"Shh!" The sharp hiss had me cringing as it sliced into my eardrums to wake me. "Keep you're voice down!" Continued the voice, maintaining the hissed tone.
"There's no one around to hear us scream bloody murder let alone some half-assed plan that doesn't stand a chance," a second, louder, voice droned boredly. "You didn't become a Captain because of your talents, Prince, so stop trying to act like you're the one that's going to navigate us through this clusterfuck. Even mommy can't save you from-"
"Shut up!"
I couldn't help but flinch at the shout. Pain rocked through my prone body as I turned my head to press my forehead against the dirt I was lying on. I welcomed the cold press against my heated skin and the smell of damp earth that cut through the metallic scent of blood.
The hard thump of something soft hitting something hard sounded. "You don't know shit, half-blood."
"Careful, with that much venom in your voice someone might get the impression that the rumors are true," the other voice taunted. "Wouldn't want to end any more innocent lives, now would you? But then again, considering who your mother is, you just might."
"What rumors?"
"The ones saying your mother fucked the Spring King for an alliance she never got when King Ezekiel began to lose his shit- oh, wait, no, that was a different rumor. I was talking about one from before then, one the Queen was successful at suppressing until you came out of her nine months later looking nothing like the king and everything like the spring fae she was rumored to have been caught riding in the stables-"
Another loud thump sounded, triggering laughter that cut the words short.
"Enough! This is serious! She's hurt, bad."
"I can see that-"
"Can you? You seem more focused on trying to get a rise out of me than trying to figure out a way to help her!"
"Yes, I do," the second voice said, dropping an octave to convey how serious he was. "We all deal with stress differently, Prince-"
"Rowan."
"Rowan," he reluctantly corrected himself. "We've been watching her breath for hours. The least we can do is try something. Maybe I can melt the metal-"
"You're not using flames that they know neither of us are capable of producing."
A deadly calm followed the man's words. In it, all I could hear was the faint beating of my heart that I could feel behind my eyes.
"What gave you that impression?"
"I overheard Ezekiel's men. It seems they're well acquainted with you, especially his right-hand man. I learned more about you while listening to them on the way here than I ever found while trying to track down who you were for the Queen."
"What did you learn?"
"That you're a half-blooded bastard that exhibits traits of both Autumn and Spring blood and... the gift of necromancy."
"Necromancy...?"
"A gift that only royal blood of the Spring Court can inherit. Feel free to raise a dead body that may be lying around if you want to do something, but suddenly throwing around fire? That would raise questions we don't want to be raised."
A heavy silence followed, charged with hostility and indecision.
"If you know who I am, why haven't you asked about the flames?"
"The same reason I haven't asked about the blade of ice you stabbed me with. I already know."
"Know what?"
