A Court of Night and Starlight

Chapter XI

I jolt awake, the memory fading with the night. Sun streams in through the gauzy curtains of my holding cell.

I'm sorry, bedroom.

Rubbing the sleep from eyes, the shackles on my wrists painfully tight, the memory of that night with my father replays in my head.

It's your job to look out for her.

For nineteen years I've done just that. But the time my sister needed me most, I failed.

The vacant look in her bright violet eyes as that Daemati entered her mind and took control will haunt my nightmares until the day I die.

She did it for me. She let him take over to save my wings. I screamed at her to stop. I begged Tamlin and the Mother to no avail. Because it was never me they wanted. I was just there to ensure Amaris cooperated.

It was her all along.

Now that asshole has control of her. Her mind and magic and power. I may have been born first, but Mari will be the heir. I know this. My parents suspect this. But I don't think Mari knows. Or at the very least she doesn't want to know.

When Mari got her cycle for the first time, and her power awoke in full, I've watched her struggle. I've watched as she zones out, just stares at nothing for long minutes before remembering herself. Does her magic talk to her, maybe in a similar way as the shadows talk to Uncle Azriel?

She never says. But I know my father knows. I know she confides in him for that sort of stuff. He's the most powerful High Lord in history and he had to learn how to manage that tremendous amount of magic when he was her age.

My own magic is more than most, and I can feel it deep down, rendered useless by these stupid shackles.

I stand from the bed and walk to the windows. They're warded to keep me in. To keep others out. But hopefully not for long. Once my family finds out where we are... My father got my mother out of here once, he'll get us out too.

The door opens and a wide-eyed human servant sets a tray of food down on the bed. The scent of her fear coats my tongue.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I tell her, hoping she can hear the earnestness in my voice. The truth.

I would never harm another who didn't deserve it. And I would never kidnap two innocent children to get revenge for something that happened years before we were even born. I think that says enough about my captor.

The female nods her head once and hurries back out, shutting the door behind her. I would try to make a run for it if there weren't several Spring Court sentries waiting on the other side, hoping that I'm foolish enough to do just that. So they'll have an excuse to kill me.

I'm only alive now because Amaris made that bargain with Tamlin. She would let that Daemati into her mind if no harm was done to me. And I'm pretty sure killing counts as harm. They even deigned to heal me. No longer do I have more bruises than skin. No longer does the taste of blood fill my mouth. They're holding to the bargain Tamlin made and not harming me anymore.

But they can't release me either. So here is where I'll stay until I think of a way to get my sister and me out of this mess.

And I will.

Somehow.

Amaris

The thing in my head pushes at my mental barrier. Trying to find a crack to slip in through. I let him into my mind, yes, but I refuse to let him into my self.

The Daemati can control my body. Control my magic. But never will he control me.

The thing that is his mind drags sharp golden talons down the secondary wall of starlight that protects my innermost mind.

He's growing frustrated with my defiance.

But little does he know, does anyone know, that I'm simply waiting. Waiting for the right moment. Little does he know that while he thinks I've fallen for his trap...

He fell for mine.