Page 37 of Somber Prince

“Hi.” I shook his hand. “I slapped the prince, not punched him.” For some reason, it felt important to clarify.

He shrugged. “Same difference. What did they do to you for that?”

I realized that there hadn’t been much of a punishment for me for assaulting the Crown Prince of the kingdom. I had spent two days and a night in a room by myself and was fed a lavish dinner. I had the harness put on, but Kostya had one too. His sleeveless tunic left his arms bare, displaying the black shimmering ribbons with golden star-rosettes just like mine.

“She was kept away from us,” Elaine answered instead of me. “This is her first time in the sarai.”

“Well, great to have you here, then.” Kostya slapped my shoulder rather hard. “Keep your hands to yourself from now on. Next time, you may not be so lucky.”

He sauntered away.

“Yeah, well, you keep your hands to yourself too,” I muttered, rubbing my shoulder that ached after his slap.

I stayed with Elaine and Melanie by the fountains. A few other people, men and women, came by to say hi to me. Some had seen me in the lineup in the courtyard and remembered my slapping the prince. Some just saw a new face and came to introduce themselves.

“There seem to be people from all over the world,” I said to Melanie and Elaine between the visits.

“Yep,” Melanie agreed. “Kostya is from Russia. Lucia is from the States.” She gestured at the redhead who’d said earlier that she’d have sex with shadow fae willingly. Lucia was now stretching on a grass mat on one of the balconies, twisting her body in what looked like various yoga poses. “There is a married couple from Lebanon, two girls from China, a man from South Africa, and someone from Croatia, I think. But I can’t remember who. It’s hard to tell since we’re all speaking the same language here.”

That was a bizarre thing. I still could speak English, only I had to make a mental effort to do so. Speaking the shadow fae language came more naturally now.

“It’s like the shadows appeared in several different places simultaneously back home,” Elaine explained. “They grabbed a bunch of people at random, then came back here.”

“I think that’s exactly how it happened,” I agreed. “And it wasn’t their first time, either. They’ve come to Earth before.”

Elaine nodded in understanding. “Ciana? Do you think they got her? The smoke in her bedroom was the shadows, wasn’t it?”

A few years ago, I finally talked to Elaine about my cousin’s disappearance, including her complaints about the black smoke. Clearly, she’d thought about it too and put two and two together.

“I believe they did,” I said. “They have more humans in Alveari Kingdom, but not in Teneris.”

Melanie listened with heightened attention. “How do you know?”

“I talked to one of the Joy Vessel Keepers.”

Elaine shook her head. “The Keepers made it clear they’re not going to talk to us about any of that. They’re not allowed. The Joy Guardians apparently want to keep their secrets from us.”

“Well, the guy I talked to wasn’t really a Keeper yet,” I said. “He was just training to become one. Maybe he didn’t get the memo? I want to talk to him again, to get more info about the magical portal they had created between our worlds and about the other humans. I have to find out more about Ciana too.”

Elaine sighed. “Let’s hope no one briefs him on the Keeper's code of silence, then, before you get a chance to speak with him again.”

Worry seized my heart. Sigid had been cautious before. But now, I’d probably never get him to answer any of my questions anymore.

Melanie eagerly shifted on her lounger. “Listen, who needs that Keeper anyway, if you have the prince? Ask him.”

I winced. “I don’t have the prince.”

She shrugged. “He seems to like you.”

“Why would he? I slapped him, remember? That’s literally the only physical contact we’ve had.”

But my sister wasn’t that easily discouraged.

“After that, he invited you for a dinner date and gifted you with the head of your enemy. The prince is clearly into being slapped,” she pondered. “Maybe he likes you putting your hands on him? Maybe he has a thing for being dominated? People in a position of power often do, by the way. A former CEO of the company where my friend used to work got busted visiting a dominatrix regularly. She had him wear diapers and spanked him. He was a married father of three, earned millions in his job, and paid some random woman big bucks to degrade him.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Maybe the shadow prince wants you to spank him too?”

I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore her nonsense, but she wouldn’t give up.

“Hey, all I’m saying is that we should use it. Ask him questions. Get him to talk to you about the portal. Make him open it again. Maybe he’ll let us go.”

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