Maren regretted the loss of her watch because she had no idea how long she was alone in the temple.

It would be worth it if it helped someone find her, but it also occurred to her that Kieran might find it  when he came. She hoped he wouldn't recognize that it belonged to her if he found it.

But not knowing how long she sat in the chilly stone room was distressing. She might have been there for twenty minutes or two hours, it was difficult to tell. She wasn't hungry so it likely hadn't been very long, but considering how worried she was that wasn't a great indicator of time.

She wondered why Kieran was making her wait. Surely he had to know his men already had her and she somehow doubted he just hadn't had the chance to come taunt her.

No, there had to be a reason.

He might have been trying to make her desperate enough to risk using her powers. If so, he severely underestimated her. She had once spent nearly a month in her rooms. She could wait for Kieran.

She tried not to think too much about Donovan. She was annoyed that Kieran was stealing some of her precious time with him. And she focused on being annoyed so that she wasn't afraid.

She thought if she let herself feel afraid, she might lose herself entirely to that feeling and she needed her wits about her if she was going to deal with Kieran.

Eventually, though, the door opened and Kieran sauntered in as though he owned the room.

"Oh, there you are, Lady Maren," he said with a smile that did not reach his eyes. "My dear brother will be so glad that the guards have kept you safe like he asked."

She wasn't sure why, but she decided to humor him.

"Yes, they did a wonderful job keeping me safe," she said. "I'll just be going now."

He smirked. "Oh no, I cannot allow you to do that. The palace is far too dangerous."

She pursed her lips. "Your brother is expecting me."

He chuckled. The sound chilled her blood.

"He is not. Do not worry. He's been told you're occupied."

She glared at him. "Are we dropping this ridiculous pretense yet?"

He shrugged. "If you like. I mostly wanted you to know that my dear brother will not be coming for you."

She really hoped Kieran was lying. She did not think it was likely that anyone other than Donovan would be able to rescue her.

"Do you know why I had you brought here?" Kieran asked.

She was tempted to make a variety of snappy remarks ranging from, "Because you like wasting my time," to, "Because you're a pathetic weasel." But she decided it would be unwise to aggravate him.

"I'm afraid I don't know, Your Highness," she said blandly instead.

He smiled and it turned her stomach.

"Very well. We can play that game if you like," he said. "Today is the last day you'll get to make any decisions anyway, so I'll humor you."

He had stayed by the door but as he spoke he began to approach her. She felt like a mouse watching a cat stalk her.

He sat beside her and put his arm around her, pulling her close to him. She felt the Light within her rise at his touch, both in response to his buzzing power and the sense that he would happily snap her neck if it suited him.

She reminded herself he wouldn't kill her so long as he thought she might have power he could steal and did her best to remain calm.

"I just have one very simple question for you, my lady," he said, speaking quietly into her ear in a way that made her skin crawl.

"Are you a witch?" he asked.

"How dare you!" she cried, leaping from the bench and stomping her foot in outrage.

Outrage was the correct response to such an accusation. Denials were fruitless. Accusing someone of being a witch was deeply insulting and she had known for years that she had to behave as though deeply insulted should she ever have the misfortune of being subjected to such an accusation.

He pretended to be sad. "Oh, did I offend you?"

"Let me go this instant!" she cried, stomping her foot again.

He smiled. "Precious."

And then without warning, he rose and sunk his fist into her stomach.

She immediately doubled over, gasping for breath. She fell to her hands and knees, wheezing and sputtering.

Prince Kieran squatted down to the floor, looking intently at her hands. Fortunately, she managed to maintain control of the Light.

"Well, I have been wanting to do that for some time. It was still satisfying even if it didn't do what I wanted," he said, rising.

She did not answer.

He dragged one of the other wooden benches so it was facing the one she had been sitting on. Then he yanked on her arm, dragging her up, and forced her to sit on the bench.

He sat on the one facing her and smiled pleasantly as though he'd just encountered her at the dinner table. Their knees were almost touching.

"What do you want?" she snarled.

Her voice sounded oddly husky—the aftermath of his punch, most likely.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you now," he said. "You see, I've known what you are for a very long time, only I couldn't prove it. Well, I couldn't prove it without admitting that I attempted to murder my brother and I know my parents would be annoyed about that, so..."

Maren tried to stare stoically back at him. She wasn't sure she was doing a very good job, though. She was terrified.

"I'll admit, you're a lot more capable than most witches I've encountered. Usually, they'll glow even if you only hurt them a little bit. But I knew you were special the first time we danced together. No matter how many times I stepped on your toes, you held it in. Well done!

