“I passed your tests,” I said, jabbing a finger at Ta’sradala. “You have to take me back home now!”
“Hmph,” Ta’sradala said. “I don’t know about that. The only reason you survived was because of that silly shape-shifter who helped you out. Who was he, anyway? I didn’t know any creatures like that lived in those caves.”
I froze, looking around. Broghan wasn’t anywhere nearby, and the snakeskin belt he’d previously disguised himself as was gone. “Broghan?” I called in mindspeak, a little anxious. “Are you okay?”
There was no reply.
What had happened to him? I guessed that when Ta’sradala had transported me back, Broghan had not come with me, since he wasn’t attached to my body like he’d been last time. He was probably still in that field, poor thing. I hoped he would be all right on his own, though from recent experience, he seemed quite capable of taking care of himself.
“You never specified that I couldn’t use outside help,” I said tersely. “I’ve won your game fair and square. Now take me back.”
“And why should I listen to an impertinent mortal like you?” Ta’sradala asked, looking down her nose at me. “You do not make demands of a Tua—you get on your knees and beg.” The malicious glitter in her eyes told me even that would be no use—she would enjoy my humiliation without yielding an inch.
“I shouldn’t even have to ask!” I thundered, losing my temper completely. “You told me that if I won, you would let me go, and I have! How are you any better than us ‘mortals’ if you can’t be bothered to keep your own word?”
“She has a point, Mother,” Ennartha said uneasily. “Surprising as it may be, she has completed the challenges.”
“That is for me to decide!” Ta’sradala exclaimed angrily. “Besides, promises to humans don’t count. Are you actually taking this pitiful mortal’s side?”
“You are the worst person I have ever met,” I hissed, my entire body vibrating with anger. I wanted to claw Ta’sradala’s perfect face off, and indeed I might have thrown a punch or two if I didn’t value my life. “I used to think that mages were the worst, but you are even more arrogant than they are, and faithless to boot.”
I had to wonder if the mages got that side of their personality from the Tua, if Nalan and Alara’s theory was correct. Or maybe power just naturally corrupted people and gave them that false sense of superiority. There were plenty of humans who were just as insufferable. At least Iannis was nothing like this crazy bitch. I felt a strong wave of longing, wishing he was here by my side.
“How dare you!” The Tua drew herself upright, and I braced myself for another magical attack.
“Go ahead,” I taunted. “Choke me or burn me or send me into another dimension. That’s what you always do when you’re at a loss, isn’t it? You can’t bear to confront me so you throw your power around like the big bully you are.”
Ta’sradala froze. “Please,” Deryna begged, filling the shocked silence. “Our guest is speaking out of despair at being hopelessly outmatched, and she has just been through several exhausting, dangerous ordeals! Don’t regard her words—her nerves must be shot. Consider the consequences before you do anything else, Ta’sradala. If Iannis finds out that you have hurt his beloved, or worse, he will never forgive any of us.”
“I don’t need my grandson’s forgiveness,” Ta’sradala said coldly, but she lowered her hand. “This mortal may be stronger and luckier than I’d been led to believe, but her impertinence is unforgiveable. We cannot allow such an undesirable trait to be grafted onto the family tree.”
“Still,” Ennartha said, and I blinked in surprise to see her speak up, “we should not be too hasty. Perhaps we should wait for Iannis to arrive and explain himself. We might yet convince him to desist from this match.”
I shot her a glare—thanks for that. I was never going to like my future mother-in-law, but now she’d destroyed any chance of us getting along.
“He is surely going to arrive any day now,” Deryna added, “and will be furious if his bride is not here.”
“On the other hand”—Ennartha pursed her lips—“since he has not turned up yet, perhaps he is already thinking better of the connection and is too busy with his politics to chase after this girl. For all we know, the wedding may already be called off.”
Fat chance, I thought contemptuously. She did not know Iannis at all if she really believed that.
“Besides,” Deryna said, frowning thoughtfully, “didn’t you tell us once that the Tua realm is forbidden to humans—and shifters, we must suppose—without special permission of the High King? I understand he was not pleased when Ennartha took Iannis there all those years ago. Did you get permission before sending Sunaya there?”
Ta’sradala’s shoulders stiffened, and for the first time, an uneasy look crossed her face. “Did you meet anyone while you were in the Tua realm, girl?” she asked sharply. “Or take anything that was not freely given?”
I scowled, refusing to answer. I did not want to get Nalan and Arala into trouble, and I knew that Broghan wasn’t supposed to have come with me. If I told her that he had followed me from the Tua realm, I could land myself in even more trouble than I was in now.
“I’m getting tired of all these questions,” I said, turning away. “If you aren’t going to send me home, then I’ll find a way back myself.” I was perfectly capable of walking to the nearest village or town and securing transport of some kind. With any luck, there might even be an apothecary that sold the ingredients I needed to recharge my gulaya.
“I don’t think so,” Ta’sradala snapped. Magic sizzled around me, and my arms and legs snapped taut against my body, rendering me immobile. “You’ll be staying right here until I figure out what to do with you.”
I’d been worried that Ta’sradala would leave me out in the garden, frozen like a statue, but instead she locked me up in one of the bedrooms, which in a way was even worse. As I lay there on the bed, unable to so much as blink, my mind raced. I furiously tried to figure out how to escape this latest predicament. There were all sorts of spells that could undo immobilization, but, as before, my magic didn’t work on the Tua’s. She was simply too powerful, her magic too different for mine to work against hers.