Page 6 of Down from the Tower

“Not King Arthur, my Queen,” I say, the words tasting like acid on my tongue. “I mean him.”

It’s rude to point, but I do it anyway since no one is really listening to me. Three sets of eyes swivel to the space behind me, and I glance over my shoulder before letting out a small gasp.

He’s closer now, much closer than appropriate. Close enough that if I turned and extended my arm I could probably touch him.

His clothes are so odd. They are dark, like the cloak and his hair, but they seem to bend and move like the air around him. Up close it’s easier to focus on him, but even so I still feel like if I look too hard I would see right through him.

Up close, his eyes are red-orange. There’s a tiny golden ring around the pupil like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and they are so captivating I almost can’t look away. In a way they remind me of the wolves I’ve seen in my books, but the being in front of me is all man.

Almost.

It’s his hands that are the strangest of all. They are probably strong from the veins that pop, but it’s hard to see much past the designs on the back of each hand. It reminds me of the spades, almost like a fleur de lis design that’s on some of the walls in the palace. The spade designs are a dark, filled-in black like the rest of his look.

And through each spade is a deep, deep scar. Like someone tried to slash the mark away.

“Rapunzel!”

I snap to attention, sure that the Queen and everyone else in the room noticed how ill-mannered I’m being. But when I turn back, they are all giving me looks like they think I’m a loon.

Dorah clears her throat. “I’m not sure what you’re staring at-”

“The boy,” I interrupt, turning back again. One corner of his mouth lifts, like he’s amused, and I scowl at him. “The man.”

“There’s no man there, Rapunzel,” Midas says tightly, and I look back towards the others once more. Indeed, they are all staring at me like I’ve lost my mind.

But I can see this boy. I know I can.

“Yes there is,” I insist, feeling like this is some cruel joke. I know that the King and Queen only tolerate me, but tormenting me into thinking I’m losing my mind because of one bizarre guest is a bit far even for them. “I can see him.”

“Enough, Rapunzel,” Dorah snaps, and I hear the clicking of her steps as she approaches. I bite my lip, willing this guy to say something, and he simply cocks his head to one side and continues watching me.

Am I missing something? The King rarely lets anyone in the room aside from his guest, and this man is no one I recognize.

Dorah’s nails dig into my arm as she steps up to me, cutting through the thin material of my sleeves. This is the first time in years I haven’t sulked away the second that I’m no longer needed and her eyes scream murder.

But I’ve never encountered such a strange man before. Most people look away from me either for fear of my strange powers or fear of the King. Only the staff stares for long periods of time. It’s not as though I ever speak to people outside of the walls of my room.

“This is not proper, Rapunzel,” Dorah says, dragging me away from the two Kings. She steps forward, and I expect the man to move out of the way and let us pass.

Instead, she moves forward, stepping through the man, and there’s a brief spiral of darkness as she pulls me through his form.

My mouth goes dry, horror washing over me. What is happening?

I whip my head around, ignoring what Dorah is saying to stare at the man.

Eyes rounding, he can only bother to smirk at my horror. “My, what lets you see me like this, Princess?”

The scream that tears through my throat when he flashes his teeth is unbidden, and I don’t remember falling to the ground, but the golden ceiling above is the last thing I see before darkness settles in.

2 Zarev

“Leave the girl be and kill the King.”

Unhelpfully, my Hell Brother isn’t offering any sort of advice that I can work with. I know what my mission is supposed to be, but that doesn’t help with the current problem.

“Midas isn’t the one who is causing the death toll to drop. Not in any way that I can see.”

“You’re not keeping up things in the East,” Lucius says, his voice grating on my nerves. I called him to see if he could shed light on some of the ways royals think, and thus far all I’ve gotten are vague reminders that I just need to find the problem and kill it. The spirits should rise again when the problem is dead. “Tressa is hidden, and their allies are limited. Midas made enemies hiding behind the wall. You need to deal with the problems in your territory.”