Page 64 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Faelights have been set into parts of the dark stone ceiling. They, along with the faint blue glow coming from Grey’s portal, provide the only illumination in this otherwise darkened cell. I’m not sure exactly where, but I know that this dungeon is located somewhere underneath Orion’s palace in the Unseelie Court. The gleaming gems cast harsh shadows across Bane’s face where he sits shackled to the metal chair in the middle of the room. I study him.
The emperor thrashes in his chair, throwing his head from side to side while those pitiful sounds escape his throat. Seeing him like that honestly shocks me. He has always been so confident and powerful and in control. But now, when Orion is forcing him to relive his worst memories, he looks disturbingly like a real person with real emotions.
“What are you showing him?” I find myself asking.
Orion glances at me from the corner of his eye before shifting his attention back to our prisoner. “His worst memoriesfrom when he was enslaved by some of the fae from your court.”
My heart jerks and then starts pounding in my chest. Biting my lip, I try to suppress the sudden flash of morbid curiosity. No one in our court knows anything real about that time period since all the history books were destroyed and all the people who were involved were killed. But here is a firsthand witness whose memories are still intact.
“Can you…” I begin, and then clear my throat a little self-consciously. “Can you show me too?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” Orion asks, still keeping his eyes on Bane.
“Yes.”
He nods. “I can make you a spectator in the memory. Grab my wrist. It will keep you from moving here in the real world. Squeeze it when you want out.”
“Okay,” I breathe.
My heart hammers against my ribs as I move closer to Orion’s side and grab his wrist in a firm grip.
Without warning, he thrusts me into Bane Iceheart’s memories.
The abrupt shift stuns me so much that I almost lose the grip on my own magic. With immense effort, I manage to keep my connection to the black wildfire of despair in Bane’s chest while the dungeon around me is now replaced by a muddy field. I keep a tight grip on Orion’s wrist to stop myself from trying to walk forward.
Bane and Jessina are standing on the grass in front of me, but they look nothing like how I’m used to seeing them. Instead of carrying themselves with royal grace while wearing glittering silver garments, they’re practically cowering where they’re standing on the grass. Dressed in worn rags, they look dirty, exhausted, and terrified.
I appear to be looking through the eyes of a fae man, and there are three more fae standing next to me on the grass.
“Please, sir,” Bane is saying, his voice trembling. “We just flew all the way to the Green Wilds and back. We need to rest before we can shift and carry you again.”
“I don’t care what you need,” the fae man to my right snaps. “We’ve got things to do.” His eyes begin glowing. “Now,shift.”
The memory ends and is immediately replaced by another one. The sudden change makes me almost tilt forward, and I’m glad that Orion told me to hold on to his wrist. When the world around me keeps changing like this, it’s difficult to remember where my body actually is.
When the next memory stabilizes, we’re inside what appears to be a dark stable. Rotting hay covers the floor, and short wooden walls frame the box where the horse should be. Except there is no horse in it. Instead, Bane and Jessina are kneeling there on the hay.
“Please don’t make us sleep in here,” Jessina is saying, her voice soft and pleading.
“Why not?” a fae woman replies with a snicker from my left. “This is exactly where you belong. Did you really think that you could refuse a partnership with us? That you were so high and mighty that you could deny us a chance to be dragon riders? That you could tell us that we weren’t worthy of you? You are animals. No better than horses.Thisis where you belong.”
“Don’t talk to my mate like that,” Bane growls. “She?—”
I gasp as the fae man closest to him punches him in the face. But the person whose eyes I’m watching through merely continues leaning his back against the stable wall, watching it all while keeping his arms casually crossed over his chest.
Bane yanks his arms up as the guy punches him again. Next to him, Jessina lurches forward and grabs the fae man’s arm.
“Stop!” she calls. “Don’t?—”
He backhands her across the face. The sudden hits snaps her head to the side and sends her stumbling into the wall.
Rage pulses across Bane’s face as he starts to leap up from the ground to attack the guy. But before he can so much as get off his knees, the fae man summons some kind of magic that makes his eyes glow.
“Stay on your knees,” he orders. “And keep your mouth shut.”
Bane immediately stops moving as the dragon steel overrides his free will.
The fae man grabs Jessina’s collar and yanks her upright again. Her hand is pressed against her cheek where he backhanded her, and tears line her eyes as she stares at him in fear. He looks back at Bane with cruel eyes. And then slaps Jessina across the face again.
