Prisoners of Scythia Shifter Box Set

by Lisa Daniels

  I watched her blindly follow Falmen’s second-in-command, Jacob, into the dungeon. If she was lucky, she would die down there.

  I watched for several moments, trying to collect my thoughts, and to ensure that the unconscious woman was not killed. Unlike the people around me, I knew that she was in much better hands than the woman who had been led downstairs only a few minutes ago.

  Ironic. The monster isn’t who anyone else would expect. One of the hangers-on tapped my shoulder. Making sure to keep my dress as still as possible, I turned my head to glare at her. Immediately the woman drew back.

  “You didn’t seem to be responding, your highness. The steward is looking for you, and I thought you might want to meet with him.”

  I looked at her for a moment.

  She was clearly uncomfortable because I didn’t say anything. Trying to cover her discomfort, she pointed toward the main palace gates.

  Giving her the same look for a little longer, I turned and walked in the opposite direction. I was done with putting up with the hypocrisy and cruelty of this place.

  But before I disappeared, I was going to make good on my threat to Falmen.

  Chapter 1

  It All Goes Wrong

  I didn’t even try to hide my contempt as I walked purposefully away from everyone enjoying the spectacle. Guards were beginning to remove the rubble to extract the shifter and his prize. Already, I could hear him groaning—a testament to just how durable they were. Of course, the guards could try to stab him, but they would likely find they would need new swords if they tried. I had heard stories of how durable shifter skin could be.

  Gritting my teeth, I marched toward where I knew my father was. No doubt a few people would make it difficult for me to meet up with him, but I had something that would ensure my father made time to talk to me.

  It was certainly a gamble what I was about to do, but since my father had basically refused to talk to me in private for the last few weeks, he was forcing this on himself.

  And if I had any kind of decent luck, the chaos I was about to start would give me even more of a cover to get away unnoticed for a while.

  I marched right up to the door where I knew my father was taking his breakfast and talking with a number of other high-ranking men and visitors from other countries.

  The guard stepped in front of me. “Sorry, princess, but—”

  I stood still and glared at him. “What did you call me?”

  He looked at the other guard with a curious look. The second guard moved in front of the door. “My apologies, your majesty, but your father is currently in the midst of negotiations.”

  I felt the wry smile cross my face. “Oh, I know exactly what they are doing in there.”

  The second guard looked down at me, “You should have shown up for the meeting this morning. Your father is quite angry.”

  “Good. Now step aside.”

  He adjusted his stance, trying to look more intimidating, and the first guard who spoke to me attempted to do the same. “If you will please return to your—”

  “If you do not step aside this minute, I shall make a scene that will make you regret that you ever took this position.”

  “The only orders I must follow are your father’s.”

  Cocking my eyebrow, the corner of my mouth twitched up. “So be it.” Taking a deep breath, I shouted, “Prince, I accept your hand.”

  The guards in front of me stood stunned. They looked at each other as if they had no idea what to do about this unexpected turn of events. Because they had barred me from going where I wanted, they had ended up being the reason that the news of my acceptance of the prince would travel much further and faster than if they had let me through. They were guards, and this kind of thing was far outside of their training, yet here they were in the middle of international negotiations—unwilling participants in a drama that they knew was not going to end well for them.

  I knew that my grin was wicked as I heard the commotion in the room behind the door. The color had completely drained from both of their faces and they stood like statues, staring at me. The door was thrown open and my father stood in front of more than a dozen men. The look on his face was one of tempered fury.

  “What is the meaning of this?” His words were predictable.

  Clearing my face of nearly all emotion, I gave a low curtsy. “I wanted to speak with you to let you know that I have made my choice. However, your guards saw fit to try to teach me a woman’s place.”

  There was an exchange of looks by the men behind him, and I knew what they were thinking. This was going to get very interesting. My role was to appear to be a daft woman, and only my father would know that it was an act.

  Motioning me forward, his eyes went to the guards. “We will speak later about your denying the princess access upon her request.”

  I gave the guards a knowing look as I passed through the doors. They had just been unfortunate in their role, but I did not feel sorry for them. Had I been a prince, they would not have hesitated to let me enter. Instead, they had decided to try to teach me a lesson, tried to make me pay for not having shown up when my father wanted to talk to me in front of these men earlier. I knew that this had not been a directive from my father because he would never allow someone of such a lowly station to look down on his daughter. It was one of the few predictable things about him. I was a woman, but I was royalty, which meant they were beneath me.

  I did not care what happened to them. The look on my father’s face let me know that I had more than enough to worry about for myself.

  The men who had been interrupted from their meal returned to their seats as my father motioned for me to sit in the chair beside him. I gave another curtsy and said, “I will not stay long. You may go ahead and sit.” I looked around the room full of men waiting expectantly for me. “I do not intend to stay. And I apologize for missing you earlier.” I looked down as if I were ashamed. “I heard that some of the new silks had arrived and could not help but go see them.” It was exactly what the men would expect to hear, a silly woman so flighty that she would miss something important to see fabrics. There was a chuckle around us at my explanation, but my father was looking at me, the smile on his face not reaching his eyes. He knew that was not why I had not shown up earlier.

