Page 13 of Somber Prince

He shrugged. “What did you expect? The royal chamber?”

If the royal chamber belonged to their precious prince, then no, I definitely did not want to be taken there. I preferred the jail.

The guard unlocked the door and stepped aside to let me in.

“Your leilatha harness fitting is tomorrow. First thing after breakfast.”

“My what?”

But he already locked the door behind him, leaving me alone in a small room with a hexagon shaped floor. Smooth yellow walls with rounded corners surrounded me. Instead of a traditional bed, a raised platform was in the middle, with a mattress and some bedding.

After the noise of the crowd out in the streets, the silence in the room was deafening. Separated from the others, loneliness crushed me. I sank to the mattress and buried my face in my hands.

How was I supposed to get out of this?

How did I get here in the first place?

The smoke, the shadow people, and this whole world felt surreal. But not entirely new.

I’d seen this smoke before, in the same place where they’d taken us from, in my parents’ basement. Years ago, Ciana was taken. And now I wondered if what happened to us had happened to her too. But if so, was she still here?

Did she survive all these years?

Maybe there was a way for me to find her here. I just had to survive whatever was waiting for me tomorrow.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of wood sliding along the marble floor. Someone pushed a tray under my door. It took me a few moments to remember where I was.

The jail cell.

Inside a hill city.

Because I slapped their prince.

Because he sent his people to kidnap me, my sister, and my best friend. And because one of them killed my dad…

Fear and sorrow slammed into me anew, squeezing my chest so hard it hurt. This hadn’t been a dream or hallucination. The cell hadn’t disappeared. I didn’t wake up back in my bed in my parents’ house. I was still here.

My stomach spasmed at the sight of the tray with a plate of food on it and a painted water bag. Someone had brought it here.

I jumped out of bed and rushed to the door.

“Hey!” I slammed my palm against the carved-wood surface. “Is anybody there?”

Maybe they could talk to me, answer my questions, and explain what was going to happen. Whatever was to come, I’d rather they tell me now than leave me sitting here alone, dreading the worst.

The door remained locked, however. No one came in. No one replied. I heard no movement behind the door either. It was like the food tray had materialized on its own. But the shadow people moved so soundlessly, I just couldn’t hear their footsteps.

Disheartened, I used the toilet in the niche in the wall, washed my face with the clean water from the pitcher on the stand next to a large painted bowl, and brushed my teeth with the things provided along with other toiletries in the basket on the shelf under the bowl. For a jail cell, this was a rather neat one and stocked like a hotel room.

I moved automatically, going through the motions. But I’d cried myself to sleep. My eyes felt sore and puffy, and I hadn’t had anything to eat ever since we got to this cursed world. If I had to face something horrible today, I might as well do it with my face clean and my stomach full.

Grabbing the tray from the bed where I’d left it, I examined the food. The plate held a generous pile of warm, tasteless mush. Whoever made it hadn’t bothered putting any salt in it, not to mention any added flavor. The corked skin bag held some cool, clean water. Refreshing, but hardly satisfying.

Not knowing when my next meal would come, however, I ate and drank it all. The moment I placed the tray with the empty dish on the floor next to the slit in the door, it disappeared, pulled out into the corridor.

“Hi?” I said tentatively. “Who’s there?”

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