Page 53 of I Destroyed the Elf Prince's Harem

“If you touch him, you will be destroying the property of a member of the royal family of Wolfrest,” Nylian continued into the stunned silence.

“You’re not fooling me. Everyone knows you’ve been exiled.” The captain laughed, though I had to admit that it sounded a touch forced.

“Yes, but that’s a situation that can change easily enough. Can you bring him back from the dead as easily as I can be returned to my full status?” The captain swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his slender throat, and Nylian pressed his advantage. “Do you want to be the one to explain to King Beldroth why you plunged Galinaes into a war with Wolfrest over a human? Or would you rather arrest us and allow someone who gets paid more to make that decision?”

The elf hesitated, his face going from deathly pale to a bright pink. Just as sure that I was breathing my last, he slashed his sword through the air and shoved it into its sheath. “Throw them into the dungeon.” I could have sworn I heard him mutter, “I’m not paid enough to deal with royalty.” But I could have been mistaken.

Either way, that was how I ended up as Nylian’s “pet” and locked up in an elf dungeon.

Chapter 17

This Pet Bites

“At least we’re still alive.”

With an arched brow—because this body knew how to arch just one eyebrow—I looked around our new temporary home of cold, damp walls; oppressive iron bars; and a bit of straw on the floor that I may or may not have been sharing with the local rat population.

But I got what Nylian was saying. It could be a hell of a lot worse. I could be dead. They hadn’t even bothered to rough us up after we were disarmed and bound in rope. Of course, I thought that had more to do with Nylian’s convincing speech about not wanting to be responsible for starting a war.

If we were alive, it meant that we still had a chance at escaping and finding Orian’s killer.

I thought about asking him how long he thought we’d be stuck in there, but I let the question go. He knew no more than I did at the moment, and he didn’t need the pressure of trying to keep my spirits up. He’d already accomplished the hard task of keeping me alive.

The only thing that had me worried was that they’d taken all our belongings, including that damn magic coin. Before boarding the ship, I’d moved it from my coin pouch to a hidden pocket in the bottom of my pack. Could the elves sense the magic of the thing? If someone located the coin and stole it, there was no chance of me getting home. For now, I crossed my fingers and prayed it would go unnoticed.

It wasn’t as if I were in a rush to leave this world. There was no way I was going to leave Nylian alone. He needed me. Maybe I wasn’t sure why he needed me, but I was confident I could provide some critical help when he needed it most.

“Are you anxious, or do you just not want to use the bucket?” Nylian inquired, stopping my pacing in front of the bars midstride. Yes, we were back to a bucket for a bathroom. Lovely.

“No, I don’t need to use the bucket,” I replied with as much indignation as I could muster. Thankfully, it was enough to put a half smile on Nylian’s face.

“Sit. Rest. We’re not going anywhere anytime soon. We’ve spent most of the night running. No one is going to bother the king and queen with news of my capture until morning.”

He was right. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting the job of waking a king in the middle of the night with news that could be good or bad.

Huffing at him, I shuffled across a cell that was three times the size of our ship cabin and plopped onto the pile of straw. I released a second sigh of relief when I didn’t feel any additional movement under my ass.

“You know, this isn’t my first stay in a dungeon.”

My head popped up and turned so I could see his expression, half convinced he was making a joke, but he appeared to be serious.

“This one is even nicer than the one I stayed in before,” the elf continued. “Fewer pools of standing water. Less moss growing on the walls.”

“Who threw you in the dungeon?”

“My dad.”

I choked on a laugh. “Your dad? The king of Wolfrest? He threw you in the dungeon?”

“Mn. Both Orian and me.” Leaning his head against the wall, Nylian closed his eyes and a small smile grew on his lips. “It was years ago. When we were young and stupid.”

“As opposed to now, when you’re sooooo old and stupid.”

He cracked one eye at me. “Two hundred and forty-seven isn’t old in elf years, but yes, I know better now.” He closed his eye again and continued his story. “Orian and I were feeling restless and reckless after being cooped up inside the castle for days on end for some random celebration. I don’t even know what any longer. We decided to take the horses out for a ride. Orian challenged me to a race.”

“Which, of course, you couldn’t turn down,” I interjected.

“Of course not.”

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