  He reached out and patted my shoulder. “That is quite alright. I understand. I will have the steward bring you to me the next time I have some time to have our discussion.” The king was trying very hard to send me away before the words I had said outside could be discussed.

  As if on cue, the Prince of Evinough walked over to us. “If you will excuse me, your majesty, I believe that she came to talk to us about a different matter.” Turning to me, the prince gave me a radiant smile, his blond hair falling over the side of his face. With a smooth movement, he pushed it behind his ear.

  For a brief moment, I wanted to feel lucky that he was looking at me like that. He was a stunning man with gorgeous blue eyes. But I had heard about what he was actually like. How his female servants often disappeared, and that there were many of his bastards all around his country. The prince was gorgeous, but heartless.

  The look in his eyes told me that he thought his appearance was working on me.

  Can’t let him think differently. The thought reminded me that I needed to act like the shy, blushing twit he thought I was. My father would not let it be known just how difficult I was, not with leaders of other countries. That would damage his reputation. For a brief moment, I thought about how angry I had been moments before, bringing a little color to my cheeks. Giving a giggle, I looked away from him, an apparent blush on my cheeks.

  The prince took my hand. When I looked at him, he slowly brought his lips to my hand, never breaking eye contact. “Go ahead, my dear. What was it that such a lovely young woman would want to say to such a stuffy group of men?”

  Giggling again, I fluttered my eyelashes at him, feeling nausea at the fact that this man still held my hand in his. C
learly he thought that his “accidental” encounters with me around the palace had finally yielded the results he wanted. I had heard what he said about me behind closed doors, none of it as kind as he tried to be in my presence. To his credit, the repulsion that he felt toward me was not obvious on his face or in his stance while actually addressing me.

  Unable to continue looking at him, I turned to my father. “I know that you never expected to hear me finally make a decision, but I have. I choose to marry this man before me.” I forced a smile on my lips as my eyes slid back to the handsome, heartless man in front of me. “I know that you had already promised my hand, but I no longer want to wait. I want to be married in seven days.”

  There was a collective gasp from the men around the room. The look in my father’s eyes told me exactly what he thought about what I was saying. In front of these men, though, there was nothing he could do but pretend to feel something else.

  Throwing his arms out, the king boomed, “What a marvel of a day it is! My daughter has finally taken an interest in her future duties!” Pulling me into a fatherly hug, he squeezed me incredibly hard. Nearly unable to breath, I simply took his anger at what I had done. As he crushed me to him in what would appear to be joy, the man hissed in my ear, “I would make you pay for this, but something tells me that your choice will do far more to harm to you than it will to me. Still, I can make your remaining time in my palace absolutely miserable.”

  My father pulled back, his black eyes sparkling. “It seems we now have something to celebrate!”

  Lord Derrick looked like a storm cloud. He was more than two decades older than me, and he looked it. Had that been the only problem with him, I could have managed it, but the rumors surrounding him were even worse than those surrounding the prince. He wasn’t a womanizer; he was a sadist. Yet my father really wanted me to marry him in the end because it would be the greatest benefit. It had turned out that it was much more difficult to sell marrying me to someone in his own kingdom since the lord had heard some rumors about me. Still, my father seemed to be making progress. Now all of those efforts had proven to be a waste of both of their time following my very public pronouncement that I was willing to marry the prince. The woman’s consent was never needed for royalty or nobility, but it certainly made things easier.

  As the men talked and clapped the prince on the back to congratulate him on winning over the flighty princess, Lord Derrick collected his things. Standing tall, he broke into the celebration, “I am sorry to dispel this warm scene, but it appears my role here is done. Your majesty.” He gave a quick bow to the king, then strode toward the door. He was far more difficult to read than the prince, and it was clear that my father was very concerned with this turn of events.

  Before my father could follow him, though, I cut into the discussions around me. “Um, your majesty?”

  His black eyes flashed as he looked at me, and for a second I was reminded just how similar we were, from our intellect and suspicions to our expressions and sharp, black eyes. I could see how he was gritting his teeth as he looked at me. My own expression would have matched his if I had not needed to play a particular role.

  Trying to look shy and unassuming, I said, “I just wanted to let you know that one of them snuck into the courtyard.”

  My father’s eyes narrowed, then went wide. “What do you mean, my darling daughter?” I heard the sarcasm, but also knew that I had his full attention, even as Lord Derrick left the room.

  “The guard took a shifter in the courtyard. He was apparently here to help his friend.”

  The entire room grew silent at my words, and I knew that I had everyone’s attention.

  Continuing, I said, “I knew that no one else would be able to come in and let you know that Falmen allowed the creature to take a citizen as his own pet during the incident.”

  “What do you mean, my girl?” My father had stepped closer to me and he was glowering down at me.

