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Elizabeth blinked as if she remembered something. “The guards. I almost forgot.” She narrowed her eyes, then her eyebrows pinched to the center. “I have a plan. Hurry my lady, and get dressed.”
I shoved my body into a silk black dress with golden embroidered swirls around the neckline that dipped far too low in the front and back. Sick bastard. He wanted me to show my cleavage. But at least I could release my wings easily.
“You look beautiful, my lady.” Clara’s pitch rose.
My cheeks warmed at her gawking.
Though the dress covered my feet, I slipped on my boots and adjusted the dagger so it wouldn’t cut me.
“You’re supposed to wear these.” Elizabeth placed down a pair of dainty flat-heeled shoes made with delicate fabric.
I kicked them into the water. “Ooops. They’re too wet. I guess I have to wear what I have on.” I winked. “I prefer the boots. It hurts more when I kick them in the crotch. A dick is a dick. Human or not.”
Clara covered her mouth and giggled, but Elizabeth’s cheeks turned pink and she tugged her bonnet lower. I went back to the chamber and sat on the bed next to a tray filled with pink flower petals and hair accessories.
While my boot tapped the floor, Elizabeth brushed my hair and sectioned it with clips. She twirled some strands and pinned them up, leaving some curls down around my face. Clara patted the pink petal on my eyes and cheeks and rubbed the bud from the stargazer lily on my lips.
“You look stunning.” Elizabeth handed me a handheld mirror.
As I looked into my reflection, Clara draped a gold chain necklace around me, looped around a glistening square ruby gemstone pendant about the size of two thumbs. For a moment I was a human queen, ready to attend a grand ceremony. And Zander, the king, ready for me on the throne.
I snapped out of my thoughts and handed the mirror back to Elizabeth. These human material possessions made me wish for things I shouldn’t dare dream about. The human world was not my home, and I had a mission to accomplish.
“Thank you,” I said as I rose. “Time is of the essence. I’ll tell you my plan as we … did you say where you were taking me?”
“To the kitchen, my lady. Follow me.” Elizabeth led the way out the door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Dungeon
Evangeline
Elizabeth and Clara pulled me into a dim hallway, the light from their torches flickering off the stone walls. We descended a spiral brick stairway which ended at an ancient wooden door. The smell of wood smoke and roasting meat filled the air as I stepped into the kitchen.
A cook had suspended an entire pig above a flame-filled firepit, while others bustled around with bowls of carrots, beans, and potatoes. All conversation stopped when they noticed us standing in the doorway.
“Don’t ask questions,” Elizabeth said to the kitchen assistants. “You didn’t see us.”
Clara went toward the back and opened a cabinet. She took a long tablecloth and flung it over a wooden cart big enough to fit a few sacks of potatoes … or a body.
Elizabeth rolled the cart in front of me and lifted one side of the fabric. “Hurry, get in.”
I grasped the worn, wooden handle and squeezed in. My elegant dress did nothing to help me ease into a comfortable position, and the dagger inside my boot poked my calf. Elizabeth pulled the white fabric down to conceal me.
“Where’s the prison food?” Elizabeth asked.
“Don’t forget to give me a piece of cake,” Clara said.
Who has time to sit around eating cake?
The cart jostled and shook, wheels clanking and thumping as it chugged along. Torchlight gave me a dim view through the fabric. Suddenly, the cart sped up with a lurch and careened down a bumpy slope. My head bumped the top surface and my body swayed precariously.
“Be careful,” Clara muttered as we continued to spiral down. “You’re going too fast.”
“We have no time,” Elizabeth said in a harsh whisper.
The cart came to a sudden stop that nearly flung me out.
