Queen of Night

26. The Weight of Sound

    Iyan was drawing close to the dungeons. She could hear moaning and screams just down a flight of stairs. She flexed her hand around the hilt of her dagger and pressed on. The floor beneath her feet shuddered, flinging her against a wall.

    Iyan grabbed her dagger before it could hit the ground. She gasped, spying silver smoke drifting beneath her feet. Arius, she realized. What was that?

    Iyan forced herself to keep moving, despite the growing fear that clutched at her heart. The moans were louder now. She stepped into a hallway and her mouth fell open. Cells lined both sides of the corridor. They were packed full of people.

    Humans were crying and clutching at the bars. Many more weren't even moving. Iyan scanned the cells for any sign of a familiar brown hair, blue eyed woman. She couldn't see Lucille anywhere. A few of the humans had noticed her but they said nothing.

    Iyan crept back towards the stairs. I've got to get back and tell them. She turned, smacking into two very familiar people. Derek Avery grabbed her wrists, wrenching her daggers away.

    "Well, well, well. Looks like those Faeries knew what they were talking about after all," Derek sneered. "Even with those false eyes, I would know you anywhere, Iyan Vesper." Sven glowered over his shoulder.

    "How...Asena..." Iyan cried out as they pushed her against a wall.

    "That wench took our tongues and hands, but nothing else," Derek growled. "Day Faeries found us and promised to restore us if we helped them. They kept their word. We told them everything they needed to know."

    They knew who I was the moment I walked in, Iyan realized.

    As if sensing her thoughts, Sven spoke. "They would've known you because of your mother, even if we hadn't told them."

    "What are you talking about?"

    "Leila Vesper was a very talented witch and her great great grandmother was a Day Faerie," Derek sneered. "It's a wonder she never told you. Then again, perhaps Julius, that simpering fool, swore her to secrecy when you and your sister were born."

    "How dare you speak of my father that way!" Iyan kicked his shin and brought her knee up hard between his legs. Derek crashed to his knees with a cough of pain. She bolted, but Sven wrapped his arms around her waist and threw her onto the ground. Iyan gasped for breath.

    Sven grabbed her discarded dagger and plunged it into her forearm, pinning her onto the stone floor. Iyan screamed in pain. "Struggling will only make this worse for you," he hissed. "As soon as Emeric and Ezlyn have dealt with your Faerie friends, they will join us. Save your strength. You're going to need it." Iyan didn't have a chance to protest. He slammed a brick against her temple and darkness claimed her.

✦❘༻✦༺❘✦

    Arius landed in the foyer of the manor screaming. Blood poured from the open wound in his father's chest. Even more dripped from Torin's mouth. "Someone find Sybella!" Arius shouted. He rocked on his heels, panic threatening to overwhelm him. "Father."

    Torin clenched his hand tightly, his breath rattling between his teeth. "They...don't know what happened," he rasped. "You have to go back. Your cousins..."

    Arius swallowed hard and pulled his hand away from his father. He disappeared just as servants came running towards them. He reappeared in the ballroom. Chaos had already erupted. Day Faerie soldiers were swarming his father's ambassadors and generals, but they were making good use of their hidden weapons.