Page 23 of Kingdom Of Veil And Vow

I contemplate not answering but there is no harm in telling Immie a name Xander already knows. “Bella,” I say, clearing my throat and coming to a stand again. “You can call me Bella.”

Immie doesn’t respond as she finally hears the footsteps too, and my heart races as I stare at the shadow shortening in front of my cell until it’s replaced with a man. Xander halts in all his glittering glory, his golden armor covering nearly every part of him today.

I make a show of looking him over, my disgust more than evident. “Guardsman,” I say in greeting, folding my arms over my chest.

“Bella,” he returns, making me sneer.

“I told you not to call me that.”

“But you’ll let the random prisoner do so? Interesting.” He tilts his head, those dark eyes piercing beneath the torchlight. The torch nearest to me went out hours ago. “In any case, I do not want to resort to calling you by what you are, so until you give me something else, Bella will do.”

Annoyance flares, kindling to an already deeply burning flame within me. “You don’t get to decide that,” I bark back, but he ignores me, instead taking in the state of my clothes and the empty tray of food at my feet, a sharp smirk tugging at his lips. He seems different today. Off in a way I don’t know how to quantify, but one that is noticeable from his previous visit.

“Have you been enjoying your meals?”

“You ask as if I should be grateful for them.”

“Shouldn’t you? You are the only one receiving special treatment, after all.” He looks in Immie’s direction, and the sudden urge to protect her propels me forward, my fingers curling over the iron bars. The last thing she needs is any more attention on her.

“Have you heard anything about Rhea?” His face is blank, his eyes dark, fathomless pits as they flick to mine.

Xander takes a step closer to the cell, and my next inhale is tainted with a hint of pine, a subtle note of citrus undercutting it. “If you want information on the princess, you need to answer a question for me first.” My eyes bounce between his as my heart leaps to my throat. Temptation to hear even a piece of news about her forces my mouth open, my logic temporarily overcome by the urge to ensure that she is still safe. That she has found her place in the Mage Kingdom.

“Did you just say Princess Rhea?” Immie’s voice shatters the illusion, knocking sense back into me that is once more replaced with fear when Xander turns her way.

“Yes,” he drawls, walking until he’s in front of her cell. “I heard you were brought in for harboring the princess and the guard who stole her.”

“Stole her,” she muses. I press my face into the space between the bars, forcing my breath to come evenly as Xander lays a hand on the hilt of his sword, his tanned fingers curling around it.

“That’s what happened. She was taken from the tower.”

I wonder if he actually believes that lie.

“For someone supposedly there against her will, the two of them looked to be quite happy and in love.”

“Immie, don’t tell him anything more,” I shout.

“What else did you notice about the two of them?” Xander asks her.

“Well,” she says, followed by a pause to clear her throat, “I know that he is not mortal and neither is she.” I blink back my surprise, Xander looking briefly in my direction.

“How did you come to find that out?”

“Oh, I have my ways,” Immie says. I hear her shuffle, as if moving to lay on her cot. “None of which I will be telling you.”

“If not me, then you’ll be made to tell your king,” Xander snaps, the harshness of his voice startling me. In all the times Xander has visited—whether alone or with the king—not once as he lost his composure like this.

But it only makes the old woman chuckle, the sound tired. “I’m not afraid of the man whose bottom I used to clean.”

She used to work in the palace? I push the thought away for now. I can ask Immie once Xander is gone. “What do you know about Rhea?”

Taking casual steps, Xander resumes his place in front of my cell, somehow appearing even larger than before. “As I mentioned, I will not tell you anything until you answer one of my questions. How long has Princess Rhea had magic?”

“I don’t know.”

“What can her magic do? Besides healing?”

“I don’t know.” I pick up the sound of Immie’s soft snoring. “She deserves to have food brought to her.”