Page 28 of The Abandoned Princess

Xander stepped into the chest, and I was distracted for a moment as I watched him somehow fold himself into it, although he had to remove his sword and scabbard and lay them at the bottom of the chest first. When I didn’t move, he gave a shake of his head, and I rushed over to carefully close the lid.

“Sorry,” I whispered as the final crack was closing. Hopefully he didn’t have any issues with claustrophobia.

Glancing around, my eyes fell on the neatly folded sheets and blankets, and I sucked in a breath. Snatching at them, I shook them out with fumbling fingers, throwing first the sheets and then the blankets over my bed.

By the time I was finished, Eulalie was calling me again in a tone of even less patience. I ran to the window, trying to control my breathing as I blinked down at her.

A rock flew past my head, clattering noisily on the stone floor of the room. I swooped to snatch up the rope that trailed behind it. As I secured it to the beam, I called down at her. “Sorry! I was sleeping.”

I leaned out the window and attempted what I hoped was a convincing yawn. She looked out of temper which wasn’t ideal for the conversation I was planning.

She pulled herself up the rope quickly, nearly as practiced as me. I stepped back, my mind racing as I tried to think of the most natural way to question her about her recent movements.

When she stood in front of me, she frowned suspiciously. “You were sleeping with your lantern burning?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t feel like being in the dark tonight.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing, merely gazing around the tower. I held my breath as her eyes rested on the bed which was piled abnormally high, but she passed on after a moment and I breathed again.

“I didn’t expect you so many days before my birthday,” I said. “Were you passing through the ar—”

“Did you think I wouldn’t feel it?” she asked sharply, cutting me off.

I faltered, trying to work out what she was talking about. “Feel what? I don’t know what you—”

Once again she didn’t let me finish. Thrusting out her hand, she held her ring under my nose.

I blinked at it. It was the same light-sucking well of blackness I remembered, but now there was a hairline fracture running down the middle of it.

“You really thought I wouldn’t notice this?” she hissed. “You’ve been messing with the enchantment! But how? What have you done?”

“I…” I stumbled over my words. The conversation wasn’t going anything like I’d planned. I had hoped to keep her in a good mood and get her talking about her travels before we got anywhere near talking about the enchantment.

“I don’t know how to change the enchantment,” I managed. “If I did, do you think I’d still be here after five years?”

Her eyes narrowed to slits as she examined my face. I did my best to look innocent—an expression I had practiced often in my childhood and perfected on Eulalie’s many visits.

“It shouldn’t be possible for you to change it,” she admitted at last, conceding the point.

I breathed a little easier, making a drastic decision. There was no salvaging a casual conversation. I just had to dive in.

“You’re the one who controls the enchantment,” I said. “So you should remove it now, while you still can.”

She laughed. “You got bold! Tell me, why would I do that?”

I leaned forward, widening my eyes and trying to look earnest. “Look what’s happened to the ring! It must be completely drained. It’s going to be useless for further enchantments—it may even end up hurting you. You need to put some of the power you’ve used back into the ring. If you reverse the enchantment on me and my tower, you’ll get back the power you need, and I’ll get what I want as well.”

“You think I should just let you go?” she asked incredulously.

I gripped her arm with both my hands. “I’m not a threat to you! You’ve seen that over five years. Whatever you do next has nothing to do with me.” I let a tear slip out of one eye. “I just want to go home and see my family again.”

“And you don’t think your family will be interested in me?” she asked in a mocking tone.

“So what if they are? I don’t know anything about you except your first name, and that might not even be your true name. I don’t know where you live, I don’t know what you’re planning to do next, and I can’t even describe your appearance. Once the enchantment that ties us together is lifted, I wouldn’t even be able to recognize you if I passed you on the street. I can’t imagine you’ll be hanging around this tower if I’m not here.”

Her expression changed slightly as she absorbed my words. They weren’t even lies. After five years, I knew almost nothing about her and had no idea where she lived—if she even had a settled home.

“There’s no need for anyone to lose here,” I added into the lengthening silence. “Don’t you think it’s worth a try?”

---