Page 67 of Royal Captive
“Shut up. She’ll be in the cell next to you. Kind of us, isn’t it?” a guard sneered.
Eve shot me a helpless look as they shoved her into the cell next to me. The walls were nothing but iron grates, so I could still see her. I reached my fingers between the grate before I realized what I was doing, my hands seeking hers.
She flinched away.
I froze.
“Eve. Please,” I began.
The guards laughed and left, their footsteps fading down the hallway.
“Eve,” I said again, willing her to understand.
“You’re angry with me,” she whispered back, her back against the grate to me, but her fingers clinging desperately to mine.
“I was … surprised to learn about Alihandro,” I replied rather lamely. How could I even express what I’d given up for her? What I’d bargained and negotiated away to save her from the touch of others, only to realize she’d given herself away willingly? Not that there was anything wrong with that. It was her life, and her body.
“But I’m not angry. Not about that. We both took comfort and release where we could. Yes?”
She nodded, sniffing.
I longed for her to understand. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her, but the words wouldn’t come. Exhaustion flooded my body as I relaxed my back against the bars, both of us nearly touching if it weren’t for the inches of iron separating us. Our hands rested back to back as well.
I took it as a win when she didn’t pull away as I rested my hand near hers.
“I am glad you found a fae who was kind to you. I also found someone who was kind to me,” I admitted, hoping some of my story might help her understand.
She shifted behind me, and I imagined her drawing up her legs underneath her body. Eve did that when she was getting comfortable and ready to listen. Taking that as a positive sign, I took a deep breath and told her what I’d been up to the past few days, reliving memories I wished I could bury.
Twenty-Three
EVE
Ellis talked for a while and I listened.
Until his first mention of Fallon.
“Do you care for her, this fae princess?”
The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. I’d been determined to face away from Ellis and keep my back to him, but during his story, I’d turned around. My fingers wrapped around the iron bars separating us as if the closer I was to him, the better chance I would have at understanding his motivations.
“You slept with Alihandro,” he accused back.
I flinched, but he was right. It was incredibly hypocritical of me to be hurt that he'd given himself to the female fae—Fallon—when I’d done the same with Alihandro. At least Ellis’s intentions had been noble. I’d just been sad and lonely.
“But, that makes little sense, what she told you,” I countered, needing him to see I wasn’t angry, I was just trying to understand his story.
“You said sleeping with her was done at first to learn their language. I slept with a fae and I can’t understand the language.” I finished, confused about who had been told which lie. I shook my head. It didn’t matter in the end, did it? At least one of us could understand the fae language. Perhaps it was his fae blood?
“I appreciate the lengths you went through, but you realize you’ve sold yourself to the wrong side,” I continued. “The fae girl manipulated you to get what she wanted.”
Ellis’s face twisted in a grimace. “There is no side except ours, Eve. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and get us out of here. Even be Fallon’s … toy.”
Frustration welled in my veins.
“Ellis, that isn’t the point! Humans are slaves here! And you’ve admitted there’s an entire rebel faction out there working to overturn it, and they’re strong and organized enough that Fennis fears them! Don’t you see? We have to get out of here and help them!”
Ellis’s gaze dropped to the stone ground, his fingers detaching from the iron rails as he backed away from. From us.
