Page 88 of Ruling the Green

“What are you going to do with her?” I asked, watching the woman’s mouth open and close like a fish, no sound escaping.

I remembered that feeling well. That bone-deep helplessness that came with having no way to beg or scream for help, to explain yourself.

I knew I’d been the one to do it to her, but there was no stopping the swell of empathy I felt. For the fear she must have been feeling right then. In the arms of the Dark Prince, knowing how brutally the crown handled traitors.

Sure, aligning herself with Grimwood was, to me, insane. But if she’d been living under the reign of a mad king for years, I understood the desire to look for a way to escape the uncertainty. She likely had no idea how wicked Grimwood was. How much worse he could be for her one day.

Jet and Vishen exchanged a look, and I got the impression, as I often did, that the two of them were somehow capable of conversing without words. This was thanks to being close for so long and needing to be careful about what they said and who might overhear them and their scheming.

“She probably wanted a better life,” I reasoned with Jet. “We can’t assume she knew how evil Grimwood is.”

In Jet’s arms, the laundress struggled silently before settling back down, realizing it was useless.

“She doesn’t deserve to be tortured in the dungeons,” I told him. “She didn’t actually hurt me.”

“The work camps aren’t any less brutal,” Vishen said.

“But we can’t let her go and seek out Grimwood,” Nira said after putting down our lunch on the dresser.

“I’m open to ideas here.”

“Does she have a family?” Nira asked.

“No,” Vishen supplied.

“The tower?” Nira suggested.

“The tower?” I asked.

“The old observation tower. It’s been closed for years, but I broke in a few nights ago—”

“You what?” Vishen asked, his tone sharp.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Like I wasn’t going to explore the palace while everyone was asleep. Please. Anyway. The old guard tower. The windows are too small for escape. There’s enough room for a small mattress. There’s already a toilet. The door is solid and easily barred from the outside. No one goes up there.”

“And, what?” Vishen asked. “Daily meals with a dose of Bellhush?”

“Yes.” Nira’s chin rose at the other guard’s dubious tone. “It’s not forever. If things go how we want, in another week or two, this will be all over. You can let her go. Banish her. Decide some other fate. She doesn’t have to get hurt. But we keep her from ruining everything in the meantime.”

Jet sucked in a deep breath.

“Fine. But make sure she is dosed enough and that there is no chance for escape.”

With that, he handed the struggling woman over to Vishen. He and Nira moved out of the room together, ready to set her plans in motion.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m thankful for all the training I’ve been doing because I would have been helpless if I was the same woman who first came here.”

Jet moved toward me, grabbing and pulling me against his chest, his arms wrapping me up tightly enough to make it hard to breathe. But that didn’t stop me from hugging him back as tightly as I could.

“I don’t like these close calls.”

“They’re not exactly a day at the lake for me either,” I agreed, nestling into his neck. “But I wasn’t hurt. And now we know who poked me that time.”

“Yeah,” Jet agreed. “But I can’t help but wonder if she was the only traitor in the palace.

I leaned back, smiling up at him.