Lord of the Night

Chapter 17: Challenge

I leaped onto the windowsill. Rain slashed my face, and a cool breeze tugged on my drenched uniform. Someone shouted something, but the words were drowned out by the river of adrenaline rushing in my ears. I squinted at the ground—or rather, the place where I thought the ground must be. Purple painted the distant horizon, but straight down, I saw only blackness.

Just how high were we?

Fear pinched my gut, but I steeled myself. I knew Guardians who had leaped from two-story homes without even stubbing a toe. And any chance of escape was better than being chained to the bed in Isalio's consort bedroom.

I crouched, preparing to jump—then stopped. Lightning flashed, illuminating the ground below. Way, way below. Vertigo weakened my knees and sucked the air from my lungs.

We were at least fifty floors high.

No Guardian could survive that fall—not even the First Guardian. It would be a quick death, and at least I would die on the ground...but that thought only made my stomach twist tighter. What a sad kind of irony, to be killed by the ground that had protected me all these years.

The voice behind me pulled into focus, although the words sounded tinny in my ringing ears. "Remgar, stop!"

I wasn't ready to admit defeat...but nor was I ready to jump. Forcing myself to draw a breath, I shifted around on the windowsill to face my captor.

The soldiers glanced back and forth between me and Isalio, eyes wide. Ten feet away, Isalio raised a palm toward the soldiers without taking his eyes off of me. His face was even paler and shoulders tight, but his lips twisted in something vaguely resembling a smile.

"Don't be a fool," he said, taking one slow step toward me. "You can't survive that jump."

"Come any closer, and we'll find out for sure," I bit back.

He released a single beat of laughter, though he stopped moving. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

The soldiers drew unison breaths. "Challenging the High Prince?" the male soldier croaked, fiddling with his beard. "This cow really has a death wish."

"He's not challenging me," said Isalio. His terse voice and narrowed eyes made the statement a command. "He had a momentary lapse of judgment, but he is going to come down from that ledge—right now."

I edged one foot an inch back. My heel slipped on wet metal and met open air, and my stomach swooped with dizzy weightlessness. I grasped the side of the window to catch my balance just in time. The loose cuff swung around and clanked against the metal windowframe.

Isalio spun toward the soldiers and delivered a sharp command. "Get out."

The male twisted his black beard around his finger. "Highness, the Queen and King ordered us to stay with you."

"Well, tell them I need this cow's lifeforce to survive."

The red-haired Demon swallowed. "Highness, if we do as you say, we might be punished later."

The High Prince barked a bitter laugh. "If you don't do as I say, you'll die right now."

After a single beat of hesitation, the soldiers ducked their heads and scurried out of the room. The moment the door closed behind them, Isalio's eyes found mine once more.

Staring straight into those familiar amber eyes, my heart pounded still faster, and cold sweat dripped down my face. What was he planning to do? What was I planning to do? I could either leap to my death or step down to accept whatever punishment he chose. If he publicly tortured fellow Demons without a second thought, what would he do in private to a rebellious cow?