Page 103 of To Save a Kingdom

Stepping forward, Zadé held her torch aloft, flooding the entire cell with the flickering glow of the flames.

Dark ribbons akin to smoke or mist flowed from the cut in Brooks’ flesh until they dissipated an arm’s length away.

Jalius pushed his glasses up his nose. “Hello, shadow man.”

The doppelganger’s nostrils flared as he matched the gnome’s posture.

“Where’s the real Brooks,” Aliya asked.

The creature tilted its head to the side in confusion, gesturing at itself as if to say here I am.

Aliya stepped forward.

“Be careful, Your Majesty.” Jalius’ quiet words halted her steps before she was within the shadow’s reach.

“Where is the one whose retreat you’re covering for?” she asked.

The construct’s lips spread wide, flashing a full set of black teeth at her in a ghoulish smile. “How would I know, when I’ve been surrounded by iron for the past several hours?”

His voice…it sounded like someone had punched a hole in his throat. It had an airy, echoing quality that raised goosebumps on the back of Aliya’s neck and sent a shiver down her spine.

Perhaps Elessan had been right—she didn’t need to be here for the interrogation. Her friends would tell her everything they learned.

No. She was done allowing others to protect her because they thought she didn’t have the fortitude. If she wanted to be seen as an equal, that meant sticking around and getting her hands dirty along with everyone else.

Raising an eyebrow, she studied the construct. “You expect us to believe you can’t feel where your creator is?”

The prisoner raised its arms, letting the torchlight flicker off the white metal. “With these on? I can’t sense anything.”

Hmm. She sucked air through her teeth. Having been imprisoned in antimonite shackles herself, she knew there was a decent chance it was telling the truth. But, if they released it, the thing would likely dissolve back into shadows like it had the first time Elessan had injured it, and they’d never recapture it.

The creature shook its wrists, rattling the chains at them. “Take them off, then I might be able to tell you what you want to know.”

“That doesn’t sound like a guarantee,” Zadé said as she flipped a few loose curls over her shoulder. “I think it’d be better if’n we left yeh here until yeh changed yer mind.”

Aliya blinked, eyeing the general from the corner of her eye. Did time matter to a being made of shadows? Did it even need to eat, or drink? Did it bother to note the passage of time? Zadé’s threat may not carry the weight they needed.

Catching Jalius’ attention, she asked, “How do we destroy a construct?”

The gnome raised his shoulders and shook his head.

“Bright light usually does a decent job,” Elessan said, his voice pitched quiet enough it reverberated through Aliya’s bones. His eyes scanned the room before they landed on the doppelganger. “With nothing in the cell to cast a shadow to hide within, how would you fare if we were to, say, have the queen blast this room with sunlight?”

Blinking, Aliya turned her attention to Elessan, her jaw slack. She couldn’t summon that. Half a heartbeat later, she realized she’d called his bluff and wiped the dismayed expression from her face.

But it was too late. Their prisoner had seen it.

The creature tossed its head back and roared with laughter.

Aliya fought the urge to slam her palms over her ears as the surreal aspect of its voice clawed at the soft tissue of her brain.

“Give it your best shot, mountain elf.” The construct flashed its canines. “I don’t believe your lovely little queen can do what you claim.”

Raising an eyebrow, Elessan turned his focus to her. He frowned at whatever he saw, or didn’t see, on her face. “You don’t think you can?”

Shaking her head, she whispered, “Sunlight? I’ve never been able to do that.”

“A fireball casts a buncha light, Princess.”