“Why do you support your father Embrys? He’s not a good man. I sense some goodness in you… or at least remorse. Why not leave when Oleander did?” I ask, lifting his chin up so he meets my eyes,and don’t lie to me, I will know.
His eyes widen and he nods his head. The scratch of stubble on his chin makes me want to run my hand along his jaw but I resist the urge. My gaze slips down to his lips for the briefest of seconds before I release him.
“Unfair little trick,” he says as he blinks his eyes, trying to break the contact, giving me his half smile. “He’s not all bad I swear. He spiraled after Oleander’s mother died and swore to do whatever it took to save our family. Unfortunately, in saving us from The Wolf executing us, as he did to many other heads of the Elemental houses, our father pledged allegiance – at the cost of Oleander’s trust. He beat himself up about it for years but his heart break has just solidified into resentment over time. He believes she should have married Gaelheart’s son for the good of the family,” he explains, holding my eye contact. “But he isn’t like the other lords. He doesn’t keep slaves and he actively supports his subjects who have been suffering fromthe droughts. I stick around to help the villages and farms in our lands. I make sure the other lords don’t step out of their lands and enslave any of the creatures-of-fae that are within our care.” I look at him, eyes narrowed and sucking on my teeth as I ponder his sincerity.
“Hewasparading me around in front of those lords though, wasn’t he? It was a show of status to have a fae slave,” I say, my disgust for Pyralis returning.
“Yes it was to show you off, but he had to make them believe that he is following suit. He wouldnevertake a slave, but he had his reasoning for keeping you with us. Giving you that brand also ensured the other houses wouldn’t be suspicious of the sudden new addition to our household.” He looks down to my wrist where the brand is poking out of my blouse. I follow his gaze and tug my sleeve down to hide it.
“Well, what were his reasons then?” I splay my hands out, lifting my brows in exasperation. He just shakes his head and averts his eyes.
Is he blushing?What his father could possibly want me for evades me and Embrys doesn’t seem like he will readily give up the information either
“I was not privy to his plotting. I only knew that in keeping you, we were protecting you fromsomething. He knew your mother too Nuria, I would even say they were friends from what I remember, I was quite young when she disappeared. Perhaps in his own perverse way he thought to save you from whatever it was she ran from,” he says, keeping his eyes averted,definitely hiding something.I grab his chin again and force his eyes to meet mine but he suddenly reaches both his hands around and grabs my wrists, fire erupts in his eyes.
“How did you get unshackled?” I try to yank my hands away.
“Little sleight of hand when you helped me down to the ground.” He winks, I grunt in exasperation at being bested byhim once again as he clasps the shackles down on both my wrists and yanks me up to stand with him. “Now stay quiet, or I will have to do something I really don’t want to.” I feel the shackles heat and burn my wrists in his warning as he peers around the doorway but I scream out anyway and yank on the chains as I slide to the ground to sweep out his feet. The metal burns even hotter and I scream again but this time in actual pain.Help! Help, fuck, help me!
Within moments Fenrick is there and deals a hard blow to Embrys’ temple that has him crumpling to the ground.
“Thanks,” I say as Fenrick grabs the keys from the floor and undoes the cuffs. There are angry red blisters where the metal singed my skin.If that was a warning then what was he prepared to do to me?I give Embrys a kick with my boot with the intention to see if he is unconscious but I may have let my leg swing a little harder just for good measure and am met with a groan.
“Quick, shackle him again. He can sit in here and stew for all I care. Asshole.” I stick my tongue out at him as we close the metal door behind us. I catch Embrys with his eyes open giving me his half smile.
“Sorry, you caught me by surprise when you knocked me over. It was just a scare tactic, I didn't mean to actually harm you Nuria. Can you blame me for trying to escape?” He winces as he sits himself back up, looking genuinely sorry. I have no empathy for this brute. I scoff and turn around to walk back towards the main hall with Fenrick, leaving Embrys in the dark cell.
Our conversation runs through my mind and I am confused at his escape attempt. It felt as though he was starting to open up to me. If he wants to gain his sister’s trust then surely he would have just complied. What is he hiding? I need to know more about Pyralis and my mother. Why did he want to protectme? Did he know who my father was? Is he still alive, or was he among those that were slayed by The King?
I’m lost in thought as I return to the communal fire, and don’t register my surroundings as I sit down in a huff. I stare blankly into the flames whilst chewing my nails, trying to find some sort of connection between all I have learned of Pyralis and The King when I hear Marissa’s laugh sound from one of the tables at the far end of the cave.
She is sitting with Oleander and another fae boy that looks to be closer to my age, although who knows how old he actually is with this whole prolonged lifespan thing. He has darker skin and tightly curled black hair and a big dimpled smile but I can’t see any visible signs of what kind of fae he might be.
They all appear to be having a good laugh and he claps Oleander on the shoulder before standing up and heading towards the kitchen. Oleander and Marissa continue on in the conversation and I notice they look like old friends, sisters even, and I feel a little joy at seeing the normalcy of their interactions. Marissa leans over to give Oleander a hug before racing off after the fae boy,typical Mar.
As if sensing my stare, Oleander turns to look directly at me, giving me a little nod before standing and making her way over.
“What did he do?” she says with a knowing look as she sits next to me, sliding a little closer than the last time. I roll my eyes and look at the fire.
“He opened up to me then tried to bloody capture me again! As if he could escape this place with me in tow,” I laugh, shaking my head and knitting my brows together in my still very present confusion about our interaction.
“I see, he has a certain charm does he not?” she chuckles, rolling her eyes. “I recall that he would make me laugh and feel seen as a child and then snap to cold whenever our father wouldenter the room. As if he could not be seen acting like a child.” She sighs, looking into the fire.
“He said he wants to make amends and that he regrets not protecting you. He really did sound sincere but why he wouldn’t just join you here I don’t understand. What is it about your father that makes him so loyal?” I question as I study her expression. I can see a flash of pain cross her face as she looks down at her hands. She blows out a sigh through her pursed lips and turns to face me head on.
“He knew our father before my mother came along, and he saw what our father… did to my mother.” She looks down and shakes her head, redness rising in her cheeks.
“What do you mean, ‘did to your mother’?” I raise an eyebrow, she takes a steadying breath. I haven’t seen this vulnerable side to her before and I am unsure what to think of it.
“Our father was madly in love with her.” She pauses, her eyes flitting to my face then looking away again. “Embrys told me that our father’s love softened his heart, he was such a different man to what he had been before my mother entered his life. He started caring for all creatures and was a dedicated servant to The Divine Mother because of my mother’s caring nature and her love of the Earth. He would do anything to please her. If you have been in that house you may have seen the room devoted to her. He even helped paint it.” She bites her thumb nail as she recalls what I can imagine is a painful memory.
“Their love was also… passionate,” she cringes, “I was too young to understand what had happened but Embrys explained it to me before I ran away. It was an accident but one he could not undo.” She pauses again to look at me and I give her my best,go on,nod, trying not to look too eager but also trying not to look bored. I have always felt unsure about what my face and hands should be doing when people have serious conversations withme but she seems to not be bothered by my weird half-smile and says what I was absolutely not expecting,
“Pyralis burned her alive one night during… uh…” Oleander suddenly looks away and shudders whilst looking down at her clenched hands.
He burned her alive? During….
“Oh!” Understanding dawns on me, my eyebrows shoot sky high, “and Embrys… saw?” I question, imagining a young Embrys walking in on a gruesome sight and blanch at the horror of it. I grab her hand, not knowing the right words to say to comfort her.
