The horrid smell wouldn’t leave her nose. Jac could practically taste it, even when she drank water. Three days. They kept her locked in that horrid place for three days, despite getting what they wanted the first night. To intimidate her into keeping her mouth shut. They didn’t have to say it for her to understand the threat of being left there for the rest of her life if she acted out of turn. Who could stop them? Her own father hadn’t protested her obscene treatment.

Even if he had, he could forget all about it under the hands of an interrogator. The way they pulled her from the cell and threw her into a carriage told her that resistance was futile. The king believed he was untouchable, at least from a lowly noblewoman.

Oh, how wrong he was. Jac might not be able to touch him. She could march up and down the streets of the capital shouting at anyone who would listen what had happened to her and, at most, she might annoy him. The price of which would probably be another stay in the dungeon, something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

However, she knew another lowly noblewoman that could definitely cause him trouble. One reckless enough and crazy enough to do it too. There were three things her cousin couldn’t stand. Grimoires, people who looked down on her, and people who looked down on summoning. Each one would make Lou crazy enough to commit treason in the right circumstances. Together? She’d burn the palace down or something just as drastic. All she had to do was pierce the bubble of restraint formed by a lifetime of strict etiquette being pounded into her head and reveal the petty woman underneath.

Normally, Jac would never involve Lou in her problems. Both because it was beneath her and she feared the day Lou would overreact. She didn’t care anymore. What did her dignity matter when a useless old man with a crown on his head could strip her of it whenever he pleased? By the time she was through, she would paint the king as a brain gouging, ignorant, elemental hating, biased against summoners, amoral bastard. Might paint him as a pig that enjoyed abusing woman just for good measure.

She wanted Lou to overreact. Her and that sadistic elf by her side. The capital had ignored the green woman’s bloodthirsty nature, as the prim nobles didn’t know how to interact with someone who didn’t fit into their molds, but Jac was under no illusions about Kierra’s nature. When the time came to collect skulls, she’d be the first in line.

The way she felt, a skull was the only thing that could answer the sense of…violation afflicting her. It had been hours since she’d been pulled from the dungeon and she couldn’t get rid of the chill. Couldn’t stop seeing a man in a dark hood in the shadows. Whenever the world was too quiet, she went back to that small room. She remembered the uncaring guards, the pain in her wrists as she strained against her bindings, and the disgusting feeling of foreign mana invading her body.

The interrogator had warned her not to resist, as it made the process more uncomfortable. An impossible task. She didn’t think she could surrender to the invasion even if her life was on the line. Her defiance meant the invading mana felt like worms squirming throughout her body but that wasn’t the worst part.

Neither was thinking about what other things the interrogator had taken from her mind. She didn’t believe for a moment he had stopped at information related to her uncle. Mainly because that would take a level of skill she doubted he had. She didn’t know much about the mental affinity, but she knew its spells were complicated and required as much mental finesse as knowledge. Knowing there was someone out there privy to every hope, fear, embarrassment, and secret desire in her heart, to know someone had taken them from her, left her feeling dirty even after an hour-long bath.

Despite that, the worst part was her father. She always knew he was a selfish man. Someone who could do unsavory things in the name of his ambition. Someone who craved power like a winter-starved wolf craved meat and, much like the beast, would tear someone apart to get what he wanted. He was arrogant, entitled, and perhaps a little slimy.

Still, Jac had never hated him. They were family and she valued that. She valued him as she thought he valued her. He vehemently defended the Tome name and she thought it was because he valued his children. Everything he did was for their future as well as his own.

When she was dragged out of the dungeon and thrown into a carriage waiting outside the palace, her father was waiting inside. Like any other daughter forced to endure horrible circumstances, she had turned to him for comfort, blurting out every horrible detail. She wasn’t crazy enough to think he could do anything about it. A shared sense of outrage and perhaps a few useless vows of vengeance would have been enough. If would have been touching if he was willing to speak out against the king for her but she would have talked him down, promising she would be fine.

The last thing she wanted, needed, or expected was for him to start defending the king.

“Are you alright, Jacquelline? Mm, good. You don’t appear to be injured though your appearance…don’t worry. We can stop by the house for a moment. Give you a chance to clean up and pack a few things.”

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“What you went through is horrible…but you have to understand. The king couldn’t take any chances with the safety of the kingdom hanging in the balance. A drakkon would make anyone paranoid. And you really shouldn’t have resisted. You caused yourself undue hardship.”

“Yes, you have to leave the city. It’s for your own good. People will talk and turn your unfortunate incarceration into something it isn’t. Do you want to juggle snide remarks for the rest of winter? Besides, you are being paid to go wherever you please. A generous amount as well. Of course it’s a bribe, Jacquellin. Would you rather they beat you into submission? Or perhaps conjure some crime and leave you locked in the bowels of the palace with the rats? Learn to recognize the saints’ blessings lest they deem you unfit for them.”

