Page 35 of Somber Prince

“Dawn!” She jumped from the lounger and rushed to me. “Are they releasing you from jail? Or is it some kind of trick?” She glowered at Sigid.

“Not a trick. I can stay here now. Right?” I confirmed with Sigid, and he nodded in agreement. “See? I don’t have to go back.” I gave her a hug. “How have you been?”

She freed herself from my arms.

“Oh, it’s horrible, Dawn. They say we’re to stay here forever. No one is allowed to leave—” She threw another glare at Sigid. “Hey, can we have some privacy here?”

“Certainly.” He stepped back with a bow. “Breakfast will be served soon.”

“Oh, take your breakfast and shove it,” Melanie hissed at his back.

Taking me under my arm, she led me to the loungers by the fountain.

“Dawn! You’re back!” Elaine bent over the rail of a balcony on the second floor. “Wait. I’ll be right there.” She disappeared into the room for a minute, then ran out from an arched doorway on the main floor.

Both Melanie and Elaine were dressed in long, silky tunics, like all the other women lounging around the fountains and waterfalls. Men also wore the same tunic-dresses. Though at least one of them, a stout man with a rope-belt tied under his solid potbelly, had a pair of pants on under his tunic.

Elaine still had her fuzzy brown sweater on, hugging it around herself like usual, despite the balmy night. The sweater seemed even fuzzier, as it must’ve been recently washed.

“They released you!” Elaine flung herself into my arms.

I pressed her to my chest tightly. It felt like hugging a warm and fuzzy teddy bear.

“Are you okay?” I asked my best friend. “How are you?”

“We’ve been good, everything considered—” She cut herself short, staring at the black ribbons of the harness around my arms. “They did it to you too?”

“And you?” I couldn’t see her arms inside the sweater.

She nodded quietly. “Most have been talked into getting it.”

Melanie’s arms remained ribbon-free, however.

“What?” She jerked her chin up, catching my questioning stare. “I didn’t let them touch me.”

Elaine smiled. “She kicked a Joy Guardian in the shin so hard, he howled.”

“You all should’ve put up more of a fight.” Melanie shrugged. “Now, you’re stuck with those ugly black things on your skin.”

“I didn’t know the harness was optional,” I replied.

In my case, it certainly hadn’t been. General Oskura had escorted me to the fitting personally. And that woman didn’t look like someone who could be stopped by a kick in the shin. Neither did the Joy Guardians when they tied me to the table.

But in my case, the procedure had been intended as a punishment.

“You’re just too weak, Dawn,” Melanie stated. “Always have been. And now, you have those black ugly things on you for the rest of your life. You’ll have to cover them up like tattoos every time you go for a job interview.”

In my line of work, I went to auditions, not interviews, but I didn’t correct her.

“Do you think we’ll ever go back?” I asked instead.

Melanie pressed her mouth into a thin line, determination settling in her eyes.

“Yes, I very much intend to go back. I have a lot waiting for me at home. My entire career depends on my presentation next week. And I’m certainly not giving my manager an excuse to fire me for absence. She already hates my guts and will use every opportunity to get rid of me. And Dad, you know, I’ll have to take care of his…” She blinked, her hard expression wavering, but only for a second. With a short breath in, her voice strengthened once again. “I need to go back, Dawn.”

I stared down at my hands folded in my lap, gathering my thoughts before speaking.

“Rha said the portal they used to bring us here is now closed.”

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