her mind like a searing metal scalding her scalp. The bridge. The Death Knight. Was she still in Lanteglos? Why was the ceiling so low?
Scant light shone through the metal grating of a window placed high up the wall nearest her. Other than that, it was dim. Dark, even. The window was small, about as tall as her hand. Xanthy blew a breath. Escaping through that was out of question.
Another groan escaped her lips as she sat up after having lain on her back for gods knew how long. Her neck pulsed with pain. Ugh. What did they hit her with? As soon as her head left the floor, her temples throbbed. Nausea rushed to her head, causing black spots to dance in her vision.
She raised a hand to cradle her pulsing head. Something clinked. Her wrists felt heavy. What—
Cuffs linked to each other circled her wrists. The chains snaked towards the wall behind her. Her feet were shackled as well. The rectangular room she was in could fit at least twenty fairies with the same build as her. Dust and dried blood mixed in an atrocious ambiance. Xanthy fought the urge to sneeze. She glanced down and blew a breath. At least they hadn't taken her clothes.
First things first. She needed to escape. Where's Canelis? Nyxis?
She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. Listen. Distant cawing and the howl of the wind bursting through the narrow slits called windows were the only noises accompanying her.
Xanthy tugged at the chains one more time, the metal clinking against each other. She called for her magic, waiting for that rush of familiar warmth in her veins. Nothing came, not even a flicker. She tried again, and again. Nothing. She sank into herself, peering at the Virtakios. Something held it back from her reach.
What's with this place? Why did it have enough strength to even block the Virtakios?
The door swung open with a loud creak. Xanthy flinched as footsteps scratched against the cold, stone floor. Dark ocher contrasted with the sea of gray around Xanthy as the leather boots stopped by her. A reedy, masculine voice chuckled. "Having trouble with the spellsies, miss?"
A huge shadow blocked her view of the door. Xanthy raised her eyes to a towering fairy wearing a red coat and a black cap on his head. An Imperial soldier. The Imperial Insignia glinted from the guard's chest with enough menace.
His features twisted into a sneer that sent a chill up Xanthy's spine. From the look of his hard, green eyes, Xanthy's stomach turned. He wasn't to be pushed around.
She flinched when the soldier bent down and produced a set of keys from his belt. "The Imperial High Queen requests your presence," he unlocked the chains in her wrists. Good. She could jump at him. The soldier chuckled, stopping Xanthy's thoughts. "Before you think of trying anything, there's a ton of guards beyond this cell that could kill you in one snap. The Death Knight made sure of that. He seemed to know you well, if you ask me."
Xanthy's heart wrenched at the mention of the reason she's in this mess. The Death Knight. June. She had wondered why he knew so much about the famed assassin and why he didn't seem unnerved when viewing all those corpses.
It's hard for me the first time, too. June's voice flashed back in her head. He had said it to comfort her in Yin-Alora. Digging deeper into his words, Xanthy found out that she wasn't sure if he meant the first corpse he witnessed...or the first one he killed with his own hands.
Her intuition was right all this time. June wasn't to be trusted and Xanthy went up and ignored it just because he told her he likes her. The guard must have seen a change in her expression because he gave a slight chuckle as he pushed Xanthy up to her feet.
Xanthy's chest constricted as anger gripped it and clawed at her heart. Of all the stupid things she ought to say to him, it's to promise him that she'd understand the reasons behind his actions. Now that all this happened, what's there to understand? June was the Death Knight! He murdered people. He turned her over to the High Queen. For what?
It all made sense now. When he didn't want to say anything to her about his past, he was referring to this. Xanthy pursed her lips. His fear wasn't misplaced. Xanthy didn't know how she could be friends with a skilled assassin much less...in love with one.
A sack was thrown over her head, filling her nose with the smell of rotting vegetables. She gagged. The soldier chuckled and patted her shoulder so hard her sockets creaked. "Now, now. There's a lot of things worse than the smell of a few rotten produce. Up!"
Questions spiraled in an endless maze. There was no promise of answers presenting themselves. Why was he on her roof the first day they met? Why did he teach her magic in the first place? Why would he travel with her to Penleth, then to the Pilgrim Road? How come Ezril didn't even warn her about him? Why didn't the Pilgrim Road sense this? Was this his plan all along?
