The old man turned and headed down the hallway to the right. Terrin and Aleah followed. After what seemed like hours of walking past the glares and unnerving moans of countless prisoners, they reached the cave. When they arrived, Damond dismissed the guard, who left gratefully.
“Where is he going?” Aleah asked.
“I strung him a rope to follow back to the surface, as long as he promised not to tell Nitiri about it.”
Aleah grinned, and they turned their attention back to the lone cell. Prince Kai was shivering uncontrollably in the corner of the dark chamber. Aleah cried out in astonishment and demanded Damond open the door. He complied immediately. She knelt beside Kai and set down the food, then checked his forehead. He didn’t seem like he was going anywhere soon.
“Don’t stand there, gold eyes! Give me that blanket immediately,” she demanded.
Terrin was glad to find, because his errand was over, he seemed to have partial control of his body.
I’m sure I can’t escape if I tried, but until I get new orders, I should be able to move around freely.
He rushed forward and handed Aleah the blanket. She grabbed it without looking at him and quickly wrapped up the shivering royal.
“Don't worry, sir. I will take care of you. This is murder, locking someone with such thin clothes in this cold place. Who put him down here?” Aleah asked, looking at Terrin.
“Her Royal Highness herself," Damond said acidly. “Apparently, he's some sort of prince.”
“Not just any prince," Terrin stuttered bitterly.
At least I can talk a little. She never said I couldn't tell the truth.
Damond raised his eyebrows, and Aleah glanced up at him. The prince looked a little less like an ice cube. He was still shivering, but not as badly. Aleah stood up and looked at Terrin carefully.
“Your eyes are purple now," she observed. “Not to mention you have regained your tongue. What do you know, exactly?”
Terrin opened his mouth to tell her about Nitiri's sorcery or the spider controlling him, but the words wouldn't leave his throat.
I hate this.
“I speak a bit more...because task is finished," he finally managed to say.
Aleah inched around him and hurried out of the cell.
“Whatever you say. I will be back." She gave him a strange parting look then rushed out of the chamber. “Damond? Are you coming?”
Damond stared at Terrin for a few moments longer, then turned slowly and walked through the doorway.
I've fought a spider and scared a governess. What a wonderful way to debut in a new kingdom.
Terrin bent down and pulled off the lid of the dish to reveal a steaming bowl of soup. Kai's dark green eyes lit up at the sight of the warm meal, and Terrin realized he was going to have to feed the prince like a child.
Add this to my list of embarrassments, he thought, bringing the spoon to Kai's lips.
Terrin wasn’t as bad off as most peasants in Amora. He was the son of a healer, so he was considered of a higher class. He was not low enough to be a maid, at any rate. No man was. Then again, he wasn’t high enough to be a king’s maid, even if he was a woman, so in a way he should be flattered. The warm soup seemed to defrost the prince, and he managed a weak smile as he took another sip from the spoon Terrin extended to him.
“I look pretty pathetic, do I not?” Kai asked after Terrin fed him half the bowl. Terrin gave the prince a smile and a nod. Kai drew his eyebrows together. “You have my permission to speak.”
As he was supposed to listen to Kai, the command was liberating. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
“How do you know who I am? And how did you get here? You are obviously not from Lur Alava; you are much too dark. Are you a spy or something?”
“No, my lord. I promise you; I am here against my will. I am one of your subjects, though I have never seen you before today. I am puzzled about how you got here. I saw your corpse in Amora not more than two hours ago. When Nitiri led me down here, I thought I was seeing a ghost!”
Kai sat up and shivered, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. “What do you mean, my corpse? You must be mistaken. Who is Nitiri?”
“I’m afraid I’m not mistaken, Your Majesty. I saw Nitiri over your dead body with a dagger sticking out of your chest. I’ll never forget your hollow eyes as long as I live. It must have been a trick, though. Magic must’ve played a part.”
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Kai took the soup from Terrin’s hands, obviously troubled.
“Do you speak of Queen Regent Nitiri? But I have never met her,” he stated as he took another gulp from the bowl.
“You don’t know her? Surely you do, my lord. She’s the one who did this to you. She was in here with me a few minutes ago, when she made me your servant. She was the one with you beside the river in Amora.”
Kai’s eyes widened, and he looked at Terrin, dazed.
“I was with Duchess Yasmine in Amora, not Queen Nitiri, and that woman was much too old to be the duchess. You must be confused.”
Terrin shook his head, appalled at himself for telling a royal he was wrong.
“No, my lord, I’m sure of her name. I was assisting the rightful heir, Princess Elurra of Lur Alava. She was on the run from Nitiri, who tried to assassinate her. Nitiri posed as a young woman and went to Amora to get rid of you. She’s convinced everyone you’re dead to start a war.”
“She is a viper and always has been,” Damond said, scaring them both.
Kai bristled, and Terrin put a reassuring hand on his blanket-covered shoulder.
“It’s alright. He’s an enemy of Nitiri, so I believe he is a friend.”
Terrin wondered how long Damond had been standing there listening. The old man stepped forward silently.
