Page 33 of Gilded Curses

Instead, he said, “The spiders. I don’t like spiders.”

A laugh went around the table, and a few women giggled as they eyed him over their goblets. Orin pretended not to notice while trying not to sneer at them.

“That was such a fun idea,” Sheree said.

Orin kept his astonishment hidden. “You created the spiders?”

“Oh no,” Desmond said. “They’ve always lived in this realm; we just trained them to stay in one place. At first, we had to feed them to keep them there, but once their queen built a web, they settled into the area, and we stopped feeding them.

“They’ve had a few meals from Belda’s town, but not many. And as their numbers have grown, they’ve spread out further while mostly eradicating whatever wildlife lived in the area, but for the most part, they’re content where they are.

“Admittedly, there had gotten to be a few too many of them, but you helped solve that problem. You lowered their numbers again, so they won’t require as much food to keep them in place.”

“We destroyed their web; what will keep them from moving?”

“We’re aware,” Desmond said with a smile, “and are monitoring the situation.”

Orin took that to mean they’d started feeding the abominations again. He wouldn’t press for more information; getting these freaks to talk was much easier when they weren’t firing questions at them.

So, he sipped more wine and listened to their laughter while all those dressed in white remained near the wall and the guards watched over him. Eventually, and after far too many hours, the night ended, and Orin rose as Desmond and Sheree left the room.

The large clock hanging over the doorway the couple exited through indicated it was nearly one in the morning. He stifled a yawn as Pip leaned against his cheek, and a small snore issued from her.

With guards trailing his every move, Orin strode back to the main hall and ascended to the second floor. He didn’t look back at the guards as he stopped outside Pip’s door and poked her to wake her.

She sat up and yawned loudly before slumping against his cheek again. He opened the door.

“Time for bed,” he said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

She glanced at the guards before whispering in his ear. “How long do you think they’ll toy with us before they kill us?”

“Not long.”

Pip crawled down his arm to drop onto the floor. Without a backward glance, she sauntered into the room. Orin shut the door and continued to his room; he entered and closed the door behind him.

Leaning against the door, he studied the space as he replayed everything that happened today and tonight. So far, he’d found no weaknesses in this place, but they had to be there.

Even if we don’t find any, we have to leave soon.

There was no getting around that. Today had been a display for Desmond, a show of how far they would go to entertain themselves and destroy another.

After the Barren Lands, Orin hadn’t required that show, none of them did, but the dagadon enjoyed putting it on for them. Eventually, they would get bored of only putting on shows and look to do something more… with them.

They’d have to plan an escape from this place soon. Tomorrow night, he’d cloak himself in shadows and see what he could learn from the palace and the grounds. He might return to the tunnel to see if they could return to the Barren Lands.

It was far from their best option and certainly not the one he’d expected to make when they started this journey. However, it was preferable to being eaten by dogs or tossed to the spiders.

And if they left here, they’d have to go back through those spiders. This time, they’d have fire ready to fight those monsters and, hopefully, an easier time getting through them now that they’d destroyed their web. He dreaded the geyser field the most.

He’d lied to them at dinner. That endless, exhausting hell had been far worse for him than the spiders, but he’d kept the truth hidden from the pricks below. They didn’t deserve to have it.

His attention shifted to the door leading into Sahira’s room. He contemplated knocking on it but didn’t want to wake her if she slept.

Sleep was a precious commodity in this place, and they all needed to rest as much as possible to prepare for whatever the dagadon had in store for them. He had a feeling they’d soon be getting a lot less sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTY

The clock in the corner of her room said it was 1:55 AM when Sahira slipped on the black cloak she found in her closet. With amazingly steady fingers considering the anxiety battering her, she buttoned it into place.