Xanthy was pushed forward. Now that she's standing up, she could feel the shackles around her ankles and that her feet connected to the floor without any soles. She fought off another growl building in her throat. If something happens to her boots, she's going to have to kill somebody.
Still, her knees shook, threatening to fold inward. Why did June tell her he liked her?
I'm not supposed to love you. Xanthy scoffed. Rightly so. He couldn't tell her anything because it would ruin his plan. He wasn't ashamed of his past. He's trying to preserve his mission. Xanthy bit her lip. But what mission? From who? The High Queen?
With the sack on her head and the dim light of the cell, it's impossible to know where she was being prodded or where she was supposed to go. She could be walking into a wall and the soldiers would have the laugh of a lifetime watching her smack into it.
"Move! The High Queen ain't got no whole day!"
Something shoved Xanthy forward. Her feet connected. She didn't catch herself in time as she tripped and crashed against the hard floor, landing on her cheek. Her palms stung as she landed on them. Air was punched out of her stomach as she gasped. Her next intake of breath gave her a nostril-full of stink. Ugh. Should she gasp or gag next?
"Up!" Something clicked and her neck felt heavy. She clawed at her throat as the thick metal dug into her skin when she was hoisted up with it. With the sack covering her head, she couldn't glare at whoever did that.
Soon, Xanthy shuffled across rough flooring barefoot. Her path blurred together. She didn't know if she had taken three lefts or two. Was it even a left?
The only thing she registered was the howling too feral to be called human or fairy. It was of pure anguish and derision, mostly aimed at her. As she was prodded into a little procession, countless jeers erupted around the dungeon, shouting for the gallows or the sword. Xanthy could only wish the sack made her deaf too.
One foot in front of the other. It took her a lot of effort to suppress the shame on her core and the anger that burned with it. She couldn't burst out and murder all of them with her magic still blocked. What was wrong with this dungeon?
Stairs proved to be another challenge. The soldier had to drag her up the steps as her climbing up blind proved how much slower she was than a komodec. He dragged her through the winding stairs through the cuff around her neck. She choked and wheezed but hearing him grunt and curse like a portmaster was worth it.
By the time they reached the flat surface again, Xanthy's windpipe was mangled and the panting she could hear could only come from the guard. Someone slapped her upside the head. "Forward, witch." the soldier rasped.
From underneath her feet, the rough stone floor smoothed. The light also brightened. It burned through the sack and poked stabbing pain in Xanthy's eyes. Very bright.
More smooth stone and finally, a carpet. She only knew that because the soldier kicked her at the back of her knees and she crashed to the ground once more. Her palms were greeted by a pillow-like cushion as she caught herself. So, carpets.
The sack was removed from her head, blinding her with the sudden bright light. She was shoved to her knees, her throbbing palms bracing her weight once more. She fought off a wince.
"Entering is June Zeilran in petition to the High Queen," a loud voice echoed around the hall. The roaring, monotonous sound of idle chatter faded away.
Xanthy blinked her adjusting eyes, making out a figure with white hair dressed in a dark cloak standing in front of her. She even made out the multitude of people gathered around her like an amphitheater full of ridiculously-dressed people.
"Imperial Council, High Queen," June's rich voice rang in the silence. "My assignment has finished. At your feet is the Virtakios. Do with her as you please."
A round of murmurings erupted. Xanthy's eyes adjusted well enough to see that she was in some sort of a hall with a high domed ceiling, tons of ceiling-to-floor, glass-paned windows, and long, wooden benches flanking the length of the hall.
Wide-eyed fairies sat in balconies just like the one in Alkara but this time, there were as many as fifty seats, spanning around five rows on each side of the room. The fairies who sat there muttered among themselves or to each other, casting Xanthy dubious glances every now and then.
Her knees crunched on the carpet. This piece of soft fabric stretched from the entrance of the hall towards a series of steps. Up ahead, not twenty paces away, stood June, his back to her.
He had his neck craned. Xanthy followed the direction of his gaze and her eyes found a fairy sitting on a cushioned, marble throne, dressed in a regal gown made from thousands of white feathers. Monstrous, feathery wings were folded across her back, peeking from her shoulders in large arcs. Her eyes scanned the crowd in low-hooded eyes that looked bored, flat. Her chin rested on her fist propped against the throne's armrest.
"Your petition?" the High Queen's soft voice rang through the hall, weak but full of authority.
