Serpent in Shackles

Chapter Thirty Six

Wind shattered through my ears, drowning out the sound of distant screams.

My body remained perfectly flat, perfectly still, cutting through the air. The top of the building blurred in my vision, but the tears were soon picked up and carried away by the wind. The trees swayed gently, leaves falling to the ground, falling alongside me.

The memory from our time at the prison flashed through my mind and I was reminded of Caeden's voice, close your eyes.

So I did.

The air knocked from my lungs as my body collided against a solid frame. My eyes fluttered open and I took a deep breath of relief as Caeden's arms tightened around me, flying me back up.

"What the hell were you thinking? You could have died," Caeden exclaimed.

I smiled, realizing for the first time how glad I was to hear him scold me for being reckless.

With my head resting against his shoulder, I could hear his heart beating in sync with the flap of his powerful wings as he flew us up, up, toward solid ground. But even as he travelled through the wind, he watched me the entire time.

He was quiet, so quiet, and finally himself again. A hard swallow snaked its way down my throat as I lifted my hand to his face, feeling the soft, warm skin beneath my fingertips. "You promised you would catch me if I fell."

His muscles relaxed, wings flapping slower with each heartbeat as we drew closer to the top of the palace. "Always."

He flew us right to where the Queen remained sitting on her throne. Keeping his arms wrapped around me, he set me down before her, holding me until I caught my balance.

The Queen looked terribly unimpressed, unmoved, as she leaned back into the grey velvet and took another sip from her glass.

Her throat bobbed as she handed the glass off to the young woman kneeling at her side.

She lifted her hands and slapped them together, once, twice- clapping, she clapped over, and over, and over again. Tormentingly slow at first, but quickening with each clap. Out of approval or annoyance, I couldn't tell.

"Bravo," she chanted. "Bravo. Bravo."

Yawning, she paused her cheering to lift her thin, pale arms above her head, stretching her spine long.

Then, she clicked her tongue and lowered her limbs to the grey arms. "Well done. How did you figure it out?"

"I didn't," I admitted. "I just figured if it was the end, at least I'd get to choose how to go out."

Her sharp, red nails patted across the wood. "So I guess the stories are true." Auburn eyes darted back and forth between me and Caeden. "It is possible for a human and a monster to fall in love," she said, mockingly. "You passed the test. Unchain them and let them go."

She barely finished her command before the guards moved to us, circling around the entire team. Even as they unlocked the chains on the others, I couldn't shake the feeling of suspicion that washed over me.

The moment the team was freed, I said, "just like that?"

The Queen stared down at her dainty fingers. Her lips curved up into a familiar wicked grin as she said, "just like that."

... 

Like always, a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders perched near the edge of the roof in the same place we danced on Hiraeth. Even though we both stayed quiet, I knew he heard me cross the balcony toward him.