Her father had made it quite clear that he didn’t care what happened to her if it meant obtaining the crown’s favor. If he didn’t care and the king didn’t care, she saw no reason she needed to care. Let it all burn.

The Guiness Company too. If he wanted to, the marquis could have intervened. Not because he wanted something from Lou but because she worked for him. She didn’t expect him to start a coup but sending someone around to inquire about her being snatched off the street wasn’t asking for too much. Even if it was just the manager of the store.

Over the past three days, Jac had been introduced to the uncomfortable truth that she was disposable. She might have been born with a last name into a noble’s estate but in the eyes of those with real power, she was no different from the faceless peasants that towed in the fields and shoveled shit. And, if she played their game, she would always be that helpless woman lying on a cold floor in the dark, wondering how life could take such a sudden turn.

So, forget her father. Forget the Tomes. Forget the Guiness. Screw the king and his interrogators. She was done with the lot of them and their game. It was time to play by new rules. No more waiting and patient planning. She was taking her power.

But first, she needed a chance. Someone to give her an opportunity. For that, she’d try her last connection. That, and she wanted to explain what had happened to Lou personally. Her cousin could seem apathetic, but she cared about her family. If her father got himself into trouble, Lou would reluctantly come to his rescue.

Her father had fought for the king’s approval, not realizing that the only connection he would ever need was right beside him. She wouldn’t give him the chance to realize his mistake.

The carriage came to a sudden stop. Jac swore as she was tossed from her seat. Her father caught himself against the wall. He went to open the door, his scowl saying he was ready to scold the driver, but Jac pushed herself against the door. “Are you crazy?” she hissed. “If it’s an ambush, the last thing you do is open the door!”

“No one would dare ambush us so close to the capital,” he spouted indignantly but he stopped trying to open the door.

“Very astute,” a muffled voice called from the other side of it, startling both the occupants. “You are quite correct, my lady, but I’m going to insist you open the door. I mean you no harm, I swear, but if you don’t open the door, I’ll have to remove it.”

The voice was pleasant and feminine. It spoke with a surety that left no doubt in Jac’s mind that it would do what it promised. If she didn’t open the door, it was going to come off by force. That wasn’t what made her oblige the request.

She opened the door, kicking away her father that tried to stop her, because the voice sounded familiar.

As she expected, someone she recognized waited outside. Though she looked different, it would take a lot more than a change in coloring for her not to recognize the succubus present during one of the most memorable nights of her life. The presence of Junior behind her, his arms wrapped around himself as he shivered despite his heavy jacket, also made the woman’s identity rather obvious as there was only one person, or being, that could make him leave a warm bed in the middle of a cold night. “Fen?”

“It’s been a while, Jac.” The thrall offered a hand. “Let me help you down.”

“You!” her father shouted as she took the succubus’ hand. “What are you doing here? You said you were leaving.”

“We aren’t currently in the capital, are we? And we are leaving. We just wanted to make sure that Lou’s family was alright before taking off. Imagine my shock when I learned that her cousin was being detained and no one could tell me why. I couldn’t move on without confirming her condition. Why, if she was detained for any longer, I would have gone to get her.”

Jac felt a swell of warmth in her chest, any doubt in her decision quashed by the display of power. Lou had done more for her than her own father and she’d done it from the other side of the country. “There’s a bag of gold in there that belongs to me, but my father has been reluctant to let go of it.”

Jackal stiffened under the accusation but one look from Fen and he handed it over. She casually passed it on to Junior who whistled at the weight. A harmless gesture to anyone else but very telling to a summoner like Jac. Fen treated him like a servant. It said that Lou wasn’t the only one with power over the young patriarch. And if the patriarch of the family didn’t have control over his succubus, that was…telling.

“Why are you doing this?” Jackal asked. “What do you get out of this?”

“What indeed?” Instead of answering, Fen slammed the door in his face. She snapped her fingers and the horses turned the carriage around before taking off at a sprint. Jac chuckled watching the unconscious driver be jostled around as the carriage flew down the King’s Road, back toward the capital.

“I have the same question. Why are you doing this?” she asked once the carriage was hard to make out, showing her father had no intention of coming back for her. Once again abandoning her to a greater power.

“Because Lou asked us to look after you and your brother.” Fen clapped. “Now, I understand that you aren’t welcomed in the capital. What would you think of traveling with us for a while? I can promise your safety and as much comfort as the road will allow. Of course, I won’t do anything untoward…unless you ask nicely.”

Jac cleared her throat and averted her eyes. The flush in her face meant nothing. A beautiful face could affect anyone. “Thanks for the offer but I’m heading for the Grand Hall. I need to talk to my cousin.”

She didn’t see the devious smile that stretched across the thrall’s face. “What a coincidence. So do we.”