Our faces both look towards the disturbance, and I can feel her trying to wriggle out of my hold, her foot stomping in quiet frustration when I don’t comply. Millie looks awkwardly between the two of us, the smile on my face falling the moment I see who's behind her.
"Eveera, what in the bleeding gods are you doing?"I scold.
"Chatting."
My eyes roll back, and I pinch at her side."She's a prisoner, not a guest. Remember?"
She flicks her gold irises up at me, mischief and defiance painted in them. "Sit." Her voice commands, and Millie brings the princess around the table, pushing her shoulders down into a seat.
Eveera chucks her chin for Millie to leave, and the latter mouths a 'good luck' in my direction, while pulling the heavy doors shut behind her.
My hand slips from Eveera's waist, taking up a spot squarely on both of her shoulders, while I step to her back. Against herbetter judgment, she relaxes subtly into my chest, allowing my thumbs to aimlessly rub circles along her skin.
The princess, doing her best to look unfazed, straightens in her seat and takes in the sight of the two of us. Her pasty lips flatten into a thin line for a moment, and in a bold move, she opens them."So, your highness, is my fate finally decided?"
Eveera inhales sharply through her nose and holds it for one, two, three seconds. On the exhale, a cruel laugh flows with it, "Pruella dear, if that were the case, you wouldn't be here asking such a pathetic question. Now, unfortunately, I've brought you here on a… diplomatic purpose." She finishes, her right hand coming up to lazily stroke up and down my arm.
"Oh?" She squeaks, her tone conveying her disbelief and mistrust.
"Mhmm — see you're a leech, in my court, and the last time I had one of those I turned him into an affectionate little bobble." The image of her bringing out the Vellaran spy's head flashes through my memories, sitting sourly in my stomach. "But, unfortunately, I've been persuaded that killing you would be in poor taste. So, what you're going to do is answer my questions. And if I like those answers, then maybe you'll get to live out the rest of your sad, miserable life."
"May… be.." The princess repeats slowly, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
Eveera nods, "it's up to you. Either you answer all of my questions and convince me you're not a leech. Or you fail at that, and I give Percy a friend. Your choice."
Eveera
"What is our end goal here?"Rorin whispers into my mind.
I twitch at his voice, still not sure if I'm ready to have the seal between us so open. But he's…veryconvincing. Or at least the memory of his tongue is.
My neck rolls side to side, cracking, and his hand moves from my right shoulder to slip underneath my wild curls. His rough palm cups around the nape of my neck, and the circles he was rubbing on my shoulder move to just underneath my ear.
"You'll see,"I answer, my inner voice sounding more breathy than I’d intended.
The princess looks warily at me, her eyes not leaving the sentient serpents slithering along my arms or the wisps of magic weaving through my fingers. "Howdidyou find yourself in Rorin and our guards’ possession?"
She stalls, licking her cracked and dry lips before giving us a quiet answer. "I was looking for them." My Wield sparks at her response, the inky black of it bleeding into the edges of my vision.
Rorin must have noticed the shift in me because he pushes down on the pressure point behind my ear.
I take a few deep breaths in and out through my nose, gathering myself together before prodding her for more information. "Why?" Her hands fidget in her lap, and I snap a tendril around them, binding her palms together. Pruella gasps at the magic, her eyes darting down to survey her new accessory. "Please — that's nothing, dear. Now answer the fucking question."
"Easy girl."Rorin coos.
Her hollow cheeks flex as she clenches her teeth, "you two aren't the only ones who had a less-than-ideal upbringing."
The quiet simpering of her voice sends my nerves over the edge, and an empty laugh rattles through my chest. Rorin’s hand tenses on my neck, and by the feel alone I can envision his jaw is tight, and the vein is bulging in his forehead. "Please tellus, princess, how was your upbringingless than ideal?"
Pruella shakes her hair back, moving the ruby strands away from her face, her expression twisting. "Obsessive father. Nothing was ever good enough—"
"Oh, poor princess. Daddy didn't love you, blah blah—"
"Did you want an answer to your question, your Majesty? Or would you like to continue interrupting me?"
Rorin whistles low behind me, and damn her if she doesn't have a smirk gracing her gaunt features. My fists ball, and he clears his throat, "you'll find we don't have much sympathy considering the circumstances."
She looks at him, disgusted, "so you two are the only ones allowed to have difficult lives? The Broken Prince and theQueen of Nightmares — word traveled very quickly through the whispers of courts once you left yours. Then my father caught wind of it, and he was… furious.”
