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“I know you are awake,” the familiar deep baritone comes from somewhere too close.
Memories come forward, closely followed by the female’s words: It seems you now own a pet.
My eyes spring open, and I roll off the bed away from that voice.
I quickly look for an exit and the two large windows immediately grab my attention. They span from the vaulted ceilings down to benches covered in thick pillows and furry blankets. They don’t look like they open, but glass can still break. It will be tricky, with the iron bars that are meant to be decorative while holding the smaller panes in place, but I believe I am malnourished enough to slip through. I just need to see how high we are because the castle of the Royals is the only place in this cursed city made of stone.
“I wouldn’t if I were you. It’s much higher than back at the Inn,” he taunts.
“Then another way will be found. I am no one’s pet,” I seethe.
“You have been murdering Keryth. Did you believe that there would be no repercussions?” He moves around the bed, but I quickly step into a defensive stance, readying to fight my way out or until he kills me. He must sense it because he pauses. “You now belong to me. As Prince, it is my duty to seek out justice.”
My lungs and muscles stop working. The only thing in my being that is not frozen is my pounding heart.
“Prince?” I whisper.
“Yes, Prince, Little Thief,” he says with a bright smile that screams self-satisfaction. He is enjoying the fact that he shocked me.
The male with the hat and the man with red hair and glasses are one and the same.
The Prince of the Keryth.
My enemy.
“Your title does not affect me. Those Keryth—” I grit out the title, not hiding any of my disgust at the thought of them, “—were killing people. They kidnapped them. Would do unimaginable things and often drain them dry. Do you honestly believe there would be no repercussions?” I throw back at him.
“That is not your place—”
“Then who?” I yell, not caring that he is stalking toward me. I am too angry to think about self-preservation. “You? The other Royals? Other Keryth? No. One. Cared!”
“But you did?” He smiles down at me. His glasses slightly fall down his nose, and everything in me screams to break them…and his teeth.
“Yes,” I growl.
His hand shoots out quickly and wraps around my neck. I grab onto his arm, despite knowing that with a slight flick of his wrist, he could crush my windpipe. My small, weak, underfed muscles could never take him in a hand-to-hand fight. I need to be stealthy and catch him off-guard if I truly wish to do harm. And I do.
“You are now mine to do with as I please until you work off your crimes.”
“Murder is punishable by death,” I strain to say with the bit of air he is allowing into my lungs.
“Good thing I am immortal. I can ensure your sentence will be fulfilled.” That is what he thinks. “Especially after what you left behind at the house I picked you up from.” He lets me go and walks toward the door. “Bathe and change. I will be back to get you for dinner.”
“Kill me!” I scream in desperation. I cannot go through this again. I cannot be owned again! But he doesn’t answer. He only shuts the door and locks me in. “Kill me! Please. Just Kill me!” I bang on the door, but he still doesn’t answer my pleas. “Killmekillmekillmekillmekillme!” I panic.
Air is hard to take in, and my lungs scream with my effort to fill them. I stop pounding on the door and close my eyes. I can’t get anywhere or do anything if I am not in my right mind. Taking deep breaths, I allow my heart to return to its natural rhythm and control the chaos before it takes over my mind.
“You are not a pet. This will NOT be the same as last time. HE cannot hurt me here.” I repeat it a few times until I can finally open my eyes without them burning from the unshed tears.
Now that I am back in complete control, I swiftly turn to the windows, and to my dismay, the asshole was correct. We are over three stories high. Even higher than my home. He has placed me in the tallest tower of the castle. The one that stands strong above the entire city, giving me an unobstructed view of the forest of vines that stretch to blend in with the horizon.
“So, the vines are not a wall after all,” I breathe in disbelief. I look back down at the distance to the ground and groan. “I am so fucked!”
Not knowing what else to do, I explore the room. There isn’t much furniture, but it all seems to work with the room’s exceptional size and round shape. The bed is pushed against the wall, and the headboard is carved to fit snuggly against it.
Beside me is a large fireplace that looks to be carved out of gray stone. It has two deep red overstuffed chairs on either side and a small matching couch directly in front of it. There is the door he left through and another thinner one to the right of the bed.
I slowly open the door to find a smaller room roughly the same size as my tower. But this one is colored with the suns’ warmth glowing off the pale stone walls, the floor is smooth dark wood, and the window is just as large as the ones in the bedroom. But instead of a bench at its base, there stands a large tub. I haven’t seen one since before my captivity. But this one has some strange metal vines hanging over the edge of it and disappearing into the floor.
