I brushed a lock of hair away from Jacinda's face and her lower lip quivered as she tried to get a handle on herself. “Can I assist you in any way, Princess?” she asked.
I nodded, looking to Kyra beside me. “Yes. In fact, you all can.”
The arena was quiet now and my guards stood far enough away that there was no chance of them hearing me. Not that I expected any of them would particularly object to what I was thinking. No one wanted Kahn as their Emperor. But the law was the law. And Osarian guards had to abide by it. All but one of them anyway. Cassian will help me until his dying breath.
“How?” Kyra asked, her eyes widening with hope.
I inhaled slowly, drawing my shoulders back as I made a decision. “You can help me figure out a way to stop this wedding. Because I will not marry Kahn.”
“My liege is a Count of Carubai! You can’t manhandle us this way and expect to get away with it!” Cassian snarled.
Oh Kyra, I could kiss you right now.
I was still laying on the stretcher but my body was completely free of pain. Somehow, despite the fact that I’d barely managed to utter the word to agree to the wish, Kyra had known that I had and had granted it anyway.
“Save your breath, traitor. These men are loyal to me and have no interest in your lies,” Gothel mocked.
Cassian began to protest again and a heavy oomph sounded as one of the guards punched him in the gut.
The swaying rhythm of the stretcher as the men carried it was rocking me from side to side while I lay on my back.
I opened my eyes a sliver, looking out at my surroundings without letting any of the people close to me know that I was awake. My head was turned to my left which meant I could only get a look at half of my surroundings but it was also easier to hide the fact that I was awake this way.
With the amount of blood coating me, it didn’t seem like any of them had noticed the fact that Kyra’s magic had healed my body and they hadn’t made any attempt to restrain me. But by the sound of Cassian’s outraged voice, I was fairly certain we weren’t in a good situation.
“I thought you were taking him to a doctor?” Cassian growled.
We were moving through a part of the gardens I didn’t recognise and I wondered where the hell this bitch was taking us. I counted six guards walking to my left, two of whom were restraining Cassian. Plus four carrying my stretcher. Plus however many walked to my right. Plus Gothel. Damn. We were outnumbered. Really outnumbered.
We passed a wall manned with even more guards and I began to wonder whether I should just leap up and make a run for it.
They thought I was mortally wounded, I had the element of surprise on my side. Of course that wouldn’t be much help to Cassian but it was every man for himself. He’d have done the same in my position.
A strange prickling feeling started in my gut and the more I focused on it, the more it grew. I tried to ignore it but it wouldn't let me.
Okay, so maybe Cassian wouldn’t just run off and abandon me. The fact that he was walking by my side at this moment instead of fighting his way free was probably proof of that fact. And maybe it wouldn’t sit quite right with me if I left him behind either.
Goddammit.
I needed to come up with another plan. And fast.
We slowed as the guards reorganised themselves and Cassian was shoved ahead of me before we began climbing a set of brick steps cut into the side of a huge, curving structure. We climbed higher and higher, the moonlight glimmering down on us in the clear sky as we ascended.
“I did consider turning the two of you into more of my puppets,” Gothel commented. “But you’ve become too much of a thorn in my side. And the Princess doesn’t need any more distractions from her new husband. With you out of the way, I can find the lamp and claim the power of the genie for myself. It’s such a shame her master was rendered unconscious before he could make any final wishes, don’t you think?”
“You won’t get away with this, you heinous bitch,” Cassian snarled.
Gothel laughed dismissively.
We came to a halt and the men carrying me turned so that I could see a large cage hanging suspended from a chain in front of us.
“What the hell is this?” Cassian demanded. “This dungeon hasn’t been used in over a century. It was deemed inhumane by Emperor-”
“You really aren’t getting it, are you?” Gothel sighed. “Everything you think you know about this kingdom is wrong. I’m in charge now and I’m changing the way we do things around here. This is just the start and it’s too bad you won’t be around to see how it ends.”
