I feel the guard’s beady-eyed stare bouncing between myself and the Incognito King, the latter stepping so close to me that barely an inch of space separates us.
The world around us fades into oblivion as he looks upon me with such a fierce intensity I almost forget how to breathe. “Not much point anymore, since I’ve found the most important piece.”
The air between us grows so tight I’m certain one small tap will make it shatter.
The next breath I pull crushes my breasts against his solid, muscular chest. “Well, off you go,” I rasp. “Collect your prize.”
“Hard,” he rumbles. “It’s in a problematic position. Difficult to reach.”
I snort.
Please.
“I’m sure you have the resources to work it out,” I mutter, lifting my chin, flicking a look at the soldier behind him. “Let’s get this over with.”
“So eager?” the King asks, and I release a mirthless laugh.
“Yeah, sure. I’m just itching to get drawn and quartered or served to the Moltenmaws on a stick.”
Said nobody ever.
I’m led from the cell, down the hall, taking shuffled steps past caged folk clinging to their bars.
Watching me go by.
But the only stare I can feel is his—drawing a crisscrossed trail over my back, my tunic no doubt stained in blotches of blood both fresh and old.
I swear the ground shakes.
I’m shoved down another hall free from his line of sight, marched toward a trial that’ll pound the gavel on my fate.
No point hoping for a good outcome. There is none. A thought that’s almost … freeing. That lifts a weight from my shoulders and makes my steps feel lighter.
A smile splits my face as I’m nudged up a curl of stairs by one of the boisterous guards …
Might as well have some fun before I die.
Eight guards escort me through a lofty hall, multicolored windows spilling a kaleidoscope of light that slathers the side of my face in too much warmth. I’m slow, every step a shuffled victory, my damp tunic clinging to the torn, tacky flesh on my back.
Each forward motion feels heavier than the last, as if gravity is crushing me beneath the press of its thumb, slowly applying more pressure.
More.
Black spots begin to blot my vision as my leash is tugged by the guard ahead, luring me to turn a corner. We come to the base of a shadowed staircase, and I swallow a bludgeoning groan.
If I’d known this walk would be so tiresome, I might’ve eaten my last serving of gruel rather than sliding it down the line like I’ve done with most of the others.
“Keep walking,” the guard behind me growls, shoving me between the shoulder blades.
A raze of crippling pain threatens to buckle my knees, and my body jolts, air sucking through my clamped teeth. A surge of warm wetness seeps down my spine.
Cracking my neck from side to side, I tackle the staircase one wobbly step at a time until we’re spat out onto a circular iron stage at the base of a domed amphitheater. I’m led forward a few jingling steps, the metal smooth and cold beneath my feet as my leash is connected to an iron loop poking up from the ground.
Above me is a low banister that bands the entire circumference, hosting a ring of males, each flaunting more than one elemental bead.
The Nobles, plus the beady-eyed Chancellor.
They’re garbed in vibrant robes that blend with the ceiling—a mural of Moltenmaws midflight, boasting multicolored plumage and long, feathered tails adorned with a fluffy tuft on the end that veils their poisonous spike.
I look down at myself smothered in blood and filth and who knows what else. Drawing a deep whiff of my shift, my face scrunches.
I cut a glance at the leering Nobles. “Apologies,” I say, my voice echoing through the vast space. “Forgot to bathe for our very important date.”
Silence.
“Never mind, Prisoner Seventy-Three,” I mutter in a forged baritone. “We know you’ve had a lot on your plate.”
My guards thread back down the stairway, and my gaze rises to the second mezzanine that loops around the room. It’s much higher than the one the Nobles sit at, its banister waist high on most folk standing behind it, looking down from their purchased perch. The ones who get a kick out of watching the Nobles unravel lives. Can’t imagine why. But to be fair, I intend to put on a show this dae, so they’ll get their bloodstone’s worth.
I scan the faces, fearful I might find someone I know—someone who might do something stupid—winning myself a kick to the chest when I see the Incognito King staring down at me from his lofty place amongst the commoners.