“Should I send the men back?” He asked. “I can remain to see what can be done on your behalf.”
“No. They’re to remain as her protection.” The letter’s seal was intact. My lie would have to hold.
Another spider crawled across the wall. My release couldn’t happen soon enough.
When Edward left, I found myself counting the drips of water, my back aching from the stone wall that was my only support.
As long as she was safe, my comfort mattered little.
Footsteps woke me from a temporary sleep.
Lamplight cast shadows on Soren’s face. When he set it down on the floor, the cell illuminated in a way I wish it didn’t.
There were even more spiders.
His fingers wrapped around the metal bars. “You have mere moments to explain yourself.”
Whatever explanation he was looking for, I would fail to give it correctly. “If you do anything to harm her?—”
“Are you truly going to threaten me when you’re in a cage?” Soren huffed, but he didn’t leave.
“It doesn’t matter where I am. Even if I’m dead, I’ll haunt you.” I gritted my teeth, roaring the words into my pitiful corner.
The skin around his eye tugged, almost like a flinch, but he didn’t let go of the bars. “Do you love her?”
Seemed like an odd time for him to care about that. “Why does it matter to you?”
“She pledged herself to me, if I can assure her you are safe. All this time, I’ve been trying to figure out how to get her to comply—and it turns out I just had to hold you in a cell. News of your situation made her plead.”
The fury rose, hot in my veins. “Are you here to gloat? By all means go ahead. I have little else to do in my new chambers.”
“You both are very much alike. I have little patience for it.”
“You’ll never accept her for how extraordinary she is. You’ll just steal what illuminates her,” I hissed.
“What would you do to save her?” He uttered through his clenched jaw.
“We both know you care little for her.” Whatever he was playing at, I wouldn’t play along.
“She makes me furious… so furious that I could?—”
“Hopefully she does it to you first.” I hoped she would stab him in his sleep.
“I don’t want her.” He leaned back as if he wasn’t afraid of whatever spun webs above him. “Only a fool would. And I think you are very much a fool, Lord Chancellor.”
“Then I am a fool,” I said. “An utter fool, that only tried to do the right thing for her. I respected her every wish and led her to a man who loathes her.”
He looked me over as if he was assessing exactly how he’d make me break. “They’ve postponed the wedding.”
“What a shame.” I really didn’t care to hear the rest.
“Until she bleeds. Until she proves she is not carryingyourchild.”
“You are aware of how that happens, right?” He was lucky there were metal bars between us. “It takes far more than a kiss.”
His eyes narrowed on me. “Your men told us you traveled alone with her. One claims you shared a room before crossing into Estlen.”
I wish he had given me a name, because I was about to have a lot of free time on my hands and apparently I needed to start making a list. “Nothing. Happened.”
