Page 127 of Bound to the Shadow Prince

I learn a bit about the men—the two brothers are Jarvo and Corlath. Braid-Beard is their unofficial leader, and his name is Saemon. Even though they’re wearing filthy guard uniforms, they’re not from the army. They claim to have found the uniforms “nearby” and borrowed them, as their clothes were rotting. Outside, they have two skinny ponies that eat weeds andmoss and whatever they can find. It seems we’ll be riding back to Castle Lios.

Lucky me.

Saemon watches me closely as I give myself my potion. Out of the three, he unnerves me the most. He’s constantly calculating, gazing at me as if trying to assess how he can profit from my presence. I wish I’d dyed my hair before abandoning the tower. The dark locks give me away every time, because they’re proof of my Vestalin heritage…and the Fellian blood, it seems.

I contemplate giving myself a half-dose of potion to make the two vials last longer, but in the end, I go with the full dose. I’ll need my strength if we’re going to be traveling via horseback, and if we’re truly heading for Castle Lios, then I can get more of my potion there. So I give myself the full amount and fold my arm as I’ve been taught, so the potion will flood through my veins faster. My head swims with the onset of it, and I feel dizzy without anything in my stomach.

“Is it true that you’re cursed?”

I glance over at Saemon. “If you mean do I have the Vestalin blood sickness, yes. But it’s not catching.”

“Heard you’re barren.”

My ears prickle at that, and I glance at him from under my lashes. I don’t answer, wondering where this is going.

“Heard that you won’t get pregnant no matter how many men you take between your thighs,” he continues slowly. “That true?”

Ah, so that’s where this is going. I’m a woman alone, so I must need some fool with a dick and balls to take care of me, and naturally that means I’m ripe for the raping. “My, you sure seem to have a lot of information for someone who claims to have never been to the palace. Are you sure you’re not a deserter?” Ismile sweetly at him. “I’ve heard there are ever so many of them roaming the countryside.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You’re lucky you’re a princess. Lots of men have been looking for a woman to comfort them for a while.”

“Comfort” them? What about the woman’s comfort? It takes everything I have not to make a face. “I suppose I am,” I continue blithely. “It should be very upsetting to my sister the queen should anything happen to me.” I can play the game of veiled threats, too.

He picks at his nails with my magical knife, and I have to resist the urge to snatch it out of his hands. “How did you say you ended up out here alone?” Saemon asks again.

“I didn’t. How didyousay you ended up out here?”

“I didn’t.”

Exactly. We stare at each other in a silent battle of wills, unwilling to bend.

“Get some sleep, princess,” Saemon finally says in a low, deadly voice. “You’ll need your strength for riding tomorrow.”

I wrap a blanket around my wrinkled dress like a queen and lift my chin. “I’m taking the bed. Wake me up when we leave in the morning. And if you find food, I expect it to be shared four ways, since you’ve eaten the last of mine.”

“Of course,” Saemon says. “But there’s no food anywhere. That’s why we’re going to the capital.” He pauses and slyly adds, “That’s why you’re valuable to us.”

I’m sure I am. If there truly is a food shortage, no one’s going to give their food to a few miscreants. They need me far more than I need them…and then I think about the last vial of my potion and how dangerous a position that puts me in. All right, if they’ve got horses and they know the way to the capital, I need them, too.

But what of Nemeth? Where has my Fellian mate gone? Why has he abandoned me?

Or has something happened to him?

I barely sleep that night.I’m too alert, watching the men as they take turns with the watch. I keep expecting one of them to attack me, or for them to murder me in my sleep because I’m the piece of dragon shite that left the tower and they’ve finally put it all together. I want to run away, to go find Nemeth, but they never give me a moment alone. There’s no opportunity to slip away. Dawn approaches, and when everyone rouses, they check through my bags one last time looking for missed food. When they find nothing, they decide to keep my dresses and belongings. “Just in case,” Jarvo says. “Might need to trade it at the next village.”

“It belongs to me,” I point out, irritated. “Why are you stealing from a princess?”

“Because we need it far more than you do,” Saemon replies. “And when you’re home, if you still want your sad, wrinkled dresses back, I’ll give them to you.” He smiles tightly. “Until then, they go into the pool of trade items if we run into someone that has food.”

“Great,” I say flatly. I’m as hungry as the next person. Hungrier, since they ate what I had and didn’t share it. I want to tell them to piss off and be on their way, but with one dose of potion left and no Nemeth, I don’t have a choice. I have to go with them. The unease I’ve been trying to tamp down flares, and I dig my nails into my palms. There’s no sign of Nemeth. He’d come after me if he could. Has he been hurt? Wounded? Didthese jerks stake him outside of town like the Fellian at the other village?

For a moment, my chest fills with so much pain that I can’t breathe. I have to find him. I have to.

It starts to rain again, and my thoughts fill with panic. Nemeth can’t slide into shadows if there’s rain, can he? He can’t “slide” if there’s anything that could interrupt. What if he’s bleeding out somewhere? What if these men killed him and I’m going along with them blindly? We head outside, the rain drenching my hair in a heartbeat, and I look around for gray wings and sleek horns, but he’s nowhere.

“On to the horse, princess,” Saemon says.

“Actually, you know what? I’ve changed my mind,” I say, clutching the bag of needles and my last remaining potion. “I think I’m going to take my chances out here. Stay in this cottage for a while and see if anyone comes by.”

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