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15
SELINA
“Idon’t know how to help you, cousin,” Prince Willam says with a yawn. “You want to visit the dungeons,really? Is it a game? A dare?”
“Yes,” I say. “Yes, it’s a dare. Lily dared me.”
“Lily? She doesn’t seem like the type.”
“Lily together with Alfred and Ralph.”
“Those rascals. That I can imagine. Didn’t know she hung out with them.”
“It’s a new thing.”
He leans back in his chair with a sigh, runs a hand through his black hair. He’s older than me and is courting a princess from the south whose name I doubt he even remembers. I also doubt he could ever understand the truth of what I’m trying to do. My only hope is that he will play along. Willam likes games. Cards, betting, dog races, you name it.
And he looks vaguely intrigued and vastly bored.
“Come on, Willam,” I mutter. “Alfred and Ralph have a bet going.”
That gets his attention. “A bet about you getting into the dungeons?”
“About finding something they’ve hidden there, in one of the cells. I’m to take Lily and one more person to look. I have until tonight.”
“You came to ask me to join you?”
“Oh.” Damn, I hadn’t thought he’d want in. “Actually, I’ve already asked someone. It has to be a girl. It’s girls against boys.”
“Then I could join the boys.”
“Yeah, you know… maybe for the next one? We’re planning many such dares.”
He gazes at me from under his lashes. “Any particular occasion? I hear you got engaged. Isn’t it time to get serious?”
“Well, actually no. Last chance to be wild and carefree, right?” I force a big smile. “Last chance to enjoy life here at the palace before the wedding.”
“Have you set a date?”
“Not yet.”
I wonder when is Iason going to break the engagement. If Willam has heard anything about it. But he’s only watching me with interest in his dark gaze.
“Fine,” he says eventually. “I’m friends with a couple of guards down there. We play dice together sometimes. I’ll ask them to open the cell you want.”
“Thank you, cousin!”
“And in exchange…”
I force myself not to grimace. “Yes?”
“Like I said. I want in on the next one.”
“Deal,” I whisper, praying I can get Adar out today and not have to deal with the fallout of my lies. “And, cousin… it’s a secret. Nobody can know that I’m playing such games, much less my parents and my future husband.”
“Secret is safe with me,” Willam says, but that doesn’t mean I can trust him. I just hope he keeps his word long enough for me to get out.
