Of Silver and Beasts (14 page)

My confusion must be apparent as both of them look at me and their faces crack with knowing smiles. But I’m not completely lost or stupid. If they have my girls, then this Collar and Krewl must have captured one of the former Nactue as well. A seasoned Nactue. If so, that means there are five of us here. My body trembles with hope.

They don’t reveal their intentions, though. Pale Face limps toward us, his beady eyes seeking each face. “Most can be sent to the mill,” he says to Bax, then points to the mother and daughter who still cling to each other, their arms wrapped tightly. “Take the young one to the Trade, and this one”—he points to her mother—“to the mine.”

Otherworlders with chains strapped around their torsos appear from the shadows. They march toward the couple and pry them apart. The mother screams, her fingers clawing the air as she tries to keep a hold on her daughter. My teeth clamp down. Anger roils fire-hot in my stomach.

Pale Face continues down the line, pointing and sending the captured off either to be traded or to become their personal slaves. It’s been nearly a hundred years since anyone has been informed of Otherworlders enslaving people. At least in Cavan. But it seems as if they’ve been abducting all this time. Maybe on a smaller scale than they’re now doing by waging wars. Only, our Council never reported it to us.

Straightening his hunched back as much as possible, Pale Face rises up to look the prince in the face when he reaches him. As Pale Face’s eyes search Prince Caben, my fingers dig into my thigh, gripping my uniform to keep my hands from shaking. I push the fury boiling over into my gut, restraining myself from lashing out if he should send him to the Trade or worse; end him here.

Pale Face rubs his crooked jaw. “He’s strong,” he says. His eyes quint. “But weak, too. Proud. Yes, very proud. What is your name, above-worlder?”

Prince Caben sucks in a breath, pushing out his chest. “Payne,” he answers, and I notice a twinge of regret as his brow furrows. He hadn’t yet prepared a fake identity.

“Payne?” Pale Face repeats, amusement lacing his gritty voice. He quirks an eyebrow, then cocks his head in the direction of Bax and the Otherworlders. “Take the protector and
Pain
to the Cage.”

My eyes meet the prince’s briefly, and though I don’t know what lies ahead, I’m relieved that we at least remain together.
Thank you, Alyah
. I can still keep watch over my charge.

Bax laughs and our heads jerk toward him. “I should very much enjoy watching the protectors beat this weakling of a man into a bloody whip.” He flicks his wrist and the Otherworlders grab our arms to lead us away.

Bax continues to laugh, his husky voice grating my eardrums. “To the Cage!”

The inner city quarter of the Otherworld is dank and cool, and large fans blasting semi-fresh air are mounted into the rock sediment walls. Their giant blades cause a low, rhythmic drumming that fills the realm. I’m getting accustomed to the black lights, and my eyes take in the hazy effect they have on the city.

The rock walls and earth towers are lit up in bright colors—illumined and glowing as the ultraviolet light catches the minerals in the rock. If not for the darkness and vileness slithering down here, it may be beautiful.

Prince Caben walks ahead of me as our Otherworlder guards escort us through a thickly packed downtown area. Though it seems the whole of the realm is tightly woven as such. Buildings on top of buildings, houses stacked awkwardly between them. And the electrified Cage I spotted when we first arrived is in the center of all the chaos.

As we approach the stadium area, the excited shouts and swarm of Otherworlders makes my head spin. Tiered risers reach into the dark sky above, filled with dark-clad citizens. The stands encircling the Cage are pushed a safe distance back from the snapping electrical field. Inside the cage—

My heart stops.

Kai
.

She rams her head into a man’s chest and he stumbles back. Then she scrambles to the black ground, searching her fingers through the dirt. She grasps something and bounds up with a metal bar.

Her usually detailed and beautiful eye makeup runs down her cheeks, sweat and filth streaking them. It mixes together with the blood splattered across her face.

“Kai!” I shout, and am jabbed in the side by Bax’s sword hilt. I grab my ribs, but don’t take my eyes off the fight in the center of the Cage. I’ve never seen the man she battles. And as I move forward to get a better look, Bax slaps his arm across my chest, halting me.

“This is just placement, protector,” he says. “Don’t get too worked up. No one will die”—his fierce eyes meet mine—“today.”

He jerks my arm, pulling me away from the horrid scene and into an alcove. I crane my head, trying to spot Lilly or Willa along the sideline chambers of the Cage.

They have to be here
.

I’m yanked forward and forced to look ahead. A narrow and dark hallway leads us into a large, open chamber. There are chairs and tables and faded material hanging over smaller rooms off to the sides. A loud
clang
sounds behind me, and I jerk my head to see a ribbed metal door locking into place.

“This is your new home,” Bax tells the prince and me. “Make yourselves comfortable. It might be wise to lock yourself up in a room tonight.” He laughs, and I take in the surly faces of people hunched into corners and sitting on makeshift furniture.

