Page 146 of Bound to the Shadow Prince

He grunts at my silence and then disappears in a flare of smoke. A moment later he returns, looping a skewer full of mushrooms onto a hook just outside my cell’s “window” and sets a stone cup outside on a ledge. “Your food, lady.”

The guard emphasizes the word as if I’m lying. “I need medicine, too. I have to take it every day.”

His reaction isn’t what I expect. Instead of sneering at me, his eyes widen. He grabs a length of material loose around his neck and immediately covers his mouth with it as he takes a step back. “You’re sick?”

“No, of course not.” His alarmed reaction has me worried and I decide to lie. “For my woman’s time.”

The look the guard shoots me is both one of relief and irritation.“Eat your food, female. If I catch you acting up, this’ll be the last meal you get for a while. Understand?”

I nod. I hate being such a weakling, but I’m no use to anyone if I’m too sick to function. Nemeth needs me—and the baby—alive and well. So I wait in silence until the guard gives me one last glare and leaves. Then, I reach through the bars and grab the skewer with the loop at the end, pull it off of the hook, and drag it into my cell. The mushrooms were grilled hours ago and are cold, but they remind me of Nemeth’s mushroom farm back in the tower, and those were always delicious. I gobble them down like a mannerless child and then lick my fingers. The mug is full of cold water and I drain it, too, then replace the dishes in their spot and retreat to my pallet.

Laying down, I listen to the noises of the cells around me. There’s a woman crying somewhere. A cough. A low murmur of voices. They all sound female, except for the occasional barked command of the guard, who’s male and Fellian. There’s no sunlight around here, and few of the magic lights that lined the walkways as I was dragged inside. I don’t know how deep I am in Darkfell.

I don’t even know if I’m stillinDarkfell. How will Nemeth ever find me?

Pressing a hand to my forehead, I fight back frustrated tears. I just have to survive. He’ll come for me. He will. He won’t stop hunting until he finds me, because I’d do the very same for him.

Even so, I’m frightened.

“Psst.”

The sound is so low I’m not sure I hear it at first.

“Psst.”

I turn on my side, staring at the brick wall next to my shoulder, where the hissing sound is coming from. A finger wiggles through a crack in the mortar.

“Psst.” It says again. “Princess. Is that really you?”

Chapter

Seventy-Three

Igasp and turn on hands and knees, pressing my cheek to the coarse blanket and mat that make up the bedding in my cell. The voice I heard, asking if I was the princess. It’s unfamiliar to me, but they’re speaking the Lios tongue. I gaze at the tiny crack in the mortar of the rock wall, where the finger slips away again. I can’t see anything on the other side. It’s too dark. I’m reminded abruptly of Balon and his visits to the tower, the gossip he told me through the wall, and how I’d begged for him to free me.

A wave of longing hits me. It feels like a hundred years ago since those days.

“Who’s there?” I ask when the voice goes silent. I’m tempted to stick my finger through the hole to the prisoner on the other side, but what if it’s a trap? So I brush chips of mortar away from the hole, trying to widen it. “Hello?”

“I’m here.” It’s a woman,speaking softly enough that our conversation won’t be heard by the guards. “My name is Senna. I worked in the palace as a washerwoman. Are you really the princess?”

“I am,” I tell her, excitement racing through me. “It’s me. Candromeda.”

The finger appears through the rocks again, wiggling. “Give me a piece of your hair so I know it’s you.”

Oh. Hastily, I pull a few dark strands free of my messy braid and then wrap them around that wriggling fingertip. It retreats back behind the stone walls. A quiet moment passes, and I grow impatient. “Well?”

“It’s you, isn’t it? You even sound all impatient like a princess.”

Well then. “I’m not lying.”

“I know. I didn’t think it was really you until you mentioned the medicine,” the voice on the other side—Senna—says. “Riza is my friend. She told me about you and the potion you have to take daily. That you get sick if you don’t get your medicine. Why aren’t you in the tower?”

I bite back a sound of excitement when she mentions Riza’s name. I’ve missed Riza so much. I know she’s my maid, but she’s also my companion and friend and a constant person in my life…or at least she was before I entered the tower. “Where is Riza? Is she well?”

“She’s here in Darkfell,” Senna whispers. “She was sold off to a Fellian master and so I rarely get to see her anymore.”

Sold off? Like a farm animal? The idea is horrifying…but she’s alive and well at least. When I get out of this dungeon, I’ll make Nemeth free her. “What about my sister, the queen? Erynne? Is she here too?”

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