Chapter 36 Powerless
Fiona
The silence between us is heavy with everything Liora doesn't want to say, but I can see in her eyes that she is on the verge of telling me either because she's needed to talk about it for a long time or because she trusts me for some reason. Maybe that passing loyalty to Varek is a little less than passing.
"What?"
I lean on the windowsill. "The way you talk about him and his stubbornness about his plans…" I turn back and meet her gaze. "You make it sound like he's made plans you've had to just live with when you'd rather not. You might even hate them.”
She flinches and looks away.
"You're not good at hiding your bitterness now that I'm really listening."
Her lips twitch. "I have no idea what you want me to say, princess. But I have no reason to say it."
I shrug. "No, but I hear venting makes you feel better. What is it that you wanted and he decided it didn't serve him?" She shifted. "I can tell it's more than just a new dress."
For a moment, I think she won’t answer. Then her face tightens, grief and anger warring across her features. She tightens her fists at her sides.
"Well, you don't have to tell me much of anything. But you should know, I have no intention of letting Varek's plan go through."
She chuckles. "You think you can avoid it? When Varek decides to do something, he doesn't change his mind."
"I don't have to change his mind, Liora," I smile. "I just have to make it deeply uncomfortable or impossible for his plan to go through."
I lift myself onto the windowsill and look out the window. "Ideally, I'd want to head home or just away from all of this, but I can adapt."
"I think we've covered your shitty escape plans."
I chuckled. "Let's say I've calmed down a lot, and now I just have to convince him to basically kick me out."
"You didn't hear a word I said. Antagonizing him more isn't cooperation."
I tilt my head. "Why would defending you be antagonizing to him?"
She stiffens at that and sits. Her shoulders bow, and she fiddles with a cord around her wrist. It's thin and worn like she never takes it off.
“My sister…" she says quietly. A shaky breath escapes her. “He sent her farther than even the furthest the army has gone. Even now, Caldara's conquered lands don't touch her husband's territory. She's so far that I can't write, even if we had the resources for paper and ink. It's too expensive to send messengers. We only see each other once every few years when her husband deems it necessary to come…"
"How long has it been?" I ask.
"Years," she whispers. "I don’t know if I ever will again with the borders being the way they are.”
My stomach twists, imagining Elara back home, wondering if she would ever see me again, and what it must feel like for Liora to be left behind.
"I'm so sorry, Liora."
She shakes her head. “That’s the way with him,” Liora continues, voice hard. “Once he
decides something, it’s done. The only way he’ll change is if he comes up with
something better himself. Don't expect him to be open to suggestions or bargaining. He doesn't value much counsel or take criticism with grace." She scowls. "He won't do anything about them. He never does."
I mull over her words, mind turning over this new information. I'm not surprised about Varek's stubborn arrogance or his cruelty to his own family, but hearing about Liora's sister being married already is interesting.
"When did you decide to become a warrior?"
"As soon as she married," she says. "I… I was angry. I still am, but I don't regret my decision." Her lips twitch. "It is not as if it would matter if I did."
I want to ask why she thinks that, but a knock sounds on the door and a man's voice comes through.
"The king has summoned you, Lady Liora, and the captive."
I snort. "I'm the captive now, hm?"
Liora shrugs and stands. "It's not inaccurate. Shall we?"
I nod and follow her out of the room, mulling over what Liora said. There's more to it, I know, but I won't get the rest of the story right now. For now, I need to focus on which seeds to plant in Varek's or the suitors' minds.
As we walk, we pass by the large windows. I look down and see carriages drawn by draft horses pulling into the main courtyard of the palace. Seeing that many carriages makes Varek's plan feel more real, but once I note the crests, a plan starts to form in my mind. The king of Hyath wouldn't bide his time much longer with his enemies arriving. There were likely even more coming.
How long could I draw this out before Caldara had no more food to feed visitors or the people in the castle? That might mean I wouldn't eat, but it would be worth it to thwart Caldara.
It might backfire and force Varek to sell me for cheap, or sell one of the courtesans. Part of me hoped that Lucian's sister was the first on the list. She seemed dainty. If not for her terrible personality, she might have reminded me a little of Elara in how much she seemed to be primed to sit on a throne, giving birth to heirs.
We end up in a corridor I've never been in, and I can feel Varek beyond the door before the guard knocks to let us in. I'm hoping to embarrass him again in an even bigger way. Ronan and Lucian stand flanking the desk, both watching me closely. Liora remains at my side. Varek sits behind the massive dark oak desk with a hollow calm. His eyes drag over me like a brand, lingering on my hips and breasts. I almost laugh at the way he clenches his fists on his armrests.
The door closes behind us. His nostrils flare. I meet his gaze, keeping my expression as cold as possible. The sight of the map on the desk and the stack of opened letters makes it easy. He's been in here strategizing about who to rent me out to, the pig.
“Fiona,” he says, his voice rough. “You’ll attend dinner tonight.” I blink and say nothing. “You will not speak to any of the suitors. You will sit. You will look the part. Nothing more.” He leans forward, his voice growing deeper. “Defy me, and I’ll have you dragged back to the tower in chains.”
I stare into his eyes and make sure to muster every bit of cold detachment. I say nothing, and I don't have to. His jaw clenches. A vein in his forehead jumps. He looks ready to growl at me.
"Am I understood?"
“Is that all you've got?”
Ronan's lips twitch. The hair on the back of my neck raises. I can see him make some sort of decision. It flickers in his eyes. The blood red of an alpha burns and flashes a bright white. His voice turns heavy and ancient for a moment. I brace myself. I've seen an alpha use his compulsion before, but I've never felt it stirring the air like this.
“You will obey me, Fiona.”
I wait and wait. I expect the pressure in my mind that I've been told about. I expect the haze and fog, but nothing happens. I blink at him, holding his gaze. The glow doesn't fade, but I don't need it to see the twitch of frustration in his jaw and the corner of his eye.
I hold back a laugh of triumph. I keep my expression as unfazed and as blank as possible. I even pretend to let my gaze go unfocused for a moment. I force my body still, but I can see in his eyes that he knows I'm faking it.
I look at him and watch the bright burn of light fade to that normal red. He blinks it away and stares back at me. The whole breathes again, but not Varek. He's frozen in place and trying to hide it. He's caught and doesn't want to admit that his little power play, his last card, is useless.
His compulsion doesn't work on me, and that's the kind of leverage that's dangerous to his whole plan. If the great Alpha King Varek, the cruelest of commanders and conquerors on the continent, can't compel me, who can?
I see it in the faint spark at the corner of his mouth, the spiral of thoughts and unraveling plans whirling through his mind. It must be terrifying to be an alpha completely unable to do the one thing all alphas should be able to, especially to someone you desperately want to control.
It must suck to go from having power, influence, and control to having it all ripped from you, like being put in a cage and sold.
I want him to wallow in it.