But while I doubted the royals would give me a place to stay for the night, I could insist that they return my things to me. I still had my bag with the clothes the prince had gotten for me in Fosterton. And then there were my rulibs.
As my feet tapped quietly on the silent street, I just hoped beyond hope that Jax’s parents would have the decency to at least give me what was mine. Because I had to find a way to survive on my own until Jax was freed.
And my matehadto be freed. There was no other option I could accept.
Tightness coiled around my chest, threatening to constrict my lungs. I gulped in a breath and tried to reassure myself that all would be fine. Because it had to be. I couldn’t imagine a future without Jax.
It tookme two hours to walk back to the palace. Cold night wind had set in, leaving perpetual goosebumps on my arms. Despite the chill, a sheen of sweat covered me. It’d been a long walk across the city, gradually uphill the entire way, and I only thanked the gods and goddesses that nobody had accosted me on the long journey.
If I had been in Leafton, walking through one of the seedier areas of town, I had no doubt that someone would have assaulted me or attempted to rob me. But that wasn’t the case in Jaggedston. I’d either lucked out, or Jax’s father ruled his land with an iron fist and locked up any vagrants attempting to conduct a crime.
I shuddered, wondering what the king would do if he ever found out his own son truly was the Dark Raider and had committed more heinous crimes than all of the vagrants in Jaggedston combined.
Breathing heavily, I warily approached the gates surrounding the palace. Blisters had formed on my heels, making my steps unsteady. And even though my magic healed the open wounds quickly, it seemed as soon as one blister disappeared, another formed.
But even though I was sore and tired, when I beheld the palace’s onyx walls, magic began to swirl like a tornado inside me. In the moonlight, the looming castle shone like obsidian.
Standing near the gates, the guards on night duty watched me approach, their eyes narrowing with every step I took.
When I reached them, one of them curled his lip at me. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“My belongings are within the palace. I need them.”
The guard looked to the other across the lane. “Did you hear that? The whore wants us to retrieve her things.”
My head snapped back, but just as fast, I seethed. “I am the prince’smate.” I drew myself up taller and shot him an icy glare. “For your own sake, you may want to remember that.”
A brief flash of uneasiness stole over his face, but just as fast, he rolled his eyes. “According to the king and queen, mate or no, you’re to be arrested if you attempt to get within the palace again.”
My eyes widened. Surely, they wouldn’t be that cruel. “But my things. I need them. I literally havenothing. Absolutely nothing. The least that you can do is return my bag and coins to me.”
“The least I can do is not call the kingsfae to have you arrested all over again.” He bared his teeth, and the guard across the lane snickered.
My cheeks flushed. “And did the king and queen also order you to be so heartless?”
“They’re none of your concern,” he replied coldly. “Word of advice, you best be on your way before either of them learns that you’ve returned. They might not be so kind to you a second time.”
A ball of worry knotted in my stomach. Without any clothes, rulibs, or a place to spend the night, I was in a much direr state than I’d ever dreamed possible. “Please, at least get me my bag. That’s all I’m asking. I won’t step a foot inside the palace.”
“No,” he replied coldly, and he made a move forward, as though he were going to strike me.
I jumped back, memories tumbling to the front of my mind of how Zale, my former guard at Emerson Estate, had treated me. But my abrupt movement had my foot catching on my gown. Stumbling, I almost fell backward on the pavement but caught myself just in time.
“Leave her be,” the guard at the gate’s other side said, a note of worry in his tone. “The prince won’t like it if you hurt her.”
I turned pleading eyes on him, hoping he had an ounce of mercy in his heart. “At least tell me where the prince is. Has he come back? Is he okay?”
But the guard only shook his head. “We’re not to tell you anything about the prince. Now, like he said, you best get on your way.” He nodded down the street.
Dejectedly, I was about to turn away, but then someone called from within the palace’s large open front courtyard, “He’s not back yet! But do as the guards said and go!”
I swung around to see Saramel standing on the other side of the gates. I nearly ran to her, tears instantly forming in my eyes at seeing a familiar face, but a quick shake of her head had me stopping.
She jerked her chin to the side, and her subtle communication had me schooling my expression into neutrality.
Turning on my heel, I scurried away from the palace and around the corner in the direction that she’d nodded.
On the opposite street, away from the palace wall but still visible should anyone walk by, I waited near the street corner, hidden just inside an alleyway.
