Anticipation
CHAPTER THREE
Islowly touched the scabbed-over scratches across my legs. Dawnlight had come and fallen twice with no sign of the Warlord, so it allowed me time to unravel.
I wish my end could be quicker than this, to get it over with because all this thinking would drive me mad.
I eyed the spike sticking up from the cold, hard ground.
If I were brave, I could end it now. Death by impalement instead of this waiting to be the Vessel for the Warlord’s bondmate.
The iron tip of the spike was cold to the touch.
Not a surprise since my body was icy from being on this floor. I could not feel my legs any longer.
“I would not do it,” a soft, lilting voice warned. A young woman shuffled in with a limp to her gait, arms hugging a tray hosting a single loaf of bread. “Kill yourself, that is.”
I stared without saying a word. Once dawn broke through the sky, she came as reliably as the dawnlight.
“I would not,” I murmured, studying her.
These were the first words she’d spoken to me, despite my efforts to coax answers from her the first time she came.
For a while, I’d believed she was mute. As Miriam’s companion, I’d been privy to various events my blueblood family was invited to, so I had brief encounters with Mute Ones serving at those gatherings.
The act of removing the tongue was common practice for redbloods who attempted escape.
She reached me and held out the silver plate with a single bread loaf. I was quick to reach for it. Last time she brought it, I hadn’t grabbed it in time and she’d tossed it on the floor.
“Giving up now that your wraithling has been captured?” I stopped mid-chew.
They found Piper. Even if I knew we could not be separated longer than a moon rotation without dire consequences, I hadn’t wanted her in the Kingdom’s clutches.
“I would not suggest impaling yourself. His Highness would resurrect you to punish you.” Why did she sound gleeful delivering the crushing news?
The Warlord’s ability was . . . unnatural and frightening. All her words succeeded in was to pull me back to the present, rousing the urge to do something. Piper could not stay trapped. I could not let them keep her caged. She hated confined spaces as much as I did.
“I have to relieve myself,” I blurted, looking up at her. Her lips flattened. It wasn’t completely false, but I had plenty of experience holding those urges as a lady’s maid.
Standing caused the chains to rattle and clink. “Please.” She turned, ignoring me. “Or I can soil the floor where I stand.”
She sighed and fished into the pocket of her dress.
So she’d had the option to take me to the toilet chamber this entire time.
She crouched next to the spike. A thought so abhorrent and violent flashed through me, making me physically recoil.
If I slammed her down, it would go right through her face .
. . A mouse crawled out from under her wavy hair, perching on her shoulder to watch me as she unlocked the bolt connected to the ground.
Chains clinked, and she stood with the end of it in hand.
Without saying anything, she guided me out of the ostentatious chamber and into the hall.
Every swing of the chain matched her uneven gait as she guided me out, the metal rasping against the collar fastened around my throat.
It was eerily silent, not one scream or howl to rip through the night.
“Do you know where they’re keeping my wraithling?” I asked.
“No questions,” she snapped. “Or you go back.”
“Apologies,” I mumbled, flattening my lips.
Every step I took raised my nerves, but I matched her stride as she led me to the main floor of the foyer.
The two large doors leading outside were shut.
A slim frosted window above the frame allowed light inside.
If I could just escape . . . A woman rounded into the foyer from the left, holding folded sheets within the big basket. She started up the steps.
Seeing her stopped me from attempting to bolt. Then she was out of view as the servant girl pulled me through the opposite alcove. The hall stretched on, but she guided me through a small passage that led to a staircase.
Why is it so dark?
I descended, trying not to panic at the walls closing in around me. After what felt like eons, we reached the base and it stretched in both directions to a line of doors. She poked her chin out toward the first one.
“Through there. Hurry up.”
“Why is the toilet chamber down here?” She rolled her eyes, obviously thinking I was an idiot.
“It’s the servants’ quarters. His Highness doesn’t have our limitations.” She motioned to her bladder.
“Oh.” I kept my shoulders relaxed, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. Once she handed me the chain, I turned to the door, taking my time to stride inside. That bit of his ‘otherness’ wasn’t covered by Miriam’s tutor.
His Highness wasn’t here, and I did not know when he would return. Out of everyone I encountered, including members of the Guard, he was the most terrifying. So if I was going to escape, it was now.
