Jude POV
Hades was attempting to tell him something. The scene seemed hazy, foggy. No matter how hard Jude listened, he couldn't hear Hades' voice. Almost ... he could almost make out the words. Just a little more patience.
"Wake up," Hades was saying.
His eyes opened, and all he saw in front of him was velvety darkness. Beneath him, he felt cold, cruel stone. He smelled a faint, smoky oder around him. Was he in the middle of a fire?
Lifting his hands and feet, he moved them in all directions. Only a few inches, but he moved them. Then, he began moving his legs and arms. He didn't seem to be chained down.
Chained by whom?
The memory came flooding back. Facing Queen Ylavi Crystalsprite, who had turned full Dark Fae. Under attack. Ravyn in pain. Both of them in pain through the link.
"Ravyn?"
His voice was hoarse.
"Jude! Thank the Goddess," Ravyn's sweet voice replied.
Relief flooded him, and he groped around, seeking her presence. He had to lay his hands on her. "Where are you?"
"Next to you ... I think."
He could feel her energy and restlessness, and it boosted him out of this lax attitude his body had. But then, he'd taken even more punishment than on Abandonnado Island, so he definitely had a reason to feel like a sack of limp vegetables.
Her hand clamped down on his, and he gripped her with all the strength he possessed. At her touch, a jolt surged through him, waking up his sluggish body.
"There you are," he said in a hoarse voice.
A touch of humor in her voice. "Where else would I be?"
"I would hope you'd be safe and far away from here," he said with fervor.
"Just you try and keep me away."
He sighed. "I did. I put off going to that remote and deserted inn so that neither of us would get into a fix like this."
"But then I had this vision," she growled. "The Dark Fae."
Hades spoke in their minds. "And what would you have done differently? Ignore it? We both know that Jude felt ... responsible, in a way, for Ylavi turning dark. Well, darker. But Drannor Glynthyra turned to the Dark Goddess, and you cannot blame that on a broken heart. He might have had some trauma, but the Dark Goddess ALWAYS finds an entrance if one exists."
Jude willed himself to sit up. He pushed against the smooth, cold floor and sat up. Glancing around, he took stock of their surroundings.
Just your average dungeon. It looked smaller than the tower room on Abandonnado Island that he, Ravyn, Lilia, and Dane had been imprisoned in. At least they weren't chained. Judging by how every muscle in his body and Ravyn's hurt, he reckoned that Ylavi and her guards hadn't thought chaining them was necessary.
The walls were the color of pale fireplace ash. There was a privy in the corner, and it smelled as if it had been cleaned recently, at least. Tin plates full of food and bowls of water looked unappetizing, but considering the hole in their stomachs, Ravyn and Jude couldn't be picky.
Water bowls!
Hades snarled in their minds. "That matches some of my callousness ... when I was evil."
"Bowls of water," Ravyn muttered. "Dane would be tearing up the place at the insult."
"Any self-respecting shifter would," Jude growled. "This only speaks to how erratic and unhinged Ylavi has become. A normal Fae with decades or centuries of experience and wisdom would never treat shifter prisoners like animals. We have GOT to break out of here. I'm not spending a minute more than I have to."
"That goes double for me, by the Goddess." Hades' statement had the force of a vow.
* * * * *
Ravyn POV
How tough were those bars in the cutout window of their wooden cell door? She could probably burn through them with fire or acid and then figure out how to get the key. Or she could just burn the door down. Whichever would be most effective and now have the guards on them in a second.
Despite her body being a mass of bruises and pain, she wanted to break free. She wanted out. She was NOT spending days waiting for rescue. And she could feel Jude's and Hades' impatience gnawing at her. She agreed with them.
She could blame Jude for Ylavi turning darker, but she knew life was a lot more complicated than that. Thinking about the despair she'd wallowed in after Daxius supposedly left, she shuddered. It could have easily turned into the utter nihilism and destructive bitterness that consumed Ylavi.
So, no, she couldn't blame Jude. Ultimately, Ylavi had invited the darkness in, and while the Dark Goddess had attacked, Ylavi hadn't exactly fought her off, any more than the High Elf Drannor Glynthyra had.
"I see you two are awake."
Ylavi's dark, thick voice intruded into her thoughts. Ravyn rotated her body and got into a sitting position, leaning on Jude, who was already sitting upright, glaring at the Dark Fae, at the ebony taffeta dress that cascaded down on either side of her. Part of the skirt was so short that the halls were probably littered by courtiers who fainted at the risqué gown. Because it came perilously close to showing certain intimate areas, even though Ylavi also appeared to be wearing black fishnet tights. Imagine, a queen of the Ember Faeries wearing black fishnets and dressing like a common tart!
Ylavi gave them a smile that was all teeth. She smelled like rotting fruit, and looked even less appetizing. What were the faeries doing about this horrific situation? Had they all been bewitched? Or were they too afraid to speak out?
"What do you want with us?" Jude asked, lowering his head with humility. "I already begged for your forgiveness. Surely, locking us up in the dungeon and torturing us will accomplish nothing except enrage the Shifter Federation."
Ylavi had her head up, her long neck straight, and she was looking down her nose at them. Her chin was sharp and pointed. "They will understand once they hear how you seduced me--a fated mate--and cast me aside for Ravyn. Is this not taboo for your people?"
Jude snapped his jaws. "Tiny pups in the shifter lands know that Ravyn is my fated mate. Nice try. You will have to invent a better story than that."
"Then I shall." Ylavi strode towards them, her skirts swishing like black smoke. "I shall tell them that you came here to humiliate me using your new Luna ..."
"Good luck," Ravyn scoffed. "No one would even give you a second glance. They'd simply point out that you have let yourself go."
Jude bit down hard, almost getting his tongue in the process, to keep from laughing. No. No laughter. He had to avoid even the appearance of mockery at all costs.
Ylavi snarled, "Then try this. You seek to steal faerie magic."
"WHAT?" Ravyn's calm demeanor crumbled. "That's absurd. No one would--"
But stealing ANYTHING, especially from allies outside the pack lands or anyone for that matter, was a serious offense. Hold on. Ylavi couldn't possibly weave those charges from whole cloth and expect the Shifter Federation to believe them, could she?
With complacency, Ylavi stared down at them. "Oh, they would, and they will. You see, my courtiers and magistrates and my chamberlain will see to that."
"Why are you dong this?" Jude burst out. "You are a faerie. And faeries have soul mates. Soul bonds. You should understand that I was ... confused when I wanted to marry you. That I was foolishly fleeing tradition. I'll do anything I have to--I'll atone however you need me to. Just let us go ..."
Ylavi snarled, "I will NEVER let you go. And you will pay for my humiliation!"