The Siege of Shadows: Book one

Treacherous Paths (41)

KAEL'S POINT OF VIEW

The air grew thinner as we climbed higher, the southern peaks looming like jagged teeth against the steel-gray sky. The cold bit at my skin, the wind howling down from the peaks like a mournful wail. Rowan trudged ahead of me, her cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders. She'd said little since we'd left the castle, her expression guarded, her focus pinned on the path ahead.

I kept my distance, as much from her as from my own thoughts.

The king's words still echoed in my mind, barbed and biting. Rowan, my pleasure slave. His attempt to humiliate her, to humiliate me. The Seelie king's cruelty knew no bounds, and I hated him for it. But I hated myself more for not being able to protect her from his games.

Even now, away from the castle, I couldn't shake the image of her standing in the throne room, her eyes burning with defiance even as the king reduced her to nothing more than a pawn. She had fought, tooth and nail, against everything the king had thrown at her. And yet, here we were.

Rowan didn't deserve this—didn't deserve me.

I clenched my fists, the cold biting into my skin. The truth was, I didn't understand why the king had sent her out here after declaring she was to remain within the castle walls, bound to me. It didn't make sense. Unless...

My stomach twisted. Unless he saw something in her that he feared.

Rowan's powers had unsettled him. I'd seen it, the flicker of unease in his eyes when she'd used them, the way he'd tightened his grip on the throne's armrest. What was it about her abilities that had shaken him so deeply? The king, who held dominion over all the Seelie lands, who commanded armies with a single word—what could possibly make him feel threatened?

Rowan glanced back at me then, her expression unreadable. I averted my gaze, unwilling to let her see the turmoil in my thoughts.

She didn't trust me. Not fully. And why should she? I'd been cold, detached, every kindness I'd shown her undone by the walls I kept rebuilding. I didn't deserve her trust. I didn't deserve anything from her.

But I couldn't deny the flicker of relief I felt, knowing she was away from the castle. Away from the king.

The wind picked up, sending a cascade of snow down the mountainside. Rowan adjusted the amulet around her neck, the opal core pulsing faintly. She claimed it was leading her deeper into the mountains, into the Fae Wilds beyond. Unseelie territory.

I stopped in my tracks, staring at the peaks ahead. The Unseelie lands were a treacherous place, even for me. The Seelie king might have cursed me with the name Theros, called me a beast—but that didn't mean the Unseelie would welcome me with open arms.

Rowan paused, turning to look at me. "Something wrong?"

Her voice was steady, but I could hear the tension beneath it.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "We should keep moving."

She hesitated for a moment before nodding, continuing up the path.

I followed, my thoughts a tangled mess. If the amulet truly led us to Danu's Well, what then? The king had sent us to retrieve it, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he had no intention of letting us return unscathed.

My mother. The thought of her brought a fresh wave of dread.

He'd use her. Of course he would. She was the only leverage he had over me, the only thing tying me to his court. If we brought back the well, he'd hold her ransom. Or worse.

A part of me wanted to turn back, to take Rowan and run as far from the king's reach as possible. But where could we go? The king's influence stretched across the Seelie lands and beyond.