Page 80 of A Trial of Two Worlds
“Let’s hope it’ll be enough,” she whispered.
“It is,” I snapped, baring my teeth toward the corner where I knew she lurked.
“There’s the famed warrior under the layers of dirt and grime.” Zola snickered. “I was wondering where he was hiding.”
Bending my knees, I leaned forward, hanging my head and shutting my eyes once more so the world would stop spinning for one gods-damned moment.
“The last session was…eventful,” I mumbled. “Never a dull moment in this place.”
“How lucky for you.”
The sound of keys echoed off the stone as the footsteps of four guards sounded down the corridor. Silently, I signed for Zola to disappear without rattling the chains, but she was already gone before I gave the command.
The guards began unlatching the locks on my door, not saying a word as to why they were coming to retrieve me.
“Hello,” I said with a weak grin. “Are we having another go around already? Lucky me.”
“On your feet, High Prince.”
“Manners for once,” I exclaimed in a sing-song voice I’d heard my brother use countless times. “I’m shocked you spoke to me, let alone addressed me by my title.”
“Now,” one of them barked with a swift kick to my feet that still held lashes from the previous meeting with Anjani. “You need to be washed.”
“So Anjani can see where she marks my body beneath the grime of my holding cell? I don’t think so. I’ll pass,” I replied.
“Either come with us or—”
“Or what?” I snarled, turning my eyes upward to look at each of them. The Silver Shadow, not Daxton Aegaeon, stared them down.
I noticed the two in the rear flinch, moving a half step backward before righting themselves. A wicked grin of amusement crossed my face, knowing I made themnervous. Knowing that even in this state, I could still kill them with my bare hands.
“Please,” one of the guards asked.
Twice in one day? What the fuck was going on in this place?
“There’s a gathering tonight to celebrate. The champion, she—”
The lead guard in the front turned to glare at the newest member, and even in the shadowed cell, I could tell he wasn’t pleased. Yet he only confirmed what Zola had said moments ago.
Skylar wascoming.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Daxton Aegaeon
“The three of you should know the routine by now.” I grinned, leaning back and laughing like a madman. “I don’t make this easy.”
I donned the Silver Shadow mask, daring them to approach, enticing them to try and force me to cooperate without one of them sporting a broken nose as a result. I glanced at the guard on the right, who had the privilege of this the last time I was forced from my cell.
“Which is why we broughthim.”
On cue, my arms began floating upward, and it took every ounce of my self-control not to push back against the magic encircling my limbs.
“Ahh, telekinesis. Clever.” Next, my torso lifted off the ground, and my entire body was eventually suspended in mid-air.
“Bring him this way,” the lead guard said to his companions as I was carried from my cell.
After every inch of me was scrubbed clean, I was escorted with blades drawn and held at my throat, then dressed in dark-colored fabric with rich gold thread, the opposite of my realm’s colors, with far too many layers and finery for my liking.