June cleared his throat. Before he opened his mouth, the door behind them slammed open. Four soldiers struggled with two squirming figures. A procession that involved a lot of chain clinking, cursing, and authoritative orders ensued for the next few minutes. Finally, the tired guards dropped Nyxis and Canelis by Xanthy's side.
"What is up?" Nyxis jerked his chin at Xanthy.
"Silence!" the guard holding him drew his hand back.
Nyxis ducked the soldier's flying hand. He grinned at the man before dropping into a threatening glare. "I thought I told you, not in the face."
"June Zeilran, your petition?" the High Queen called again.
The room's attention shifted back to the transaction unfolding before them. June cleared his throat. "May I hear the judgement on the accused?"
The High Queen sighed. "Lifetime detention for the Virtakios, execution for the other two trespassers. The Imperial Court agrees to that."
Some of the fairies in the balconies whispered among each other again. "Are you surprised too?" Nyxis leaned to Xanthy. "I mean, Reeca warned me about June and she's right. I hate it when she's right. Especially when it involves one of our friends."
"For the record?" Canelis glanced at them. "He's not your friend. Not from the start."
Xanthy pursed her lips. There's nothing they could do except live it out. The Imperial Court's ruling was as hard and eternal as stone. The advisers continued discussing things among themselves in hushed and hurried whispers.
"If I may add, Master Fale, your opinions won't matter on this issue," the High Queen cast a hard look to the balcony to her left. "It's my sovereign right to decide upon this."
"B-but the constitution, Your Majesty!" a fairy with balding blond hair and round frame protested from the lowest balcony. Xanthy almost felt sorry for him when his large eyes widened with disbelief. "You can't just distort the rules to your liking! We wouldn't have drafted it in the first place if this was the system. These cases require a trial, for a start!"
The High Queen rolled her eyes. "Then change the constitution," she snapped. "Put there specifically that fairies and humans with dark hair that trespasses into our territory unannounced shall be executed without trial. I'm tired so let's finish this."
Xanthy stole a glance at her friends. This was the one holding power over all the island? She knitted her eyebrows.This woman couldn't have been older than five. What kind of monarch changes written law according to whim? No wonder the rest of the kingdom distrusted the Imperial palace now.
"Your Highness," June said from the base of the steps. "Our agreement states that if I succeed in my mission, the Imperial Court shall grant me a favor. I'm ready to make my demand."
Beside Xanthy, Nyxis cursed, raving about whatraut betraying their friends for personal favors. The guard threatened to smack the human again to get him to shut up. Nyxis's eyes blazed with an anger Xanthy never knew he was able to muster.
From high up her dais, the High Queen raised an eyebrow.
"Turn over the prisoners charged for execution to my authority," June clasped his gloved hands behind him. "That, and the termination of any ties the imperial Court has on me."
"That was two favors," the High Queen said. Silence coated the hall until the High Queen waved her hand and sighed. "I concur," she turned her face away from them. "Do with them as you wish. I suggest taking them to the chambers. Be creative with your ways."
Xanthy's throat closed when she noticed most of the advisers look at each other with twinkling eyes at the mention of "chambers". Knowing nobles, there's nothing good that came out of their entertainment ideas. The way the High Queen's tone dipped when she mentioned the "ways" didn't give Xanthy much comfort either.
June bowed deeply. "Unities," he called. "Take them to my rooms. Lock them there."
Another round of squirming and cursing as Nyxis and Canelis were hauled away from the hall and into a door to the left. Once the door shut and the scuffling sounds faded, the High Queen turned to June. "See to it they're punished for their crimes."
June bowed. "I'm the Death Knight, Your Majesty," his voice dripped with such malice that made Xanthy's chest tighten with disgust. "I know what to do."
Xanthy lunged, attempting to at least catch June's attention. The soldier's hand clamped down on her shoulder, pinning her in place. "June!" she called. Her voice echoed in empty rings across the hall. He froze. "What are you doing?" Xanthy breathed.
June's face was blank. His gaze flicked to the soldier behind her. "Keep the prisoner contained, soldier."
"Yes, sir," the red coat answered.
June nodded and in just a few steps, he was out of the room. The High Queen stared down at Xanthy with dark eyes digging into Xanthy's whole being. "Take her to the extraction chamber. It's time the Heiress gets what she wants."