I turn and face Bax. “I demand to know what is to become of us—
me
,” I correct quickly, not wanting him to know I have any association with the prince.

Prince Caben shifts to stand beside me, and I’m tempted to box his face. He’s stating that it’s us against them. He’s trying to be strong, but he doesn’t understand that alliances in situations like this can be deadly.

I step away from him and again open my mouth to question my fate when Bax says, “All you need to worry about is defeating your foe when you enter into the Cage, protector.” His illuminated eyes sweep over me. The light-filled spires in the corners of the chamber crackle with voltage, and his eyebrow rings glint. “If you cost me one ounce of mercury, I’ll off you myself—if one of your opponents doesn’t finish the job first.”

Kai’s blood-splattered face flashes in my mind. She’s only just been brought here . . . her and my Nactue . . . and they’ve already been tested in the Cage. He’s telling me that I have to face them. That I will have to
kill
them, or they will kill me. This is the Otherworlders’ game, their sadistic sport. And we’re probably the greatest competitors they’ve had for a long time.

“What if I refuse to fight?” I ask, my voice trembling despite my efforts to remain calm.

He sneers. “Then your goddess help you, protector.” He moves closer and looks down his pale nose at me. “Because then the Grimmal will pick his teeth with your bones.”

I shiver as a high-pitched screech rolls through the chamber, rattling the barred walls.

I picked the farthest corner of the main room to hunker in—away from the other prisoners that I can faintly see in the dim lighting—and I now pull off my boots and stretch my legs.

My calves ache as I knead them, trying to work out the soreness along with my jumbled thoughts. I don’t need to inspect my chest to know the stabbing pain and dull ache stems from bruises and possibly a fractured rib. Now that it’s quiet and I’m no longer in flight or fight mode, all my injuries are making themselves known.

I roll my tense shoulders and force my exhausted mind to reason. Besides the circumstance that I have more than myself to worry about in here; like Prince Caben, Lilly, Willa, and the other Nactue—there is something else disturbing me. Something that doesn’t connect with how we came to be here, and what the Otherworlders want.

After the Otherworlders fled below the earth, the Council speculated that they would get their resources from outside the Three Realms. That they were most likely dying off. We went without incident from them for a century. From all I’ve seen so far, it doesn’t appear as if the Otherworlders are suffering from lack of anything. It seems like their realm flourishes—functioning as it does daily, and we’re now simply a part of it.

Why the sudden attack on Perinya and Cavan? And if we were preparing for an attack from them at some point, like the empresses stated in her address, then how did they defeat us so easily and thoroughly?

There is a piece of this puzzle missing. Something that doesn’t match up.

Councilor Herna declared that Laryn is providing shelter, and I assume Perinya and Cavan will plan retaliation once the leaders regroup at King Dallion’s palace. But, the Otherworlders are not scampering around preparing for an attack. Nor was there any talk of invading Laryn. I can’t be sure of that, however, from my short time outside this cell, but it seems as if the Otherworlders had a very specific goal once they invaded each country, and maybe it wasn’t to take over. Maybe killing the leaders and steeling mercury and relics was their plan. And capturing slaves for their Trade and twisted sport is a bonus.

My head starts to pound and I press my fingers to the sides, working small circles against my temples.

Willa, Lilly, and the other Nactue are somewhere in this realm. From what I’ve deduced, there are three main ring leaders for this caged
sport
. And each has their own champions to contend against the others’.

A twinge of panic that my mother could be here somewhere hits my chest. She could be at this Mill or the mine right now, or being traded off—without her meds. I wish I could feel that assured connection to her like I share with Empress Iana. Even though the empress is fading, I can still feel her life force and know she lives. Where is my mother? Will I ever see her again?

I push the thought down into the pit of my stomach. I have to trust that Alyah has protected her, that she guided her to Laryn. That the Council already has a plan set into motion to secure the stolen crystalline relic. I have to trust in my goddesses and leaders or else I’ll go mad trapped behind these barred walls.

A pneumatic pipe pumps along the stone wall, steam escaping with a shrill whistle, and a dim light flickers to life in the middle of the dingy ceiling. It’s not bright enough to make out faces or details, but along with the lighted spires, it casts a soft glow in this dark world. I lay my head against the wall, ready to retire my brain.

After I’ve had a few hours of sleep, I can then try to figure out my next move.

My eyes flutter closed, but before I drift off, I feel a presence nearing. Jerking upright, I fist my hands and pull them up, ready to strike.

Prince Caben takes a step backward. Then he shakes his head and shrugs off his cloak. Ignoring my raised hands, he balls up the garment and slides it between the stone and my head. Without a word, he returns to his side of the cell.