Chapter 7 #2
Justin opened his mouth to tell her that he had no plans on doing so, but she glanced toward one of the guards standing by the door, and he knew that if he didn’t want to be forced to follow her and dragged around, he’d have to obey.
No matter how little he wanted to.
He got to his feet. “Fine. I’ll come with you, but I’m not becoming king.”
Anya ignored him. She strode out of the room, Justin almost having to run to catch up with her.
The guards moved with them, and he could feel them watching him.
He wondered what they thought of him standing up to his mother.
Did they fully support her, or did they work for her because they didn’t have a choice?
What did they think of the way she led her territory?
Were they guards because they agreed with her, or because it was either that or letting their families starve?
Justin couldn’t ask any of those questions, but he wished he knew more about these people. At the very least, he needed to know if they’d be on his side if he needed them to be.
Probably not.
He was pretty sure that the only person on his side in the palace was Mynor, but unfortunately for both of them, Mynor was stuck in a cell. There would be no way for him to help Justin if anything happened.
Anya moved with conviction. It was clear that she was used to being obeyed and that people feared her. Justin just had to look at the guard who almost fell on his face when he turned the corner of the hallway opposite them and saw Anya moving toward him.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Someone tried to get to the prisoners,” the guard said. “We caught them.”
“All of them?”
The guard looked like he was about to piss himself when he shook his head. “At least two escaped, possibly more. Mynor’s associate got away.”
Anya’s expression went cold. “You people can’t even do your job, can you?” she asked in a deceptively gentle voice. “Have you at least managed to keep the prisoners we already had in their cells?”
The guard glanced at Justin, looking unsure, but he answered Anya’s question. “No one was freed. We stopped them before they could reach the dungeons.”
“Good. Put our new prisoners in with the old ones and get the interrogators.”
Justin knew what that meant. He wasn’t even surprised, especially after seeing the state Mynor was in. “You can’t do that,” he said.
The guard looked at him like he was nuts.
Maybe he was. He didn’t think anyone had ever stood up to Anya the way he was, and he might die because of it, but he had to say something.
She was ignoring the fact that he didn’t want to be king and that he definitely didn’t want to be like her.
Maybe he should force her to see the truth about that.
Anya turned to him. She didn’t look angry or confused. She looked cool, which was almost worse.
“You shouldn’t hurt people or torture them,” Justin continued, even though he was terrified. “That’s not how a good queen should act.”
“What would you know about it?” Anya snapped. “You wouldn’t be a good king right now. You don’t even want to be king.”
“Because I know myself. I know I wouldn’t be good at it, but I still wouldn’t torture people. Why were they here, trying to free prisoners? Why do you have so many prisoners in the first place? Is it because you don’t like that they stand up to you? Someone clearly needs to.”
Justin didn’t like the way Anya was watching him, but he’d gone too far to backtrack. He couldn’t, even though the way she was watching him made him want to.
“You’re too human,” she said.
Justin blinked, not knowing what to make of those words. “What do you mean?”
“You were raised in the human realm by your father. Of course you don’t understand what’s needed here. You’ll need to spend more time in our realm before you can see that, but maybe we can speed up the process. I need someone who will work with me, not against me.”
“I’ll never work with you. I don’t think that what you’re doing is right.”
Anya turned to the guard. “Take him to the dungeons. Put him in with Mynor.”
Justin took a step back, but the two guards who’d followed them from the office stepped up. He bumped against them, then quickly moved forward.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Since you know Mynor already, maybe spending time with him will make you see that this is necessary,” Anya said. She sounded concerned, but Justin knew better. She didn’t care about anyone but herself. She wanted Justin to be afraid. That was why she was putting him in a cell with Mynor.
“I haven’t done anything that would warrant being imprisoned,” he insisted, even though he knew that wouldn’t change anything.
“Standing up to me is reason enough. You’ll stay there until you come to your senses. I’m sure that Mynor will help you see the truth.”
Justin didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t fight the guards, so when one of them grabbed his arm, he allowed himself to be dragged away. He stared at Anya for a while longer, but she dismissed him without a second glance.
Justin had fucked up. He’d wanted to help people, and now, he was the one who needed help.