I stared at him, hands opening and closing at my sides while he remained seated on the bed. “So, what now? How is this going to work, Your Highness?” Satisfaction surged when I caught the way his jaw tightened. “You’ll keep me locked up in a room until you’re ready for us to leave?”
“Do you not like this room?”
“It’s far better than a dirty cell, but it’s still a prison. A cage, no matter how nice the accommodations are.”
He was quiet for a moment. “You would know, wouldn’t you? After all, you’ve been imprisoned since you were a child. Caged and veiled.”
There was no denying that. I’d been kept in both comfortable cages and bare ones. The reasons were different, but the end result was the same. Folding my arms, I looked at the small window, to the night sky beyond.
“I came here to escort you to dinner.”
“Escort me to dinner?” Disbelief widened my eyes as I focused on him once more.
“I feel like there’s an echo in this room, but yes, I imagine you’re hungry,” he said, and my stomach took that exact moment to confirm that was true. “And we’ll discuss what will happen next when we have some food in our stomachs.”
“No.”
His brows lifted. “No?”
I knew I was being difficult over something not worth it. Just like I had been with Kieran. But I was not going to be at anyone’s beck and call. I wasn’t the Maiden any longer. And things were not okay between us just because we had a temporary loss of rationale in the woods. He’d betrayed me. I’d tried to kill him. He still planned to use me to free his brother. We were enemies, no matter the truths.
No matter that I loved him.
“You have to be hungry,” he said, pausing as he stretched out on his side, supporting his cheek with his fist. He couldn’t look more comfortable if he tried.
Or more alluring.
I shook my head. “I am hungry.”
He sighed. “Then what’s the problem, Princess?”
“I don’t want to eat with you,” I told him. “That’s the problem.”
“Well, it’s a problem you’re going to have to get over because it’s your only option.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I have options.” I turned from him. “I’d rather starve than eat with you, Your Highness—” I squeaked, almost coming out of my skin when he suddenly stood in front of me, moving so fast and so quietly I nearly missed it. “Gods,” I muttered, pressing my hand to my pounding heart.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Princess.” His eyes glowed a fiery amber as he glared down at me. “You don’t have options when it comes to your own well-being and your own foolish stubbornness.”
“Excuse me?”
“I won’t let you weaken or starve yourself because you’re mad. And I do get it. I get why you’re upset. Why you want to fight me on everything, every step of the way.” He took that step toward me, and my spine locked up as I refused to back away. His eyes burned brighter. “I want you to, Princess. I enjoy it.”
“You’re twisted.”
“Never said I wasn’t,” he retorted. “So, fight me. Argue with me. See if you can actually injure me next time. I dare you.”
My eyes widened as I lowered my arms. “You’re…there’s something wrong with you.”
“That may be true, but what is also true, is the fact that I will not let you put yourself in unnecessary danger.”
“Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I can handle myself,” I shot back.
“I haven’t forgotten. I won’t ever prevent you from lifting a sword to protect your life or those you care about,” he said. “But I won’t let you shove that sword through your own heart to prove a point.”
Part of me was awed—still shocked that he wouldn’t stop me from fighting. The other half was infuriated that he thought he could control any part of me. As a whole, I let out a small shriek of frustration. “Of course, you won’t! What good am I to you dead? I imagine you still plan to use me to free your brother.”
A muscle along his jaw flexed. “You are nothing to me if you’re dead.”
I sucked in a sharp, stinging breath that scorched my lungs. What in the world had I expected him to say? That he wouldn’t want me dead because he cared? I knew better.
I had to know better.
“Come. The food will grow cold.” Without waiting for my response, he grabbed my hand. He started walking, but I dug in my heels. His head cranked toward me, the grip on my hand firm but not painful. “Don’t fight me on this, Poppy. You need to eat, and my people need to see that you have my protection if you have any hope of not finding yourself spending your days locked in a room.”
Every part of my being demanded that I do just what he claimed he enjoyed. It wanted me to fight him every step of the way, but common sense prevailed. Barely. I was hungry, and I needed to be at my strongest if I planned to escape. Plus, I needed his people to see that I was off-limits. If eating dinner with him like we were the closest friends would provide that, then I needed to deal.
So that was what I did.
I let him lead me out of the room, and I wasn’t even surprised when I found Kieran waiting for us. Based on the hint of amusement in his features, he must have heard at least half of our argument.
Kieran opened his mouth.
“Don’t test me,” he warned.
