Reign Of Shadows: Rise Of Fire Part 20

The creak of hinges wove its way through the fog of my thoughts.

We weren't alone anymore.

TWENTY-SEVEN.

Fowler

TOO LATE, I heard the click of the door and realized neither of us had thought to bolt it. A gasp sounded. It was ugly and obscene, as though ripped deep from someone's soul. The peace of our sanctuary, the intimacy between us, shattered.

We had been discovered. Even so, I felt like I was giving up a part of myself to disengage from Luna and face the door.

Maris stood there, eyeing us both up and down with her wounded, childlike gaze. "Fowler? What are you doing?" Her perfect features froze in horror as she stood on the threshold. She asked the question, but she knew.

Luna's lips worked for speech and she took a step forward. I shook my head, beyond pretending, well past further subterfuge. I was done. I seized Luna's hand and pulled her to my side. "I'm sorry, Maris. There was never going to be a you and me. Luna and I are leaving."

Luna made a small sound of distress, turning her face toward me. "Fowler . . ."

"You and Luna?" Maris's eyes darted back and forth between us, her voice shrill. "When?" she sputtered, her gaze dropping to where I held Luna's hand. "How?"

Suddenly robed figures appeared behind the princess. A bejeweled hand fell on her shoulder, moving her to the side for the arrival of others. Tebald took his daughter's place, a great figure in his fine robes of purple, his face a mask of controlled ire.

He strolled into the bedchamber, casual, elegant even. He gestured idly, flicking a hand at Luna and me. "It's always been the two of you. Since before you even arrived? Isn't that correct?"

I narrowed my gaze on the older man. His small eyes stared back at me, cold and emotionless. I tugged Luna behind me. She resisted, placing herself firmly at my side, her shoulder brushing my arm. Her chin went up at that obstinate angle I knew so well. "I will not marry you. I will not marry your son."

The king smiled slowly; a thin slit of yellowed teeth flashed amid his beard. "Thank you for that bit of truth. Finally." His gaze shot to me. "Your honesty is appreciated. We can at last end the pretense with each other."

"It's time for us to leave," I said.

"Father!" Maris stomped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at me and Luna and then looking back at Tebald as though he could do something, change this from happening. Or stop it altogether.

The king did not glance at his pouting daughter. He stared directly at me.

"We appreciate your hospitality and you allowing your physician to care for Fowler," Luna rushed to add. As though good manners would make any difference. I had already accepted what she had failed to yet comprehend.

The king rocked back on his heels and looked up at the rafters, studying the high wood beams as if they held the utmost fascination for him. "Yes. Saving Fowler. That was perhaps an exercise in uselessness." He brought his gaze back down, resting it on us again. "Pointless considering he shall probably die within the fortnight. The conditions of the dungeons are far from favorable. No one lasts very long there. And if my dungeon doesn't end you, fights in the pit eventually will." Tebald lifted a hand and snapped his fingers.

A breath shuddered through me alongside grim acceptance.

"No!" Luna grabbed my arm as if she could keep me beside her.

Guards stepped around Tebald, advancing on me. I covered Luna's hand in my own and faced her. "Shh." I rubbed her smooth, cool fingers, imbuing as much comfort as I could into the motion. "It's going to be fine. You'll see. Don't fight them."

"How can you say-"

"Listen to me, Luna. Everything will be fine." They were words. I had to say them-hoped they were true. I pressed my lips against her cheek for one quick kiss, sliding my mouth close to her ear to whisper, "Don't let them break you. Be strong; be the bold girl I know. You will come out of this. You know how to survive." There was the escape hatch and Chasan. She was right. Chasan hated his father enough that he would try to help her.

I curled my grip around her fingers, attempting to peel them loose from my arm. She tightened her hold, hanging on with a death grip.

"What about you?" she whispered, turning her face until our noses practically touched, our lips brushing with each word spoken.

I bit back the response that I didn't matter, that I was already lost. It would give her no comfort. It might very well feed into panic, and I needed her to feel calm. She couldn't think or defend herself if she was panicked, and above all I needed her alert and ready to protect herself. "As long as you are well, as long as you are alive . . . thriving . . . then I am well. I will be with you always."

Guards took hold of my arms. My calm acceptance fled. I resisted. Straining toward her, I grabbed her face. Ducking, I stole one last kiss from her lips, hard and swift. Something to take and keep with me.

Tears skipped unchecked down her cheeks as she clung to my wrists, trying to keep my hands on her face. Trying to keep me. "No, no."

"This is nauseating," Maris's voice called out, dripping venom.

"Stop! Stop it! Don't take him!" Luna's hands slipped from my wrists as they pulled me away.

A single guard stepped in front of her, holding her back from coming after me.

They dragged me across the chamber. The king stood on the threshold, smiling. The guards paused with me before him. "I do hope you last a long time in my dungeon, Prince Fowler. I should enjoy very much watching you battle in the pit."

I forced a smile, matching his chilling grin with one of my own. He frowned slightly at the sight of it, and that gave me immense satisfaction. Let him worry. Let him see the real me. No more pretending and acting like someone other than myself. "Don't worry," I promised. "I'll be around for a long time." I nodded once with promise, fully meaning it. "We'll be meeting again."

His smile returned then, hair-shrouded lips peeling back over yellowed teeth. "I admire your temerity, boy." He chuckled. "It reminds me of myself."

"You and I are nothing alike. I never forced a girl to do anything she didn't want to."

His smile vanished. "You think you are so much better than I am."

"I don't think it. I know I am." One of the guards landed a blow directly to my stomach. I bent at the waist from the force. Luna cried out.

"Let's see how you fare in another week, boy. Something tells me you won't be nearly so c.o.c.ky."

