As it turned out, as long as it takes was not long at all.

Keeping track of time in the dungeons was fairly easy despite being underground given, the guards brought Dante and Blukke lunch, then dinner, then breakfast, then lunch again. They were being fed better as prisoners than they had been as escorts, though Dante smelled both his and Blukke’s food thoroughly to make sure they weren’t poisoned.

It was only a couple hours after the second day’s lunch when a new guard entered and passed the message to the three that had taken post outside Dante’s cell that morning that Princess Kallia requested the men be brought to her chambers.

All four guards escorted Dante and Blukke through the castle. When he entered the princess’s suite, Dante searched for Prim. He let his gaze flow over Sarasha, Tuck, and the other four escorts on the walls, Kallia standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed, and Bristol lounging in a chaise with her feet up--then landed on Prim’s form sitting on another chaise.

Her knees were pressed together under her blue skirts and her hands gripped the edge of the seat as she hunched over, but her head was tilted up so she could see him. Her hair was a mess, her eyes red with dark smudges under them. Still, she offered him a closed-lipped smile.

Dante didn’t wait for invitation or instruction as he crossed the room in long, quick strides, brushing off the one guard who attempted to stop him with a phantom hand. He dropped to a knee in front of Prim, placing a hand on each arm. “Bear,” he sighed. “Did you not sleep at all?”

Prim wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her forehead into his.

“She didn’t eat yesterday or today, either,” Bristol offered.

Dante wrapped his wings around them, affording them some privacy. “What can I do?” he whispered.

Prim shook her head, her forehead rolling over his, then pulled back. She kissed him lightly on the mouth before talking just as low. “There was nothing in Roan’s room. The vial is gone--Kallia checked with the guards who readied him for the funeral to make sure it wasn’t on him when he…” She took a deep breath. “We compiled a list of guards and servants whose gifts might have allowed them to access his locked room.”

Good, that was something he could help with. “I’ll talk to them all. I’ll be able to tell if they’re lying.”

Prim nodded. “I think we should talk to Helena. Make sure we’re not looking over any other kind of magic that could have been used.” Prim’s eyes searched his as she stared intently at him. There was something else.

“What is it?”

“You were right about her. About my lessons. She told me they weren’t meant to train me, but to drain me.” She looked away, focusing instead on his wings surrounding them, the bright afternoon light highlighting the veins running through the membranous skin.

Dante wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but he didn’t think now was the time to ask. Especially when she continued.

“Helena took my memories. That’s why I can’t remember so much of my childhood. She said she was protecting me because they were too painful.” Prim finally looked back at Dante, those red eyes again filled with tears. “I think I killed someone.”

Dante wanted to roar at Kallia. Prim needed him--not just because of Roan, but because of this--and he’d been locked away from her. He began to unwrap his wings so he could speak to the princess, but Prim’s hands gripped his face.

“Did you find anything in Sol’s records?”

It had taken a couple hours for the reptilian banker to process all the paperwork for the transfer so Dante and Blukke could start removing items. However, they ended up deciding to leave the chest in the vault at the Bench, not having a more secure location to go through the papers in the complex. Because of how late they’d gotten started, they’d only made it through about a quarter of it before one of the bankers had come to fetch them, saying a kern demanded their presence in the lobby.

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Dante shook his head. “No, but there’s a lot we didn’t get to.”

Prim pressed her eyes shut, forcing out a tear. Dante’s chest felt like it was caving in. He didn’t know it was possible to be so hurt by another’s pain.

“Bear, I’m going to take care of everything. I’ll figure out who killed Roan. I’ll figure out who targeted Kallia. I’ll figure out whatever the fuck it is Helena did to you.” He paused, thinking. “Or would you rather not know?”

Prim opened her eyes. “I…I don’t know.”

He didn’t blame her. He wouldn’t mind not being able to remember the killing he’d done.

She wrapped her arms around him again and he leaned in close to squeeze her tightly.

“I’m going to take care of everything,” he said again.

“No,” she whispered into his ear. “We are. Together.”

Dante’s heart fluttered. Damn fucking straight. “I love you.”

Prim squeezed him tighter. “I love you.”

Dante pulled away then unwrapped his wings to reveal the bright room and multiple pairs of eyes on them. The dungeon guards had left; Blukke and Kallia had taken seats on the two free chaises.

Dante stood up and turned to face Kallia, but Prim’s hand shot out to grasp his, and pulled him to sit next to her on the chaise so close their thighs pressed together, intertwining their fingers.

Apparently Dante’s true form wasn’t the only thing that was no longer a secret from the escorts. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “What’re the rules now?”

Prim brushed a kiss across his lips. “In front of them?” She flicked her eyes to the escorts. “No rules. I don’t care anymore.”

Dante hoped it was because she loved him too much to hide their affection and not because she was too far in a pit of depression to care about anything--like when she dove into the fountain in nothing but a chemise in full view of anyone walking the garden-facing hallways of the castle. But he knew better than to ask.

Kallia smoothed down her white skirts. “Your guards told me you were very compliant.”

Dante knew he should be agreeing, spewing words about his loyalty, but he was too pissed. “I shouldn’t have been. I should have been here with her.”

Kallia licked her lips and Dante prepared for her to call for the guards again. He wouldn’t be so compliant this time. But that’s not what she did. “You’re right. I was focused on testing your loyalty instead of using it in a critical moment. That was a mistake that I won’t make again.”

The princess stood only to take a new seat at her writing desk. She scribbled some words on two sheets of paper then stamped them. She retook her seat on a chaise, handing one parchment to Dante and one to Blukke. “An official pardon for all previous crimes. A fresh start.”

Dante read through the paper, noticing the date was for all previous crimes committed before three days ago. Apparently the princess wasn’t so convinced that they had nothing to do with Roan’s murder as to make the effective date today. His eyes lingered on the stamp, a circle with a vertical line through it, hearts outside the circle at both points where the line and circle connected.

He returned his attention to the princess. “Who else uses stamps like this?”

Kallia shrugged. “No one. That is my personal stamp. Proof that I am the one who decreed your pardon--you’re welcome, by the way.”

Dante shook his head. “But do others use stamps like that, too? Using different shapes?”

The princess breathed a laugh through her nose. “Of course. Everyone does--my parents, nearly all the nobles, reputable businessmen. Or anyone who just wants to pretend they’re important enough to warrant the use of one.”

Dante glanced around the room, taking stock of the escorts--none of whom he trusted--and caught Blukke’s eye, who raised a brow. He’d need to explain to the shifter that there had been such a stamp on the order for Kallia’s job. If only he could remember what the shapes were, he could ask Kallia if she recognized it. With any luck, they’d find an identical one back at the Bench.

Well, with any luck, Blukke would. The shifter would have to continue going through the documents alone while Dante performed the interrogations on Prim’s suspects. Then he’d deal with Helena.

But first, Dante rose to fill a plate with some leftover food from the women’s lunch and brought it back to Prim, sitting it on the chaise beside her. “Eat.”

She did.