She waved a hand and the guards surrounding Cassian started herding him towards a wide hole cut in the top of the stone structure we were standing on.
It was now or never. If he fell in there I had no idea how I was supposed to get him out. And apparently my stupid conscience had chosen this particular moment to make an appearance after me living a life without its existence.
A guard stepped close to my stretcher and I lifted a dagger from his belt as he passed. I took a breath, wondering if I might be able to convince myself to just cut and run after all, then exhaled as I realised it was a no go. Me and Cassian were bound together now, whether I liked it or not. Kyra had called us friends and as much as it disgusted me to admit it, she may have been onto something. Whatever it was, I was pretty sure I was about to get a big fat reminder of why I’d never had one before.
I opened my eyes properly, throwing myself off of the stretcher and snatching the closest guards’ scimitar from his belt as I drove the dagger into his chest before he’d even realised what was happening.
I let out a challenging yell, swiping the blade at the next guard and cutting into the meat of his belly. Cassian leapt on my distraction, throwing himself at the guards who held him and falling amongst them in a tangle of limbs.
The rest of the guards recovered quickly, releasing their own weapons as they raced to intercept me. I took the sensible route and backed up quickly, moving to join Cassian as he managed to free himself from the men he’d taken out.
One of them looked dead, the other may have been about to follow him shortly.
“What’s the plan?” Cassian asked as he moved to my side and the line of ten guards advanced on us steadily.
I tossed the dagger to Cassian as we were forced to back up and Gothel released a noise of exasperation.
“You’re going in the pit whichever way this goes, Count Nazari. The only choice you have is whether you’re in one piece or ten,” she growled.
More guards were coming now. Twenty at least. And even if we could somehow fight our way our past them then we’d still be trapped within the palace walls. I’d gotten out of some damn hairy situations before now but none of them came close to this. As much as I hated to admit it, Gothel was right; we had nowhere to run.
“Shit,” I cursed, taking another step back.
“My thoughts exactly,” Cassian agreed.
“This is what I get for trying to save your ass,” I growled. “Not that I’ll get any thanks for it.”
My heel slipped as I reached the edge of the hole and my arms wheeled madly as I almost fell back into it. Cassian caught my arm, righting me and my heart pounded as I chanced a look over my shoulder into the darkness that awaited us if we fell.
A thick chain hung from the pulley system that supported the cage, descending into the pit but there was nothing else to aid us in getting in there. Not that I was really considering getting into that pit of my own volition. At least, I didn’t think I was.
“Force them in,” Gothel growled.
The guards rushed forward as one, at least ten scimitars pointed right at my face.
Why the face??
We were going into that pit whether we liked it or not.
I hesitated for a half a heartbeat longer then jumped. I caught the chain, sliding down it quickly as I tried to tighten my grip enough to stop my fall.
I cursed, dropping my stolen scimitar
as I was forced to use both hands and I jerked to a halt at the very end of the chain which didn’t seem to be anywhere near the bottom of the pit.
I gritted my teeth as I began to heave myself higher and tilted my head to look up at the opening above me.
Cassian fell towards me with a cry of alarm and before I could do more than take in the sight of him plummeting my way, he crashed straight into me, ripping me free of the chain and sending us both plummeting into the pit.
I hit the ground with an oomph, Cassian falling on top of me and sending the air whooshing from my lungs.
I cursed as he clambered off of me, offering a hand to pull me to my feet again. I could only be grateful that the floor was lined with sand to break my fall or no doubt I’d have been fighting off death for the second time today.
“Thank you,” Cassian muttered.
“Now you thank me?” I asked in exasperation. “The one time I failed to save your ass?”
“You could have left me behind,” he reasoned. “You chose not to.”
“A choice I am very much regretting at this moment in time.”
