Rowan Fómhar
Emerson's eyes met Cedric's over Greysi's head before flicking to Silas's eager and expectant expression. Despite his words of support, at his friend's agreement, he still ran through every possibility of what could go wrong with giving the man he was staring at what he wanted.
It seemed it wasn't worse than what would happen if they came back to find her dead.
Letting go of her arm once again, he reached for the key to unlock Silas's door. "Step back," he ordered, transforming into the war general I had heard stories about- cutthroat and ruthless, like all the men in the King's inner circle.
Silas complied without a twitch of complaint, nearly tripping over his feet in his hurry to rush back as Emerson slid the key into the lock, afraid that even the idea of hesitation would have them changing their minds. He hadn't complied half as well when I snapped at him to be quiet earlier when his ramblings saw no end in sight.
Paranoia had me holding my breath. A lifetime spent on edge with my ears constantly open for my mother's unpredictable cruelty had me worried that the sound of my breathing would be enough to steal this chance from us. Unfortunately, the same reason they agreed to lock her away with Silas was the same reason that they weren't paying me much attention. Her weak breaths and lifeless complexion had their attention held captive- it held all of our attention.
I hissed in a sharp breath as the bang of metal hitting metal rang out to pull my focus away. My eyes jerked away from her still expression to find the source of the noise, Emerson's hand. He pulled it back from where it lingered in the air after pushing open the door to Silas's cell, letting it swing to a crash against the sedentary bars.
When my eyes returned to Greysi, it was to find Cedric dragging her forward. Despite displaying concern, his handling of her made it clear it wasn't for her. As Emerson had suggested, it was for Ezekiel's continuously evolving unpredictability.
The men closest to him were tiring of his fanatical search and where it had led them this time. They didn't see in Greysi the answers that their King did. They didn't think a human stood a chance against a fae royal. And they were right judging by the bodies we found.
So, what took the lost Prince so long to act?
A faint moan sounded from Greysi when Cedric's hold tightened to dig his fingers into her bicep before releasing her with a shove that had my heart leaping into my throat and Silas jumping into action. Rushing forward, he managed to catch her limp body in his arms before she could hit the ground, his knee slamming against it to catch them both.
"You-"Silas sucked in a sharp breath, cutting his words short before the slam of his cell door closing could. His teeth ground together, his jaw shifting from the efforts it took to stay silent and patiently wait for them to leave. Although he seemed to constantly be in a state of anger, its degrees varying, he seemed to have enough control over it to know when to shut his mouth and let it simmer.
Except when it came to her.
His rants were evidence. The murmurs to himself were quiet and thoughtful- even structured- that was until they veered towards her. Then, they grew brash and irrational- emotional. It made it all the more impressive when all Silas did next was shoot a glare Cedric's way as Emerson turned the key to reengage the lock. Luckily, the scarred man missed it, having turned to address me.
"You're confident she's innocent," he commented, sure of my conviction.
Although he hadn't asked it as a question, I still answered it like one. "Yes." If I could do anything to make things easier for the human that was now mine, I would. Including answering questions she may not have the answers to or know how to address.
