Lauki's Arc

Chapter 5 of 18

Tiberius kept Lauki close after that night. He wore fine clothes and slept in a warm room, but a guard stood at every door. The king called him a treasure. A treasure could not leave. Lauki wanted only one thing: the road above, and the noblewoman whose family would burn him on sight. He could not court her from a cage. He needed something the king feared. So he watched, and he listened, and he learned of the tower. The frog warriors whispered about the black spire behind the keep. Its stone was polished obsidian. Carved skulls ringed its base. No guard would say who slept inside. Lauki slipped past a drowsy sentry near dawn and found the tower door unbarred. Inside sat a woman on the cold floor. Black and red wings folded against her back. A thin chain bound her ankle to the wall. Her eyes were red, like his left one. She looked up and did not flinch at his horns. "Another of Tiberius's pets," she said. "Morrigan Nightshade. I was a queen once. Now I am his key." "His key to what?" Lauki knelt by the chain. "To every dark court above." She smiled without warmth. "He keeps me alive because kings pay for what I know. He keeps me chained because I would sell him first." She studied Lauki. "You want out. I can see it." "He won't free me," Lauki said. "I have nothing he wants that he doesn't already own." Morrigan leaned close. "Then take what he hides. Free me, and I give you a name. The one lord Tiberius still fears. Speak it, and the king bends. He will trade you the road above to keep that lord from his door." Lauki gripped the chain. He called his fire. It ran gold and red along his hands. The iron glowed, then softened, then split. Morrigan pulled her ankle free and stood. Footsteps rang on the stairs. A guard shouted. Tiberius came through the door, wings wide, purple eyes hot. "You would rob my tower," he said. "I would leave it," Lauki answered. He stepped in front of Morrigan. "She told me the name. The lord you fear. I can carry it to him, or I can keep it quiet. Your choice." The king went still. His wings lowered. For the first time, Lauki saw fear cross that proud face. "You have no honor," Tiberius said softly. "I have leverage," Lauki said. "Open the road above. Let me go to her. Do that, and your secret stays buried." Tiberius stared long. Then he unclenched his fists. "Take the black horse from my stable. It knows the road up." His jaw tightened. "But you carry my name now, fey'ri. Betray me, and I bury yours." Lauki bowed his head and turned for the stairs. He had a horse, an open road, and a king's fear in his fist. The cage was open. The hard part waited above.