Through all of this, the demon watched him. He even gestured at an opening in the bars that Justin hadn’t seen earlier and that were clearly meant to pass him trays.
“How do I know it’s not poisoned?” the man asked even as he took the food. He was no doubt starving.
“You don’t.”
“So you want me to trust you?”
“I guess you’re going to have to decide if you want to risk it. I can tell you a few things, though. I’d never met my mother until I got here. She abandoned me with my father when I was a baby. I was curious about her, but it doesn’t mean I like her or what she does. I don’t have a lot of information about that because, well, I’m not from here, but her having a dungeon and people being locked up points to the fact that she’s not the nice person she is trying to portray. I also have no intention of becoming king after her or anything like that. I want to go home, and I’ll do that as soon as I can.”
The demon continued watching Justin for a second. Justin beamed when the demon finally sat down on the filthy cell floor and tore off a piece of bread from the loaf. It looked like he’d decided to eat.
“Your mother is evil,” the demon said.
“Are you going to tell me why you think that? I don’t even know your name, by the way.”
“You need to know my name?”
“I guess I don’t.”
The demon stared as he took a bite of bread and groaned. His eyes fluttered for a moment, and Justin took the opportunity to watch him.
Justin had demon characteristics, but he could pass for human. This demon couldn’t. He was incredibly tall, even more than Yancey, who was the tallest of Justin’s brothers. His long white hair was dirty and messy, which wasn’t surprising given the state of the cell. The demon’s ears poked from under the hair, long and pointed. They fit well with the twisted black horns that started from right behind them and reached back. He had fangsand black claws, and he looked dangerous, but at the same time, there was a softness to him. Justin desperately wanted to know why the demon was here, but he realized that it didn’t really matter because he suspected that his mother would imprison anyone for any reason.
Finding her had been a gamble. Unfortunately for him, he’d lost, and he’d have to deal with that.
Mynor hadno idea what to think of this man. He wanted to believe him, if anything, because it would be ironic that Anya’s own son, the man she wanted to groom to become her successor, hated her so much that he was feeding one of her prisoners. Part of him was wary, though. What if this was one of Anya’s tricks? What if this was what she’d been building toward since she had him locked up?
But what would it change if Mynor told this human his name? Anya already knew it. As long as Mynor was careful not to give too many details about his life, it would be impossible for anyone to find out about Alphan.
“My name is Mynor,” he eventually said.
Justin grinned. “It’s nice to meet you, Mynor. You already know my name.”
“You really had never met your mother until recently?”
Damn, the food was good. Mynor knew he had to enjoy it while he could because it wouldn’t last long, but also that he had to be careful because he hadn’t been fed decently in weeks—possibly longer since he had no idea how long he’d been here—and he didn’t want to throw up.
“I hadn’t,” Justin said with a serious expression. “Like I said, she abandoned my dad and me when I was a baby.”
“And you thought it would be a good idea to come here and get to know her?”
“To be fair, I didn’t know what kind of person she was. I didn’t even know she was a queen. My father told me what he could, but it’s been a while since she was in the human realm.”
“Your mother is a monster.”
Maybe Mynor shouldn’t have been so honest, but in case what Justin was saying was true, the man needed to know the truth. Mynor knew Anya. He’d been watching her for years. She was great at acting innocent when it benefited her, and since she wanted Justin to stick around and become her successor, she wouldn’t hesitate to play with his feelings. Mynor didn’t know if Justin would believe him, but he’d done what he could.
Justin slowly nodded. “I’m starting to understand that. I don’t have any details, though, and something tells me that I won’t find many people willing to tell me.”
“I will. She hoards resources for herself and the few people who support her. You can look around this palace and see the truth. She takes and takes, and she captures, imprisons, and tortures anyone who opposes her. We all know what kind of person she really is, but she’s tortured and killed enough people that most of us don’t stand up to her. We can’t.”
Justin’s eyes were on Mynor. Mynor wondered if he’d believe him. He wasn’t sure he’d believe himself if he were in Justin’s place.
“I’m sorry she’s like that,” Justin murmured. “I’m not. I was raised by a wonderful woman. She taught me to love people and to welcome them into my life, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.” He looked away. “Clearly, welcoming Anya into my life was a bad idea.”
“And now you’re stuck here,” Mynor commented.
Justinwasstuck here. There was no way Anya would let him go now that she had her claws in him. Mynor almost felt sorry for Justin.
