Allegiance (41 page)

‘Hurt her again and die,’ Leif threatened.

‘Perhaps—but she will die with me. Now sit!’

Leif sat down again.
We have time, Marla. He thinks he needs to follow Jack’s instructions.

‘I am going to order you restrained now,’ the Shadow King continued. ‘But before I do, know this: should you make one move to resist, your queen will die. Before you could even close the distance between us, I would have stilled her heart and separated her head from her body. I warn you—do not test me.’

My breath came fast and I began to whimper.

‘How do I know you will keep her safe?’ Leif asked, watching me.

‘You can communicate with her can you not?’

Leif nodded.

‘Well, if the communication stops, you will know she is not safe. She is weak, I have made sure of it. But why would I waste an immortal female? It is your death I require, not hers. You have my
vow that if you cooperate, your queen will go free to breed with another.’

‘I do not trust you.’

‘I am fathered by one of your kind. I have no choice but to adhere to my vow or suffer the consequences… Name your price.’

‘Your death and that of your female, if you have one.’

The Shadow King inclined his head. ‘Accepted.’

‘She will be with me at all times—otherwise I’ll take my chances.’ Leif stood up again. He looked wild—eyes burning into the Shadow King and fists clenched so tight I thought the muscles might burst through his skin.

Mirresen considered him for a moment, unfazed. ‘Agreed,’ he said finally. ‘But remember—heroism will only result in her end.’ He turned to the waiting Shadow Fae. ‘Bind him,’ he commanded.

Four of the creatures converged on Leif, all armed with vines and nervous expressions. And while the Shadow King kept the tip of his knife pierced into the flesh over my heart they began to wrap the vines around my betrothed’s body, locking his wings inside and lashing his wrists together. Leif allowed it but silently seethed, his heart pumping fast. My own raced to match it. I thought it might give out at any moment. The sensation was actually painful.

Please Leif, calm down, I can’t take it,
I begged.

He closed his eyes and took a long breath—in through the nose, out through the mouth. After another, our hearts began to return to a more normal pace.

When the Shadow King was satisfied Leif was sufficiently restrained, he passed me to one of the creatures—a female, bony and gaunt. My head whirled and I would have fallen if she’d not gripped me so tightly. Mirresen grasped Leif’s arm and shoved him towards an opening at the rear of the cave. Panic flared inside
me as my betrothed disappeared into darkness, the Shadow King close behind him. I was quickly taken after them—half dragged and half carried down a tunnel so dark I couldn’t see the sides. I could feel them though, pressing in like a bad dream, the rough stone tearing at my arms and legs. Worse, I could hear sounds above the ringing in my ears—crying and shouting and pain—a distant echo growing louder.

The tunnel ended in a second cave that smelt of damp rock and body heat. It was larger than the first—the ceiling partly open to the sky. Starlight spilled inside and, together with a few firelights, lit the dark. My hand flew to my mouth to muffle a scream at what I could see. At least twenty cages curved around the wall. They were bunched close—some piled on top of others—and looked like they were made of bones. And save for a few, a single faery was crammed into each—trapped. I noticed a woman curled into a ball mercifully sleeping and beside her a male, his body racked with silent sobs. I looked away, my stomach heaving, only to have my attention captured by another male. He sat hunched forward, his legs crushed to his chest and forehead wedged between the bars, shaking them furiously, hollering to be released. The female beside him begged him to stop, frantic. The contents of my stomach churned and tumbled, and with no strength left to try and stop them they lurched out of me, all over the arms of my captor. She didn’t even flinch.

‘This one needs to be silenced,’ Mirresen said, indicating the protesting man with a flick of his hand.

Immediately, the three Shadow Fae who’d come in behind me dove for the cage, pushing each other out of the way to get there first. The winner unlocked the gate with a key he took from a hook attached to a piece of vine around his hips. He wrenched the man from the cage. In the starlight, I was able to see the prisoner was one of King Telophy’s guards, the king’s emblem bold on his
bicep. The shadow creature paid no attention to his struggling victim’s protests. With the help of the other two, he just dragged him to a pile of leaves topped with animal pelts and threw him down. Hurriedly, the female holding me thrust me into the cage the guard had been torn from, locking the gate before joining the three on the floor.

