Page 15 of Somber Prince

My knees grew weak as we approached tall golden gates in an arched doorway. Behind the gates lay a hall with a high, vaulted ceiling.

The general marched across the hall, explaining to me over her shoulder. “Joy Guardians will build the connection between your leilathas and our tendrils.”

“My what and your what?” I struggled to free my arms from the guards. “Listen, I’m not taking another willing step unless you tell me exactly what’s going to happen.”

The guards could have easily forced me to move, like they’d done before, but they stood back, taking their hands off me. The general huffed a breath, looking irritated.

“Leilathas are the magical receptacles for our tendrils.” She placed her hands on my shoulders, then slid them down my arms. “They will be placed here.” She gave my arms a light squeeze, just above the elbows. “And here.” She tapped the back of my neck and a spot lower down my spine. “Through them, we will be able to savor your joy with you.”

Lifting my shoulders, I shrank away from her touch. “And what if I don’t want to savor anything with you?”

“But you will,” she replied confidently, pushing yet another door open. “That is your only purpose here.”

The guards stepped behind me, cutting off my route of escape.

A group of six people waited for us in the room. Three men and three women gathered by the window with the view of black sand and starry skies. It was night again. The general didn’t lie when she said I’d slept through the entire day.

A lattice of hexagons arranged in a honeycomb pattern stood in front of the window.

They sure liked hexagons in this place. Then it dawned on me. Teneris wasn’t an anthill but a beehive. And if I was the “sweet one,” then I must be about to get stung.

Dread tightened around my chest like a steel band. With my eyes darting around the room, I frantically searched for an escape. Maybe I could break through the glass in the window? Only I’d have to make it past the six people on my way to it first.

“Greetings, Joy Guardians.” The general gracefully brought both arms forward, giving an elegant bow to the group by the window.

The Joy Guardians returned her greeting, casting curious glances my way. All six wore skirts that looked like they were made from melted gold. The fabric streamed down, hugging their hips and legs and leaving their arms and torsos bare. The metal mesh over their chests was made of golden hexagons, also connected in a honeycomb pattern. It was decorated with black and yellow stones set in a unique pattern for each. Their hair was shorter than of anyone else I’d met here so far. It was pulled up and twisted into intricate knots on top of their heads.

The Guardians moved closer to a long, high table in the middle of the room. One of them lit the thick yellow candles that were arranged into a pyramid on the stand nearby.

A female Guardian turned to me. “Greetings, Sweet One.”

“Welcome to Alveari Kingdom,” a man echoed in a warm voice.

Another woman brought her hands up in a smooth gesture. “You will have to disrobe from the waist up.”

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“No, I won’t.” I shook my head, inching backwards, only to bump into the hard chests of the two guards behind me.

A female Joy Guardian pressed her hands together in front of her with an expression of utter serenity. “It’ll be faster and possibly less painful if you don’t fight us.”

“You can’t expect me to just let you do whatever you want to me,” I snapped, not coming any closer.

Her arms suddenly appeared to be dissolving just below her shoulders. Black smoke curled out from each in a pair of tight spirals. The spirals grew longer, solidifying into agile, snakelike appendages that stretched down past her knees.

“What the hell are those?” I croaked in horror.

The long, black things lifted. Two more appeared from behind her. The ends of all six unraveled into tendrils of dense, black smoke.

The tendrils.

The general had said something about them before.

Were they going to put those things on me? To burrow them under my skin to “savor” me?

Panic sliced through me. I screamed in terror, pivoting on my heel.

“Let me go!”

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