Swords of Gilded Crimson

Chapter 23 | Needing to Know |

I drifted in and out of sleep with no knowledge of when day had set or when night had taken over. It may have been a day that passed since my encounter with Nikolai and Adrien, or it may have been a week.

My wounds told me nothing either; they were only worsening. The stab-wound in my leg was particularly gruesome, the skin around it turning an ugly shade of purple. I'd used my teeth to tear the cloth away from where the gash of the wound lay, clearly infected and swollen. Odeir had trained me well enough to know that the infection must have reached my blood; that much I could tell, at least. The pain -constant even when I was in the depths of sleep- had become a familiar throb, and it was almost impossible not to dwell on the mere magnitude of it. I'd been in countless battles, with wounds that had taken days to heal... but that was just it; they had healed. As opposed to this...

I shook my head of thoughts. It had been a few minutes since I'd woken from an uneasy slumber, plagued by nightmares that I now recognised as memories. Memories of harsh Tenebrian nights, Odeir's training, the dungeons that put even Adrien's to shame. In truth, Tenebrae had not taught me very many good things, or given many pleasant experiences, but one thing I'd learnt was how to cast a blanket of darkness over every miserable, regretful thought; how to shove every adversity to the back of your mind and take on new ones with equal courage. So in the darkness of the Luxandrian cell, that's what I did.

My mind wandered off, instead wondering why the High Lord of the Night Court, would help out Eleodor, especially at a time when the Luxandrian's needed it the most – in the climax of the final battle. Every fae in Exolvuntir knew that Veyren sought power; it was difficult to believe that he would give it away so quick, especially while knowing that the Day Court was in a civil war, torn apart by internal disputes which he could potentially exploit. But he hadn't. He had come to Eleodor's aid... and, again I wondered, at what price?

I could only think of three situations through which the Day Court – Night Court alliance could have arisen. One, Eleodor might be holding something over Veyren, which gave the High Lord of the Night Court no choice but to accept an order of cooperation from him. Two, Eleodor and Veyren may have forged a bargain that guaranteed this type of succour before any of this, perhaps during the Ancient War. And lastly, Veyren could have simply agreed to do Eleodor a favour... which was the most alarming of the situations. In Exolvuntir, bargains had to be repaid in equal magnitude. A simple known fact amongst all; a life required a life. If Veyren had indeed traded a favour, then that favour was saving Eleodor's entire kingdom, and to repay Veyren, which he would eventually be required to, Eleodor would have to give Veyren something of equal magnitude. There was no doubt that if this was the case, Veyren would have already planned out the Day Court's repayment; something of that magnitude could not be dealt lightly with.

Though the thought was a terrible one, I couldn't help but admire the strategy, if this was indeed a favour casted by the Night Lord; favours were like forced bargains, and he'd picked exactly the right moment to make one. Whatever Eleodor gave him, I didn't care, in all frankness. But while I sat rotting in that poisoned cell, all I could hope was that it cost Eleodor everything. Because maybe only the loss he'd face would make him come close to realising that he'd once had an entire Court... and had abandoned, willingly abandoned, one half of it. And all for what? Some centuries-old grudge? A dislike? A prejudice?

I was deep in my own mind when the sound of clicking footsteps began echoing through to my cell, each one louder than the last. Unlike Adrien's, Nikolai's and the guards' steps, these were quick and sharp. I smelt her before I saw her, even without my fae sense of smell; from metres away, an exotic fragrance billowed towards me, sweet and exquisite. Within a few seconds, the light outside of my cell was struck, illuminating the woman who had entered the dungeons.