Leif was incensed. He was demanding the guard’s release, demanding my release and struggling to get free. The Shadow King allowed it for a few seconds, then with a single knee to Leif’s groin put an end to my betrothed’s struggle. Leif collapsed to the floor, groaning and curling in on himself, his body straining against the bonds. The Shadow King crouched beside him, gripped hold of Leif’s pants at the hip and tore a long strip down his leg. He made a ball of the fabric and stuffed it into my betrothed’s mouth before tearing another strip and tying the gag in place. Then he placed a foot on my betrothed’s body and began muttering something to a couple of Shadow Fae—one male, one female—who seemed to have just materialised from the crannies in the walls at the Shadow King’s whim and who were both hungrily watching the captured guard like drug addicts needing their fix.

The first lot of creatures had the guard spread and pinned, each of them in possession of a limb. He was quiet now, his face frozen with terror as his captors took their time choosing veins—poking and prodding and pinching. Satisfied, the one who’d taken him from the cage began stabbing his daggered nail into the guard’s groin, tearing at a vein until the blood came. Then he fell onto the wound and began sucking out the sun with greedy gulping sounds. The other three followed quickly, ripping the guard open with chunks of diamond or sharpened nails, digging bony fingers and pointed elbows into his flesh as they drank. As Leif tried to soothe me with silent words, I buried my face into my knees and sobbed.

A short while later, I cried out as something cold and hard bit the wound at my throat, sending a stinging ache deep into my neck. My eyes snapped open to see the female Mirresen had been speaking to crouched outside my cage, her mad eyes huge and hungry. She was holding a knife to my neck and I could feel the tip pressing inside. Crammed into such a tight space, I couldn’t do a thing about it. Shuddering, I tried to hold my body still to prevent the blade sliding further in.

Leif—still trapped beneath the Shadow King’s foot—continued to assure me everything would be all right. But I knew it wouldn’t be so, because the Shadow King had finished his conversation with the male and after indicating a crate against the wall of the cave, began laying fresh kicks into Leif’s body. The knife drove deeper into my throat in response to my screams. At the same time, the male was emptying the limbless carcass of an animal from a crate. It fell in a bloody heap to the floor with an awful squelching thud. He dragged the crate along the wall and tipped it upside down before climbing up and waiting. The Shadow King left Leif alone and disappeared into one of the tunnels leading off the cave.

Are you all right, Leif,
I asked, tears falling down my cheeks.

I will be, Marla
. But he was curled in on himself, barely moving.

On the mattress of leaves, the guard’s groans were turning to pleading whimpers and finally to silence. The creatures continued to drink, their victim’s body twitching beneath them. It went on and on and on, long after his light had disappeared completely. Finished, the Shadow Fae got up, their bodies glowing bright. Two of them dragged the drained guard and crammed him into one of the empty cages, not bothering to lock the gate. I wiped the tears from my eyes as I prayed he was only sleeping.

Will he be all right, Leif?

I don’t know, Marla.

The Shadow King returned and snapped his fingers in the direction of the four sun-gorged Shadow Fae lolling around the walls, calling the now gleaming creatures to him. He leaned close and whispered something to them. A moment later all four were flying out the roof of the cave, their blood-drenched wings sparking red with stolen light. Next, Mirresen dragged Leif to his feet and, directing his attention to the knife piercing my neck, ordered him up on the crate. Leif obeyed and when he was told to raise his arms, he did so without hesitation. The male waiting on the crate stood on his toes in an attempt to tie Leif’s bound wrists to a hook jutting from the wall, calling on the Shadow King for help when he couldn’t reach. When Leif was secured, Mirresen kicked the crate from beneath his feet and followed it up with a series of rapid punches to my prince’s body. I sobbed as Leif groaned—his sounds deep and muffled behind the gag. Tears poured down my face as I begged the Shadow King to stop.

