Page 180 of Scourged
“I’m going to ask you.Onemore time.” Mariah's voice was low and vicious as she twirled her dagger in her hand. “Whoordered you to let the messenger past the palace gates on the night of my coronation?”
Ryland’s body shook. “I didn’t—I don’t?—"
Mariah paused the twirling of her dagger and pointed it at his next finger. Ryland’s eyes bulged, arms and legs struggling against the ropes of light and shadow binding him to the chair.
“W-wait.” His face flushed red, eyes fluttering closed, and he released a sob.
“Any day now, Captain.” Sebastian’s blood chilled at the coldness in Mariah’s voice.
“I’m so sorry,” Ryland whispered. “I didn’t want to, but it was such an innocent request. I figured … no real harm.”
Mariah tsked. “I need a bit more than that, Ryland.”
He took another shuddering breath. “The … the lords. Lord Hareth. He told me … told me that if a messenger ever came with an urgent message for the queen, I was to let him in, no matter what.”
Andrian stepped out of the shadows. “You spoke to one of the men who held your queen captive, and you kept that toyourself?”
Ryland was shaking again. “Like I said, it … it seemed harmless. And …” He hung his head.
“Andwhat? Speak, Captain.” Mariah raised her dagger again.
Ryland winced as the binds around his body tightened. Sebastian shifted from one foot to the other, keeping his face a careful mask, even as the beat of fury thundered through him.
“And he promised me something I would never have anymore. Not as a Marked, non-Selected guard. He offered me recognition and value. He told me I could be someone important. And since that’s all he was asking for … I said I would.”
That frayed the last edges of Sebastian’s patience. “Someoneimportant? What about being a captain of the City Guard? Is having a seat at the queen’s counsel table notimportantenough for you?”
“It’s alright, Sebastian.” Mariah rose from her crouch, smoothly slipping her dagger into its sheath on her thigh. With the short chop to her hair, the padded and fitted dark clothing, and the short swords crossed behind her back, she looked the picture of a vengeful queen.
He understood. Gods, he understood; he was just as enraged. Could feel her rage sneaking across their bond whenever she forgot to fully close their connection.
But there was also something cold and dead behind her forest eyes. Something glimmering with otherworldly power, a magic like the silver and gold of her throne, but also … different. Wilder. More ancient.
He couldn’t deny that it terrified him.
“So that’s really all you wanted? Recognition?” Mariah leaned against the table, watching Ryland with a masked expression.
“Yes,” the captain said, his head still hung. “That’s all I wanted. I wanted to be more than just another captain. I wanted to be valued.” He lifted his chin, eyes flashing.
Sebastian took a step forward, as did Andrian, their hands resting on the hilts of their weapons.
“You could’ve given me that, you know. First, you passed me over at the Selection. Which is fine; I could survive that. But then I tried to show you something that I thought would have value to you. Something that would make youappreciateme.” Despite his still flushed face, his bleeding hands, and the bindings that held him, Ryland’s lip lifted in a snarl. “I am permanently Marked because of you. Branded like cattle. The least you coulddo is give me a simple ‘thank you.’ Especially after I gave youexactlywhat you were searching for.”
Sebastian’s fury was hot in his veins. Andrian took another step forward.
“What do you mean,” Andrian said, voice deathly low, “that you gave her exactly what she was looking for?”
For the first time, something besides pitiful terror flashed in Ryland’s gaze. He fixed Andrian with a stare that was full of anger and hate and disgust.
“Gods, you were always such a dick. Do you know that? Always sulking around, thinking you were better than us because you had cursedreykrmagic. As if that made youspecial.” He spat the last word, his face flushing red. “I knew what you’d find in that building. I was the one who had it boarded up after the Solstice.” His attention swung to Mariah, who stood still as a statue a few paces away. His expression turned pleading. “I just wanted to make a name for myself. To give you something that you were looking for. To make a difference—foryou.”
The room was silent, so still that Sebastian could hear Ryland’s heavy breaths and the pounding of his own heart. His fingers twitched against the hilt of his sword. Ryland let out a sharp yelp as the shadows binding his arms and legs tightened, Andrian’s mouth parting in a snarl.
Sebastian rarely envied Andrian for his gift, but at that moment he would’ve traded anything for the ability to hurt Ryland, even in just some small way.
Andrian’s growl tore through the room.
“I am going to ki?—”