It seemed Blukke hadn’t resisted the guards when they came to collect him, either, as the bowerbird shifter walked down the dungeon hallway without any hands on him and willingly stepped into the adjoining cell to Dante’s. He plopped down on the cot, wearing his usual clothes of a loose shirt that was unbuttoned too-low and pants--not a guard uniform--and smoothed down his mustache.
Blukke stared at Dante who was standing in his cell, his arms crossed. He remained shirtless and in his uniform pants, still in his natural form with his hair tied back. The shifter shook his head. “I left you alone for--what?--an hour? And you get us thrown back in here?”
Dante didn’t respond.
“What did you do, brother? And why are we still letting them lock us up with the cat out of the picture?”
Dante looked through the bars that separated him from Blukke, ignoring the three guards staring at him from the hallway. “I asked Prim to marry me and she said no.”
Blukke blew out a breath. “It’s a crime to be rejected now, is it? What’s my crime?” He shot the last question toward the guards, but they didn’t so much as look at him. Blukke scoffed.
“The princess thinks I killed Roan. I suppose your crime is just being associated with me.”
Blukke laughed. “No, she doesn’t. If she did, you’d already be dead.”
He had a point. But regardless of what she thought or didn’t think, she had Dante locked up.
“Now tell me what it is about seeing our girl in a state of absolute devastation, wailing over another man, that had you thinking: Yes, this is the perfect time to propose. It doesn’t get more romantic than this.”
Dante growled. “It wasn’t like that. I told her I was in love with her. And she said she loved me, too. Then I proposed.”
Blukke shook his head, his teeth glowing in the weak torchlight, visible under his amused smile. “Same question, brother. What had you thinking that was the appropriate time to confess your love? Just the whole life is short, we can be as stiff as the cat at anytime thing?”
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Dante flapped his wings in annoyance. “I was trying to prove my loyalty to Princess Kallia.”
Blukke dropped his head, his shoulders rolling in laughter. “You are one dumb motherfucker, my friend.” When Blukke was done enjoying the situation, he stood up and walked to the barred wall that separated the two men, gripping the bars as he spoke. “Is it possible she said no because she knew that--that you proposed for Kallia’s benefit, not because you wanted to? Prim doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who’d want to be someone’s obligation.”
She certainly wasn’t. She’d once told Dante she had no interest in kissing someone who didn’t care about her. She wouldn’t want to marry someone who didn’t want to marry her. Dante wasn’t sure if that made the rejection better or not. He wasn’t sure if it was entirely accurate that the proposal was only for Kallia’s benefit.
“She knew I meant it when I told her I loved her.”
Blukke released his grip on the bars, patting them instead to send a thudding sound ricocheting through the dungeons. “That she already knew. Everyone knew.”
Dante scoffed. “Who’s everyone?”
A sly smile spread across Blukke’s face. “Me and the ladies up north, for one. We talked about it at length when you flew off to have your tizzy fit that afternoon she left Pregg.”
“Fucking hens,” Dante breathed.
Blukke chuckled, gripping the bars again. “So what’s the plan, brother?”
Dante shook his head. “There is no plan. Princess Kallia wants me in the dungeons, so in the dungeons I’ll stay.”
Blukke looked him over as if trying to decide if he was serious or not. “For how long?”
“As long as it takes.” Dante sighed, taking a seat on the cot. “Sorry for getting you into this.”
Blukke breathed a laugh. “There’s no one else I’d rather rot away in a dungeon with. Especially if you can shift yourself into a woman from time to time.”
Dante looked at his friend to find him smiling mischievously, turning his head in an over-dramatic wink.
Despite their current situation, Dante laughed. He could honestly say there was no one else he’d rather rot away in a dungeon with, either, as he’d never wish such a fate on Prim.