Chapter Twenty-One
Analleia
My ruined skirts tangled around my legs as I padded across the floor.
I ran a shaking hand through my hair, seeking a solution, but I couldn’t think straight.
Panic coursed through me. Desmond was no better, his long strides giving him little room to pace across the suite.
Fear tinged his every movement, a fear so deep I hadn’t seen it since our kingdom burned.
He hadn’t been in the castle that night.
As I was fleeing, he had seen the flames and was racing down the road where we crossed paths.
We had watched from a hill as everything we had ever known and loved was destroyed. We had been helpless. Hollowed out.
He whirled on me now, anger blazing in his eyes.
“This is your fault, all because of the deal you made with that witch in the woods. Nadiyah wouldn’t be sitting in a prison cell right now if you hadn’t bargained whatever it is you bargained for.
Poisoning this Athello man was not a part of the original plan. ”
“If I hadn’t bargained with her, we never would have made it this far,” I said.
“We would have been recognized. Blaming and pointing fingers won’t get us anywhere,” I said.
“It will only waste precious time that should be used to find a way to save Nadiyah. And the poison was undetectable. You heard Nadiyah say that herself. Something is wrong with this man. He knows something is off. I’ve seen it in the way he looks at me. He can sense things.”
Silence stretched between us, but the gutting voice of fear whispered in both our ears, filling our minds with the most disastrous of imaginations, telling us to flee, accusing us that it was our fault.
Desmond collapsed onto the couch, shoulders sagging beneath the heavy weight of our situation. “Even if they torture her, she will never break.” He gave a sad laugh. “If they threatened to kill me, I bet she still wouldn’t break. That girl has a will stronger than iron.”
“Even if she finds a way to prove her innocence,” I said, “tampering with something the royal family was going to consume is a high crime. If they sentence her ...”
Desmond grimaced. “She won’t make it down there, Analleia. If they confine her—”
“She’ll do anything to get out of that cell,” I finished.
He ran his hands through his white-blond hair, gripping it at the roots, frustration written all over his face.
I paced away, trying to hold back the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I should have tainted the drink, not Nadiyah. This was my bargain with the Enchantress to fulfill, not hers.
The couch groaned as Desmond stood. “I’m going to figure out where they’re holding her.”
I shook my head, moving forward to stop him. “Desmond, no. You’ll do something stupid, let me—”
“The only stupid thing I’ll be doing is sitting here in this suite,” he said.
“You stay here and wait for word from me. You’ve done enough already.
I’m going to scout out the palace, see where they took her, and watch the rotations.
They will have a sentence within a day or two, and then we’re going to have to break her out.
I would like to be prepared when we do.”
“Don’t get caught Desmond. Don’t be reckless. We can’t afford that right now.”
“We weren’t able to afford any of this, Analleia.”
His words stung, biting into me like the lash of a whip.
He disappeared into his room, and I sank onto the couch, picking at the stains on my dress to keep my hands busy.
A few minutes later the door to his room opened, but I didn’t turn.
I listened to the familiar creaks and noises of his departure.
When I did turn, the curtains danced away from the open window, the breeze tossing them like a toy.
And Desmond was gone.
––––––––
REST DID NOT FIND ME that night or the next morning. I woke to damp sheets, and the mirror revealed dark circles rimming my eyes. I rang for a tray of meat and cheese to be brought up, but after setting it on the table, I found myself unable to touch it.
I took to pacing again. Desmond hadn’t returned. That could mean nothing. Or everything.
We would be safe here unless they posted pictures of Nadiyah’s face throughout the city.
All of us had a persona for different inns, rooms I had booked but never occupied in case something like this happened.
We had each picked up keys on the first day here, ensuring the innkeeper could vouch for our appearances if needed.
It wasn’t unusual for foreigners to not stay in the same room every night throughout the balls.
One of those inns would be the story Nadiyah would tell her captors, and they would be verifying it this morning.
I chewed on my nails. The mission had been foolproof, or so we had thought, but Nadiyah always had something up her sleeve—just in case.
But I couldn’t imagine how she would get out of this.
Desmond returned halfway through the afternoon. Dark circles welled beneath his eyes, and his black clothing was decorated with mud.
“What happened to you?” I asked.
He groaned, popping his neck and dropping his bag on the ground. “Courtyard was muddy. Had a battle with the ground. I think it’s obvious who won.”
“You were gone a long time.”
“They’re not going to hang her.” He sighed. “She’s in the dungeons, getting close enough was a chore, but the guards were gossiping, well, snickering, about it and I was able to uncover the official charge.”
My face scrunched. “Snickering?”
“She confessed to pouring a love potion in his drink. Had a thing for ‘older men.’ It may be the most Nadiyah excuse I’ve ever heard.”
If the situation weren’t so serious I might have laughed. “Are they letting her go?”
He shook his head. “Spiking a drink belonging to the royal family, or any diplomat, is a serious crime, even if it’s only a love potion.
I’m not sure how much this Athello man believes her, but they’re giving her the benefit of the doubt.
She won’t hang, but they’ve sentenced her to a year in prison. ”
“A year?” I brought my hand up to my mouth in horror. “She won’t make it that long. I’m sure she’s about to lose her sanity in there as it is. Are they transporting her?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but we can’t take a chance on that. She’s a foreigner. They’re going to send word to whatever country she told them. When they can’t confirm her existence, we’ve got a major problem. A year’s sentence will be the least of her worries.”
I stepped away, trying to process everything at once. We couldn’t leave her to rot in that prison, nor could we let her stay down there long enough for them to figure out who she was—or wasn’t.
“He’s going to want to know what kind of drug she used and who she bought it from,” Desmond said.
“It’s a love potion,” I scoffed. “It isn’t real.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “If this man could detect it, I’m sure he doesn’t think it was a love potion. He would know it was something different, something real, and she can only bluff for so long.”
He was right. I stared out the window, people moving around in the courtyard like ants. I brought my eyes back to his. “We have to break her out.”
My words fell like a death sentence, heavy and final.
“Yes,” he agreed. “But how? I’ve never seen a dungeon guarded so heavily.”
I looked at the dress I had planned to wear next, a flashy red with sparkling trim. “Then we go when the guards will be more preoccupied. The fourth ball is tomorrow night. That’s more than enough time for us to organize a plan.”
“We’ll be noticed.”
I smiled. “Not if they can’t remember.” I cocked an eyebrow. “Did you bring any Hrakka powder?”
He grinned. “I didn’t, but if I know Nadiyah, she stashed away at least twenty pounds of it.”