I forced a grin. "I just might surprise you."

"Doubtful." He sneered and flicked his hand toward the door in dismissal. "Take him to the dungeon."

They yanked me out of the chamber and pulled me down the corridor so fast my feet could hardly gain purchase.

Footsteps rushed behind us. Maris caught up with us, holding up her lush blue skirts, her face flushed a splotchy red as she planted herself in front of us. The guards stopped lest they run her over.

"Fowler," she snarled, her words flying like daggers. "You should have loved me. You should have married me."

Maybe I should have felt some sympathy for her, but one look at her bitter expression and she reminded me of her father. She was spoiled and shallow. She wished me in the dungeon. As if to confirm this, she added, "Make friends with the rats; maybe they'll keep you warm."

She fell back, and I was glad for that. I didn't want to see her face anymore or hear her words. I wanted to take the memory of Luna with me. Her voice. Her kiss. Her love.

I meant what I'd said to Tebald. This wasn't over. I was going to be around for a long time. I would be seeing the king again, and the next time there would be no armed guards between us.

TWENTY-EIGHT.

Luna

AS FOWLER WAS dragged away, I crushed all evidence of my tears. I couldn't look weak. It would be up to me to escape-up to me to get Fowler out of the dungeon. For a moment the realization rattled me, but then I remembered all I'd done up until now. It couldn't be any harder than infiltrating a dwellers' nest, and I had done that before.

Squaring my shoulders, I faced the king. "Spare his life. I beg you." The words choked me, begging him for anything, but I managed to get them out.

Fabric rustled. "Leave us," Tebald announced to his men.

I bit my lip, squashing the impulse to call them back as they marched out of my chamber, leaving us alone.

Tebald's slippered feet padded over stone, advancing on me with measured steps. He brushed the side of my face with pudgy fingertips. I jerked from the touch but held my ground. "You plead so prettily, Princess Luna. I quite like this look on you. It's softer. You're usually so standoffish. I'm accustomed to women who are more accommodating. You'll have to remember that. I have expectations."

Because they had no choice. He was the king.

He continued, "Your mother was the last person to ever deny me. She was close to accepting my suit until she met your father."

I suppressed a shiver. I may not have known my mother, but Perla and Sivo had told me so much of her that the idea of this man almost with her made me slightly queasy. I pressed a hand to my stomach, fighting off the nausea.

Tebald continued in scathing tones, "Once your father began courting her, she never looked at me again." His voice turned bemused here. "It's gratifying to have you here . . . subject to me. It's funny how life comes full circle."

"What will it take?" I lifted my chin a notch, determined to try to appeal to him. "What do you want?"

He tsked. "You know the answer to that, my clever girl."

"We can unite our kingdoms without me having to marry you. We can forge an alliance-"

He laughed harshly. "Such a child. Do you know how many alliances have been forged between Lagonia and Relhok over the generations? They never last. Uniting our two houses through marriage is the only way." His voice sobered and became something dark and severe. "You know what I want."

My eyes started to burn and it hurt to breathe. I sucked in a deep breath that felt like razors going down my throat. I fought to keep up my chin. "I do."

"You can consent," he said, his voice all lightness, fingers back to grazing my cheek. "Go along gracefully like a good girl, and Fowler lives. Fight me, and I win. It just won't be pleasant for you."

He would have his way in this. There was no stopping him. Not if I wanted to save Fowler. I shuddered at the idea of Fowler in that pit.

No matter what I decided, no matter what I did, Tebald won. But whether Fowler suffered and died . . . that decision was entirely mine.

That left me only one choice.

TWENTY-NINE.

Fowler

IT TURNED OUT Maris was right about the rats, except they didn't keep me warm. They scampered in dark corners, edging close with their hungry squeaks and twitching whiskers until I lashed out with my boot and sent them fleeing.

I was given a cell to myself, excluding the rats, of course, but that didn't stop other prisoners from calling out to me through the bars, jeering taunts about my fine garments and clean boots and how quickly I was going to die down here. I laughed once, hard and mirthless, my head lolling against the slimy stone wall. I should have died a long time ago. Still, I was here. I glanced around my cell, trying to convince myself that I was going to get out of here.

Time was lost inside these walls.

I stared into the dark, my mind wandering, groping through the blackness, b.u.mping into the hope that I would get out of here. Survive yet again. Take Luna and run. Be free. I could have been down here an hour or a day. It was impossible to tell if midlight came or pa.s.sed. The eclipse could have even ended. I wouldn't know.

Footsteps thudded outside my cell. I looked up, one leg stretched out, one bent to my chest. Chasan's face arrived, illuminated by the light from a torch he was carrying.

I chuckled roughly. "Ah, come to delight in my accommodations? Should have expected as much."

Chasan propped a shoulder against the bars, his head angling to the side. There was a stillness about him that hinted toward violence held barely in check. "I'm not much in the mood to delight in anything."

"Ah, that's right. Your father betrayed you? Didn't he?" I flexed my fingers around my knee. "Can't say I don't know how that feels. Pull up a cell. We can commiserate."

"He's going to make you wish for death, you know." His voice rang flatly, as if he were remarking on the weather. "He'll keep you alive for weeks, months, maybe longer. Starve you. Torture you. Make you play for him in his pits. If you sicken, he'll nurse you along just enough to keep you alive."

I nodded once, envisioning the scene well. I knew men like Tebald. My own father was of the same ilk. It was Chasan I wasn't certain about. Who he was . . . what he was. What he wanted here. With me. I couldn't say. I didn't have a read on him.

Chasan leaned in, closing his fingers around the bar. "You say the word, and I'll end it for you."

I stared at his shadowed features. "Are you offering to kill me? How generous of you."

"It'd be a favor."