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The song eventually faded into a slower rhythm, and I found myself in front of Bennett once more. His hands wrapped around my waist as he pulled me closer to his chest. I wasn’t really sure what to do with my arms, so I let them fold and rest behind his neck.
He smiled down at me. “I think that’s the most fun I’ve ever seen you have.”
I arched a brow. “You were watching?”
“Rhia, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”
My stomach twisted into knots. Suddenly the floor was very interesting as heat flooded my cheeks.
Bennett’s hand slipped up my waist and his fingers found my chin, tilting my head up to meet his eyes. He looked nervous as he brushed a thumb over my cheekbone, those pink lips parting to say, “You’re beautiful when you dance like no one is watching, although I love watching you.”
If I could get lost in one place and choose to never be found again, I think it would be in his eyes.
My attention faltered for a moment, turning to the people surrounding us. They had backed away from our proximity, and although they continued to dance around us, I could feel eyes from every direction pinned on me.
“Seems like you’re not the only one,” I chuckled. “A lot of your people keep staring at me.”
“They’re not staring at you, they’re admiring you,” he said, practically devouring the sight of me.
I rolled my eyes. “Sure they are.”
“Well, think about it.” He pulled me in a little closer to him and swayed me to the music. “For one, I left Vesper and came back with you, so I’m sure that means they’re making all kinds of assumptions on that matter. Secondly, the outside world doesn’t know of this place, remember? It’s very rare that we have visitors, so you’re practically a celebrity to them. Everyone here has pretty much grown up in Vesper, and they’ve been here their whole lives, unless they were saved from Veladis.”
Saved?
The world stopped and the music went silent.
I looked into Bennett’s eyes, and I found the answer hiding in them.
I gasped. The prison.
“Holy shit.”
I backed away from him as everything started to piece together.
“All of those people down there in the dungeons, they’re from Vesper, aren’t they?”
He nodded solemnly at the truth of the statement. Panic began to attack my body as I didn’t know who to trust and what was real and what was not. My head swam with all kinds of thoughts and ideas, and it wasn’t until Bennett pulled me from the courtyard and sat me down by a small fire that I regained my grasp on reality.
“This is not the time nor place I intended to have this conversation, Rhia. I wanted your night here to be free of all things Veladis and Red Bones.”
I shook my head in distress. “Bennett, why didn’t you say something?”
“I couldn’t at the time, remember?” he said, his eyes reflecting the pain I felt. “I’m bound by a spell to not speak of my people and where they are from. I took you the long way through the dungeons that night of the party hoping you would figure it out for yourself. I needed you to see what I saw without having to convince you. I wanted you to learn the truth on your own. I also didn’t know if you would trust me. I’ve been absent in your life, where my father has practically raised you. It would make sense for you to believe him over me at that time.”
“W-Why—is he holding them there? Does he know about Vesper? Does everyone down there have Artis blood?”
My heart was beating out of my chest. This was too much information too fast. My brain was running on overdrive to try and fit all the pieces together, and each scenario I created made no sense.
“Rhia, you need to calm your breathing.” He reached over to grab my hand, but I pulled it away. My hands were sweaty and shaky and definitely in no shape to be held right now.
He looked a bit hurt at my refusal. “Not everyone in the dungeons has Artis blood, just like not everyone here in Vesper has Artis blood. However, there are runes on every cell wall that block the use of Artis magic. I also recently found out that the food and water they’re given is sedated with different potions to make them physically and mentally weak. Rhia.” He took a shaky breath. “They’re suffering in there.”
I could hardly get any words out as betrayal and pity suffocated me. “So, none of them are criminals?”
Pater always told me there were a few rogue crafters out there that would use their magic for harm. Considering until today I thought Artis blood was an extreme rarity, I assumed there were only a couple rogue people. And when Bennett took me through the dungeons, I remembered the space being way larger than I originally thought it to be.
“I’m sure some of them are felons of Veladis, but many of them are innocent Vespens who were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