Cassian snorted a laugh and I almost could have joined him if I hadn’t been sure that we were utterly, royally screwed. We were stuck in a goddamn pit in who-knew-where and Kyra was nowhere in sight and was unlikely to be able to find us any time soon.
I quickly retrieved my stolen scimitar from the floor and tipped my head back to look up at the hole far above our heads.
“What the hell is this place?” I cursed.
The chain began to rattle above our heads and the moonlight was blocked out as the cage began to descend.
“You’re about to find out,” a voice spoke from the darkness and I twisted away from the sight of the cage lowering towards us.
“Kalaviv?” Cassian breathed in surprise and I blinked as my eyes adjusted until I could see him too. And not just him, around the walls were at least twenty men and women including more of the suitors who had entered the pageant for Rapunzel’s hand. Hariot scowled at me from the back of the crowd and I sneered in response.
“We’ve been expecting you,” Kalaviv murmured, though he didn’t seem happy about the fact.
“What’s going on?” I demanded. “What’s in that cage?”
“It’s Prince Gurvine,” Kalaviv explained, his voice trembling with fear as the cage drew ever lower. “And I expect he’s hungry again.”
Book Three
Kingdom of Shadows
The cage descended fast. I rolled my shoulders back as I adjusted my grip on the scimitar I’d stolen from the guard above. Cassian exchanged a loaded glance with me and I cocked an eyebrow at him as we prepared to fight for our lives side by side.
I couldn’t say I’d ever expected to find myself fighting for my life against flesh-eating dead men with bugs in their brains, but I wasn’t going to balk at the challenge. Our lives depended on us finding a way to win this fight and I sure as hell didn’t plan on dying.
The amulet at my neck burned hot as if the lamp was trying to call out to Kyra, urging her to come to me. But the last I’d seen of her, she’d been back with the Princess at the arena and I wasn’t going to bet my life on the fact that she’d make it to me in time to save my ass. No. This one was on us. But that was okay, I’d been in scrapes as tight as this before and lived to tell the tale. Okay, so maybe being tossed into a pit and given to an undead asshole as a tasty treat was a first...but I was sure as shit going to live to tell this tale too.
And this would make a damn good story to recount around a fire and keep men hanging on my every word.
“Did I ever tell you about the time the Count of Hallibor caught me in bed with his daughter?” I asked Cassian with a smirk.
“What?” he frowned at me for a moment before turning his gaze back to the cage which was now almost halfway down to us.
The undead thing that was once Prince Gurvine let out a cry of excitement and the chain rattled wildly as the cage bucked beneath him. I couldn’t see him yet but I could definitely hear him.
Kalaviv and the rest of the miserable souls in this dank pit had backed up to line the edges of the space, their eyes filled with horror at what was to come. Hariot was alternating between glaring at me and the cage and I wondered if he was praying for my death. None of them were going to stand with us. We were alone in the centre of the filthy pit, shoulder to shoulder, ready to fight.
“He came at me with a scimitar bigger than any I’ve ever seen with ten guards at his back to aid him. And there’s me, tangled in the sheets with his most prized possession - whose virtue he was over an hour late to save anyway, might I add - and he swung that bastard sword at me so hard that he carved through one of the supports for the four poster bed.”
“How did you manage to get out of that?” Cassian asked, his lips twitching with a restrained smile while his eyes stayed fixed on the cage.
I grinned. “Well, the whole thing came crashing down on our heads and I caught his pretty daughter in my arms and yanked her from the sheets before she was crushed. Saving her life like a hero in the process. She stood there naked as the dawn and I gave her one last kiss before tossing her straight at the horde of guards.”
“Who weren’t allowed to look at her naked body, let alone touch her,” Cassian surmised with a slight shake of his head at my audacity, though I could tell it amused him despite himself.
“They were not,” I agreed. “So while they were scrambling not to look at or touch the girl who I’d thrown into their arms and her father was screaming curses, I hopped right out of the window and made it to the roof. The only issue was that I had no time to retrieve my clothes. Their estate is in the South Quarter, so I ended up crossing the whole damn city in nothing but my birthday suit.”
