My cell was almost comfortable in comparison to the narrow, damp corridors of the labyrinthian prison, but it was a cell, nonetheless. Knowing Gray and Tryst were stuck together below, I would’ve gladly accepted a sentence down there with them, just to keep them from killing each other before I could get us out of the mess I’d made.

The king visited me, surrounded by his attendants. They all spoke at the same time as he stared at me, his face a terrifying, unreadable mask.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come to you first. I should never have trusted a witch.”

He opened his mouth and closed it again, sighing.

“What will you do with her Sire? How will you make an example of her to others who wish to undermine you?”

I jumped at my cage, making the whining courtier fall on her ass. “I would like to know about others who wish to undermine my father. I’ve fought a dozen of them firsthand. Would like to join the ranks of the defeated?”

She glanced wide-eyed at my father. “She said she’d fight the next duel to the death. She wants to kill us.”

The laughter that bubbled from my throat held no humor. “If I wanted the Fae dead, I would’ve hexed this place the moment I found it and walked away to let you rot.” As I said it, I wondered if I’d gone too far. I couldn’t destroy Fairy with a hex, surely even the simpering sycophants kissing the king’s ass while they demanded his only child’s death knew that.

A few of them shuffled uncomfortably, but others stared on in horror, certain that my death was long overdue.

Father merely lowered his head, hiding his face for a moment. “I must leave you until the time of judgment. I am…disappointed our meeting ends this way.”

“Yeah? I understand how you feel, Father. I’ve been disappointed since I arrived.” He looked at me sharply. “At least free my friends. They were my guard, and under Fae law, are not responsible for whatever crime you’re charging me with. They were simply following orders.”

“I do not have your people.” He looked confused, his mask slipping for a moment.

"They were forced at lance-point into the oubliette when I was taken. Are you saying your guard acted on someone else's orders, or that you've freed them?"

He didn’t answer, striding quickly from the room without a backward glance. The entourage trailed behind him, some of them laughing behind their hands as they went, others smirking at me openly. Eventually, only Sir Baran Kingmaker was left, sitting across from me on a narrow wooden bench, his face pinched with worry.

“Damnit, I knew I should’ve talked to my father first.”

“Yes, you should have. And you might have spoken to him first, but you would’ve done whatever you wanted anyway, wouldn’t you?” Baran stood and came closer, so our faces were inches apart, separated only by cold iron.

Is that what they saw of me? That I was irresponsible and headstrong, not caring for the law? Probably. And they were partly right too.

“I would’ve stayed my plan if he’d done the right thing. Now my people are in the oubliette, and my scheming cousin is one step closer to the throne.” I bit my lip. “You shouldn’t be here. You should be with my father, protecting him from the mealy-mouthed betrayers in his court.”

He sighed. "The only betrayer, your father, sees, is you. He is convinced that you came only to sow dissent among the lower Fae."

I slammed my fists into the bars. "The Goddess came to me, Baran. She showed me how the magic of the Seelie is fading because they have forgotten to honor the wild magic, the magic of the lesser Fae. I'm trying to save my father's kingdom and his life."

“By emptying the prison of criminals?”

“By taking the power source from the Fae who are draining the lesser Fae in the prison. What do you think they will do when their power rivals his and yours?”

I almost saw the lightbulb go off over his head as realization dawned on him. “I cannot free you. I must follow the laws of high Fae.”

“I get it. I’m toast. Just protect him, Sir Baran. I believe he is a good king, even if he’s afraid of the changes that Fairy needs to survive.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he pursed his lips and backed away. “I cannot free you, I am sorry. No one of the high Fae may interfere.” I blinked and looked around the room outside my cage, but we were alone.

“Yeah, you said that. It’s okay. I’m glad you listened to me, at least.” I almost thanked him, after all, I was facing execution, what favor could he exact from me? But before I could open my mouth again, he was leaving, the door swinging to behind him.

I paced the length of my cell, the knife in my boot a comforting weight since all my other weapons had been taken. A thin cylinder of metal with only a sharp point, it would take a miracle to even slow a would-be assassin down, but I could work blood magic if needed, and if I saw my cousin’s face, that’s exactly what I had planned.

My aunt might even be less ashamed of me if she learned I'd taken out high Fae using witchcraft. I almost laughed thinking of my death bringing me the acceptance I'd yearned for my whole life. But I couldn't die. Not while Gray and the others were in magicless hell.

Fae are magicless. If the shifters are not Fae at all, maybe they can escape without me.

But even then, there was an evil witch with a yen for eternal youth waiting beyond the back door to hell. Goddess help me, what had I done?