Page 14 of Somber Prince

The door opened suddenly, making me jump. General Oskura stood behind it, flanked by two of her men. The third man slipped away quietly, taking my tray with him.

The general had traded the long boots she wore in the desert for a pair of soft shoes with flat soles. Her dark, flowing skirt was a little longer today, reaching her ankles. Other than the bejeweled chainmail on her chest, she remained topless, just like the two men who came with her, just like their prince was last night. The only apparent difference was the size and pattern of the stones in their jewelry.

I opened my mouth to ask some of the many questions roaming my mind.

“Good morning?—”

“Evening,” the general corrected.

“Evening? Did I sleep through the entire day?”

“Yes, like everyone else,” she dismissed. “It’s time for your fitting, Sweet One.”

The fitting had been mentioned before, only no one had explained to me what that was.

“What is it exactly?” I asked. “How is it done?”

“You’ll see,” she replied evasively, gesturing for me to get out of the room.

I grabbed on to the door frame, not in a hurry to leave the relative safety of the room. “When can I see my friends again? Where are they?”

She pursed her lips, clearly displeased by my stalling.

“All human Joy Vessels are fine and well taken care of. We have to go now. The Joy Guardians are waiting.”

Following her quick gesture, the guards grabbed my arms, pulling me out into the corridor. I dug my feet into the ground, but my socks easily slid along the floor tiles, providing no resistance against the guards dragging me after the general.

Worry vibrated through me, making my voice shake as I fired questions at her.

“Who are the Joy Guardians? Or Joy Vessels? Are they going to do the fitting? What are they going to fit? And how? Will it hurt?”

The word “joy” was tossed around quite a bit here. Only that didn’t make me feel joyful at all.

General Oskura threw an annoyed glare over her shoulder at me.

“You will get your leilatha harness today,” she said in a clipped voice. “It is pleasurable but also extremely painful, I’ve heard. You’re getting the harness first, before anyone else, as the punishment for the disrespect you showed to Prince Rha last morning.”

Her explanation only increased my anxiety.

“What do you mean? Painful and pleasurable are opposite things. They can’t be both at once.”

“You’ll see,” she repeated with a shrug, then opened a door leading into a covered garden.

Dark-green vines climbed up the lattice of carved arches. Small fountains bubbled in the niches in the walls. Walking paths ran between small ponds and narrow streams with colorful fish playing in the water.

It presented such a drastic change after the narrow corridor with bare walls. As worried and distracted as I was, I couldn’t resist a quick glance around.

“It’s lovely here,” I muttered, wishing I could stay here instead of going wherever they were taking me.

“The gardens in Teneris are some of the best in the kingdom,” the general said with pride. “They are the result of hard work under the direct supervision of Prince Rha.”

The prince liked to plant gardens? Go figure.

“Almost there, Sweet One.” The general urged us to keep walking with a beckoning gesture.

Why did she call me ‘sweet one’ when I’d behaved in a way quite the opposite of sweet? It made it sound ominous, like she was referring to the taste of my flesh. A cold shiver of apprehension ran down my spine.

God, please don’t let them eat me.

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