Page 63 of Joined By Magic

The prince slept late, and the morning dragged on. I desperately needed to pee, but my manacled hands wouldn’t let me reach the prince to shake him. I called out as loud as I dared, but he didn’t twitch. I could only lay there, thighs pressed together in abject misery, waiting for him to stir. If he took much longer, we wouldn’t be getting our ten galvars back.

I almost laughed out loud at the thought but held back. Bad idea. My sleep-deprived thoughts whirled crazily. My whole life hung in the balance, and all I cared about at that moment was getting to the toilet. I could have cried with relief when he finally rolled toward me with a groan. “Your Highness, please take the restraints off. I need the bathroom.”

“What?” His voice was groggy, thick with sleep, and he rubbed a hand over his face.

“The restraints. I need the bathroom, badly.”

“Oh,” he mumbled. He raised his hand, then his awareness sharpened, as if he’d remembered what had happened, and he lowered it. “I forbade you from speaking.”

I felt like screaming as I fought to hold on to both my bladder and my temper. I forced my eyes down and made my voice meek. “I’m sorry. It’s an emergency.”

He waited a long, agonizing moment, and I knew he was enjoying my discomfort. “Is that the correct way to address a prince?”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” I forced out. Another drawn-out, painful pause, and the restraints vanished. I ran for the bathroom before he could change his mind.

I took advantage of the brief moment alone to marshal my thoughts. He was still angry—no surprise there. Last night, I’d let my emotions get the better of me and given him too much truth. Today, I needed to be smart. To treat him as I had at first, in the early days in the palace, and say and do whatever I could to bring him back on my side. My life, and Pia’s, depended on it.

When I emerged, he was sitting on the bed eating a meal bar. He glanced at me with nothing but disdain in his gaze. “Call down to reception. Tell them you’re extending our stay for two days and you’ll leave full payment in the room service slot.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” I complied, though it confused me. I’d assumed we’d be leaving this shitty place as soon as possible.

He finished his bar. “Strip and lie on the bed.”

His dead tone didn’t match the instruction. Fear trickled into my bloodstream as I did as he asked. He normally grew excited when he punished me, and it bled through into his voice, even when he tried to keep things businesslike. Not now. I hissed as magic snapped, locking me hand and foot to the bed, spread out. I could only move my hands and feet a few inches either way.

His face appeared over me, unhappiness etched into it. He wasn’t enjoying this. “You betrayed me for freedom, but I’ve never held you captive. I’ve never treated you as a slave. You can learn how that feels now. I’ll free you for five minutes once every three hours. You’ll remain like this until I decide otherwise. A day, at least.”

True terror—absolute blinding panic—seized me. A whole day or more, completely trapped? Unable to scratch an itch or roll on my side? I couldn’t stand it. “Please, no. Your Highness. I can’t—”

“One more word and I gag you too.”

The coldness of him terrified me. As if I’d fucked up so badly, it’d burned away whatever affection he had for me. I shut my mouth and blinked up at him, trying to plead with my eyes, but he moved out of my eyeline.

The room was uncomfortably hot, but I shivered as I stared at the ceiling and tried to find the strength to face the coming hours.

Chapter Thirty

Talia

Timeinchedby,unbearablyslow. I could shift my head to look at one drab wall, the other, or stare up at the ceiling and examine the mold. The prince kept out of eyeline, but I could feel his gaze on me. Soft beeps let me know he was tinkering with his tech.

An itch started in my nose, but however I twisted my head, I couldn’t get it. More itches joined it, as if it drew them, and soon I was twitching, trying to catch them. I must have looked crazy, but the prince didn’t come over.

The boredom was worse than the discomfort. I never went ten minutes without something to occupy me. If I had spare time, I filled it with books, vids, or puzzles. I never just sat. I tried to count, to keep an idea of time passing, but soon gave up when the numbers slipped from my grasp. I closed my eyes, but the position was too unnatural to allow sleep. Would he leave me like this all night?

The thought of all the coming hours set a little sharp-clawed terror-creature loose in my system, and I tried desperately to catch it. It was too early to panic.

But the creature was free, and I couldn’t stop it running havoc through my body and brain, speeding up my heart and breath. I tugged on the restraints without hope that they might give. How long had it been? It must be close to my three-hour break by now?

It wasn’t.

The terror scratched and bit, and as the time ticked by, I was sure he’d forgotten about my break. Had he dozed off on the chair, still depleted of magic? Would it be hours again before he freed me? I was thirsty and desperate to move. And if I could move? I’d run as far away from the prince as I could. I couldn’t live this life anymore. Trapped, in every way possible.

Finally, the restraints vanished. I moved my arms and legs slowly, wary of cramp, and tried not to groan as I stretched out all my muscles. I jumped at the prince’s voice. “Four minutes. Don’t waste them.”

Vicious anger, fed by fear, had me rushing to the bathroom and gulping down some water. My stomach growled, but there was no time to eat. After a horribly short time, he snapped, “Back on the bed. In position.”

Obeying was one of the most difficult things I’d ever done. My muscles complained as I took up the hated position, as if they knew what was coming. This stretch would be much worse. And the one after that, even worse. Panic resurfaced, and I had to bite down on my lip to keep from crying out.

---