Alvah shrugged and shifted his horse toward the eastern wing of the Keep. “I’m not sure she knows anything more than she’s already said.”
“That’s for them to decide.”
Dray swung us around the other way. This time, Zaylee didn’t look back at me.
The silence cloaked over me as the sense of dread thickened. I doubted my accommodations would be as pleasant as they’d been at the tavern. The castle barely stretched three days’ journey from the Keep, and the King likely headed this way already. I expected my stay to be short and miserable.
Dray’s solid form moved behind me. He seemed invested in whatever pleasures my body provided for him. I bit my lip. Undeniably, I found him attractive as well. I didn’t dare hope he would become my salvation, though. He’d sent many to their deaths before, and would do it again, especially to protect the little family Zaylee said he had left.
“Here.” Dray stopped at an arched opening into the Keep’s stone wall and slipped from the saddle. A stableboy ducked his head and held out his hands for the reins. Dray passed him the leather ropes, then tugged me from the horse.
“You first,” he said, and gestured into the gaping darkness.
My feet felt glued to the ground. Instincts told me I didn’t wish to enter this place, much less spend any significant time there. A musty scent of mold and aging paper mixed with a putrid odor, which I feared may be excrement.
Dray didn’t seem eager either. He shifted from foot to foot, and didn’t demand my obedience. In fact, the crease between his brows and the way his pressed lips turned white made me wonder if he wanted to confine me at all, at least with something besides his body.
“Go on, then.” He finally set a hand against the back of my neck and drew me into the cavern.
The coolness from outside settled low in the hollowed space in the interior of the keep. Lines of arched iron gates marking individual cells cascaded down the hall, lit by an occasional torch. I shivered and tried to hold my breath as the smell grew steadily worse.
A figure waited near the end of the hallway. Soft curves spelled a feminine shape, with tangled curls draping to the center of her back.
Dray tensed, his hand turning to stone against my neck. Discomfort at his hard touch tightened my shoulders, but I didn’t dare speak. The grip gave away his sudden bout of anger.
“What are you doing here?” Dray’s words sent a physical stab into my chest, despite being directed at the stranger in the hall.
She turned. The torchlight caught her face, illuminating sharp features. High brows framed large, dark eyes, and her form appeared healthy and toned.
I sucked in a gasp. She looked like a mirror image to the man pushing me toward the cells. Dray’s sister.
Her gaze dropped from Dray’s face to me, and her nose wrinkled. “Is this your newest victim coming to await her execution?”
He didn’t answer. “How did you know I would be down here?”
“Where else would the king’s servant store his prize?”
“Answer me Rylla,” Dray’s tone left little room for argument.
Rylla rolled her eyes, but wrapped her arms around herself. “The guard at the gate said you’d be back from a mission soon. I knew where to go. I’ve been here before, remember?”
The words carried a history I didn’t know. They fell between Rylla and Dray with an imaginary thud.
“Why are you here at all?” Dray’s voice softened. A vibration trailed down his hand and through my body, as though he already knew the answer and dreaded what she may say.
“Why else?” She bit. “The King summoned me. He has to make sure you see how short your lead is now and then. A personal invitation to the latest execution, his messenger said. I half expected it to be my own.”
Silence. She looked back at me. “Though I see my life is again exchanged for another, dear brother.”
Dray pushed me forward roughly. He led me past Rylla, who barely stepped out of the way. Metal chimed when he jerked the iron gate open and tossed me into the cell. I staggered, my arms still trapped behind my back.
He shut the gate and leaned against it. For a moment, a flash of vulnerability crossed his face. An ocean rolled through those green eyes – worry, doubt, concern. Sympathy swelled unbeckoned in my heart as he appeared almost human.
The look faded, and Dray’s face hardened again. He glanced at me, and the chains holding my wrist behind me melted away, leaving me free, but still wearing the silver shackles. He turned back to Rylla.
“You know why I have to do this. It isn’t a choice.”
She didn’t give him any indication of sympathy. “There are other options. Underground smugglers to get these people out of the kingdom, rumors of an uprising.”
