Page 21 of The Jester

Chapter Nine

ALANA

The castle is quiet and cold – as if it exists in a different place entirely from the rest of the city. We are taken quickly through the courtyard, past the grand doors that must lead to the entrance hall, and down a series of dark passageways that seem to be leading us to the belly of the building.

At the rear, near the stables, where everything smells of hay and dampness, a large trapdoor is opened and we are ushered into a pitch-dark hole.

I stumble as I descend the spiral staircase, bracing myself on the icy stone wall for support because, although my wings are free, I daren’t move them for fear a guard will think I am about to take flight.

The movement of climbing downwards makes my thigh burn. Kayan hears me wince and inhale sharply. “Are you all right?” he asks. “Are you injured?”

“I was hit in the raid.” I reach down and rub my thigh, the contact making my entire leg start to throb. “I didn’t think it had broken the skin but it must have.”

“Those arrows were poisoned,” Kayan says, stumbling behind me as he’s shoved roughly by a guard who tells him to keep moving.

“They were,” I say, trying to keep my tone light and worry-free. “But I’m sure it’ll be fine. Maybe they’ll let me see a healer.” I glance back over my shoulder and meet Kayan’s eyes. “After all, Eldrion doesn’t want his prize possessions to keel over, does he?”

Before Kayan can reply, we reach the bottom of the staircase and emerge into what looks like a cellar. The ceiling is low, causing the taller males in the group to almost brush the tops of their heads and the ridge of their wings on its curved surface.

A guard stomps ahead, lighting torches, then stops in front of a large iron grate.

“You’ll be held here until Lord Eldrion decides what to do with you,” he says, pulling the door to the cell open and nodding at us to head inside.

A few others file in first, then Kayan, but before my feet can cross the threshold there is a hand on my arm squeezing me tightly. “All except you,” he says, studying my face. “Lord Eldrion requested the redhead be taken somewhere else.”

Acid-tinged dread thickens on my tongue. I shake my head, try to think of something I can say to persuade him to let me stay with the others, but I am aware it is futile. The guard takes my elbow and roughly jerks me out of the way so he can seal everyone else inside their cell.

“You’ll be brought water and food soon enough,” he says.

Is that sympathy in his voice?

I search for his eyes but he keeps his face tilted away, so I cannot see his features properly. I am almost certain it is sympathy I detected. “Where are you taking me?” I ask as he marches me through a separate door and up a separate staircase.

We emerge in a brightness that makes me shield my eyes.

A large entrance way with a bright, glinting chandelier in its centre and a huge curved staircase at its rear. “This way.” The guard approaches the stairs and waits for me to ascend them first. Following close behind, he says, “Just so you know, you’re being watched. Even when you think you’re not. So, don’t try anything if you want to live through this.”

Again, there’s that softness in his voice.

“Is it possible to live through this?” I ask, turning to look down at him. “What does Eldrion intend to do with us?”

The guard hesitates a moment, then narrows his eyes, shoves past me, and strides loudly down the corridor at the top of the stairs. I follow, my heart beating harder and louder with every step, until we reach a large oak door with a butterfly engraved on it.

“Here.” The guard raps on the door with his knuckles.

After a pause, it swings open and he shoves me inside. “I asked what Eldrion intends to do with us,” I call, turning around in the hope of catching him before the door closes.

But it is too late.

He has gone, and I am alone.

At least, I think I’m alone until a flicker of movement in the corner of the room startles me. “Don’t be alarmed.” A young, dark-haired woman wearing a black smock and a white apron holds up her palms at me – like I’m a frightened animal about to run from her. “Lord Eldrion asked me to take care of you. You’ll not come to any harm in here.”

“Take care of me?” Indignation, disbelief, and rage swirl in my stomach. “He just bought me at auction and locked my people in a jail cell. And he wants you to take care of me?”

“I’m Briony.” The woman extends her hand. When I shake it, she smiles. “I’ll be your maid.”

My forehead creases sharply into a frown. “Maid?” I laugh and shake my head. “I am a prisoner. Prisoners do not have maids.”

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