"And then, honestly, I was having so much fun tormenting you and my idiot brother I did let it carry on for a while. Really, I was so surprised you didn't let him die when I had his food tainted with almonds. I hoped you would because then I probably would have been able to take you on as a second mistress, and we would have had so much fun together."

Maren felt like vomiting at the idea. She already knew far too much about what Kieran thought was fun.

"But he lived, and I knew what you were, and that was good too. But then I thought, perhaps physical pain was the wrong way to go with you. So, I thought I might distress you emotionally to see if you broke. That was fun. The stables, the execution, all those dinners talking about the Trackers, but that didn't work either.

"Then I decided what I really needed to do was drive a wedge between you and my idiot brother. And I'll admit, the two of you won that round, but it was how I learned he wasn't just using you for sex, he actually cared about you," he sneered.

Maren tried not to make any expression in response to what he was saying, but was beginning to worry about Donovan. She couldn't live with herself if he got hurt because of her.

"It's really a shame, we don't prosecute enough people who aid and abet witches. For example, should the parents who know their daughter is a witch also be hanged? It is treason, after all! And the answer is of course they should be hanged, but not everyone thinks so. The kingdom has gone soft...for now.

"In any case, I doubt even treason would get my brother executed, but I do think it would get him disowned and disinherited. Oh and humiliated, humiliation is the important thing. You probably don't know this about me, but I do love to see people who've wronged me humiliated.

"And I know what you're thinking, you're wondering why I don't just murder him. And the answer is that of course I could, but what would be the fun in that?

"You see, I probably could have arrested you the day of the Selection, but hasn't it been so much more enjoyable for me to chase you all year?"

Maren just stared at him, no longer trying to hide her horror.

He leaned forward and slapped her hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"You need to answer my questions, witch. Now tell me, haven't we had an enjoyable year together?"

Maren glared at him. "Not at all."

He slapped her.

"Try. Again.," he snarled.

"Not at all, Your Highness," she snapped.

He slapped her again. She really disliked that.

"Yes, we have had an enjoyable year, and now you will say it," he growled.

"Yes, it had been enjoyable, Your Highness," she said.

She hadn't wanted to, but she wanted to get slapped again less.

He bent forward to get close to her face.

"You'll find I'm very patient. I will always get what I want, witch," he sneered.

She did not respond. She realized that he would do whatever he could to try to make her release her powers. She had to make sure she did not.

"So, here's what's going to happen, I'm going to hurt you until I see you glow, and then you'll glow again for my friends in the hall so I have witnesses, and then you'll be bait for Donovan. When he comes to rescue you because he's so stupid, I'll be able to prove he helped a witch. Then his life will be ruined and you'll be mine.

"I'll admit, this was not my first choice in grand finales for us. To be honest, I would've happily spent another year tormenting you. But we're just about out of time and this will do nicely. So, this is your last chance to confess before I start really hurting you," he said.

She glared. "I am not a witch!" she snarled with as much fury as she could muster.

He shrugged. "This much is more fun for me anyway."

He flicked his fingers and the next thing Maren knew her head was slamming into the stone floor that had been behind her. The impact made her see stars.

He had used the Darkness to knock her off the bench so quickly, she hadn't even realized he'd done it.

When she came back to herself, he was standing over her. Thankfully, he looked annoyed rather than triumphant so she must not have released her powers.

He kicked her in the ribs, hard. It seemed like he only did it out of annoyance and not because he thought it might finally break her.

He sighed in exasperation. "Gods, must you be so stubborn? You're going to glow. Making me hurt you before is just foolish."

He kicked her a few more times and she tried to curl into a ball to protect herself.

"Maren! This won't work unless I can see your hands! I need to see your hands!"

He used a combination of his foot and his powers to manipulate her body, so she was lying on her stomach with her hands stretched out before her. He wrapped her wrists in ropes of Darkness, pinning them to the floor.

"See, this way I'll be able to see your hands," he said as though he had come up with a clever solution to a difficult problem.

Then she felt a sledgehammer of icy Darkness crash into her. She would have curled into a ball, but she couldn't move her ankles or her wrists. As much as getting punched in the stomach hurt, and it did, being struck with Darkness hurt more.

She closed her eyes, trying desperately to ignore her pain and focus on keeping the Light within her.

She knew he was getting frustrated when he stomped on her back. It hurt, but it didn't hurt as badly as some of the other things he'd done to her. But he made a grunting sound when he did it. It was a like a child stomping their foot in annoyance.