  “I don’t know how it happened, but the shifter had taken a prisoner. Captain Falmen tried to kill them both, but utterly failed on both accounts. You know what that means for the woman.”

  My father gritted his teeth. While the men around us would think that he was angry about one of our own becoming the property of a shifter, I knew that he was trying to figure out what my angle was in telling him. There weren’t many people in our kingdom who had much knowledge about shifters, but every man in the room was not only knowledgeable about the species, they were afraid. I watched as the gears in the king’s head spun. His eyes widened ever so slightly, and it was like a light had gone off in his head. His face was like a thunderstorm and I knew that it was taking everything he had not to hurt me in front of all the men. I was forcing his hand to take action against Falmen. Falmen may have been a thorn in his side, a constant problem when it came to my father’s duplicitous nature, but the captain’s own straight-arrow nature made the king look like a much better person than he was. To have such an honest man in his employ reflected well on him, and the city’s crime had never been so low as it was now under Falmen’s watch. Having to punish someone who was so well regarded would be a stain on my father’s reputation, but only a small one. It was much more of an inconvenience than anything, especially since my father now had very little time to prepare for the marriage. The problem for my father was in determining what I wanted out of letting him know. My father looked at me and simply said, “We shall have to get to the bottom of this.”

  Immediately, he began issuing orders to his servants, and the room became incredibly active.

  The day had been very busy already, but I had my own plans to follow now. For a brief second, I watched the men for my opportunity to slip away unnoticed. Now that he thought he had won me over, the prince didn’t spare me a second look or apparent glance, not when there was some excitement going on elsewhere in the palace to divert his attention. A sly grin spread across my lips as I turned to head to one of the side doors.

  Something fell off the table near me, soaking my dress. I looked down to see blood-red wine running down the folds of my dress, and to my horror, there were a couple of shapes that were made a little more obvious. I looked up, hoping no one had noticed.

  My father’s face filled my vision, and his grin was wicked. There was no doubt that what had just happened was no accident as he looked down at my dress knowingly. He called out to one of the guards who had entered the room when my father had started to give orders. “Please make sure my daughter makes it safely to her room and have the maids help her change. She clumsily spilled wine all over her beautiful dress.”

  “It’s alright, Father, I can manage—”

  I tried to smile, hoping that my future husband would hear and come to help me. There was no doubt my father could see the shape of the dagger now covered in wine. The prince would not have noticed, and, of course, my father would not point it out. The brief flash of hope was quickly extinguished as I saw the prince glance back at me, laugh, then leave the room.

  My father leaned forward so that only I could hear, “I don’t know what you have planned, but your room is going to be your prison until the day I finally get rid of you. It’s a shame. You used to be such a good girl. I’ll never understand why you turned into such a little bitch. Well, soon enough you won’t be my problem anymore.” He stood as a couple of guards came up beside me. “Make sure she gets to her room, lock the door, then keep a watch on her. With the recent events, we must keep her safe from intruders.”

  With that, there was no chance that I would be able to get where I needed to be. There were no passages near my room and now there would be guards outside of my room until my marriage.

  This was not what I had wanted at all. And there was no way to get word to him about what had happened.

  “Please follow me, your majesty,” a voice said from nearby. I looked up into the face of a guard and gave a slight nod. Perhaps I would be able to duck into a passage?

  Even that hope was quickly dashe
d as two more guards followed me. Slipping away unseen would be impossible with so many people leading me to my room.

  I clenched my fists as I thought about how to hide the items in my dress before the servants arrived. And more importantly, how I was going to get out of my current situation. This was not a turn of events that I had even considered, and now I only had seven days to figure out how to get out of a trap that I had created for myself when I put punishing Falmen above my escape.

  Yet I found it impossible to regret my decision.

  Chapter 2

  The King’s Prisoner

  My brain worked furiously as we walked up the stairs. I barely registered what the guards said to me, and as soon as the door was closed, I began to remove everything in the folds of my dress and hide them around the room. Knowing my father, he would have the place searched next, so I was going to need to be incredibly ingenious with hiding them. However, my more immediate problem was making sure I removed everything from my dress so that the maids could say that they didn’t find anything when they helped me out of it. Then I would need to find an item to hide in the folds that would look like the dagger.

  Still, none of this was impossible as long as I moved quickly.

  Moving as soundlessly as I could, I made sure that my dress was empty. At some point, the basket of food had fallen from it, which I was grateful for. Trying to explain that would have been nearly impossible. And it would have implicated Mrs. Teasdon. Hopefully someone was enjoying the food, though I wished that I had been able to get it to the person I had planned to meet. He certainly needed it.

  As I considered this, a strange motion from one side of my dress reminded me of the unidentified object that had been resting on the table when I had left the armory. It was far more difficult to remove it than it had been to store it. Fighting with my dress, I was finally able to pull it out, tearing part of the dress in the process. With a few curses, I tried to hide the object around the room, but there was nowhere that I could find that would not stand out. Finally, I shoved it under a pillow.