I opened my mouth to tell him that I would be happy to explain whatever he wanted, but my ability for speech dried up when a creature flew down and hunched beside Dey.
“Jenni?” I gasped. She was exactly as I last saw her save for one rather significant change. She was bigger. Much bigger. Nearly the size of a fat rabbit. Twelve hours ago she could fit in my palm and now… “What happened to you?” I asked.
“Rain gets stronger. Jenni gets stronger.”
A small little chitter echoed through my cell as Opal crawled up Jenni’s back to sit on her head. She chirped at me once, and I couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile. At least she was still the same.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Dey snarled. “Start with why you killed your father and end with when you manifested your magic. And don’t leave out how you have a crescia that can speak inside my head.”
My eyes darted from Jenni back to Dey. “She spoke to you?”
And here I thought I was special.
Dey ran a hand through his hair, but the boyish gesture did nothing to soften his features. “I thought I was going insane at first, but she wouldn't leave me alone. She kept saying 'Rain has answers. Rain will help.' So why don’t you tell me, King Killer, do you have answers for me?”
His eyes clouded with disdain and hatred. I had to make him see the truth. I just didn’t know how.
I reached a hand out, hoping skin contact would augment my new ability that still hadn’t fully returned, but he jerked away.
“I can’t tell you, Dey. You would never believe me. I can only help you to see the truth. You need to trust me.”
“Why would I ever trust you?”
I looked into his eyes, letting him see the real vulnerability in my own. “Please, Dey,” I whispered and reached for him again.
This time he let me touch him, and I focused my will on the concepts of clarity and truth. When I started to feel the tingling sensation rise up, I released my power into him. In a flash of lightning, my mind connected with his, and my magic penetrated every hidden crevice of Dey’s brain, seeking out and destroying every hint of compulsion, burning it all away.
Dey’s body seized up, his eyes rolled back, and he slumped bonelessly to the ground.
Before I could panic too much, he began to stir and sat up. He looked at me differently then, his eyes innocent and afraid, like a child who just learned a terrible truth about the universe, but didn’t know how to process it.
“Rain…”
I could see the apology forming on his lips but stopped him. “Later,” I said, hastily. “Can you get me out of here?”
He nodded as if in a daze. How long had Belarius been compelling him? How many years of compulsion were just wiped clean?
A key clicked in the lock, and Dey helped me to my feet.
“Rain,” he began again, this time more forceful. “There is so much inside my head that I do not understand right now, but I need to tell you one thing. If only one.”
Leaning heavily against his shoulder, I looked up into his sorrowful amber eyes. “What is it, Dey?”
He ran a hand down my sweaty face, and a small river of warmth snaked through my body, healing the cuts and bruisesI'd barely noticed were there. “It was real for me,” he whispered after a long moment. “I know that you believe it was all the compulsion, but… it was real for me. I just need you to know that.”
I had no response for him. Not one that he wanted to hear anyway, so I dipped my head in acknowledgement and pushed off his shoulder to hobble out of the cell. I was still weak, but I could mostly move on my own.
“There’s a tunnel,” I coughed out. “To the left of the Laneum. It will take us out of the castle.”
Dey asked no questions, only helped me up the stairs.
To both of our surprise, Cam stood at the top, a shocked expression on his face. “Princess? Dey? What is happening?”
“Long story,” I replied. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard from my men that you were in here, and well… I was coming to rescue you.”
The swell of emotion I felt from his words—the reminder that I wasn't entirely alone in this world—would have broken me if I let it. So I shoved it down deep and gave him a quick hug. “We have to get out of here,” I said. “My grandfather, Belarius, has everyone compelled to obey him. I don’t know what he’s planning, but it involves the other kings. It’s bad, Cam.”