He kicked her ribs. Again, and again, and again. He seemed to be getting angrier as she continued to resist him, and as he got angrier, he kicked her harder. Occasionally, he would pummel her back with yet more blows of Darkness.

She thought he might have started talking again, but she wasn't listening. Her entire world had narrowed to her hands and refusing to let the Light show.

She was struggling more and more to block out the pain. It hurt to breathe. He kept talking. Her strength was wavering, she knew she could not take much more of this.

"I said, look at me!" he shouted, sending her another bolt of Darkness to force her head to the side.

He was visibly flustered. His face was flushed, and his hair was becoming disheveled. She watched as he pulled more and more Darkness to him, allowing it to build in his hands. Surely, this blow would kill her. And if it didn't, then there was no way she would be able to control the Light any longer.

She was certain she was about to die when the door burst open.

--

Donovan and Alec scoured the palace but there was no sign of Maren.

They burst into spare rooms and empty apartments. They checked every single semi-private area they could think of. Donovan retraced the different paths she might have followed from the stables what seemed like dozens of times.

The fact was that there were only two of them and the palace was huge. They could search for hours and hours and still miss her.

And then, finally he remembered one place they hadn't looked.

He sprinted away, not even taking the time to explain to Alec, where they were going.

He ran to the remote part of the palace. He barely noticed preemptively drawing the Darkness to his hands. His only thoughts were of Maren and getting her before Kieran could harm her.

His feet took him where he wanted to go and he kept going as fast as he possibly could. He ran up what felt like a thousand stairs.

Finally, he saw the door he had been waiting to see and burst through it onto the empty balcony at the top of the North Tower.

"Dammit!" he shouted.

Alec followed shortly thereafter, panting heavily. Donovan could only shake his head. He sunk to the floor of the balcony, leaning against the wall as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sorry," he breathed. "Only place...I could think of...thought it...had to be it."

"S'okay," Alec said, slumping beside him. "Running's...good...for the heart."

"Dammit," Donovan said. "I don't know where else to look."

Alec shook his head. "I'm sure we've missed something. This place has dozens of hiding spots. Let's just take a break and we'll go back down and look some more."

Donovan nodded. It occurred to him belatedly that he may have to fight Kieran once he found Maren and so he probably should not run off as fast as possible the next time he had an idea.

"I love her so much," he said quietly.

"I know," Alec said.

Donovan shook his head. "It's bad enough to let her go, if something happened to her..."

"She'll be all right. We'll find her," Alec said.

Donovan sighed. "I hope she's still here to find. I promised her she wouldn't end up in Kieran's prison and if he takes her there...I'm not sure I could get her out. I don't know."

"I'm fairly certain a few Trackers are no match for your powers. But I don't think it will come to that. I think Kieran will want you to know he has her before he moves her."

"If it comes to that, I may not be able to stop him. My only chance is to take him by surprise, I think. He's so much more powerful than I am," he said.

Alec seemed skeptical about that but Donovan knew it was true. People without magic couldn't understand how vast of a difference in power there could be, and how much of an impact that difference could make.

Donovan remembered then what he'd also promised Maren. That he would kill her himself before he let Kieran take her powers. Gods, he hoped it didn't come to that.

--

"Your Highness —"

"I said not to interrupt me!" Kieran screamed at the guard who opened the door.

"I'm s-sorry, Y-Your Highness, it w-was urgent," the guard stammered.

Maren didn't blame him. Kieran was terrifying when he was in a rage.

"What!" Kieran shouted.

The guard shuffled across the floor toward Kieran. Maren couldn't see him, but she assumed he was holding a note.

She saw Kieran snatch a note away and then read it before crumpling it and throwing it to the floor.

He made a noise of frustration and then flicked his hand in annoyance. Maren felt the Darkness but she didn't know what he did until she heard the thud of the guard's body collapsing to the ground.

Then Kieran stormed to the hall where the other guard most likely was.

"Go to headquarters and round up everyone responsible for this and put them in my office. Make sure no one cleans up so they can have a good look at what they've done. Tell them they will be punished. And make sure someone comes to deal with this one," he said.

"Yes, Your Highness, I told him not to, Your Highness," the guard said.

"He always was a fool," Kieran said. "But perhaps he might provide some motivation for my guest."

Then Maren heard the door close and Kieran walk back toward her.

"It is so hard to find good help," he said. "The fools at headquarters brought a prisoner a glass and then she sliced her wrists open. And now, her precious power is gone and they will all die."

Maren tried very hard not to tremble.

