Page 7 of Court of Lies and Deceit

“We don’t have time for this!” Draven snaps. “She’s dying! So get your healer out here and save her, or I will?—”

“Or you’ll do what, exactly?” the Unseelie King cuts off, his voice as sharp as a blade.

Dark storm clouds gather around Draven, and lightning crackles around his powerful body as he growls, “You don’t want to play this fucking game with me right now, Orion. Just get your fucking healer out here.”

“Or what?” the Unseelie King, Orion, repeats. His black and silver eyes are merciless as he stares Draven down. “These wards have stood for thousands of years. You cannot breach them.”

Lightning cracks against the barrier, but just like before, it only makes it ripple slightly before it grows still again.

Orion flashes Draven a cold smile. “You overstep, Shadow of Death. This is my court, Haldia is my healer, and these are my wards. If you wanted something, you should have begged me for it. Now, you get to stand there and watch her die while I go back to bed.”

Before Draven can so much as open his mouth, the Unseelie King spins on his heel. His long dark blue hair flutters in the air when he turns and starts back towards the trees.

“Orion!” Draven snaps.

But the Unseelie King just keeps walking.

“Orion Nightbane!” Draven yells, his voice echoing through the silent night like a thunderclap. “Don’t you fucking dare!”

Bolts of white lightning crash into the wards as Draven throws the full extent of his storm magic at the barrier. But just like before, all it does is to ripple.

“Get your healer out here right now,” Draven continues bellowing. “Or I swear to God I will destroy everything you have ever touched. I will kill everyone you have ever met. I will burn your entire court to ashes and salt the fucking earth so that nothing will ever grow here again.”

But the Unseelie King simply continues walking.

“ORION!” Panic bleeds into Draven’s voice now. He casts a look at me over his shoulder, and the sheer terror in his eyes makes my stomach drop. Whirling back towards the wards, he slams his fist against the barrier. “Orion, please!”

That finally makes the Unseelie King pause. Turning slowly, he faces Draven again and arches an eyebrow.

Draven doesn’t even try to hide the dread and desperation in his voice as he repeats, “Please, Orion. Save her.”

Starlight glints in Orion Nightbane’s eyes, but the smile on his beautiful face is vicious and full of challenge. “You call that begging?” He gives Draven a taunting once-over. “Pathetic.”

Then he turns back around and starts walking again.

Draven casts another panicked look back at me.

Then he drops to his knees in front of the barrier and spreads his arms wide. “Orion, please, I’m begging you.”

The sight of Draven on his knees, pleading for my life, makes a blast of fury shoot through me. After everything he has been through these past two hundred years, he should never have to bow to anyone else ever again. He shouldn’t have to humiliate himself like this. Especially not for my sake.

“Don’t—” I begin to protest.

But the word barely makes it out of my mouth before it’s cut off by a gasp as a burst of pain spikes through my skull. It’s so intense that my vision blacks out for a second. When my eyesight returns, the world around me sways. I blink hard, my body shaking uncontrollably and my teeth chattering so loudly that my skull rattles.

Once the world around me comes back into focus, I find the Unseelie King sauntering back towards the barrier where Draven is kneeling. But his black and silver eyes are fixed on me.

“We’ve dealt with ice flame wounds before,” he says. “And given the state of her, she has about half an hour left to live. It would take me three minutes to get her to Haldia.”

Sliding his gaze back to Draven, he raises his eyebrows expectantly while leaving that half-spoken offer hanging there in the air between them.

“Please, I’m begging you,” Draven repeats, his arms still spread wide in surrender. “Name your price. I’ll do anything. You want me to grovel at your feet? Done. Just please, save her.”

My heart aches at the sight of Draven like that, and I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment as a wave of guilt crashes into me. He’s begging for my life with everything he has, and all I can do is to sit here uselessly. I should be the one begging the Unseelie King for my life. I should be the only one taking on that humiliation and shame. But with my spine severed and the ice flames rendering my body weak and numb, I can’t even manage to crawl up to his feet and kneel there myself.

Rage burns through me. And I decide, right there in the grass under the impassive night sky outside the Unseelie Court, that if I survive this, I am going to make sure that Draven never has to sacrifice himself ever again. Never has to submit to someone else’s whims ever again. I will take on the pain, I will take on the debt, I will take on whatever fate requires of me. Next time, I will be the one protecting him.

A few strides away, Galen and Lyra stare at Draven, looking completely stunned. Next to me, Isera only watches Orion Nightbane through narrowed eyes, while Alistair’s gaze flits across the grasslands around us.

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