Rise of Fire (Reign of Shadows #2)(61)

They yanked me out of the chamber and pulled me down the corridor so fast my feet could hardly gain purchase.

Footsteps rushed behind us. Maris caught up with us, holding up her lush blue skirts, her face flushed a splotchy red as she planted herself in front of us. The guards stopped lest they run her over.

“Fowler,” she snarled, her words flying like daggers. “You should have loved me. You should have married me.”

Maybe I should have felt some sympathy for her, but one look at her bitter expression and she reminded me of her father. She was spoiled and shallow. She wished me in the dungeon. As if to confirm this, she added, “Make friends with the rats; maybe they’ll keep you warm.”

She fell back, and I was glad for that. I didn’t want to see her face anymore or hear her words. I wanted to take the memory of Luna with me. Her voice. Her kiss. Her love.

I meant what I’d said to Tebald. This wasn’t over. I was going to be around for a long time. I would be seeing the king again, and the next time there would be no armed guards between us.





TWENTY-EIGHT


Luna


AS FOWLER WAS dragged away, I crushed all evidence of my tears. I couldn’t look weak. It would be up to me to escape—up to me to get Fowler out of the dungeon. For a moment the realization rattled me, but then I remembered all I’d done up until now. It couldn’t be any harder than infiltrating a dwellers’ nest, and I had done that before.

Squaring my shoulders, I faced the king. “Spare his life. I beg you.” The words choked me, begging him for anything, but I managed to get them out.

Fabric rustled. “Leave us,” Tebald announced to his men.

I bit my lip, squashing the impulse to call them back as they marched out of my chamber, leaving us alone.

Tebald’s slippered feet padded over stone, advancing on me with measured steps. He brushed the side of my face with pudgy fingertips. I jerked from the touch but held my ground. “You plead so prettily, Princess Luna. I quite like this look on you. It’s softer. You’re usually so standoffish. I’m accustomed to women who are more accommodating. You’ll have to remember that. I have expectations.”

Because they had no choice. He was the king.

He continued, “Your mother was the last person to ever deny me. She was close to accepting my suit until she met your father.”

I suppressed a shiver. I may not have known my mother, but Perla and Sivo had told me so much of her that the idea of this man almost with her made me slightly queasy. I pressed a hand to my stomach, fighting off the nausea.

Tebald continued in scathing tones, “Once your father began courting her, she never looked at me again.” His voice turned bemused here. “It’s gratifying to have you here . . . subject to me. It’s funny how life comes full circle.”

“What will it take?” I lifted my chin a notch, determined to try to appeal to him. “What do you want?”

He tsked. “You know the answer to that, my clever girl.”

“We can unite our kingdoms without me having to marry you. We can forge an alliance—”

He laughed harshly. “Such a child. Do you know how many alliances have been forged between Lagonia and Relhok over the generations? They never last. Uniting our two houses through marriage is the only way.” His voice sobered and became something dark and severe. “You know what I want.”

My eyes started to burn and it hurt to breathe. I sucked in a deep breath that felt like razors going down my throat. I fought to keep up my chin. “I do.”

“You can consent,” he said, his voice all lightness, fingers back to grazing my cheek. “Go along gracefully like a good girl, and Fowler lives. Fight me, and I win. It just won’t be pleasant for you.”

He would have his way in this. There was no stopping him. Not if I wanted to save Fowler. I shuddered at the idea of Fowler in that pit.

No matter what I decided, no matter what I did, Tebald won. But whether Fowler suffered and died . . . that decision was entirely mine.

That left me only one choice.





TWENTY-NINE


Fowler


IT TURNED OUT Maris was right about the rats, except they didn’t keep me warm. They scampered in dark corners, edging close with their hungry squeaks and twitching whiskers until I lashed out with my boot and sent them fleeing.

I was given a cell to myself, excluding the rats, of course, but that didn’t stop other prisoners from calling out to me through the bars, jeering taunts about my fine garments and clean boots and how quickly I was going to die down here. I laughed once, hard and mirthless, my head lolling against the slimy stone wall. I should have died a long time ago. Still, I was here. I glanced around my cell, trying to convince myself that I was going to get out of here.

Time was lost inside these walls.

I stared into the dark, my mind wandering, groping through the blackness, bumping into the hope that I would get out of here. Survive yet again. Take Luna and run. Be free. I could have been down here an hour or a day. It was impossible to tell if midlight came or passed. The eclipse could have even ended. I wouldn’t know.

Footsteps thudded outside my cell. I looked up, one leg stretched out, one bent to my chest. Chasan’s face arrived, illuminated by the light from a torch he was carrying.

I chuckled roughly. “Ah, come to delight in my accommodations? Should have expected as much.”