"How very disappointing. I was going to have her teach you how I like things. But, I suppose you'll have to learn the old fashioned way. They all learn quickly enough," he said.

He smiled. "You are so frightened aren't you? I do love to see it. You see, I hate two things in life. Well, two if you don't count my brother. I hate courtiers and I hate witches, and you, Lady Maren, are both. Your fear, your pain, and later, your humiliation, they sustain me. I can go on like this for hours!"

He rose and ground his foot into her fingers making her groan in pain. She thought he did that for fun and not to damage her. He could've smashed her hand it he wanted to, but she thought he wanted to draw it out.

"Do you know who you remind me of? Her name was Marjorie. Marjorie was the only girl I ever liked, but she was a slut and ended up fornicating in the gardens with my idiot brother. I put her in her place, and then she left Court. But then a few years later, the Trackers arrested her. I was disgusted when they released her. Sloppy, sloppy work," he said.

That was not quite the version of events she heard, but it was more or less compatible with what Donovan had told her.

"I fixed that when I took over. I had some Trackers  'kidnap' her and brought to the Capital. I wish I had a picture of her face when they brought her to my office. You know, she was my very first pet."

Maren wanted to vomit again. Lady Callista's voice echoed in her mind, "He wants to introduce me to his pet."

"I knew she was a witch. I just knew it. But I could not make her hands glow. She was so infuriating, she made me kill her. It was annoying, but a good lesson in managing one's temper. And we had a good six months together," he said.

Maren tried not to think about Marjorie, who probably wasn't a witch at all. Maren certainly didn't think she could last six months without breaking. She'd be lucky to make it six more hours.

"So no matter how long it takes, I'm going to make you glow. I assure you," he said. "This only ends with you as my pet in chains."

She tried not to think about what being Kieran's "pet" would entail. Lady Callista had said her situation could be worse after she met Kieran's pet.

"Oh, and I'm sure we won't have the same mistake that let the last one kill herself," he said.

She felt a tear fall down from her the bridge or her nose. It was not surprising Kieran had something awful in store for her but she had never been face to face with what he intended. If being his pet was worse than being his mistress, she would not be able to bear it. 

"All you have to do is glow and then you can come with me," he said.

That gave her pause. He still didn't have what he needed (or wanted, Maren wasn't sure which) and he wouldn't take her until he did. And he wanted Donovan too, but not until she proved to be a witch.

So, she just had to not give him his proof.

She knew that but she had forgotten in her pain and terror. She would not let him win.

"Very well," he said. "Let's get you upright and we'll see how long you last then. I'm going to let you go, and you're going to go and stand against the wall. Do you understand?"

She gritted her teeth and nodded.

She felt the bonds holding her ankles and wrists release and got to her feet, trying to run. She knew her chances of getting away were low, but she had to try. The guards were gone.

She didn't make it very far before he grabbed her from behind.

"No! No!" she screamed, thrashing.

He was stronger than her though and she couldn't loosen his grip.

She stomped on his foot and that loosened his grip enough for her to make some room between them. She turned around and with as much force as possible, shoved her knee into his groin.

He let go.

Maren did not pause to relish in his wheezing and instead, ran towards the door. She got it open and ran into the hall.

"HE—"

She had just begun her cry for help before she lost the ability to speak or breathe. There was a block of ice in her throat, choking her. No, there was a block of Darkness choking her. She tried to keep running but was knocked down by another icy bolt. It was no use anyway, she couldn't breathe.

She fell to her hands and knees and tried to force air through her throat, but the only useful thing she could do was shove aside the Light that seemed to want to come to her defense. She thought she was about to pass out, when suddenly the Darkness was gone and she could breathe again.

She could not move, though. It felt like her hands and knees were encased in stone, but she knew it was more Darkness. Gods, he was so powerful.

She could hear Kieran breathing heavily. He would be coming for her soon. She tried to yell again but found that her mouth was filled with Darkness. She could breathe but she couldn't speak.

"You...bitch," Kieran growled from the temple.

She heard his footsteps coming closer then he kicked her in the stomach making her choke and wheeze.

"How dare you?" he hissed. "I have scum on the bottom of my shoes that's better than you and yet you dare try to harm me. You are going to live to regret that."

She hoped very much she would live long enough for that. It hadn't occurred to her before he might accidentally kill her in a rage.

He crouched beside her so he could look her in the eye.

"You are coming with me back into that room and if you run away again, I will break your legs. If you do anything I don't like, I will break your legs. If you even look at me the wrong way, I will break your legs. Do you understand?"

