Daegan glances at me, and our gazes lock. I don’t cower, and as I watch him, it seems he’s searching for something. His eyes travel down my body, taking in my posture, and something flickers there that I can’t decipher.
“Did you see the female? The one crying?”
It takes me a moment to realize he’s directing the question at me. He watches me with unsettling steadiness as he waits for my answer.
“I—yes.”
“Find her,” he says in a softer tone that I’ve yet to hear from him.
My mouth hangs open for a moment, watching as they tie his wrists with rope. He doesn’t struggle, but instead stands as tall as ever, watching me. Assessing.
“Okay,” I say. I don’t know why I agreed to the request. I may be in shock. I’m not thinking clearly.
The two guards turn him away and escort him down the hallway. He looks over his shoulder and locks eyes with me one last time, wearing his usual stoic expression before he disappears.
I stand alone in the middle of the wide, cold, dim hallway. I guess they didn’t know what to do with me. Or they forgot about me.
The horrible image of the male’s dead eyes flashes through my head again, making me shudder. An unfamiliar, aching feeling takes over me and I crawl to the wall, lean my back against it, pull my legs into myself, and cry into my knees.
I feel so cold. Suddenly the knife I’ve been keeping in my bodice feels like a frigid, pokey thing, so I yank it out and toss it to the floor. The sound of it clattering to the ground echoes through large hallway, making me wince.
“Elle!” I lift my head at the sound of my name. Adrian comes striding down the hall in long, powerful, steps.
“Adrian,” I say, feeling relief that someone familiar is here.
He stands over me like he’s unsure what to do at first, then he reaches toward me, and I take the offering. He pulls me up, takes in my tear-stained face and hair that I’m certain is completely disheveled, and he wraps his powerful arms around me, resting his arms on my shoulders. He smells like a crisp forest. At first, I stand there, arms limp at my sides, because he’s never hugged me like this before, but then I lean into the warmth, the touch of another person, and I squeeze his large torso, burying my head in his chest.
Silence falls around us in the dark corridor for a moment, his slow heart beating against my temple the only sound besides his breathing.
“I—”
“I know. I heard. I came to find you as soon as I could.”
I slowly pull back, wiping at my eyes—though I know it’s useless—and look up at him. His expression is full of concern. “How did you know?”
“I was in a meeting with your father, actually, and he was alerted of the incident immediately.”
“Where did they take him?”
“He’s secluded for now.”
“I need to find the elf. She saw what happened before me. They need to question her.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know her name. I think she’s a maid, I’ve seen her face around here before. She was crying.”
Adrian nods his head, pensive.
“Daegan didn’t say anything?”
Adrian whips his gaze back to me. I’m not sure if I surprised him with how casually I used his name or what, but he searches my eyes for something now.
Finally, he shakes away whatever the thought was, and his lips pull into a gentle, reassuring smile. “I didn’t talk to him. I came to find you as soon as I heard they left you all alone. I know you don’t… get outside the castle walls much. That must have been traumatizing for you to witness. I’m sorry.” His expression is full of pity and concern once more as he takes my hand and wraps it in both of his, gently rubbing his thumbs along it. Then he lifts it and presses his full lips to the back of it, keeping hold of it as he looks into my eyes.
“Thank you for coming,” I whisper.
He offers a soft nod, his lip pulling back subtly. “Can I walk you to your room?”
