Forged in Frost and Fire (Book 1 in the Chronicles of Kings trilogy)

Chapter Twenty Nine

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

"You stupid girl," Sable said, shoving me down the hall. I struggled against him, my breathing heavy as he led me down the candle-lit corridors. "I told you not to do this."

"I saw an opportunity," I said, that only made him hold me tighter. He was practically seething behind me. His shadows were wrapped tightly around us, keeping us half-hidden from view.

"You know what I have to do now, don't you?" Sable said, bending low to speak in my ear. Nobility and servants were coming out of their chambers to see what was going on. My cheeks were flushed blue as he pushed me forward.

When I didn't answer he growled. "I have to take deserters to the king." Fear colder than my own power swirled deep in my belly. I felt a shudder go down my spine and my shoulders bumped into Sable's chest.

"Why?" I gasped. I dug my heels into the carpet, trying to stop our journey onwards but, much like the first time, it did nothing but force Sable to push me harder. I growled as he tightened his grip until it was near bruising.

"Did you forget you're technically one of the king's soldiers?" he said. His smell of leather and embers wafted into my nose from how close he was standing next to me. I grit my teeth against the way my mouth watered. What an awful thing to think about at a time like this... "Running away is desertion, Eira."

"I wasn't-"

"You were," he said, his voice sharp as razors. "You stupid girl, you were trying to escape. You're lucky I found you before those soldiers sent iron arrows flying at you."

"I...Iron arrows?" I spat out. The word sent another tremble through my body. I hadn't forgotten those iron cuffs they had clapped onto my wrists when I first got here. They reduced my powers and weakened me. Not to mention they had burned like hell. Iron was a fae's natural enemy, everyone knew that.

"Haven't heard of them?" Sable asked, his mouth turned up cruelly. "Well, I can assure you those would have been more appeasing than whatever punishment is about to be delivered."

"What do you mean punishment?" I asked. Those two servants from before, the women in the hall, glared at me as I passed. I offered them a grin in return.

"Did you think you'd get away with a slap on the wrist?"

"I have wishful thinking," I muttered. Sable sighed sharply. I saw those two silver doors looming up before us at the end of the hall and I felt my stomach grow sour. My legs turned leaden and I felt like vomiting. In fact, a little bit did come up, I did my best to swallow it down.

Sable threw out a hand and a tendril of darkness shot out faster than a striking viper. It wrapped around the handle and pulled against it, I felt his hard muscles tense against me. He felt like iron himself.

The door was pulled open and Sable pushed us through. I was immediately greeted by a terrible force wrapping itself around my body and pulling me away from Sable. I felt his hand grip onto my arm before being forced to release me. I couldn't help the scream that was ripped from my lips as I flew through the air and slammed into something hard. Correction, my neck slammed into something hard. A hand. A hand was wrapped around my neck, and was squeezing...hard.

"I heard you've had quite the enjoyable evening, Eira," King Gabriel said, his fingers tightening around my throat. I choked at the feeling of my oxygen stopping in the middle of my wind pipe. Gabriel was a tall man, and as he held me by the neck, my feet couldn't touch the ground. I kicked my legs but they did nothing but stir up air.

"You've been here for only two months, yes?" Gabriel said. I didn't bother responding. My head was pounding harder than a hammer on an anvil. Blood was rushing in my ears and I could feel the blood pooling in my face. My vision was blurring and going dark at the edges.