I stared at him, but he seemed to have lost the words. Perhaps he finally realized the severity of his actions. “To what?”
He pressed his forehead back to the ground. “Nothing, sir. It was a poor decision.”
Koan side-eyed his brother, but did not lift his head again.
I put a sinister leer in my voice. “Since you attacked someone who could not fight back, run, or protect herself in any way, justice demands you endure the same experience.” I waited a few seconds for that to sink into their minds, and then waved my hand; binding them with invisible magic to the floor in their bowed positions.
I pressed on the gate to her cell and bit back a curse. I had not brought the keys. For the first time since I’d arrived, I focused my gaze on her face. Shadows buried her expression, but I tried to gentle mine. Light from torches in sconces along the wall fell on my face, and I did not want to scare her.
But I was too upset at Koan and Jolter to waste time fetching keys.
I covered the bolt with a hand and melted it, silently cursing the insolent twins. Guiding them into adulthood should have been their father’s task, not mine, but since they were inside the fortress when the curse landed, I was stuck with them. And their father, a reasonable noble with expansive influence, was stuck outside the cursed boundary.
I forced the gate open, ignored its creaking screech, and walkedslowly to my prisoner.
She looked up at me with the same bold, blue eyes that had defended her brother. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Her gratitude caught on my lungs and stalled my breath—I did not deserve it. If I had come sooner, I could have stopped them before they actually threw rocks. “I take the safety of my people very seriously.” I spoke softly, hoping to avoid frightening her again, but wanting Koan and Jolter to hear me. “You are now included within that purview.”
She said nothing, so I raised my hand toward her.
She flinched back, brushing against the wall of the cell as a hint of fear worked its way through the mistek bond.
I lowered my hands and my voice. “I’d like to free you from the manacles. You have nothing to fear.”
She nodded, but I still felt her unease. I leaned over her to retrieve the small keys off the shelf three feet above her head. Her body stiffened while I reached over her and remained rigid as I gripped the cuffs. I wanted to say something—anything—to help her relax, but the only thing I could think of was to free her wrists and give her more space.
I unlocked the manacles, returned the key to the shelf, and stepped back two feet.
She rubbed her wrists. “What will you do with me now?”
What would I do with her? I didn’t trust her enough to give her any freedom, but I clearly couldn’t leave her in the dungeon—it had already proven to be unsafe. And I had promised her she’d be safe if her brother stayed away.
A softer fear, more likely anxiety, nudged through the bond and pricked my senses. I needed to convince her she was safe. Ineededto stop feeling the evidence of my failureto keep her safe.
Maybe, she needed to see that I would not leave Koan and Jolter unpunished.Thatwas something I could offer her now—evidence of her safety.
I strolled out of the cell to where they were still pinned to the floor, and tore their fine tunics in half, exposing their bare backs. A sharp, soft intake of breath met my ears as I plucked a whip off the wall between two lighting sconces. She must not have expected to see them punished so quickly.
I gestured for her to join me in the hall. “Come.”
She slipped through the cell door I’d left open and stood next to me. I handed her the whip.
She did not take it.
I raised the handle closer to her. “Their consequence for attacking you is fifty lashes each. You may take the penalty out of their flesh.”
She clenched her hands together in front of her waist and said, “I don’t need that.”
I lowered the whip to my side. “Whatdoyou need?”
“I…” Her gaze flicked from me to Koan and Jolter, then to the whip, and then back up to me. “I just need them to not attack me again.”
She did not want to see them hurt. I could understand that. “I will punish them, then, and they will never hurt you again.”
“No.” Her voice grew stronger, and she stepped in front of Koan. “I appreciate your help in stopping them, truly I do, but I don’t need to tear them apart to consider justice done. Surely extending them a little kindness will teach them to be kind in return.”
Koan’s face jerked up. My magic pinned his body, but I’d left his head and neck free to move. He could not resist staring at his unlikely champion. I tapped the handle of the whip against my left palm. “I have extended them patience and kindness for years, and the lesson they seem to have garnered from that is that I will overlook their poor behavior. I cannot allow that to continue.”
