He Knew
I threaded my fingers through Nella’s and, after a deep breath, hand in hand, we headed toward the darkness.
The temperature was dropping more with each step forward, as was the visibility.
I put my other hand out beside me to feel the wall as we trudged on.
My heart nearly dropped out of my chest when my foot met air instead of stone. I stumbled to catch myself on what turned out to be a stairway leading down deeper underground. Nella’s grip on my hand had tightened, helping steady me.
“Stairs,” I whispered.
My racing heart took a long time to calm down after the misstep. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, my hand still on the wall, I saw the glow of another torch ahead, lighting the hallway before us just enough to see by. The entire thing was made of rough black stone, cold to the touch.
Picking up our pace slightly, we headed toward the lit section to find another door. This one was made of thick black wood with a black metal frame and bars running up and down, left and right.
The thing was menacing.
And it was locked.
My stomach dropped. We had come this far. We were so close, but we couldn’t get there.
We figured this would likely happen, but it didn’t stop the disappointment from flooding in.
A keyhole was visible, and judging by its size, the key that would fit it would be pretty large.
“We can’t get in now. There’s no point standing here in the cold. Let’s head back and come up with a plan to find this key.”
So we turned around and headed back the way we came.
Just as the adrenaline was fading out, I stopped dead in my tracks, Nella following suit.
Voices.
Coming from the way back out.
I grabbed Nella by the hand and pulled her into a storage room just off to our right. I closed the door as quietly as possible, hoping the voices would drown out any sound, including the incessant hammering of my heart against my rib cage.
There were two of them, and they were getting closer, just audible from behind the door that hid us.
“…King Caedryn was most pleased, as I expected. I’ve arranged for the Vydran king’s arrival next week. Soon, Vydran and Ashenholt will be allied and purged, following Fellendral’s example.”
I knew that voice. It was distinct and memorable. The same fae male whose carriage we rode into Dolvenar under. He was a nobleman, a lord. What was a lord doing in the secret tunnels under the castle?
But more than who the voice belonged to, the topic of their discussion filled me with dread. Fellendral had been purged of mortals years ago in a bloody massacre. It was now an all-fae continent, and its ruler was just as wicked as Caedryn.
And according to this lord, they were going to do the same in Ashenholt and Vydran…
We had to find my mom and get to Elyndor. It was life or death now.
The second male laughed and voiced his appreciation for the actions of the Fellendral ruler just before their voices faded out completely. I assumed they had gone through the door to the dungeons.
I wanted so badly to follow them, to see if we could slip in, but every instinct screamed that it was a horrible plan.
“That’s definitely a horrible plan. You’ve already had a close call. Get out of there, and we’ll come up with something else,” Noxie said.
“I know, I know…”
Noxie was, of course, right. So we waited another couple of minutes to ensure their enhanced hearing wouldn’t be able to pick up our racing hearts or footsteps before leaving the storage room and heading quickly back to the exit behind the fireplace.
It wasn’t until we both slipped into our beds that my heart slowed and I felt safe.
That had really been close.
What we had learned about the plans for our continent kept me awake nearly the rest of the night. I guessed we weren’t actually safe… Not in the long run, not in Ashenholt as mortals.
* * *
How in the hell were we going to find the key to that door?
At least one male we heard last night must have had a key if that was where they had gone, but I had no way of knowing who they were. I didn’t even know where to begin the search.
I was feeling desperate and helpless again.
Nella, Noxie, and I discussed plans in circles, ideas ranging from hiding in the do-not-enter room to spy who went down there (What if they didn’t enter the tunnels from there?) to sending Noxie down there to peck open the lock (“My beak will not be used like that.”).
Each idea seemed feebler than the last, none of them truly being viable.
The only option that had any merit, and that I kept coming back to, was trying to pick the lock. I understood in principle how to do it but had never tried before.
So we all agreed that I would try it out on the lock of the door to our bathing chamber and then reassess if it was worth attempting.
But all thoughts of dungeons and keys left my brain when Varyn stepped into my path while we were walking back from lunch.
“Hello, Naci.” He smiled that smile that melted my heart. Maybe this was a good sign that I hadn’t completely ruined the end of our last night together. I was cautiously optimistic.
“Highness,” I said with a slight curtsy and a wry grin.