My hand shook, but she could not have seen it with my body in the way.
I quickly went into the toilet chamber and shut the door behind me.
A stone wall stretched to the ceiling, a pace higher than my head, and forced me to stride around the curved entrance that led to the four sectioned-off toilets.
Despite my nerves, I forced myself to relieve the pressure in my bladder. As I did, I scanned for an item to render the girl unconscious.
My throat was getting smaller by the moment, making it difficult to breathe.
I finished and left the stall. Everywhere I looked, everything was cemented in place.
Nothing I could wrench free. I pressed the sink’s lever and water sprayed out, filling the basin.
Liquid spilled over my hands, and I withdrew, flicking my fingers, making the chain rattle and clink against the basin.
I grabbed the chain to stop the clinking, then hesitated.
It was lengthy enough to wrap around her throat. If I cut off her breath, she’d remain unconscious long enough for me to find Piper and get out of here. I could face the ‘how’ of it after I got to Piper. I stretched the chain as far as I could. Exhaling in a slow stream, I readied myself mentally.
Only until she loses consciousness.
I wouldn’t want to kill her. Worse than her death was what would happen to her wraithling. Unlike redbloods, wraithlings could live without their human, but they would become a shell of themselves, reverting to an instinctive state. They lost their ability to reason and their sense of self.
The door creaked, and I backed against the dividing short wall, keeping my grip on the chain stiff so it didn’t clink. She rounded the corner, and I lunged, using her surprise to my advantage. Wrapping it around her neck, I crossed it to the side, struggling against her writhing body.
Her wraithling left her and lunged at me, frantically squeaking as it slid into my sleeping gown. The bite near my collarbone was sudden and agonizing, causing me to loosen my grip on the chain.
She took the give and rammed her shoulder into my chest, over my breasts. Another bite sank into my skin, and I screamed, wrenching the chain harder. It made the girl thrash. I lost my balance, stumbling to the side as she swung in the opposite direction, essentially dragging me.
Cold metal cut into my palms, but I could not stop. Her eyes screamed retribution.
She slammed backwards, and my head ricocheted off the corner of the jutting wall bracing the sinks. My hip hit the porcelain counter. That, combined with another bite from her wraithling, sent shockwaves of agony through me.
She repeated the attack, slamming me even harder.
A bloodcurdling scream left me.
“Enough, Eliza.”
The woman dressed in all black—the one I had seen when I first arrived—ordered as she grabbed Eliza by the hair.
I noticed a tall officer at her back a beat later.
Eliza whirled with her arm raised, but when she saw who had her, her fist dropped.
I leaned into my tender side that she slammed against the sink.
“All he ordered was for us to keep you breathing and intact, but there’s pain you can experience without being marred by it—at least on the outside.
” Her spittle hit my cheek, and Eliza swung her palm, clapping it over my ear.
A sting seared through my eardrums, and I curled forward, cupping my head as I battled a wave of nausea.
Through watery eyes, I watched Eliza limp away, pausing to curtsy at the woman in the black gown. “Lady Drusilla,” she murmured.
I wheezed on a breath, straightening as much as I could.
“Stupid girl.” Lady Drusilla tutted, shaking her head at me. “Take her back to where His Highness left her.”
The officer grabbed my arm and hoisted me up with a single yank. My shoulder screamed. I inhaled hard, and agony sliced through my temple. I half stumbled, half leaned on the officer as he took me away.
I peeked up at him. His focus stayed forward. He had a no-nonsense look to him.
“Please free me,” I whispered, my voice almost blending with my footsteps. I studied his stiff features that hinted at absolutely nothing. Nor did he say one word.
No one would help me.
“Just do as you are told,” he murmured, his eyes meeting mine for a moment.
“But my wraithling—” I cut myself off.
“Accept your fate, Vessel, you’ll just make it worse for yourself by the time Nocturn arrives.”
His voice was soft and low, insistent.
Not one of them cared. If they did, they would have tried to help. So easily, with just a few well-placed words, my will to fight wilted.
The officer guided me to the spear right in the middle. He crouched and attached the end of the long chain through the loop at the side and locked it. Without a word, he departed.