A Trial of the Heart (Valdor #2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Daxton Aegaeon

I kept my eyes shut as the portal’s magic closed, and I was once again in the prison cells beneath the city of Aelius. The putrid stench of rotting flesh and cold isolation in this pit of despair hadn’t changed, so I imagined everything else was likely the same. There was no light from the outside world here. Nothing and no one was meant to survive in a place like this. Here, dreams of a better life—of hope itself—came to suffocate and drown.

I should know. I was a prisoner here for years. Most only lasted months before taking their own lives or breaking, losing their minds under the queen’s hand.

“Move it,” Seamus ordered, shoving me forward, purposely hitting my broken shoulder to seal in the sting of pain now radiating through my torso.

The powder they’d dosed me with upon their ambush was thankfully fading. With each breath I forced myself to take, it worked out of my system quicker. Still, I didn’t need to open my eyes to know where I was going. I kept them sealed shut, holding onto the last thread of hope for as long as possible… to the image of her .

“And here I thought kings had better manners,” I chided with a half-cocked grin, knowing exactly how to push Seamus’s buttons and get under his skin. “You know, please goes a long way.”

I anticipated the strike long before the words escaped my lips. My left knee buckled, colliding with stone. This was followed by a swift strike to my face, cutting my cheek just below my eye socket. At least he learned how to throw a decent punch… Five hundred years of practice managed to do some good.

“Stop lying to yourself, thinking you’re playing the role of some kind of tortured hero. Or have you forgotten what happens when you oppose our queen?”

“I’m not,” I answered, spitting blood onto the ground.

I remembered. I remembered the ten years in these cells, followed by the century of chained servitude in Aelius until the first shifter failed in the trials. Only after that did she allow me to return home to Silver Meadows, but I was never truly free from her hold. That was… until I found my mate. Until hope once again became more than just a distant dream.

“The real heroes are the ones who tolerate you on a daily basis and somehow don’t kill themselves because of it.” Another strike to my already busted lip was well worth the insult. Seamus always enjoyed inflicting pain on those who couldn’t fight back, and right now, I couldn’t. For so many reasons, I couldn’t.

It took every ounce of my willpower to simply take his beating and act like I couldn’t break free of these chains and crush his pathetic excuse of a life with my bare hands .

Minaeve didn’t know, but over the centuries, I had been poisoning myself with her iron powder to build an immunity against it. That and working on sealing away my magic during her frequent siphoning sessions. I was her favorite, so thankfully, I had more practice than most. The night before the trials began, I didn’t hold back just to throw her off… But this time around, I did.

No one outside my brother and Zola knew what I was attempting. If Minaeve ever found out, she would severely punish me and simply find another way to try and weaken my power and reign.

“Can you manage to walk yourself to your cell, or do I need to drag your sorry ass there?”

I rolled onto my knees with my arms bound to my sides and stood on my feet. “I remember the way,” I muttered with disdain.

My eyes were still shut tight. I didn’t want to lose her just yet. I needed to remember every fearsome, beautiful detail for as long as I could. Those entrancing, powerful amber eyes that glowed with fire would be my light in this place. I would hold onto that final sight of my awe-inspiring mate as long as I could.

Hearing her swear to find me and retrieve that dagger without an ounce of fear in her declaration, beaming with defiance and power, warmed my darkened soul. I was honored and beyond proud of her fire.

“Then walk,” Seamus said in a low, gruff voice as he shoved me forward.

Fucking prick . He believes that because he can simply fuck a false queen, he’s then entitled to a crown of his own . I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized all this was a carefully calculated trick to undermine everything he had worked for these past five centuries.

I heard the iron bars open, and I stepped inside the all too familiar prison I dwelled in once before. “ Thought it was fitting to have you in the same one.” Seamus’s smugness was sickening.

“How generous of you and your queen.” I did not say my queen, and judging by his pause, he noticed.

“Have some gods-damned sense for once, Aegaeon,” Seamus hissed, and I almost dared open my eyes to turn and glare at him. Almost. “Show some respect for the powers that kept you alive… That continue to keep you and your kingdom safe from the wilt. The way you behave toward Queen Minaeve is a disgrace.”

The chains loosened and dropped to the floor, but I held my ground and didn’t lash out, the remaining threads of my self-control keeping me still.

“Besides. Your whore of a mate will—”

That last remark about her shattered my restraint.

