Though she’d begged him to teach her how tofight, her dad would only teach her how to punch. He said learninganything more was unladylike but did feel that she should know howto defend herself at least a little.
However, she’d never hit anyone out of angerbefore, and while she was still stunned by the action and her handthrobbed a little, she couldn’t deny it feltgood. Thebastard deserved it.
This time, she was the one who smiledsmugly.
“Okay,” he muttered in a more nasally tone.“I’ll give you that one. Butonlythat one. Don’t try itagain.”
She almost asked him what would happen if shedidtry it again, but she decided not to test her luck bypushing him further. He may need her, but he was far more powerful,and he could hurt her.
“Do they know my name?” she asked in a lowwhisper that wouldn’t carry to the others.
“No.” Orin lowered his hands to reveal hisswollen nose. He wiped away the trickle of blood seeping from oneof his nostrils. “Your identity will remain hidden from them.”
“They’reonmy land.”
“They don’t know that. We’ve been running solong that even the immortals have no idea where we are anymore. Andthe forgetting potion will erase any memories they might have ofhow they got here.”
She despised him, but she believed him whenhe promised her this. He needed her help, and he would keep herprotected while that remained true. What would happen afterward,she didn’t know, but he could destroy her now, so it didn’tmatter.
Lexi plastered on a smile and turned to thefugitives. She didnotfeel like smiling as her stomachchurned and her mind spun with all the ramifications of heractions, but she couldn’t turn them away. She would never sleepagain if she did.
“My name is Andi,” she said with falsecheeriness.
When she was a young girl, her father wouldsometimes call her Andi in a cute little rhyming game he made up.She recalled sitting on his lap and giggling while he tickled herand sang, “Andi Pandy smells like pickles and candy.”
She pushed aside the grief that came with thememory as she continued speaking. “I’m going to help you.”
It may be the worst decision she ever made,but the second the words left her mouth, the helplessness she’dexperienced since the destruction of the marketplace vanished.She’d chosen a different side than her father, but he would havebeen so proud of her for doing it.
“Please, follow me. I’ll take you somewheresafe,” she promised as she led them into the shed.
CHAPTER 60
Cole took his father’s king as he declared,“Checkmate.”
And it was about time. They’d played hundredsof matches over the past week and a half, and this was the firsthe’d won. He’d never been one for chess, but after days of beingstuck in these small rooms, with windows as their only access tothe outside world, he was becoming better at the game.
He’d also become better at rummy and keepinghis building rage restrained.
It took everything he had not to launch tohis feet and pace the small room containing only the gaming tableand two chairs. No decorations hung on the walls, no fire crackledin the hearth, and the only door out was locked.
The place looked exactly like what it was… aprison.
Cole resisted pummeling the gray stone wallsof the palace as he demanded to be released. However, he would notgive the Lord the satisfaction of seeing him break, so he followedhis father’s lead of cool indifference while plotting the many wayshe’d kill the Lord.
When the messenger showed them to this room,he told them they were the Lord’s guests before he closed andlocked the door behind them. Neither he nor his father ever saidanything out loud to acknowledge it, but they were inmates.
So, they passed the time by discussing therealms' mundane politics and the games they played. His fathernever brought up Lexi, and Cole knew it was because he also soughtto keep her secret from the Lord.
This was the Lord’s palace, and even if theycouldn’t see any hearing device, Cole was certain they were somehowbeing listened to. They maintained an air of nonchalance as thedays slipped past. He hoped they were boring their eavesdroppers todeath.
Outside their tower prison, the dragonsroamed the skies while inside it, their bellows reverberated aroundthe stone rooms. Their incessant noise was grating on Cole’s lastnerve.
“Nice match,” his father murmured.
“You weren’t paying attention.”
His father smiled. “You caught me.”
