Page 13 of Prince of Never

‘In the morning, you can join the household servants.’

She laughed, a hint of hysteria in the sound.‘You expect me to serve you?’

‘That, or you can stay locked in the room.It’s your choice.’She just stared at me, her brows lifted in disbelief, like she wasn’t quite sure what she was seeing.‘But either way, tonight you’re going back to that room and you’re going to stay there,’ I added, before peering into the hallway to find Arun still lurking nearby, clearly trying to listen.He at least had the decency to look sheepish.

‘Escort the girl back upstairs,’ I ordered with a flick of my hand.Like I could just flick her off me and be done with her.If only it was so easy.

Arun pressed his mouth into a tight frown, but came to the doorway and gestured to his charge.‘Follow me, miss.’

Relief flickered across her expression, before she pasted on that scowl again and thrust her chin into the air, limping past me without another word.I briefly considered carrying her up the stairs before shutting down the notion with another burst of irritation.Let her limp.Maybe she’d learn a lesson that would keep her from taking off into the Shadowmire and getting herself eaten.

When she was gone, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, stretching out the tension in my neck and returning to the armchair and the books.But I couldn’t focus on the pages, and I found myself flicking through entire chapters without even searching for the words I was seeking, my mind two flights of stairs above.She had seemed a little too obedient when she’d left the room, hadn’t she?A welcome obedience, but one that clashed with everything I had seen of her until now.Though perhaps the pain and humiliation of her failed escape attempt was enough to make her ready to go to bed.

I rose and went to the window, still open to the night, and leaned out on the ledge, craning my neck to look up.

Two flights of stairs above me, a cloth-wrapped hand yanked back off the venebria.

Time to teach a different lesson, then.

I lay my fingers against the acidic plant and reached for the prickle of magic that always thrummed beneath my skin, stoking it until it rose in a tide of icy-cold that rushed through my veins, down my arm, and out through my fingers.Immediately, the venebria began to curl, then blacken and rot, the colour spreading up the vine and shrivelling every tendril, every leaf, all the way up to that window.The vine began falling away from the wall in clumps of rotted vegetation, and a pale face peered down to watch it, wearing an expression of horror.I waved up at her, and she recoiled, withdrawing into the room and slamming the window shut.

Perhaps she’d be a little more wary of trying to outright defy me next time.I was no regular jailer.I was the heir to the Unseelie throne.

And if I had to show her what that meant to force her compliance, so be it.

Chapter 7

Imogen

Aloudknocktoreme from sleep the next morning.I groaned as I peeled my eyes open, taking in my strange surroundings.Nope, it wasn’t a dream.I let out a frustrated sigh.That knock sounded again, louder and more persistent this time, but I ignored it.I didn’t know who was on the other side of that door, and I didn’t care.They could stay out there.

Dragging my hands out from beneath the covers, I stared at my palms.All signs of the angry blisters from the night before were gone.I wriggled my toes, glad there was no more pain in my feet.As far as escape attempts went, that had been a complete and utter failure.I hadn’t even made it to the ground before the prince of darkness found me.

And then there had been that one mad, thrilling moment when he’d caught me and I’d liked the feeling of being pulled into his arms.I’dlikedit.I shook the memory from my mind.Fear had obviously made me lose my sense for a moment.Or I really was crazy.But I was literally in bloody fairyland right now, so maybe it was time to stop calling myself that.Maybe I had been right all along, and the doctors had been wrong.But how much had I been right about?The vampire for sure, right?And that creature I’d seen in the backyard when I was a child, the one with needle-like teeth?

The door burst open before I could decide on the answer to that question and an angry-looking woman stomped towards me, her mouth twisted into a scowl beneath her beak-like nose.She reminded me of a fictional den mother in some boarding school for female delinquents.

‘Is there a fire?’I asked.

Her scowl deepened.‘What has the master saddled me with?’she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she took me in.Then she clicked her tongue and threw a bundle of clothes at me.‘Dress,’ she barked, folding her arms over her chest.

‘Not with you watching,’ I said pointedly when she made no move to leave.She glared at me.‘I won’t move until you leave.If you need to tell your master that, I’ll wait.’

Her hand balled into a fist, the tremble there giving away the extent of her outrage.But I was too tired to care, too worn from my poor sleep and aching from my dash down the vine.Finally, she stomped out of the room again, slamming the door shut behind her.I doubted she would give me much time, so I quickly changed into the dress I’d been provided; a deep blue, medieval-looking thing, with layers and laces that took an annoyingly long time to tie.I eyed myself in the mirror, a look of faint disgust on my face.‘I look ridiculous,’ I muttered.As if she’d heard me, the angry crow swooped back in, her eyes raking over me before she finally gave a grudging nod of approval.

‘Come,’ was all she said, leaving no room for argument before stalking from the room again.I had half a mind to stay right where I was, but I let out a sigh and did as I was told.At least as a servant I could roam around the castle, and that certainly gave me better odds at escaping, especially since the vine outside my window had been… The memory of Tarian triumphantly smirking up at me as the vine rotted and withered beneath his touch made me shiver.Whathadhedoneto it?

‘Keep up!’the crow snapped, and I quickened my pace as she led me down a flight of stairs and through a series of doors before finally stopping in front of a girl who looked about my age.She had chestnut hair, hazel eyes, and a smattering of freckles across her cheeks.She stood with her head ducked, her shoulders rounded, like she was trying to make herself small.There was something about her that seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.Could I have seen her before?

‘Sarah will show you what to do.You’ll be in her charge now.And if you eventhinkabout disobeying the master, she will share your punishment,’ the crow snapped.She sniffed indignantly before turning on her heels and stomping away again.

‘Jesus, what crawled up her arse?’I muttered.

A snort of laughter escaped Sarah before she could cover her mouth with her hand.When she recovered her composure, a blush rising to her cheeks, she offered me a warm smile.‘Well, I know it’s under less than ideal circumstances but it’s nice to meet you...?’

‘Oh, Imogen Summers,’ I said, holding my hand out to her without thinking about it, as if I was introducing myself to a new professor at the university.I felt my cheeks warm with embarrassment.‘Uh, sorry, force of habit.Just Imogen is fine.’

Her eyes went wide for a second before she looked at my hand.I didn’t think she was going to take it, but finally she reached out, gripping it tentatively.‘Is this how people greet each other in the human world?’she asked.

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