I shifted my stance, easily discarding the remaining chains despite my injured shoulder, and turned on Seamus with the force of a thousand storms.

It was his mistake, forgetting the timeline of the iron powder’s potency. Careful not to touch him, I gripped his throat with my ice magic, freezing his hands and holding his life within seconds of meeting the crossing to the afterlife.

“Watch what you say about my mate , Seamus,” I said slowly, ensuring he heard every word. “Call me whatever you like…” My lips pulled back as I snarled. “Degrade my throne and my kingdom for all I care. Your words fall on deaf ears when it comes to me, but ,” I growled, “speak ill of my mate again… and I will no longer be able to restrain myself from finally killing you.” His eyes widened a fraction, and I knew he could sense this was no threat. “I’ll make good on my promise and end your feeble excuse of a life. High prince or king consort, I don’t give two shits what your title is. War in th e Inner Kingdom will begin with your death at my hands, and I will smile as I march over your corpse onto the battlefield of blood.”

My brother’s clever voice echoed in my mind, warning me. Idiot, brilliant job hiding the fact that you weren’t as weak and wounded as they thought.

Fuck it. I didn’t care. I would worry about that later; I’d have the time.

“You so soon forget,” I whispered in a dark voice, “I earned the name of Silver Shadow before entering these cells, but Shadow … was truly born from within these walls.” Seamus’s grave expression turned into fear. He remembered.

The guards’ footsteps were already barreling down the hallway toward my cell, but I squeezed harder around Seamus’s throat with my magic, just for an added bit of fun.

I didn’t so much as flinch as guards began slamming their weapons across my back, breaking my ribs and tearing at my flesh. I refused to break my stare from Seamus. The same look of death that bore into countless others before ending their existence with my blade in service of the self-proclaimed queen. Our eyes were locked until a clubbed weapon struck me on the back of the head, knocking me unconscious.

It was surprisingly pleasant being unconscious in this shit hole. In my daze, I reached out for the threads of my mate bond, tying me to Skylar. To the other half of my soul that I knew would be drifting farther and farther away. Soon, she would travel beyond the veil, and as much as I tried to prepare myself for our separation, I knew my heart would… Gods. My very soul would feel like it was breaking in two .

I groaned as I turned on the cold stone floor of my cell. Moving onto my back, I looked up at the blackened ceiling above, reminding myself that this was all a part of our plan.

Our rebellion, as I liked to call it, had been in the works for centuries. Ever since I was able to return home.

When Adohan’s father died and passed the crown to him, we became allies, working to undermine Minaeve’s rule in any way we could. It was small at first—trade routes falling, disgruntled citizens. But eventually, we made a play to question Minaeve’s seat of power within her court. Asking dangerous questions.

Why does she deserve to be our high queen? Where is she from? Where did she gain her powers?

Zola led the charge of gaining intel from within Aelius itself, working to relocate anyone who sought refuge in Silver Meadows or Crimson City. Her shadow-jumping ability allowed her to sneak citizens to safety right under the nose of Seamus and Minaeve. They were too self-absorbed in their riches and power to notice their population slowly dwindling. But still, we couldn’t manage to break the inner circle of the Aelius court.

Then, everything changed when my stunningly beautiful, selfless mate volunteered for the trials. After her success in the first trial and the deepening of our bond, I knew I could end up here as leverage or a bargaining tool to force her hand. However, instead of allowing this to be a burden, we plotted this possible outcome to our advantage.

What better way to gain intelligence than from inside the palace itself?

I was the only one who could do this. I had survived here, made it out alive, and knew I could do it again. I would suffer the beatings and endure the torture Anjani would force me to witness, bearing the agonizing absence of my mate and my home once again. I would do this all in the hope of our victory. I would do this knowing that Gunnar was already assembling our armies to march north. Knowing that when my Spitfire returned with the final key and unlocked the Heart of Valdor, there would be an army waiting for her. An army ready to fight to free the Inner Kingdom from a tyrannical ruler.

It would all be worth it.

By now, I imagined the Opal was preparing to set sail toward Solace and that Castor had informed Skylar of our plan. I instructed him to give her a letter when she left our shores. It was the least I could do.

Gods, I knew I would never hear the end of her rantings and carefully selected four-letter words for what I had done, for the secret I kept from her. But it also meant I would hear her voice again, and that was well worth the price.

End of Book Two