Page 117 of Ruling the Green

Tove was willingly brought to his quarters with an armed escort working for the statuesque, keen-eyed Mendalyn—a woman, it seemed, who helped save Jet when he’d been stuck outside trying to find me.

Another of these women was planted outside of Cass’s door once he was moved to his bed to rest.

“What do you plan to do with him?” I asked Jet as we made our way up to our floor with Mendalyn following silently behind.

“Imprisonment seems the only option, but it will likely take time to get an area in the palace secure enough to contain him. Do you think there are any negative effects to using Stillwater on him until I can get that done?”

“He might not feel well. But he wouldn’t be able to say anything about it.”

“So, that’s what we will do. I’ll have to send someone out to find someone with the skills to be-spell a room from escape. Then we will begin construction.”

“On the room?”

“Yes, but also, other advancements humans have had for a very long time and the palace is lacking.”

“What’s that?”

“Indoor plumbing. Wells, water from a tap. There’s no reason I should need to pull ten people away from their tasks to fill a tub.”

“I have no idea what indoor plumbing is,” I admitted. “But if you’re excited, I’m excited. And the women?”

“Mendalyn and her crew will become the higher-ranking royal guard. I don’t know enough about my father’s closest allies to know if they have my best interest at heart while Cass is ‘unwell.’”

“And Nira and Vishen?”

“Will continue to be our personal guards. If that’s what they wish. Though I have a feeling Vishen and Mendalyn might want to work together to do an overhaul of our military operations.”

“I, for one, would be interested in that, yes,” Mendalyn said as Jet opened our bedroom door.

Knight started to snarl but stopped when he saw us.

“It’s okay,” I said as Cora tensed. “It’s just us. And this is Mendalyn. She helps girls like you.”

Mendalyn stepped into the room, taking in the girls’ bruises and scars, seeming to understand the situation instantly.

“Help how?” Cora asked.

“By teaching you how to defend yourself so no one can ever touch you again. But that’s something for another day, if you want it. Tonight, how about we find you a bed?”

“Nira won’t be using her room tonight,” I said. “She has lots of food in there too. It’s just across the hall.”

“It’s safe?” Cora asked.

“I’ll be in the hallway all night,” Mendalyn assured her.

Cora nodded and fell into step with the older woman, but paused in the doorway to turn back to me. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” I assured her before she was led away. “We should check on Nira.”

“She was resting when I checked in.”

“Just really quick?”

I knew it wasn’t going to be quick. Once we got across the hall, Jet had to explain to an exhausted, worried Vishen everything that had taken place.

I let him handle that as I walked over to Nira, taking her hand in mine as I reached up to touch her head.

I felt a small wave of relief that she wasn’t hot or sweaty.