Cassian snorted a laugh. “So there were two full moons out that night?”
I barked a laugh too, my gaze falling on the stricken faces of some of the poor souls who were stuck to the far wall of the pit and were looking at me like I was insane. Which I may well have been. But that was fine by me. If I was about to die, I’d sooner go out with a smile on my face. But I’d just cheated death in that arena with Kahn and I wasn’t going to let it come for me again so soon if I got a say in it.
The cage juddered to a halt and Gurvine let out a cry of pure, desperate hunger as he leapt down to face us. He looked almost the same as he had while he’d been competing in the Pageant, though a nasty gash had been sewn up across his forehead and his eyes burned with the presence of something other than his soul.
As if facing one undead, starving monster wasn’t enough shit for us to deal with, four more of them leapt out of the cage to land on the sand beside him too.
I swallowed a dry lump in my throat as I held my ground before them and their desperate eyes swept across us for a moment.
Gothel had certainly been consistent in the types she’d chosen for the role of bug-controlled corpse monsters. They were all big bastards who could have cracked a skull like an egg even before she’d gifted them this unnatural power.
“Isn’t there a saying about the kind of man who walks to hell and back by your side?” I asked Cassian on a breath as the five of them looked our way.
“That their souls will never part ways, even after death claims them,” he replied seriously, gripping his dagger intently. “Their friendship will burn on forever more.”
“Sounds like us now, mate,” I agreed. “Let’s just hope death isn’t ready for us yet.”
Gurvine shrieked as he charged at us and I roared my own challenge right back as I sprinted to meet him.
Maybe this was going to be the end of me. But I wasn’t dead yet.
I stood in my quarters with Kyra, Jacinda and Zira, pacing anxiously in front of them. I could feel their eyes following me, back and forth, back and forth.
Kyra was chewing her lip, her eyes wide and following my movements. Since we'd been manhandled back here by the palace guards, she'd been muttering about Aladdin an
d Cassian being in trouble. But beyond that, I couldn't get a straight sentence out of her. My stomach was in knots and I sensed she felt the same. If only she’d talk to me.
My guards were under Gothel's control, it was clearer than ever. I couldn't trust anyone in my household except my two attendants and the genie.
“What do we do, Your Highness?” Jacinda begged, her fingers twisting together.
I shook my head then marched to the exit, gripping the door handle. Locked. Part of me had known it would be. But there was still a way out.
“The secret passages,” I announced, turning to face them as my heart tripled its pace.
Zira nodded, her face set in determination. She was always cool-headed in a heated situation, but this was the worst we'd ever dealt with together. Jacinda wasn't coping quite as well, her cheeks whitening at the mention of the tunnels. “And where will we go, Your Majesty?!” she gasped.
“To save Aladdin and Cassian,” Kyra breathed, her eyes sparkling with magic for a moment. Though she'd answered Jacinda's question, it seemed liked she'd spoken the words to herself. And if her magic was capable of such a thing, she had to get to them.
“How will we find them?” I asked.
“I can sense them,” she said, her tone suddenly urgent. “Should I-”
The door opened behind me and I spun about, my heart lurching into my throat.
Kahn entered, his clothes changed to dark robes, the blood from the fight washed off. He smiled at me in a way that sent a shiver right through to my core. He kicked the door closed and no guards objected, no one ran to put this beast in his place.
“How dare you come here unattended?” I snarled, drawing my shoulders back. I deeply hoped Kahn would still listen to me, but the glimmer in his sky blue eyes held a dangerous threat in them.
“Mother says I am allowed to spend time with my bride-to-be as often as I like.”
Bile rose keenly in my throat and I backed up, feeling the hands of my attendants on me. My heart swelled with pride as they gathered close. Kyra darted forward and stalked in front of me like a wild tigress.
Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series Page 51