Page 87 of A Queen's Game
With a squeeze of his hand, she said, “I need to talk to someone, to get out of this suite, Keyain. Amryth mentioned she’s been visiting the Temple of Therypon and that they’ve helped her—”
“For fuck’s sake, Mar,” Keyain said with a sigh, pulling his hand back from her. “The temples are just cults.”
“But they helped Amryth with the death of her wife. If you want to help me, then let me go to the temple to find peace.”
“I’ll have a doctor from the infirmary sent to the suite,” Keyain said, standing. “I know you didn’t like the drugs, but it’s better than what you’ve been doing.”
Marietta stood with him, her chair knocking backward. “No, Keyain. I want to go to the temple, not be drugged out of my mind.”
Keyain stared at her, letting the anger ease from his features before speaking. “You can not, and will not, go to the temple; you will not set foot outside the palace. Do you understand?” Without waiting for a response, he turned towards the living room.
Marietta followed at his heels, arms crossed at her chest. “No, I don’t understand. You ask how you can help, and then you deny the one thing I ask for after you caused all of this!”
He stopped at the center of the living room, Marietta bumping into him. “I’m sorry my actions have affected you so negatively.”
She scoffed at his audacity—affected her negatively? He stole her life.
“The city isn’t safe right now. With the missing pilinos—” His words cut off, and he offered a glance back at Marietta before continuing to his office.
Marietta’s heart paused in her chest. “What missing pilinos?” she asked, trailing him into the office.
Keyain licked his lips as he placed the files into his desk drawer, locking it with a key.
“What missing pilinos, Keyain?” she asked again.
He hesitated, lines bracketing his mouth as he thought of his words. “Fifteen pilinos were reported missing in the past month, most of them being half-elves. I will not risk your safety.”
“But you’ll risk my life here in the suite, waiting for me to rot away?”
“I’ll take my chances here, where I can protect you.”
“Then come with me,” she said, trying to hold on to hope. “If you take me, then you’ll know I’m safe.”
“No,” he snapped. “We’re done talking about this.” Keyain moved to the door, but Marietta stood at the center, blocking his way.
“This is what I want.” She swallowed hard, looking into his face. “I’m asking you for help and you’re refusing. You’ve taken everything from me, Keyain. What will it take for you to help me?”
He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Not this.”
The hope that blossomed in her chest uprooted, and Marietta cursed herself for letting it grow in the first place, for the tears it now caused. She turned from Keyain and continued to the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
She had no control over herself, over her future. Keyain had the final say on it all. Frustration caused Marietta to tear the now loose-fitted dress from her body, to tear her hair from its bind, ignoring the pain of strands ripping from her scalp. She dug her nails into her skin and sunk to her knees as her breaths came sharp. She felt nothing and everything, the pain of being trapped, of being at the Keyain’s whim. Before her abduction, she chose everything—her clothes, where she went, what she did. To have such control only to lose it made the hurt greater.
Marietta knew that this was her fate, brought on by the hands of Keyain and what he believed was protecting her. What she needed was help, but what she received was damnation.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Valeriya
Valeriya suppressed a hiss as her handmaids wrestled with her thick mane of red hair, attempting to twist it into two braids before her vanity. The tugging did nothing for her mood, already soured thinking of the mess between Az and Elyse.
After talking to Gyrsh earlier that week, who seemed entirely too dismissive of Elyse’s emancipation, she got the full details of what happened. Valeriya tried to warn the girl that Az could be difficult. Perhaps it was for the better. Elyse was timid and nervous, and though the two could make for a strong union between Satiros and Chorys Dasi, Valeriya had her doubts that the marriage would be a happy one. After all, this wasn’t his first fast courting—far from it. His love was oil and time was a flame, quick to burn but not long lasting. She’d have to check on the girl, to see how she fared.
The attention it drew to the Chorys Dasians frustrated Valeriya. Not only had they drawn Keyain’s attention twice now, but Az had made direct contact with Wyltam. Even if he hadn’t been banned from the palace, Valeriya would have madeit clear to keep him away. The brazen attitude that made him entertaining also made him a liability.
A hiss escaped her mouth as the one handmaid found another knot, earning an immediate apology from the female. With a wave of a hand, Valeriya dismissed it. She always hated her hair and its knots and tangles. Back in Reyila, she always wished she could chop her hair short like Katya, for ease of movement and stealth, but her hair was so thick that it would have just stuck up at odd angles.
Katya.
