Red Ruse

Chapter Twenty Five

Evangeline

My cell is clean, at least. The Samos name holds regard enough to keep me in good condition, however much my parents may disavow me now. They curse me for not waiting, for dishonoring the family with my reckless disobedience. I did it for them. I did it for them, and still they rip me to shreds.

Lady Ara struck before I did, a flicker in the firelight as her silhouette slid up the wall. I wonder if she could even have slipped through the flames, her skill unmatched by even her greatest ancestors. She would've won her queenstrial had she not been too old. I suppose I should be grateful my parents timed me right.

Regardless, I turned to Cal. "Brighten your flames." The words left me in a whisper. "Don't let Barrow control the light."

Gwendolyn paces just outside. She must be gloating, a vengeance for her loss, for all the times I've tried to kick her back to the dirt. I snarl. "Say it to my face, traitor."

She kneels at the corner, tilting her head. "Are you happy now?"

"Is that a joke?"

"You weren't happy before." Her hand runs along the bars. "You never will be, if you think you can please them."

My hands shake. "What would you know? You haven't had a family since we cast you out."

Her eyes darken. "Is that what they told you?"

The fire flared, white overtaking the yellow. Around us, shards smoked, sailing through the air faster than I could deflect. They vanished when they hit the flames. "Get out of here," he'd rasped. "Both of you."

"Ladies." A new voice echoes in the darkness, the pur of power and whisper of might. Elara caresses the walls as she enters, stepping on a rat's tail with distaste. "Are we clashing our swords again?"

I clutch the bars. "Let me loose, and I'll skewer her."

"Oh my." Elara chuckles. "What a scandal."

Gwendolyn straightens. "No more than what you've done to Artemy."

Her brow arches. "That man? He's lucky I haven't ruined him for wasting Merandus blood on you."

He'd managed to get Julian to break for the exit, a Singer useless in the deafening clash of metal. I stayed, only noticing the fumes when he began to choke. I paused. "You're gonna get yourself killed, Calore."

"I can stand it longer than she can." He grit his teeth. "And once she falls, I'll stop."

Vengeance is getting to him, or perhaps despair, the weight of all he's lost finally too much. I know enough to know he'd rather die in battle than by Elara's sword.

Her fist halts inches from her face, and Elara laughs. "Did you really think that would work?"

She pushes to no avail, finally giving up when Elara flicks her forehead. "Stay away from my son if you know what's good for you." She sneers. "We have no time for traitors, however long it's been."

The bars twitch, and I hold my breath. They don't bend. They don't break. Her rage is not enough to let me slip through.

Gwendolyn grits her teeth, drawing back. Elara waves a hand. "Begone, wench. I must speak with her alone."

She cannot disobey a queen.

Elara watches as she leaves, turning to me and softening. "My son has been quite cruel to you, hasn't he?"

My breath catches in my throat.

"Scorning you for a Red." She kicks a pebble, flicking dirt in its wake. "Setting you up to rot in a cell."

I clutch the bars, the metal taunting me with its silence. "Don't patronize me. I fell by my own hand."

"So you did." Her smile doesn't waver. "But you don't have to scorn mine."

Cal fell before I did, Elara's wrath concentrating on his skin. He'd gagged on his own spittle before collapsing to the ground. I'd thought him dead. I'd thought him vanquished. But it seems Elara's spite always gets the best of her.

Whatever retort I had dies in my throat. "You said to put her to the test."

Elara hummed. "I did."

"I failed."

"Not quite." Her nails tap against the bars, manicured silver, so dark you could mistake it for blood. "She hasn't faced me yet."

I bite my lip, wishing for death. "What good does that do me?"

"Now, now." She wags a finger. "I will free you in due time. For now, I must placate him." Her lip curls. "I did not expect to raise another Tibe."

I have little to say to that, even as a cockroach scurries over my shoe. "What was it like?" My throat bobs. "When she stole your crown?"

Elara pauses. She studies me, soft and violent, reaching a hand between the bars. "I cracked in two."

My laughter is bitter, forced. "So did I."

"Not as visibly." She tuts, nails screeching against the bars. "I kept quiet, and so did my family. To the rest of court, we were unshakable, a united front in the face of extraordinary misfortune." Her teeth gnash. "To each other, we were beasts."

My mind flickers to Mother and Father, Atara and Sonya, all the Silvers who saw weakness in my loss. "That's the way of court."

"It is." She cocks her head. "Let's make a deal, you and I." She strokes her hair. "You wait for your throne as I did. In exchange, I will ensure the rat bears no child that might usurp yours."

It takes a second to register, my heart pounding in my ears. "I can still–?"

"Of course." Her voice drips, sweet as syrup. "Samos is owed its dues, after all."

"And Barrow–"

"Is but a girl." Elara sniffs. "A toy for my son, for as long as she lasts." She kicks another pebble. "However stubborn she is proving to be."

My teeth gnash. "Am I expected to be here while she sits on my throne?"

She laughs. "You'll be freed in due time. For now, it must at least appear that you are punished."

I snarl, almost grabbing at her from behind the bars. It would do no good, not when I am already at her mercy. I had hoped she would die before Cal ascended the throne. It seems it might be the other way around. "Mother called Barrow a Coriane. Will you do the same to her?"

"Hmm." Elara flashes her teeth. "What did I do, exactly?"

"You killed her."

"I had to." She grins, and I almost expect her to laugh. "You and I–we were not built for the sidelines."

Swallow. "I know."

Her nails tap the bars again. "Do we have a deal?"

We do. We don't. I trust Elara less than I would a starving lion, because that, at least, Mother could subdue. I extend my hand. "Set me free first."

Pause. "No."

I burn, head falling. Elara watches me, eyes sharp with malice. "You failed me, Samos. You tried to kill Barrow by aiding a rival heir. Consider yourself lucky to even breathe."

Her mind curled around mine, sharp with malice. You failed. You failed. You failed.

And worse, I could hear my mother's voice echoing the same.

I can't stop the tears now, the scream, the pounding against stone to no avail. A hand reaches through the bars and caresses my chin. "Evangeline." Her voice is soft, lethal, the dust of snow on frostbite. "Do we have a deal?"

In I breathe. Out I lie. And in the middle of it, I stare at her, lips parting in a mangled promise. "We have a deal."