She nodded because she had no other choice. She could never get away if her legs were broken.

"Good."

He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back into the temple.

--

"All right, let's go back down," Alec said after enough time had passed for their heart rates to return to normal.

Donovan rose. He did not feel optimistic about finding Maren but he had to try.

Once they descended the tower, they stood there for a moment, unsure what to do.

"What about the old section? The part with that dusty temple," Alec suggested.

Donovan didn't have any better idea so he nodded and the headed towards the old section. It took about ten minutes but then they reached a T-shaped intersection in the halls.

The carpet stopped and one of the halls continued into a stone floor. Donovan was about to head down it when Alec stopped.

"What's that?" he said, walking towards the carpeted hallway they didn't come from.

Donovan paused. There was something on the floor.

"It's a watch," Alec said. "Sort of looks like Maren's."

"Look at the crown," Donovan barked.

"There's a horse..."

"It's hers!" Donovan cried. "She was here."

Donovan's heart was racing. She must be in the old section...it wasn't that large.

"Let's go," he said, already heading into the old section.

He felt the need to be quiet. He thought perhaps that Kieran might have palace guards with him and he didn't want to alert them to their presence.

He walked down the hall and turned a corner. He could see the door to the temple at the end of the hall.

And then he felt it. The tug in his bones that told him someone was doing magic.

Kieran had her in the temple.

"Stay back," Donovan whispered to Alec.

He walked as quietly as he could to the door. The tug of magic was stronger there. He knew he would only have one chance to surprise Kieran and then he wasn't sure what would happen.

He paused for a moment. He had put aside his rage for Kieran while they searched, but he wanted to feel every bit of it before going into the temple.

It was easy to let it come.

Normally he would've taken the time to build the Darkness in his hands. But he couldn't do that without alerting Kieran to his presence.

He remembered what Maren had taught him about meditation. His power was within him. Could he move that to his hands and perhaps pull the Darkness to himself faster?

He thought it was worth a try. He had practiced mediation sporadically in the months since Maren taught him how and he found it much easier to find his power.

He found his power and pushed it to his fingertips   He was ready.

He opened the door and drew the Darkness to his hands. It came much faster and larger than was typical. He saw Kieran in the middle of the room and thrust the Darkness toward him before Kieran could even turn to see who opened the door.

Kieran went flying toward the wall and Donovan heard the cracking sound of his brothers head slamming on the stone wall.

Donovan held him there, unwilling to trust that what he'd done was sufficient. Fortunately, it appeared Kieran was either dead or unconscious because his head lolled to the side. Donovan still did not let go of the Darkness though.

"Alec!" Donovan called when he saw Maren.

She was crumpled on the floor, and he could tell just by looking at her that she was in a lot of pain.

"Maren, are you all right?" he said urgently, touching the side of her face. 

Her eyelids fluttered open. "I didn't ... I didn't ... he doesn't know," she whispered. Then her eyes closed again and, with a shuddering exhale, he saw as the Light glowed faintly in her outstretched hands.

"Oh."

He turned and saw Alec in the doorway.

"Not a word," he snapped and Alec nodded silently, eyes wide.

"Is she all right?"

Alec crossed the room and crouched by Maren. He lightly touched her neck and looked into her eyes.

Donovan's heart pounded. Maren seemed to be completely unconscious.

"I don't see anything immediately life threatening."

Donovan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let me figure out what to do with him," Donovan said.

He went closer to Kieran. Donovan could see that he was breathing. It looked like his head and smacked the wall behind him when Donovan threw him. Probably it was for the best that he hadn't killed his brother but Donovan did not care very much at that moment.

He decided he'd leave Kieran where he was. He wouldn't be able to maintain the Darkness trapping Kieran for very long after they left but that was all right. Falling to the ground wouldn't kill him.

Donovan knew he made the right decision when he saw the body of the palace guard sprawled on the floor. Kieran could clean up his own mess.

Alec was still with Maren, he seemed to be checking her over.

"How is she?"

"Hard to say without asking her but I don't see any major injuries."

Donovan nodded curtly.

"Let's get her out of here," he said.

He rolled Maren's limp body over as gently as possible. He scooped her up in his arms. He would need to use his powers to support her the on way back to his apartment but for the moment he wanted to support her by himself.

"I'm going to hide us," Donovan said.

He did not want anyone to see Maren unconscious.

Alec held the door open for him and Donovan carried Maren out. He let go of the Darkness holding Kieran and heard the thud as his brother's body fell to the floor.

He hoped it hurt.