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Khalstorm glanced up, but before he could answer, Rayu asked, “Can one still be a prince of an abandoned kingdom?”
Ignoring the jibe, he responded to Xanthia. “How about you do me a favor and use your magic to make me a better scratching stick.”
Xanthia’s lips quirked as she considered his request. Then she plucked his crooked stick from the ground and, with a look of absolute concentration, slid her fingers along the surface, seeming to straighten and smooth the stick, as though it were made of putty. Once it was perfectly straight, she wiggled her fingers and one end split and curled into three sharp prongs. Rayu gazed on with a look of utter distaste, while Khalstorm concealed his greedy expression. He may distrust magic as much as the rest of them, but at this point, all tools were good tools, no matter how he acquired them.
“How’s that?” Xanthia asked, handing it over.
Khalstorm accepted it, eagerly shoving the blunt end between his teeth and the sharp pronged end under the manacle on his left wrist, moaning as he scratched. “Oh, yeah. That’s the stuff.”
“Why was your kingdom abandoned?” she asked.
Withdrawing the stick from his mouth, he glanced irritably at Rayu, “Would you like to answer, or shall I? Our stories differ wildly.”
Rayu simply stared into the flames, no doubt recalling his version of things as Xanthia’s eyes darted curiously between them.
Khalstorm narrowed his gaze on her. “Actually, I’m surprised you donna know already.”
Her brows knit together. “Why should I?”
“Because the fall of my kingdom was brought about by your family.”
* * *
Once Rathmort left, Celeste used the last stores of her energy to drag herself back to the lumpy mattress. For some reason, Khalstorm’s face flashed in her mind, clearer than it had been in many years. As always when she thought of him, her heart squeezed with sorrow and pain, but, strangely, this time, it was accompanied by . . .
Anticipation.
Where did that come from?
The cuffs on her wrist suppressed the bulk of power, but was her intuition trying to tell her something? She couldn’t even be sure he was alive. Perhaps she would soon see him in the afterlife?
Would I be so lucky?
She scoffed at herself.
If hewasdead, he wouldn’t be waiting forherto join him. The last look he’d given her said he would hate her forever, even in death. And she wouldn’t blame him. He believed she’d done the unthinkable. Betrayed him in the worst possible way.
How many times had she wished to go back and do things differently? Wondering how their lives might have turned out?
Misery settled over her. If things had gone differently that night, then the man she loved would have married another woman, would be living in his glorious palace, takingherto bed every night. But at least Celeste would know he was alive.
Atap, tap, tappingechoed down the hall. The sound of heels clicking on the stone floor, drawing nearer. Curious, she peered through the darkness. No one came to visit her aside from Rathmort. Except on the very rare occasion when . . .
Torches magically burst to life throughout the dungeon. Celeste blinked from the sudden brightness.
“Oh, darling, look at you,” her mother stood on the other side of her bars, pouting prettily.
“Mother?” A spark of hope. Had Elora come to free her this time? The spark quickly fizzled when Celeste caught the calculating gleam in her mother’s eyes. She was dressed in a sparkling black gown dripping in black jewels. Her midnight hair was pulled up into an elaborate style with twisting braids and beads weaved throughout. Her skin was smooth and full of youthful color. No one knew how old Elora was. Not even her daughters. But she could pass as Celeste’s slightly older sibling. “What are you doing here?”
“Why, I came to see you, of course.” Elora took on a hurt expression that Celeste didn’t believe for a moment. “Can’t a mother spend time with her ne’er-do-well daughter?”
Ne’er-do-well indeed.
Elora ran a finger over the grimy bars and gave the resulting smudge a sour look. “This place is odious.”
Bitterly, Celeste replied, “Well, If I knew you were coming, I’d have tidied up.”
Elora laughed. “I’m glad to find you in good spirits.”