“I apologize for calling you slow. It sounds as if you are much more aware than you were portraying. It also appears you have seen our lost princess," he said, implying he wanted more information.
“The rightful heir? But is she not only a child?” Kai asked.
“Nitiri claimed the throne as queen regent in Elurra’s stead after King Simon and Queen Iara died, even though she was cast out of the royal family long ago. It was supposed to be a temporary fix until Elurra came of age, but she vanished after Nitiri’s coronation,” Damond said.
Kai was shocked. At that moment, Aleah’s voice called for Damond. The jailer gave them hard looks and then left. A moment later, he returned with Aleah in tow. The prince’s eyes lit up as she entered the cell and wrapped another thick blanket around his trembling body.
“Thank you very much, madam. I am forever in your debt.”
Terrin wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw Aleah’s cheeks flush. Then again, it might be the cold.
“I’m glad to be of service. If there is anything else, sir, let me know,” she said as she curtsied.
Aleah hurried out of the dark room. Damond followed her out. Kai watched her leave; his eyes lingered on the space where she had vanished.
“Who is she, anyway?” he asked lightly.
Terrin simply shrugged. Kai stared after them a moment longer before he turned back and asked, “Why are you here?”
Terrin sighed and sat down on the stone floor. His legs cramped from kneeling, and he felt like it was going to be a long conversation.
“Princess Elurra guessed her aunt would try to assassinate a member of the royal family, since her first attempt at starting a war with Amora failed.”
Kai asked what Terrin was talking about, so he had to start at the beginning. It took quite a long time to explain how they ended up in the woods near the capital of Amora. Then Damond returned and demanded to know the story too, so Terrin had to start all over again. He tried his best to explain everything, but it took an eternity to explain his capture, especially since he couldn’t mention the spider. Whenever he tried to gesture to it, the spider took control of him and cut him off mid-sentence, and then made sure he lowered his hand before it released him again. The sudden change alarmed his listeners, mostly because Terrin’s eyes flickered gold momentarily before returning to normal. By the time he told Kai and Damond about Nitiri’s plans for the slave trade, his mouth was bone dry, and Kai’s soup was long gone. There was a long silence as they thought over his tale.
“Your Highness, how did you get here?”
Damond didn’t say a word, but he looked expectantly at the young prince. Kai pondered for a moment, like he wasn’t sure if he should tell two strangers anything. Terrin couldn’t really blame him.
Frankly, I would freak myself out right now, and Damond gives everyone the creeps. Kai, however, decided they were harmless, and he spoke.
“I met Yasmine—or Nitiri—at the gala celebrating my birthday. We were talking,” he said, his cheeks flushing, a hint something else occurred. “Then she started sobbing out of the blue.”
Damond’s eyebrows raised, and he puffed on his pipe.
“Birthday parties are not a good memory for her, I’m sure,” he muttered.
He found the comment entertaining, but Terrin didn’t understand why. A loud racket started up in one of the tunnels, and Damond let out a string of curses and stomped off. Terrin was relieved he was gone. The old man knew a lot, but it didn’t seem like he was going to share any of it. Terrin looked back at Kai. He was ashamed. He refused to make eye contact with Terrin.
“I met her at the river the next day, as per her request. Then things became strange. She spoke of what she had to do and what she wanted to do. Then she pulled out a knife. She held it to my throat and said she had to kill me. She seemed to be trying to convince herself. Then the determination left her eyes, and she dropped the knife. That is all I remember,” Kai said, looking confused.
Terrin looked at him, startled. “Then why was your body on the ground, Your Highness?”
Kai looked up at him with a baffled expression. “I really have no idea.”
“Either you have a twin brother, or Nitiri used some sort of sorcery.”
Kai’s dark green eyes squinted at him. “I still cannot believe she is who you claim her to be. She looked like she was our age. How can she be the late king’s older sister?”
Terrin realized he must have forgotten to mention her transformation.
“She used some sort of spell. I saw it with my own eyes. According to Snow…I mean, Princess Elurra…Nitiri is her father’s older sister. She made herself look younger to get close to you, Your Majesty.”
Terrin’s heart pounded a little faster because of his fumble with Elurra’s name.
“You do not typically call the princess by her title?” Kai asked, changing the subject. There was a slight tone of reprimand in his voice.
“She asked me not to, Your Highness. She was afraid someone would identify her, and Nitiri would find her.”
“You know Princess Elurra very well, do you not?”
“It is not my place to say, my prince. Who am I to make such a lofty claim?”
“I wonder what we are missing with such rules. People are always people, no matter what class they were born into. The differences society thrusts upon us cause continuous problems and keep many from reaching their full potential.”
Kai’s admittance astounded Terrin because he had always thought the same thing, though he would never tell anyone. Then again, he was a child.
“Why would you tell me such a thing, Your Highness?”
Kai studied him carefully for a moment. “You seem to be stuck in a situation akin to the one I have found myself in.”
Terrin wanted to ask what the prince meant, but he never got the chance.