My muscles tensed at his words. “If you touch her—”
He removed the silver knife from his satchel. “Yes?”
I contemplated begging, offering him anything he wanted in exchange for my sister’s safety. But what did I have to offer that he couldn’t freely take here? The guards certainly wouldn’t protect me.
When he reached for my arm, I didn’t struggle. I had healed yesterday, and I would heal again today, though I wondered how long I could last like this. I needed to strike when I had some kind of advantage; otherwise the guards would catch me, even if I did manage to kill Ceren. But I couldn’t afford to wait too long. At some point, I may not have enough strength to recover.
He took less blood this time, but I was too weak to stand by the time he was finished. He lowered me back onto the straw with the same gentleness he’d shown yesterday. “I’ll have the guards bring you some beef liver stew.”
He chuckled when I cringed despite my weakness. “And some bread, if you like.” He stroked my hair, which had come unraveled during the night, as my head swam with dizziness.
At first, when I heard the familiar opening notes to the song Ebb sometimes sang to herself, I thought I must be dreaming. I opened my eyes and looked up at Ceren. He was singing to me, in the same surprisingly beautiful voice I’d heard that night by the underwater lake. Hot tears seeped out of the corners of my eyes and ran down my cheeks into the straw beneath me. I wanted to attack him now, when he was vulnerable, but I was too weak to reach my boot. Why hadn’t I done it when I had the chance? Lady Melina had warned me not to let another opportunity pass me by.
My Varenian morals were going to be the death of me.
When he was finished, Ceren leaned down, the strands of his hair brushing against my skin like feathers, and kissed me on the forehead.
* * *
Many bleedings followed, so many I lost count. I slept as much as I could, my dreams my only escape from the misery of the dungeon. I was dreaming of my sister when I startled awake at the sound of Lady Melina’s voice coming down the hall, followed by the angry grumblings of one of the guards. I had no idea how long I’d been down here—the only break in my days beside the bleedings was the single meal I was brought, and even though my stomach turned at the smell of it, I ate all of the liver stew I could. One day I would have an opportunity, I told myself, though it was starting to feel more and more like a lie.
“Take your hands off of me!” Melina said in her soft Varenian accent. I couldn’t see her, but I could envision her chin lifting in indignation as they manhandled her through the corridors.
“Get in there,” the guard grunted, and a moment later, I heard the clang of the metal door closing behind her. She wasn’t next to me, but she was close by. I could hear her muttering about the dirty straw and lack of ventilation.
The guard’s steps retreated back down the hallway, and for a moment I listened in silence, wondering what Melina could possibly have done to get herself thrown in the dungeon.
“Are you there, child?” she asked once the guard was out of earshot.
I sat up and scooted toward the door of my cell. “I’m here. What happened? Why have you been imprisoned?”
“I declared that Prince Talin was the legitimate heir to the throne, and Prince Ceren a murderer who had killed Queen Talia.”
My mouth fell open. “What? When?”
“Tonight at dinner.” To my surprise, Melina almost sounded amused. “It went about as well as you might expect.”
Gods. Now we were both trapped. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“It was the only way I could think to see you.”
I slumped back against the door. “You had yourself imprisoned for me?”
Her laugh was low and throaty. “Don’t flatter yourself, child. I did this for Varenia, not for you.”
“I don’t understand.”
She lowered her voice so that I had to strain to make out the words. “One of my spies told me about your healing abilities.”
I wanted to cry, but even that would require too much energy. “I’m so sorry. Now that Ceren knows about the blood coral, I’m afraid our people are in more danger than ever. And there’s no one left to warn them.”
“There’s a way out of the mountain even Ceren doesn’t know about,” she whispered. “And if you’re willing to trust me, I believe we can get you out of here.”
In my present state, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to escape even if the guards were to open the doors and personally escort me out of New Castle. “What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me, child.”
“Will he kill you?” I asked.
“Quiet!” the guard yelled as he passed our cells. “Prince Ceren said there should be no talking!”
But he hadn’t said anything about singing, apparently. That night, Melina wove me a strange song. I memorized the words until I heard them in my sleep, until they became my prayer.
Deep in the mountain,
Far below,
Beyond the lake,
Where the glowworms glow,
The path is clear,
To Varenian eyes,
Follow the blood,
To where freedom lies.
* * *
Finally, Ceren came for us, when I’d begun to think I might spend the rest of my life inside this prison.
I could hear the guards straightening and Lady Melina rustling in her straw at the sound of his voice. “Ready the women.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” one of the guards said. A moment later I heard Melina’s cell open, then a thud. “Get up, wretch, or I’ll kick you all the way to the gates.”
I heard heavy footsteps, and then the guard was at my door. I’d been offered fresh clothing on multiple occasions, but I had only changed twice, when I’d been given sufficient privacy to do so. I was beyond caring about modesty now, but I was afraid that if I removed my boots they’d see the knife, the map, and my pearl necklace. Fortunately, someone—I assumed it was Ebb—had made sure I was given clean riding pants and simple tunics to wear, not gowns that would have made it harder to conceal my contraband.