He laughed. Gods, it was good to hear him laugh.
“Would you walk with me for a minute? I promise not to keep you too long.”
“I presume it’s punishable by death to say no to the crown prince. So yes, I will.”
He chuckled and offered me his arm, and I took it, walking past the door to the laundry room.
“I hope you’re in my company for a better reason than just the fear of death,” he said, the teasing and arrogant tone to his voice feeling normal and easy.
Like nothing had changed.
I smiled to myself. “So to what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Prince Varyn?”
He nodded to a guard we passed, who gave me a scathing look once Varyn looked away.
“I would like you to have dinner with me tonight. With me, my father, and the queen.”
I stopped walking, forcing him to stop too.
My heart stopped after he did. Dine with the king? Was he serious? There was no way this was a good idea.
“You seem surprised by the request.”
“Uh, yeah. Does the king dine with mortals?” It was one thing for Varyn and me to have dinner together, but the notoriously evil, mortal-hating king was entirely different.
“He will because I’ve asked him to.”
“And why did you ask him to have dinner with me?”
His face became unreadable for a moment. What was I seeing behind the mask?
He hesitated, but then said, “Because I’d like him to meet you.”
“But why?”
“Well, it is common to meet one’s parents when you like someone.”
My jaw might have been on the floor. I really wasn’t sure.
He said he liked me. The affirmation of his feelings felt so good, and so delightfully dangerous.
I cleared my throat, trying to recover from my utter shock.
“Well, as I said, I don’t think it wise to say no to the prince, so it seems I have no choice but to accept.
” Gods, I hoped I didn’t regret it. But how could I say no?
I trusted Varyn and believed that he wouldn’t put me in danger, even if this was terrifying.
He smiled once more, stopping at the door to the laundry room. “Most excellent. I’ll be right here to pick you up at six. And I won’t be late,” he added with a wink, making my lower muscles clench with the memory of his apology.
“I look forward to it, Varyn.”
He stiffened slightly when I said his name, but recovered quickly, and with a bow of his head, he turned to leave. What was that about? I was already so nervous I couldn’t second-guess him now.
When I got to our folding station in the laundry room, Nella already had a smile on her face. “What did the prince want?”
“To ask me to dinner.”
Her face lit up.
“With the king and queen.”
Her smile dropped. She was as scared as I was.
“Well, that explains the new dress on your bed.”
She followed me into our room so I could see for myself. “Is this a good idea?”
“I honestly don’t know, but I don’t think I really have a choice. He was adamant, and I’ve already said yes. And I…I trust him, and I trust the feelings he says he has for me.”
She gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Oh, Naci, just be careful.” She wrapped her little arms around me and squeezed.
“Always am, little lamb. Now help me get cleaned up. I have a date with the royals.”
I just hoped that date didn’t end up being my execution.
* * *
The dress Varyn had left for me to wear was exquisite and far more elegant than the first. It also had a structured bodice built in, eliminating the need for a slip, seeing how he’d ripped the last one.
I didn’t suppose a dinner date with the parents was the right time to wear something like that, anyway.
The dress was a dark purple, like the first one, but instead of having gold embroidery only at the neck and cuffs, the entire bodice was covered in intricate, floral gold stitching.
The skirt had multiple layers, the longest reaching the floor, and each layer on top was shorter than the last, reminding me of a decadent layered cake like the ones I’d seen in a Dolvenar shop window.
Underneath the fitted bodice was a sleeved under-gown of the same dark purple, the sleeves flowing to fitted gold cuffs at the wrists.
The bodice covered my chest moderately but swooped low in the back, exposing nearly all of my spine.
I felt like a princess, and in this I would look the part, too—except my scars. I tried not to let myself think of that, of being Varyn’s princess. There was too much at stake to fantasize about such a future, no matter how much I may have wanted it when I let my mind wander.
I bathed while nervous butterflies flitted around in my stomach. Had Varyn been acting strange, and I’m just so desperate for things to be okay that I’m overlooking something? Or was it just nerves over dining with the king?
When I thought of Caedryn, my stomach churned. It must have been the latter, the nerves. Varyn wouldn’t put me at risk.
After styling my hair into one long, elegant braid, Nella voiced the same sentiment I had been thinking.