Shadow Heir

my sake. She doesn’t like me nearly that much. This is an absurd waste of time. Why don’t we all just sit down for a delightful morning meal of tea and pastries and put this absurdity behind us? Where are your charming pets, by the way?”

There was some truth to his words. I wasn’t going to give up the Iron Crown, even to save his life—but that decision wasn’t nearly as carefree as he made it sound. It was a head-over-heart choice, one that I knew accomplished the most good but which would probably kill me in the application.

“This is no joke. The Oak King will die if my request is denied. And,” Varia continued to me, “as I said, I’m not going to let you debate in luxury.”

Was my cell considered luxury? I really had to see what passed for dismal lodging around this place. Before I could question her further, a slight gesture from her brought a guard striding toward Dorian. In one smooth motion, he halted before Dorian and punched him hard in the stomach. Dorian doubled over, and a spasm of pain crossed his face, but he otherwise made no sound. Me, on the other hand ... well, I had a few things to say.

“You fucking bitch!” I exclaimed, straining forward. Guards were already in place to restrain my arms, probably having anticipated my reaction. “I am going to kill you!” Without further thought, I had drawn the magic of air and water around me. The room grew thick with humidity and tension. All I needed was a source to blast it into.

“Eugenie,” said Dorian sharply. All mirth was gone. “Do not do anything rash. You have a lot to think over.”

I met his eyes, which were greener than ever in the morning light streaming through Varia’s windows. I caught the subtext. If I unleashed my magic now, it would be without a well-formed plan. Again, I had a head vs. heart decision here, and my head’s argument didn’t seem so compelling just then. Still, after a deep breath, I dropped my magic and fixed a glare on Varia.

“Perhaps the Oak King is more reasonable than I suspected,” she mused. She nodded toward the same guard again. He stepped forward and punched Dorian in the face, hard enough that I heard a thwack.

“Ow,” moaned Dorian, wincing from the pain. “My greatest asset.”

I bit my lip so hard that I tasted blood. But I had to do something to stop myself from striking Varia down with lightning. “What is the point of this?” I asked Varia, once I had some semblance of control. “To convince me what a badass you are? That you can bully a chained-up man? Or is it just so I’ll believe you really will kill him?”

“Oh,” she said. “You can rest assured that I will kill him. Mostly this is to emphasize what I said before: no more time to lounge around and decide with no consequences. For every moment you waste deliberating today, the Oak King will be in the hands of my torturers, experiencing the most excruciating pain. Your delay extends that agony.”

“Oh, irony,” murmured Dorian.

I stiffened. This was not good news, first because I simply didn’t want Dorian suffering. What also sucked was that I was certain the torturers were not on the same floor as my cell, meaning I wouldn’t have Dorian on hand when I attempted my great coup. Jasmine and the others’ escape had given me one less variable to worry about inside the palace. Dorian being taken out of my sight was a brand-new complication.

Varia continued. “And believe me when I say that my professionals make Garik’s attempts here seem quite childish. No offense, Garik.” The punching guard gave a bow of acknowledgment to his queen. “Fortunately for the Oak King, his pain will be short-lived—either because you’ll make the right decision or I’ll be forced to kill him at suppertime.”

“Remember—nothing rash, Eugenie,” said Dorian, far too cheerful for someone whose face was swelling rapidly. “I can take as much pain as I can dole out—and you certainly know how much I can dole out. Don’t worry about me.”

Again, I caught the message to carry out the other plans with caution. There was also, I suspected, a joke in there about some of Dorian’s sexual preferences, which tended to run toward BDSM. I had little appreciation for the weak attempt at humor just now, however. It took every ounce of strength I had to remain hard and impassive to Varia. Otherwise, there was a good chance I’d fall to my knees and beg for Dorian’s release.

“I’m not swearing any loyalty to you,” I told her. “And I’m not going to use the Iron Crown on your behalf. That answer’s not going to change.”

“Suit yourself,” she said. “We’ll see what you say later today.” She gave us a wave of dismissal. “Take them to their respective locations.”

I wasn’t able to exchange another word with Dorian because we were both hurried out too quickly. The urge to unleash a storm surged within me one last time, and I again fought it back. I would do this right. So, I allowed my escort to take me back to my cell on the third floor. They again gave me the faux courtesy of removing my chains before locking the door. Glancing around, I saw that someone had left a covered meal tray on my palette. I lifted the lid and found a piece of bread and some water—and a rat that quickly darted off the tray. Talk about adding insult to injury.

“Oh,” I said. “That’s just lovely.”

Yet, before I finished speaking, I noticed something weird about the rat—mainly, that it wasn’t actually a rat. Instead, it was a rat-sized miniature red fox. I caught my breath.

“No way. Kiyo?”

The rat-fox scurried to the center of my cell. Within moments, he transformed, and I had a full-sized Kiyo standing before me. I cast a wary look behind me, half expecting guards to come busting in. Then, I had to remind myself that his kitsune magic would not be readily detectable to gentry.

“How’d you do that?” I asked Kiyo. “Did a mad scientist give you a shrink ray?”

He smiled, but his eyes looked tired. “Afraid not. It’s just another variation on the shape-shifting, just like I can turn into a super-sized fox. I’ve just never had much reason for the small size. Turns out it’s terribly convenient for poking around a palace.”

“I thought you were a rat,” I admitted.

“So did one of the cooks in the kitchen. I have a new respect for brooms.”

“Is that how you guys escaped? Where’s everyone else? Are they okay?”

He leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his dark hair. “The chains couldn’t stop me, especially once I shape-shifted. Once I had a moment to free myself, I got the chains off everyone else, and then we just kind of busted our way out in the night. Why haven’t you done that?”

“Would if I could,” I muttered. “Varia’s keeping me in check with a few things. First, it was you guys. Then she tacked on the destruction of my kingdoms and finding Isaac and Ivy for good measure. Now she’s got Dorian with torturers and his execution penciled in.” I gave him a brief recap of my morning meeting.

“You were smart not to act then,” said Kiyo, when I was finished. “Dorian’s strong. He’ll hold out.”

I wondered if Kiyo meant that or if he just didn’t really care about Dorian suffering. “You never told me where the others are.”

“Hidden in the city,” Kiyo said. “Your Hemlock friends helped us find a safe place.”

“Hemlock ...” A light went off. “You’re Alea’s scout, aren’t you? You’ve been looking for the room with the talismans.”

“Found it,” he said, in a manner far too casual for the importance of those words. “Like I said, you can get to a lot when you’re rat-sized.”

“Is it in the basement, like Alea said?”

“Well, yes, but there are a bunch of basements here. This place goes as far underground as it does above. The room’s about four floors down and has lots of guards. The objects are inside, in two collections, surrounded by some magic I can’t really figure out. But then, gentry magic isn’t my specialty.”

“Two collections ... let me guess. One for the lands actually in the blight and one for those who’ve sworn allegiance. But obviously, she’d still keep their tokens around as leverage.”

Kiyo nodded. “That’s what I thought too. Not sure if this makes you feel better or worse, but the blighted pile was much larger. More are resisting than giving in.”

“How do you know it was the blighted pile? Did you recognize Maiwenn’s gift?”

“No, but there was a marble bust of Dorian in there, which I figured must have been his kingdom’s ‘humble’