The guard pinched his nostrils with one hand as he hauled me to my feet. “Go on then,” he said, shoving me out of the cell into the corridor, where Lady Melina stood with her hands bound with rope. Her gown was a bit stained and wrinkled, but she wasn’t as filthy as I was. She must have taken all the clean clothing she was offered.
My hair hung in knotted clumps, but I squared my shoulders and followed the guard. I could make out Ceren’s silver-white hair ahead of us in the corridor, leading the way back up the mountain.
“Where are they taking us?” I whispered to Melina.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Just keep your wits about you. There may be an opportunity.”
I didn’t see how I could possibly escape with my hands bound and multiple guards surrounding me, but I closed my mouth and did what she said. We passed Ceren’s study and continued past the dining hall, into the great hall. The throne sat empty, as it had since the day I arrived at New Castle. But the hall itself was full of people, more crowded than I’d ever seen it. The lords and ladies stared at us as we were led through the room toward the towering iron doors. Some of them appeared to be crying.
A woman materialized at my side, and I turned to see Ebb, a handkerchief raised to her nose.
“Ebb, what are you doing here? What’s going on?”
“The king is dead, milady,” she said. Her eyes were red from crying, making the irises even bluer than normal.
My blood roared in my ears like the ocean. “When?”
“Last night.”
“Has Ceren declared himself king?”
She shook her head. “The duel is scheduled for dawn, if Talin makes it back in time. But for now, Ceren remains re
gent.”
“What does that mean?” I asked as we neared the doors.
“He’s going to have you both thrown from the mountain.”
“What?” I cried as we were pulled through the doorway onto the wide overhang that served as the entrance to the castle. The light was so bright after so many days in full darkness that I closed my eyes against it. When I finally blinked them open, I saw that crowds had gathered here, too. Among the nobility in their mourning attire, I spotted a few commoners, with their tanned skin and homespun clothing in shades of cream and brown.
Ebb was lost to me in the crowd as I was dragged up to a platform alongside Lady Melina, who somehow kept her face a mask of serenity. With my back to the open edge of the cliff, I could feel the wind whipping at my hair and tunic.
What had happened to Ceren needing me alive? I was more frightened than I’d ever been, even when Zadie had told me about her plan to scar herself. If Ceren was willing to kill me, then that meant he’d found what he needed in my blood, and there would be nothing to stop him from slaughtering Varenians for his own gain.
“Lords and ladies of the court,” Ceren said, appearing before the platform in a rich black doublet and trousers. His hair was pulled back, and a circlet of dark metal sat atop his head. “As you know, my beloved father, your king, left us last night to take his place among the stars with his forefathers. Which means that it has fallen to me to enact justice against these two traitors to the crown.”
He turned toward us, his face unreadable, as always. “Lady Melina and my betrothed, Zadie, have been tried and found guilty of treason. The punishment for their crimes is death.”
A murmur ran through the crowd, but I couldn’t tell if it was in disapproval or agreement.
“They will be thrown from Mount Ayris. If their souls are innocent, let them take flight. Otherwise, we shall watch them fall.”
I took a step closer to Lady Melina, closing my eyes as two guards approached the platform.
“It’s going to be all right, child,” Melina said calmly.
When I felt the guard’s hands on my still-bound arms, I shoved against him, but it was no use. The man was a giant, and despite all the liver stew I’d consumed, I was weak from the bleedings and being confined in the dark. As he dragged me toward the edge of the platform, I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming. My eyes met Ceren’s, and for a moment, I thought I saw a shadow of doubt sweep his brow, but it was gone again in an instant.
“Push her,” he said, and my stomach fell.
“Wait!” Talin burst through the crowd, his eyes wild as he searched for Ceren. “Stop this at once!”
“I am regent until tomorrow,” Ceren said. “You have no authority to make such demands.”
Talin trembled with barely suppressed rage. “Father would not have wanted this!”
Ceren raised his eyebrows. “You speak for the dead now, brother?”
Talin lowered his voice and murmured something I couldn’t hear. Ceren’s eyes flicked to the guard holding me, and he held up a finger, commanding him to wait. The brothers stepped aside and bowed their heads in conversation while I stood just a foot from the edge, the weight of gravity already pulling at me, as if trying to convince me how much easier it would be just to let myself go.
Ceren straightened and strode toward me, and for a moment I was afraid he was going to push me off the cliff himself. Instead, he whispered something to the guard, who hauled me back off the platform to the iron doors.
I strained against the guards to see Lady Melina being led farther onto the platform. “No!” I shrieked, so loud that half the nobles turned to look at me. But my eyes were on Ceren as he nodded at the guard.
“Long live the queen!” Melina screamed, and then she was gone.
32
Sobs racked me as I was taken back down through the corridors of the castle toward the dungeon. I had dared to hope that we might make it out of here. Both of us. But as I relived Melina’s final moments over and over, I remembered what she’d said when she had first come to the dungeon: I did this for Varenia... I believe we can get you out of here.
