“You will be safe. And if you…if you find yourself in danger, you should reach out to Princess Emerald.”
Emerald. The woman who ran away from him at the altar.
“You think she could help me escape?” I ask.
“If anyone could. Or at the very least, help get your story out.”
That was one of the things that I had always found interesting. There were no rumors that he had suppressed his wives’ ability to communicate with the outside world. I find that troubling. Because in the event he is a murderer, then he must not signal his intent to kill them; it must justhappen.
I’m going to need to look very closely for signals.
I pack, and I very deliberately do not take stock of the room. I don’t turn it into something sentimental. I don’t let myself get sad. And when the envoy arrives, I’m quick down the stairs. “My name is Lilith Carter,” I say. “And I am taking my sister’s place.”
My escorts look at one another. I can see that they aren’t sure quite what to do. “The king wants a wife.” I refuse to look away from them. I refuse to be cowed in any way. “I volunteer for the position. You will not leave here empty-handed. However, if you try to take my sister…”
“One moment,” the man says.
He steps back outside the house, and I hear muted voices. It sounds as if he made a phone call.
A moment later, he comes back in. “All right,” he says. “You may come with us.”
I clutch my bag more tightly in my hands. “All right,” I agree. “Then let us go.”
A dragon is only ever satisfied by the blood of maidens…
Well, I have the maiden part right. But I’m not sure that anything can ever satisfy this particular dragon.
Everything I’ve ever heard about him suggests that he is a black hole.
And a black hole can never be filled.
All it does is consume everything in its wake.
Chapter Two
No one hasseen King Lucian in years. I mean, that isn’t strictly true. Many people have seen him. There were many people in attendance at the wedding that didn’t happen last year. But there are never photographs at the events that he’s at, and he never speaks on camera. He is seen, but only in the flesh, and in order to see him in the flesh you have to be someone of import.
My family has never been important.
Until we received word that the king had chosen my sister to be his wife.
Then, suddenly, we were important.
I don’t feel important right now. I also don’t feel especially practical. Suddenly, standing outside in the antechamber of the great iron palace that I have actually never seen in this close, and only ever seen in pictures online and from a great distance, I do not feel even a little bit brave.
Suddenly, I want to go back home and hide in my room.
All I’ve ever done is dream of leaving home. Plan for leaving home. I’ve never actually done it.
I’m more arrogant than I realized.
What I’ve done is work as a lab assistant and save money. That’s it. Eve has at least dated. Fallen in love and out of love, tried different jobs, had her heart broken, broken hearts. She’s lived more than I have and I convinced myself that because my goals were academic that somehow made me stronger.
I don’t feel stronger now. I feel like what I am: a virgin who’s never left home.
And who is about to be a dragon’s breakfast.
Just because I’ve never valued certain kinds of knowledge doesn’t mean I won’t need it, and I’m overcome by that realization.
