Once he leaves the room, I turn back to look outside, needing to find a way out of my damn messed up life.
Guendolyn
An ear-piercing screech rips me from my sleep—if you call slumped against the wall, hugging your knees on the filthy floor of a prison any kind of sleep, that is. I don’t even know how much time has passed. A full night? Hours?
Footfalls sound, and I make out the sounds of two people entering the dungeon. My stomach growls, and I'm certain it’s starting to eat itself. Aside from water, the guards haven't given me a morsel to eat. And that's if they come to visit me at all. I'm alone down here, leaving me nothing to do but stew on my hate for Jasion. I hate him with every fiber of my being. My throat is raw from screaming, but no one can hear me down here.
The bastard mage is going to get rid of me without anyone knowing what happened. The princes will think I vanished, or maybe used a portal to run away after discovering Ahren was getting married. But I'd never run from Deimos and Luther. My time here has given me perspective. Ahren pushed me away, and it's my choice what I do with that. Not him or anyone else. So once all this bullshit marriage business is over, I'm going to ask Luther and Deimos to move with me out of the mansion, maybe even the kingdom. I don't care where we live, but I can't be under the same roof as Ahren knowing he is fucking someone else. It will rip me to shreds more than it already has.
The murmur of voices hums in the air, but I can't quite make them out, so I push myself up to my feet and quietly tread toward the barred door. I look out, but from my angle, I can't see who it is beyond the brick walls of my prison.
“You did a good job,” a bristly, dark voice says in a whisper. I don't recognize who it belongs to.
“Just as you said, the bigger they are, the faster they fall,” Jasion responds, and my hackles flare. I clench my teeth when I hear him.
“And Ahren?” the man asks, his voice vicious.
I freeze in place.
“He'll slowly come around,” Jasion explains. “Then once you relocate here, he's ours to sway.”
I don't dare move, going over and over what I've just heard.
“Come, let me show you the girl.”
My heart slams into my throat as their footsteps close in. I throw myself to the nearest wall and slump down onto my ass, head low as though I'm sleeping.
A loud whack of metal against the bars has me jerking and snapping my eyes open. My breath catches as these two murderous monsters stare at me. Jasion and an older man with graying hair, wearing a long winter coat.
The older fae with longer ears leans forward, squinting his eyes to look at me. “So this is the whore who captured Ahren's attention? She doesn’t look that special.”
I hug my knees tight, unable to find any words that will make a difference to these two.
He tilts his head, studying me. I already detest this man as much as I do Jasion. I don't have a damn clue who he is, but I have to warn Ahren that he's in danger.
“She was found with the ruby from the king's throne. And she will be executed for treason before the whole kingdom the day after the wedding. But there's something special about her I haven't worked out yet.”
The man sneers. “Get over here!” he barks at me.
I don't move.
Jasion glares at me. “Do as he says or I'll come in there and force you.”
My skin crawls, and I want to scream at these assholes to leave me alone. But I push myself to my feet nonetheless and move toward them.
“Hand,” he demands.
I swallow hard, terrified. “Please don't hurt me.”
“Give me your hand!” he shouts, and I flinch.
Considering my palm still hurts from my failed attempts to remove the shards of ruby, I stick forward my other arm.
He lashes out and snatches my wrist, dragging my whole arm through the bars. The side of my face slaps against the metal bar, my body shaking.
The bastard sniffs my hand, the sight sickening me.
I'm locked in place, my stomach tight. The man's expression gives little emotion. I get the feeling that maybe he’s incapable of showing any feelings.
Jasion is in my face in seconds, smirking like a gutless asshole. “Not so tough now without your prince.” He enjoys seeing me squirm.
As I suck in a rapid breath, I take in the scent of strong cloves... a familiar smell I can't place at first.
Then a sharp pain digs into my wrist, tearing skin, feeling like blades.
I scream and wrench my hand back to find a goddamn bite-mark. The old bastard drew blood.
“You fucking pig,” I spit as I pull down the sleeve of my dress to cover the bite mark, pressing the fabric against the wound to soak up the blood.
The dickhead licks the blood from his teeth, his eyes fluttering upward for a moment. “You're right, she's more than just a healer. The magic sparks in her blood. She will destroy everything we have worked toward for years. Kill her!”
“No!” I cry out and recoil, my knees buckling. It's only by a miracle that I'm still standing.
“I'll arrange it shortly,” Jasion answers, then looks my way with the threat clear in his eyes that he’d prefer to torture me than make it a swift ending.
The older sonofabitch groans and turns away. “I've had enough of this depressing dungeon. I'm starved.”
“Of course, your lordship.” They both stroll away, the man barking in laughter, until the clang of the main prison door shutting steals the hideous sound.
I can't move, not after everything I've just learned. Fear grips me,
