Then they voted behind closed doors. I never found out who voted which way, but I can only assume Asher was on our side. I pray Ace was as well, but perhaps the lies he endured sealed our fate. In the end, both Fen and I were sentenced to death.
Asher brought me the news.
"I’m sorry," he said, standing outside my cell. "I brought this upon you."
I clasped the bars, still possessing some energy. "Asher, no. You fought for me in the trial—"
"No. Before that. I am the reason your Fae blood was revealed." He paused. "I dropped the contract."
The contract. That one that prevented me from revealing my true heritage. The one only Asher and his father could cancel. When my Fae powers emerged during the battle, I thought perhaps my magic had broken the oath. In truth, I was fighting for my life, I was fighting for Fen, and I barely gave it much thought.
"When the fighting started," Asher continued, "I wanted you to be able to defend yourself. So I dropped the contract, hoping your magic would aid you. I… I couldn’t forgive myself if you had died because of some oath I made you swear to uphold."
"It was my choice to sign."
"But I arranged it. It is my foolish mistakes that brought you here." He started to turn away, but I grabbed his hand through the bars and pulled him back.
"My magic saved me," I said. "If you hadn’t stopped the oath, I’d be dead. At least now there’s a chance."
He smiled. "As hopeful as ever, Princess." His smile dropped as he held my gaze. "But this time, I am not so sure you’re right."
I let go of his hand and clutched the bars tight. "There must be something more we can do. Can’t you break us out? You have soldiers you could send. They can—"
"Shh," he whispered, raising a finger to his lips. He glanced at the two guards behind him, then kept his voice low. "I am doing all in my power, princess, but my brothers are watching me closely. They know I am on your side. It took calling in favors just to allow this meeting."
My shoulders slumped. "There must be something."
"Perhaps another contract," he said. I could see him thinking, thoughts and emotions spiraling over his face. "Maybe if you and Fen swore to obey the other princes."
"Then we would have to fight the Fae," I said.
"Perhaps." He smirked. "But all contracts have loopholes. You taught me that."
I stepped back, sighing. "I can’t fight the Fae. And you wouldn’t want me to."
His eyes fell. "No. I wouldn’t."
We were silent for a moment, searching for ideas and finding none. "Did Fen know?" I asked.
Asher looked to the distance, to the light from the window. "No. He never knew he was Fae. No one ever told him."
For a moment, the cell became less cold, less dark. Knowing Fen had been honest with me made all the difference. "But… he would never have known the land you came from. The land before here. Didn’t he ever wonder why he couldn’t remember?"
"He thought he was forgetting, just as I have been forgetting. The pieces he could recall, yes, they were fictions told by our mother, but told so often they had become memory."
"So what changed?" I asked.
"You," he said. "You awoke his powers. But I suspect his injuries are what finally forced his body to use his natural abilities."
I nodded. It made a sort of sense, though I would have to discuss it later with Fen. How did he feel about this? Did he despise me for revealing him as Fae? For changing his life forever?
"So, what next?" asked Asher.
The only thing left.
"We hope," I said. "We hope." Dum spiro spero. While I breathe, I hope. I could practically hear my mother's voice in my mind, saying those words to me so many times over the course of my childhood. What I would give to have her with me now, to seek out her wisdom, to find comfort in her arms.
Asher, however, did not look hopeful, and with a resigned look, he walked away. It was the last time I saw him. Two weeks ago.
Now, I slouch against a cold wall, wrapping my arms around my knees for warmth. There are no clocks down here. No natural lighting sources. I have no way of tracking time other than the once a day slop a guard brings in for me to eat, if I can stomach it. I wonder if I'll be granted a last meal, like I would on my world. But it seems unlikely. I'll die with the taste of this rot in my mouth.
My greatest fear, my deepest sadness, is that others have to suffer with me. My mother, whose soul still lays trapped in a hell dungeon waiting for me to fulfill my contract. The man I love, who will die by my side, his only crime that of loving me back. Es and Pete, who will never know what happened to their friend.