For some reason, she had known she wouldn’t make it out of this alive. And she believed that by saving me, we could somehow save Varenia.
Long live the queen. The words rang in my ears, as they would in the ears of every lord and lady, every man, woman, and child who’d stood there and watched Lady Melina fall to her death. But what queen? Me? She couldn’t believe Ceren would marry me now, after everything. If there had been more to her plan than escape, she had never had the chance to share it with me.
Tears streaked down my cheeks as I returned to my filthy straw, knowing that sleep was the only escape from my sorrow.
I had nearly fallen asleep when I heard a sound in the corridor. Unlike the heavy thump-thump of the guards’ footsteps, this was a softer sound, like slippers gliding over the stone floor. Or robes. I sat up, terrified that Ceren was coming for me.
But it was Ebb’s voice on the other side of my door. “Are you all right, milady?”
“Ebb.” My voice broke on her name. “I can’t believe he killed Lady Melina.”
“I’m so sorry. I know she was a friend.”
I thought of how Talin had said she had no friends, but she’d been more loyal than my own mother had. I wiped my tears away and peered at Ebb through the tiny barred window in the door. “What are you doing down here? Ceren will kill you if he finds out.”
She shook her head. “The guards know me. I come to the dungeons sometimes to visit my brother.”
“Your brother? But I thought...”
“I said he was here in the mountain, yes. He used to work for the king, but when Ceren took over, he had my brother locked up for conspiracy. There were never any formal charges.”
“Then how did you get a position here?”
“I used a different surname. Ceren had never seen me before, so he had no reason to think I was related to Aro. That’s my brother.”
“You took the job so you could be close to him?”
Ebb nodded. “I never imagined I would be so lucky to work for a mistress as kind as you.” She placed her fingertips on the edge of the window, and I covered them with mine. “I went to find Grig as soon as I heard Lady Melina’s claim that Prince Ceren had murdered Queen Talia. In my heart, I knew it was true, and that someone had to fetch Prince Talin as quickly as possible. He never would have stood for you being locked up if he’d been here.”
“Thank you, Ebb,” I breathed. “If he hadn’t come back when he did, I would be dead.”
“I don’t believe Prince Ceren ever intended to kill you, milady,” she said quietly. “His lookouts reported that Prince Talin was returning, and because the king was dead, he knew he had to find some way to claim the throne without fighting his brother for it.”
“What way?” I asked, dread creeping up my spine.
She was quiet for a moment. “Prince Talin gave up the throne to save your life.”
A chill passed over my entire body at her words. “No.”
Somewhere in the distance, a door clanged shut, followed by the low rumble of male voices. “I should go, milady. Prince Talin will come for you in the morning. It’s going to be all right.”
“How?”
She squeezed my hand. “Just trust me, milady.”
“Thank you, Ebb.” My voice broke again, and tears filled my eyes. “For everything. I couldn’t have survived here without your friendship.”
She smiled and kissed my fingers. “Neither could I.”
* * *
I was dreaming of my sister again when something startled me from my sleep. I bolted upright, hand already at my boot, and peered into the darkness.
“I’m glad to see you were able to get some rest,” Ceren said, his voice close. Too close. “You look beaut
iful when you sleep.”
Where was his torch? How could he possibly see me in the inky darkness?
“My vision is poor in the daylight,” he said, once again gleaning my thoughts without me having to voice them. “But I can see quite well in the dark.”
I slowly drew my hand away from my boot, afraid I would give the knife’s presence away.
“I can hear well in the dark, too. It’s how I knew you were following me down to the lake that night. Your heart is beating so fast right now, like a bird’s. Are you afraid of me, Nor?”
His breath brushed against my cheek, and I shrank away from it. He was in the cell with me. How had I not heard him come in? The guards had unbound me when they tossed me back in the cell, but without light, I would be a fool to try to stab Ceren. I’d just as likely end up stabbing myself. The idea that he could see me while I couldn’t see him made me tremble.
Something soft brushed my arm and I lunged forward, toward where I hoped the door was. But Ceren’s arms circled my chest before I’d gone two feet, closing around me like a steel trap. “Shhhh,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m going to set you free, little bird.”
“What are you talking about?” I breathed.
He stroked a finger against my cheek. “Did you really think I’d have you killed? That I would waste such beauty, such strength? When I heard my brother would be here in time for the duel, I had no choice but to use you as bait.”
“And now?” I said through gritted teeth.
“Now I’m here to offer you a bargain.”
I scoffed. “A bargain? Didn’t you already make a deal with your brother?”
His warm chuckle made me shudder. “Everything has always come so easily to my brother. Strength, kinship, women. But you were never meant to be his.” Ceren loosened his grip to reach for something, and I took the opportunity to go for my knife. But before I could free it from my leather boot, he lit a torch that illuminated the entire cell, revealing just how disgusting my living conditions were.
Crown of Coral and Pearl Page 32