Chuckling under his breath, Kieran said nothing as he fell into step behind us. We took the same stairs we’d sped down hours earlier, and I tried not to think about my mad dash in the woods. What had happened when he caught me.
But a heatwave hit my veins nonetheless.
He glanced down at me, a questioning look in his gaze that I ignored while praying he couldn’t sense where my thoughts had gone.
As soon as we entered the common area, Kieran slowed his pace so he walked directly behind me. I knew that was no unconscious act. Descenters lined the walls, their faces pale as they whispered to one another, their eyes following us. I recognized some of them who’d stood in audience outside the cell. I saw Magda. There was no pity in her eyes now. Just…speculation.
I lifted my chin and straightened my spine. The Ascended might very well be evil incarnate, and an untold number of people in Solis may be complicit, but what they did to me proved that they were no better.
We rounded the corner, and my gaze lifted—
“Oh, my gods,” I whispered, I stumbled back as my free hand flew to my mouth. I bumped into Kieran.
His hand landed on my shoulder, steadying me as I stared at the walls of the hall. I couldn’t move. I could barely breathe as horror choked me.
Now I understood the pale faces in the common area. Bodies lined the walls, arms outstretched, and spikes of bloodstone nailed through their hands. Some had received a reddish-brown stake through the center of their chests, others through the head. Some of them were mortal. Some were Atlantian. A half a dozen of them on either side. I saw Rolf and the man I had rendered unconscious, and I saw…
I saw Mr. Tulis.
My knees weakened as I stared up at him. He was dead, face a ghastly gray color. He was mortal, but a stake protruded from his still chest nonetheless.
All he’d wanted was to save his last child. He’d been given an opportunity to do so. He’d escaped, and now…now he was here.
Not all of them were dead.
One still breathed.
Jericho.
I locked down my senses before I could reach out and see what kind of pain he was in. His shaggy head hung as his chest rose in ragged, uneven breaths. Bloodstone pierced his palms, but the final fatal spike was thrust through his throat. Crimson colored the front of his bare chest, his pants, and pooled on the floor below him.
“I promised you they’d pay for what they did.” He didn’t sound or look smug. He didn’t sound proud. “And now the others know what will happen if they disobey me and seek to harm you.”
Bile crept up my throat. “He’s…he’s still alive,” I whispered, staring up at the wolven.
“Only until I am ready to end his life,” he commented, dropping my hand. He strode forward without another look back. Two men opened the large wooden doors to the Great Room, and he entered, stalking toward the center table where several covered dishes waited.
I thought I might be sick.
Kieran’s hand squeezed my shoulder. “They deserved no less.”
Had they?
Even Mr. Tulis, who’d most likely delivered the fatal blow to me.
“Go.” He urged with his hand. Somehow, I got my feet moving as I walked past the bodies pinned to the wall like butterflies.
In a daze, I didn’t realize that I was seated to the right of him at the table, typically a place of honor. Kieran took the chair next to me. Numbly, I sat there as servants unveiled the platters of food while the rest of his entourage followed suit, seating themselves at the table. I recognized Delano and Naill, oddly relieved to see that they were okay. They had defended me, and I didn’t want to think about the reasons behind it.
Laid out before us was a feast. Stewed beef. Roasted duck. Cold meats and cheese. Baked potatoes. All of it smelled wonderful.
But my stomach churned as I sat there, unable to move. Kieran offered me some of the beef, and I must’ve agreed because it ended up on my plate. Then came the duck and potato. He was the one who broke off a hunk of cheese and placed it on my plate as he reached for his glass, seeming to remember that it was one of my weaknesses.
I stared down at my plate. I didn’t see the food. I saw the bodies outside the room as conversation was slow to start but soon picked up and became a steady hum. Glasses and plates clinked. Laughter sounded.
And there were bodies nailed to the walls outside the Great Room.
“Poppy.”
Blinking, I looked up at him. His golden eyes had cooled, but his jaw was hard enough to cut glass.
“Eat,” he ordered in a low voice.
I reached for a fork, picking it up and spearing a piece of meat. I took a bite, chewing slowly. It tasted as good as it smelled, but it settled too heavily in my stomach. I scooped up some of the potatoes.
A few moments passed, and he said, “You don’t agree with what I did to them?”
I looked over at him, unsure of how to even answer the question—if it was even a question at all.
He sat back, glass in hand. “Or are you so shocked, you’re actually speechless?”
Swallowing the last bit of food, I slowly placed the fork on the table. “I wasn’t expecting that.”