Page 59 of To Charm a Dark Prince

Gwen didn’t waste any time digging into the food. Eod quickly learned that Gwen was now his easy mark, and was sitting at her feet, looking up at her both patiently and pleadingly in the way that only a dog can do.

“Maybe next time I should give you some of that bastard’s sleeping powder to slip into his tea.” Maewenn huffed a laugh.

“He has trouble sleeping?”

“Oh yes, long as anybody’s known him. I mix him up a powder that makes it so that not evenhecan argue about it.” Maewenn pulled a glass from a cabinet and dug out an old-fashioned-looking glass bottle. Onion bottle, maybe? Gwen thought she remembered having seen one way back when. The cook poured the amber liquid into the glass and slid the whiskey to Gwen.

She didn’t know what was going to come out of her time in Avalon, but it certainly was turning her into a drinker. She picked up the glass and sipped it. That time, at least she didn’t cough like an idiot. “I think I remembered him mentioning that he has trouble sleeping.”

“Aye. I think he has more of a guilty conscience than he likes to let on.” Maewenn sighed. “Not like he’ll admit to it or change his ways.”

Gwen sipped the alcohol again, frowning down into her plate of food. Eod reached up a paw and plopped it on her leg, reminding her that he was waiting for more treats. Chuckling, she tore off a piece of one of the cured sausages and fed it to him. “At leastyou’rehappy, doggo.”

“I am glad to see you making friends.” Maewenn was cleaning a pot now, wiping it down with a dishtowel. “I hope you settle in here. I hope…” She shook her head. “What’m I doing, sitting here hoping, when we all know what happens to hope in a place like this.”

Gwen’s heart broke again. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’ve been a ray of sunshine in this dreary place. I’ll take whatever glimpse of happiness I can get.” Maewenn put the pot on a hanger that dangled from a heavy wood overhead beam, and picked up another one out of the pile. “I didn’t mean to drag down your mood, dear.”

“It was already pretty low. Don’t worry about it.” She folded up a piece of sliced cheese and ate it. After giving a piece to Eod, of course. “Lancelot told me about why they’re forced to serve Mordred.”

“A terrible story. But that idiot boy does himself no favors, let me tell you that. More keen to let his mouth lead the way instead of his brain. Don’t let him get you into trouble.”

“I’ll do my best.” Something told her she was already in trouble. And Maewenn certainly wasn’t wrong in any way, shape, or form. “How do you like it here?”

“Oh, well enough. I have my duty, and I’m happy to do it. I wish there was more life in this place—I wish there was more life in Avalon. But I know why Mordred felt the need to do what he’s done.” Maewenn finished with the second pot and picked up a third.

“What was it like before?”

“Honestly couldn’t tell you. I don’t think I existed before the Crystal. I don’t think any of us armor folks did.” She shrugged with a quiet clank. “But if it was the way I hear tell of it, it was constant chaos and death. Elementals were like warlords—rampaging and taking what they wanted, fighting with each other for power, caring nothing for the lives that got stuck in the crossfire.”

That did sound terrible. But so did living in a blank, empty, lifeless, sunless world. “I don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong. I’ve been trying to figure it out, but I keep changing my mind.”

Maewenn let out a long, wistful sigh. “Deary, when you live to see a few hundred years pass, you learn something—nobody’s ever truly right. Nobody’s ever truly wrong. It’s always a mix of the two.”

Gwen nodded. That made perfect sense. She didn’t disagree—she just didn’t like it.

“Lady Gwendolyn?”

She looked up as another suit of armor walked into the room. A guard, judging by the spear he was carrying. “Yeah?”

“The prince has asked you come with me.”

Her stomach fell. “Am…am I in trouble?” She cringed. She knew she shouldn’t have slapped him.

“I only have my orders. Please follow me.”

Downing the rest of her whiskey, she fed another piece of sausage to Eod. “Maewenn, would you watch Eod?”

“Of course, dear.” The metal cook sounded as worried as Gwen felt. “Take care, please.”

“I will.” She smiled, trying not to be too scared. But her nerves were already on edge, and now she felt the prickle of her anxiety needling at the back of her head. “I’ll do my best, anyway.”

Gwen followed the suit of armor out of the room. She began twisting the fabric of the sleeves of her dress between her hands, trying to find somewhere to put her nervous energy that wasn’t smack into a panic attack. That was all she needed.

At least then she’d be unconscious if Mordred shoved her in the damn Crystal.

Nah, he’d wait until I was awake. He seems like that kind of guy.

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