Page 81 of A Trial of Two Worlds
“This way.”
I obeyed, for now.
The evening sunset pierced my eyes with a bite of welcomed pain. I had not seen the light of day since my capture, and I embraced the stinging kiss of the light as it blurred my vision.
We halted as the guards readied themselves to lead me into the throne room. I turned toward the window and placed my forehead against the stained glass. Feeling the warmth of the setting sun through the painted window was foreign yet also calming.
I was free of the dungeons. I thanked the Mother and Father for giving me the strength to return and once again come out alive.
Yet, if I needed to remain in the dungeons for Skylar,I wouldn’t hesitate to return. I would doanythingto keep her safe. I would endure all this and more to protect her.
“Wait here,” one of the guards said. “I will notify the queen of her newest guest’s arrival.”
“Oddly generous,” I mumbled, my attention returning to the sunset along the western horizon. “We will always find each other,” I whispered on a pained exhale of breath, believing in those words just as much now as the first day I said them to her. “See you soon, Spitfire.”
“Bring him in.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if I didn’t have these chains around my neck, wrist, and ankles?” I asked. “It wouldportray a stronger sense of unity for the High Fae gathered here today.”
The lead guard contemplated my request, and it seemed like he was on the verge of bringing my suggestion to the queen when Rhett entered the doorway.
Fuck.
“Don’t let his charming facade fool you,” Rhett said, pushing the gold curtain aside as he entered the narrow hallway.
“Brave of you to be in such confined quarters with me,” I snarled. “I thought you were wiser than that.”
I hated this male. He and Anjani could drown in the crossing and be forever lost inside an eternal doom for all I cared.
“Bravery is such an elusive trait,” Rhett said.
“I’m beginning to agree with my mate,” I answered coldly.
“And what, pray tell, did the champion say? She’s such a colorful specimen.”
“You speak in twisted riddles.”
“Obviously,” Rhett countered. “While your strength lies in your brawn, mine lies within my cunning intellect. With the gift of my abilities from the Gods themselves, I have the honor to see many things that others don’t. The knowledge locked inside my mind would even, dare I say, make the Silver Shadow pause with dread and fear.”
“You’re tiresome, And not worth the time or energy to try and decipher.”
Rhett scowled but quickly recovered. “We shall see.” His icy stare darted to the guards on either side of me. “She’s ready for him,” he said to the guard at my right.
“Oh, joy,” I mumbled as I was led into the throne room.
The thick golden curtain was pulled aside with Rhett strutting out before me. “Bring him to the high queen,” Rhett instructed.
“Move it,” one of them barked at me. “Or will we have to force you?”
“I’ll behave.”
Compelling myself to stand straight, I held my head high, erasing any trace of pain from my expression and ignoring the bite of the iron shackled to my body. I would don the mask I’d perfected over centuries in her presence. Becoming Silver Shadow once more.
The clinking sounds of my shackles echoed across the large room, ricocheting from the crown moldings of the decorative ceiling along the columns and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Sterlyn Lake. The gold decor was flashy and far too much—a testament to the queen’s desire to showcase anything and everything she could to display her rule.
I was led through the crowds of alternating shades of green. The High Fae in attendance did not even bat an eye at me as I entered, continuing with their conversations and generally ignoring my presence. After all, this wasn’t a new scene for them to witness.
Under Seamus’s rule, the Aelius court was the largest in the Inner Kingdom, but we all knew Minaeve was the true tyrant. When my realm allied with Crimson City, we became an even greater threat to Seamus and Minaeve. And judging by the looks from the sea of green dresses and tunics in the crowd, this fact was no longer a secret.
