“She went this way?”
The creature bobbed up and down in the air, its glow brightening.
“You're sure of it?”
It bobbed again, this time whispering like a low teakettle.
I followed the wisp down toward the dungeon, where it stopped at the wooden doors.
Would the human even still be alive?
Redcaps made wonderful wardens, but they could also be troublesome if unwanted prey crept on their grounds, and since humans were exiled from the palace, I had a feeling I was about to walk into an unsettling situation.
“Thank you,” I said to the wisp. “Now go.”
The creature flew down the dark hallway that led outside.
I looked around and found a candlestick on the floor. This human was a thorn in my side that dug deeper with every day. If she had managed to get herself killed and word escaped that the fae king had killed the child of prophecy, the humans would be furious, and any trade would most certainly be put to a stop.
Opening the wooden doors, I stormed into the dungeon, steeling myself for any unpleasantries I was about to find.
Depending on the mood of the redcaps, she may still be alive, or she may already be in their bellies. I hoped for her sake they weren't hungry.
Two redcaps stood at the entrance to the cells, their hatchets pointed to block the entrance. As I approached, they immediately lifted their weapons, allowing me to enter.
A small staircase went down into an open room with a myriad of torture devices. I preferred not to look at the various barred cells lining the walls and the skeletal remains still sitting locked in there.
The warden sharpened his blade on a large stone wheel.
“Where's the human?”
It turned to me, its red eyes questioning. The only reason the redcaps respected me was not because I was their king, but because I was part dragon, and they had a strange fascination with my kind.
The redcap turned its head to a cell far in the corner. We didn't keep many prisoners here. They never lasted long.
“Give me the keys.” I held out my hand.
The warden unhooked the black iron keychain and handedit over, then went back to sharpening his weapon. I noticed his blade had blood on it—never a good sign.
The light from the hanging lanterns on the wall barely let me see inside with my natural eyesight. Deirdre huddled in the corner as far from the gate as possible. Blood covered the front of her gown, ruining the white material.
I unlocked the cell and tossed the key aside.
She flinched; her red-rimmed eyes were wide with fear.
I held up my hands, noticing the various cuts on her arms and the jagged one along her collarbone.
A rage burned in my chest, skin shifting from pale flesh to scales. I swung around to face my warden. “You dared to cut her?”
The redcap slowed his sharpening, looking at me, unafraid and unbothered.
“Do you realize who is in your cell?” I said.
“Human scum,” he replied.
Before another word left those bloodthirsty lips, I called a black blade to my right hand, turning my shadows into a weapon, and I shoved it through his ignorant face.
There was another redcap in the back of the room, feet up on a chair, sleeping. It woke, astonished that I'd killed the warden.
