A Court This Cruel & Lovely (Kingdom of Lies, #1) (101)

Tibris had convinced the other prisoners to stop eating the food the guards gave them. They’d had to find ways to hide their slop, ensuring the guards didn’t notice, but many of them were already more alert as I handed them bread and meat. It was easy to see which prisoners Tibris had been working on, their shoulders finally healing, their eyes no longer dazed.

When I was done, I made my way to Demos’s cell.

“Please tell me you left some of that for me.” He gave me a half grin.

I unlocked his cell and slipped inside, sitting in front of him. He tensed. “What is it?”

I glanced at Asinia, who’d scooted closer, wrapping her hands around the bars between us. A silent support.

“I have a few things to tell you.” I held up the lamp, and his face came into view.

And there were those eyes, the same strange color as mine. I’d never paid attention—never seen his eyes in the light. A tear slipped down my cheek.

Demos scowled. “No crying in the dungeon. It’s a rule. You know that.”

I let out a choked laugh, placing the lantern on the ground between us.

“That’s better.”

“I met a woman today. She told me…she told me we’re related.”

He stiffened. “You and me?”

“She said she was my nanny. When I was small.” I hadn’t realized I was so afraid of his rejection, but I forced myself to keep talking. “I guess she was yours too.”

The blood slowly drained from his face, until it was as if I was staring at a corpse. “You have time magic, don’t you? That’s how you get down here. That makes you…”

“Your sister.” The words came out strangled, my hands shaking as I removed my necklace. Demos was already picking up the lantern and bringing it close to my face.

“Nelayra. Oh gods.”

My throat tightened, and I attempted a smile. “Um. I think I’ll still use Prisca, if it’s all the same—”

He placed the lantern down, and then I was in his arms. More tears welled, but his body shook in a way that told me he’d broken his own rule about crying.

When he let me go, both of our faces were wet. “You really stink,” I mumbled, and he laughed.

“Wait, so you have two brothers now?” Asinia let out a choked sound that might’ve been a laugh.

Demos went still, his eyes turning cold. “She has one. Those people stole her.”

I took a deep breath. “Tibris had nothing to do with that. He’s my brother too.”

Demos’s jaw tightened, but he let it go. “How is this possible?”

I filled him in. When I reached the part where Mama had pushed me into the river, he got to his feet to pace.

“She said she was saving my life. She died that day, Demos.” My loyalty to Mama remained, even as I ached to ease his pain.

He whirled on me with a snarl. I held up a hand. “Be careful what you say about her. She’s still my mother.”

“No, she’s not. Our mother died because we were looking for you that night instead of paying attention to the people who warned the fae prince had been spotted outside our city walls. Instead of preparing to flee, our parents were searching every foot-span of that city, desperate to find you.”

The words echoed between us. A deep ache spread through me, settling behind my ribs. “Our mother is…dead?”

A small flame of hope—one I hadn’t wanted to admit that I’d felt—went out.

“Nice work,” Asinia muttered. “What a kind way to tell a woman both of her mothers are dead.”

“The woman who stole her wasn’t her mother,” Demos hissed.

I got to my feet. Even after everything Mama had done, I couldn’t bear to hear her disparaged. Not when I knew she’d died protecting me.

I was allowed to rail against her for what she’d done. But I couldn’t bear to hear anyone else do the same. Not yet. Not while her death was so fresh.

“Wait. Don’t leave. I’m sorry.” Demos caught my hand. “I’m just… Fuck, I never expected to meet you. I’d convinced myself you were dead. Hoped for it sometimes, because there is rarely a happy ending when tiny girl children are stolen. And now you’re here, and you’re alive, and…”

“I understand.” Taking a deep breath, I attempted to prepare myself for the answer to my next question. “Um, our father. Is he…?”

Demos’s mouth thinned. “I don’t know. I watched our mother die that day. She’d refused to leave, certain she would find you. And she’d run back into our house when it collapsed. She didn’t even use her power—I think she was out of her mind with terror and grief. She pushed me toward Father and insisted she needed to check the cupboards one last time. That maybe you were scared and hiding.”

My eyes filled with tears. In reality, I’d been out of the city. Why couldn’t Mama have left them a note, letting them know I was safe? Would they be alive then?

“And…Father?”

He swallowed, glancing down at his hands. “When the house collapsed, he fell to his knees. It was like he was unable to move. They loved each other so much, Nelayra—uh, Prisca. So much that if not for me, I think he would have climbed into that burning pile of rubble and lay down beside her.” Demos looked away. “One of the neighbors pulled him to his feet. I remember her screaming that he still had one child to keep safe. She died moments later. A block of stone fell on her.”