Marik nods. “I’ll take her down there today.”
She waves him off. “Let her go by herself. If you havesuch control over her, it shouldn’t be a problem. Right?” she asks, her eyes twinkling again. “In fact, let her go now. It’s high time we caught up on personal matters, wouldn’t you say?”
She stares at him, a new look in her eyes. The same look from the night Marik was crowned High King.
Hunger. Desire.
Gross.
I stand and turn toward the door. They don’t take their eyes off each other.
“Guard!” Marik calls, eyes locked on Cora. “Escort her to the dungeons. Don’t want the little fawn getting lost, do we?”
Internally, I scoff. This castle is my home. I know every nook and cranny. Even though I’ve only visited the dungeons a handful of times, I know how to get there.
The guard opens the door to the office, and I lead us to the bowels of the small mountain that we call home. The dungeon’s entryway is hidden in the back of the castle, disguised in a stone wall. The door creaks open as I place my hand to it, the magic recognizing my touch.
The descent is dark, every step downward steep and treacherous as the light recedes, but we make it to the bottom of the stairs without incident. Despite the chill outside, the air down here is sticky with humidity. The cloying scents of urine and body odor hit me, and my stomach quivers.
I extend my hand to summon a ball of light, but the guard stops me.
“No magic,” he says gruffly.
“Why?”
“King’s orders. No magic from you.”
King’s orders, my ass. He stole the throne. He’s a false king at best.
I bite back the words. “What would you have me use, then? I can hardly see down here.”
He removes a lantern from the wall and lights it with the telltale black flame of House Serpent. I all but snatch it from him. Even though we rarely held prisoners here before, the lanterns were always kept lit. Now, it only illuminates the path ahead by a few feet.
A shudder works its way through me as I pass cells of prisoners, all of them dressed in dirty, fraying formalwear. Wedding guests.
“Help, please,” someone cries.
“Quiet!” the guard snaps.
I wince and cast my gaze downward. There is nothing I can do. This must be the real reason Cora wanted me to come down here. To see who else is trapped in this castle. They watch me pass them with intense, hate-filled stares. If only they knew I was in a cage of my own.
The little girl is asleep in the corner of a cell, an empty plate of food and a container of water by the cell door. Like dogs in cages. Even so, some relief comes from knowing nobody is starving or dying of thirst in our dungeons for not paying their taxes. Or attending a wedding.
She doesn’t stir as I come to a stop in front of the cell. The rhythmic sound of deep breathing comes from the corner. In the cell beside her, a female deer hybrid sits against the wall, shrouded in shadows.
“Eliza, right?” I ask quietly, hoping not to wake the sleeping girl. She dips her chin in silent confirmation. I survey her cell, but don’t find an empty plate or water. “Where’s your water?”
She tilts her head toward the cell next to her. The girl’s cell. It’s then I notice a second plate beside her sleeping frame.
“Thank you,” I say. “For watching over her. I’m sorry you’re down here,” I say, but I regret it when I remember the necklace around my throat that connects my every move to Marik.
“Can you get me out?” Eliza asks. Her voice is soft, timid.
“I—I’ll need to speak with my husband,” I say, trying not to choke on the words.
She tilts her head. “Are you okay?”
The question unnerves me. She should be looking at me the way the other prisoners are, with hatred brimming underneath the surface. But instead, she looks at me with curiosity.
