Amarande didn’t budge. “If you’re looking to unlock it, the dagger won’t work. I’ve tried.”
“I don’t need a dagger.” The prince slipped a gloved hand into the pocket of his stolen uniform. “I have more tincture.”
Amarande inspected the bars at the window, misshapen and melted as they were, then gaped at the vial in his hand. “Whatisthat?”
“Impressive, what it can do, isn’t it?” He held up the bottle, oh so carefully. “A concentration of the sap of giant hogweed. I call it ‘fire swamp.’” His eyes flickered to her face for a reaction. He didn’t get one. “Stand back, would you? It is extremely potent.”
She stepped back.
“A drop or two should do it.” Taillefer angled the tip of the bottle toward the lock. The liquid was a bright mossy green, like a meadow shot through with spring sun. Or a fire swamp, whatever that was—Amarande had never heard the term before. Perhaps it was for the marshy color and its ability to melt metal. Either way, Taillefer, as usual, clearly thought he was being clever. A single fat drop rolled off the rim of the bottle and into the keyhole. Immediately, the metal began to smoke, the keyhole expanding.
Impressive, yes. But also completely terrifying—Amarande had never seen anything like it. “Does it only react to metal? Or will it dissolve stone and the like?”
“Oh, I suppose if we had enough of it, we could burn our way through the floor, but that would be quite the waste. I’d rather use ita drop at a time to unlock cell doors and disarm guards.” Carefully, he replaced the cork snugly back in the neck of the bottle. “I can’t let you have all the fun.”
Amarande felt sick. “You would purposefully use that on a human?”
Taillefer’s lips quirked as he regarded her aghast face. “You clearly did not discuss your stableboy’s near death with him in great detail, did you?”
Bile licked at her throat and her hands clenched. “He didn’t want to discuss it.”
And now Amarande knew why. She hadn’t pushed Luca to share the details of his encounter with Taillefer in the dungeons of the Bellringe, thrilled as she was that he was alive and hers and they were together. But if Taillefer was telling the truth and had used thatfire swampon Luca, if he wasn’t lying just to throw her off balance… she would follow her father’s tenet—If not an eye for an eye, a lash for a lash—in Luca’s honor. No matter how long she was with the prince, whether it be five minutes or five days, she would disarm him of this fire swamp.
Taillefer might anticipate her vengeance. But anticipation wouldn’t help him survive it.
For now, Amarande pushed down her rage and watched the tincture at work.
A hiss and a pop, sulfurous smoke, and the hardware of the lock melted away. Taillefer sighed in satisfaction, watching as his concoction faded in strength, but not before eating through a door thicker than two praying hands smashed together. “Amazing, isn’t it?”
“I was thinking of another word.”
“Impressive? Efficient? Groundbreaking?”
“Vile.”
The thick hardwood door sagged open. Through it, Amarande could see a similarly heavy door at the far end of the antechamber that led to her cell. The guard would be on the other side.
Amarande strode to the outer door, sword at the ready, and peeked through the keyhole. A few yards away, she could make out Second Captain Pualo greeting the sentry who’d been standing guard. Low murmurs, then a moment later, the guard saluted the captain and disappeared—a shift change. Amarande sucked in a steadying breath.
“How many?” Taillefer whispered.
“One. Stay here. This will not take long.”
Shooing him away from the door, Amarande tried the handle—unlocked—and counted silently.One, two, three.
The princess charged through the anteroom door and sprinted straight at the second captain. Pualo only seemed to register Amarande in the split second before the hilt of her sword crashed down upon the guardswoman’s temple.
Pualo dropped like a stone into a crumpled heap on the floor.
Amarande checked the girl’s pulse, confirmed she was still breathing, and said, “My apologies, Second Captain. Sleep well.”
“You weren’t kidding, Princess. That didn’t take long at all—you’re much quicker than my fire swamp—but not as decisive.” His eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you kill her? Or all the other poor saps you encountered during your last thrilling adventure?”
“Not every battle should end in death.”
Taillefer cocked a brow. “What about weddings? I daresay, I’ve heard they are supposed to end in a kiss and the union of families, but the last one I attended was far moredeadlythan expected.”
If this was how Taillefer managed the speck of guilt he might have had over the whole sordid wedding affair, she wanted no part. “You expected every murderous second. Now shut up and come on.”