And then I began to relax. I felt warm as I floated amidst a cloud of comfort. Leif was in my head and for a little while I was aware of it. I drew him close, closer. Soon we were at the castle and he was holding my face in his hands, kissing me—his mouth warm and sweet on mine. Lysander was there, and Ashleigh. They were laughing and telling us to get a room. And I was so tired. Leif scooped me up and took me to his room. He told me to rest. I closed my eyes, buried my face into his neck and slept.

I don’t know how much time had passed when I heard Leif calling me. I came to him slowly—as from a dream. The first thing I noticed was that he was naked, his pants in pieces beneath his feet. His head fell onto his chest and his feet dangled mere centimetres above the floor. The firelights had gone out, but the stars provided enough light to make it clear he’d been both beaten and fed upon. Gashes and welts and bruises covered his body. The second thing I noticed was that the Shadow King had left us. Aside from the captured Fae and the male and female who’d assisted Mirresen—now lost in the pleasure of feeding on a faery—we were alone.

Leif,
I called, the voice inside my head urgent.

He looked up slowly and smiled, his face bloody.
You’re awake,
he answered.

Are you all right?

I’m fine, my love.

Where’s the Shadow King?

Gone to organise the hunt for Jack’s knife. We won’t get a better chance to escape than now.

Can’t you call your father now?

No,
Leif said quickly.
The Shadow King will not be far and he will sense my father’s approach. We need to get a key.
He glanced in the direction of the two Shadow Fae sucking the sun out of the whimpering woman wedged between them, squeezing her with their spindly bodies.

I swallowed.
How?

I’ve been watching them, Marla. Twice they have been called to a cage. They unlock the gate, take the hostage out, then disappear through that passageway over there.
Leif glanced in the direction of one of the tunnels leading from the cave.
They return a little later. I’m assuming it’s because the prisoner needs to relieve him or herself. Each of the creatures has a key. Look at the male, you can see it at his side. If you could get a key, you could wait until they are distracted, undo your cage and come to me. Hidden near the top of my pants is a small blade. Find it, pull the crate across and cut my bonds.

But can’t you just use your power to escape?

I can’t use my power when my hands are bound, Marla.

Oh, Leif, I don’t know…

Marla, I think it’s our only chance. Even though the Shadow King believes I will resurrect if he doesn’t follow Jack’s method, he won’t let me live beyond this night. When the sun comes up he will have to retreat into darkness. He knows he cannot confuse me—knows there will be nothing to stop me calling for help. Be brave, my love, you can do this.

Will I call them now?

Wait till they’ve finished, I don’t think it would be a good idea to disturb them.

But they’ll kill her!

They won’t. Look, she has much sun still. The attack on the guard was merely an example to the others.

I looked across to the man who’d been pushed back into a cage earlier on. He remained in the exact position.

‘He has passed,’ the woman in the cage beside mine whispered when she noticed me staring.

I looked at Leif.
You knew?

Yes.

‘Why?’ I murmured, unable to get my dizzy head around it.

‘Punishment for resisting,’ she whispered, affirming what Leif had said. ‘They like us more when we are quiet. Tomorrow, he will remain in the cage as a warning. When night comes, they will remove his body and replace him with another.’

I felt sick. ‘Why do they do this?’

‘They can take our sun at leisure.’ She gazed up to the open sky. The stars twinkled in every colour—a picture of freedom and beauty. Tears glittered at the corners of her eyes. ‘When day comes, the sun pours through. It fills our blood and gives us strength… Then at night it is taken from us once more. We lose more blood each night until we die. But then they just go out with their leader and bring back replacements. I’ve lasted longer than most because I have learned that the Shadow Fae admire subservience. If you are polite and don’t struggle, you will live longer. When I feel too unwell, I tell them I am honoured to be of service but in need of rest. They respond well to it. Many nights I have avoided being fed from.’ She rubbed her belly. ‘I will do anything to save my child.’

‘Oh… you’re pregnant.’

She nodded.

‘How long have you been here?’

‘Many nights have passed since I was taken from my home. I’ve tried several times to call to my king but he does not hear.’