She immediately began to cry. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “It’s my fault you… If I hadn’t tried to steal from him?—”
“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “Everything’s going to be fine. I promise. We can figure this out. How are you?”
Nadia wiped her eyes. “I’m fine. The cell isn’t as bad as I expected. Food’s better than what we had on the street, too.”
“Basically a palace then. So you aren’t being mistreated?”
She shook her head. “I’m just locked up, but I knew that would happen.”
“And we can talk to each other,” I told her. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“The guards gave me the mirror, but I didn’t believe them when they told me what it did.” She fidgeted with her hair. “Did he really make you marry him?”
“Yeah, he did. It was simultaneously the quickest and most boring wedding ever.”
She hung her head and repeated, “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“Hey, I told you: I’ll be fine. So far, he hasn’t done anything awful other than forcing me to marry him.”
“Did he kiss you?” Nadia’s nose wrinkled.
“Yes, he did. If that’s what kissing is like, I’m not interested in any more. I got hair in my mouth.”
She made a gagging sound, and there was a shout from behind her. “Keep it down over there!”
“I should go,” she whispered. “Talk to me again tomorrow, okay? If I have only the guards to talk to, I’ll go crazy.”
“Tomorrow,” I promised.
Nadia must have turned the mirror over, because the glass went foggy again, then reflected my own appearance.
I sighed in relief. She was safe, at least for the time being.
Just as Rahil said they would be, my few possessions had already been transported here and were sitting on the trunk at the bottom of the bed, but I shifted uncomfortably nonetheless. This eerie silence was much too quiet. There was no friendly babble of voices like I had grown accustomed to on the streets. Even if this house was dragon-enchanted to magically give me any tangible item I desired, I still would’ve liked company or some background noise. Was that something this house could provide? Or did it assume Ihad my new husband for companionship and that would be sufficient?
I passed by a large silver mirror that stretched from floor to ceiling, its frame carved with serpentine vines. An incense burner on a low table gave off a curling fragrance that made my chest tighten with unease. Above the short bookcases, a glass shelf displayed strange trinkets and objects that could only have come from faraway kingdoms: a bone dagger, a glass vial with smoke trapped inside, and a book bound in scaly dragon hide among them.
Everything was beautiful…beautiful, overwhelming, and somewhat frightening. This entire manor was merely a cage dressed up in gold and silk, and I was the captive. I paced around the room again, running my hand along all the furniture and decor in the room, then paused when I circled back to the shelf of trinkets.
I inspected them more closely, then felt my stomach drop. One of the objects on display was Samira’s lucky talisman she had always carried with her. My throat clogged with fear as I slowly picked it up. The delicate filigree border wound around the polished stone, worn smooth by the number of times Samira had run her hands over it. After replacing it, my eyes dragged over to the empty spot next to Samira’s talisman, ready and waiting for another item. Chills erupted all over my skin. Had Rahil been collecting trophies?
Nerves jangling, I hurriedly crossed to the door and turned the key, which clicked into place with a heavythunk. It might not keep Rahil out if he had a master key, but it made me feel fractionally better.He won’t kill me,I repeated to myself.His other wives always made it a few months to a couple years.
“I’ll be fine,” I whispered to the room at large. Well-mannered or not, Rahil had five wives before me, and all had vanished without a trace. Samira’s talisman seemed to stare at me from across the room, and I turned away.
Trying to distract myself, I brushed my fingers across the velvet quilt, the softness so foreign it almost hurt. Then my hands curled into clenched fists. Every thread here reminded me of the other women who had likely stood in this very room before me and wondered how long they had left to live, just as I was doing now.
CHAPTER 4
“Did you sleep well? Are your accommodations satisfactory?” Rahil asked the next morning. He smiled pleasantly. “I’ve always found that it takes time to adjust to new living conditions.”
“It was perfect,” I lied. “Everything’s very comfortable.” I hadn’t slept a wink the night before; I’d been too busy staring at the trinkets on the shelf, trying to recall all the rumors I’d ever heard about Rahil’s former wives and how long each had been married to him before mysteriously vanishing.
“Would you like to dine together or separately?”
“Together,” I decided. It wouldn’t do to avoid Rahil entirely. If I was going to get him to release my sister, I needed to be in his good graces, and sooner was better than later.
“Splendid.” He offered me his elbow and I took it, trying not to look at him as I barely rested my fingertips onto it, but the strangeness of his blue beard kept attracting my attention. “It may be arrogant to say so,” he went on, unaware that I was fighting the urge to run, “but I truly own the mostspectacular manor the world has ever known. You ought to explore it today.”
