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Rage mixed with her panic and she rammed her elbow into what she assumed was his side earning her a pained groan from her assailant.
“Stop fighting me and let me explain, you insufferable woman!” he shot back, tightening his grip around her.
“Let me go!” she repeated. “I’m going home!”
He growled against her. “That isn’t how you get home. It’s a death sentence. If you stop fighting me, I will explain.”
Despite herself, his words interlaced with the anxiety she had been feeling only a moment ago. She paused her thrashing. “Why would I listen to the person who wants to keep me here?”
The prince stilled beneath her. “You think I want to keep you here?”
Despite his strange response, Wren ground her teeth and sent another elbow into his side. He let loose a pitiful moan.
“Gods, stop doing that,” he said harshly.
“I’ll stop when you let me go,” she said.
He twisted until she was on her back and he loomed above her. There were beads of sweat on his forehead, and his breathing was coming fast enough that she knew he had run to catch up to her. How had he figured it out so quickly? She was a fool to have hesitated. Balling her hands into fists she prepared to fight, but his hands were suddenly around her arms holding her firmly against the cool ground.
“Listen to me,” he demanded. “You go into that lake and you will stay there for the rest of your days, caught in a place between worlds. Maybe you’ll die of hunger and thirst first or maybe whatever magic created it will keep you alive there forever. Either way, your life is forfeit if you step into that godsdamn lake.”
“You lie.”
Richard had said that her leaving would be detrimental to him. This was just another ploy to keep her a prisoner.
“I assure you, Princess, I have a lot better things to do than chase after idiotic girls with a death wish and spout fairytales to them. I told you this lake wouldn’t work. I told you I would reach out to North Helm. Why do you insist on throwing your life away?”
His clear blue eyes bore into her and Richard’s strange reaction when she had left him flickered in her mind. The way the lake felt strange. Everything seemed to point to the truth of his words, but she refused to believe them. Home was feet away, and she would be damned if she let this chance escape her. From the hard lines of his face looming above her, she knew she would not get another chance. She brought her knee up, prepared to do what damage she could, but the prince seemed to anticipate her and shifted to the side, her knee barely making contact with his hip.
“Foolish,” he chided. He shifted his body, pulling at her arms till they were both righted.
Wren only had a second to consider her new position when he released her only to sweep her off the ground and haul her over his shoulder. The scream she let loose was one of loss and one of despair. With each step he took, she could see her freedom furthering from her grasp. Georgie. Home. It was all fading out of reach.
She kicked and screamed, but the man carrying her might as well have been made of stone. He was unmoved by her heart break and when she heard the crackling of torches her screams turned to sobs as realization fell over her. She was never going home.
Chapter 6
Thedespairthatburrowedinto Wren’s body was one that was all consuming and permanent. There would be no shaking this feeling for as long as she lived. Barely registering the guards that stared open mouthed as their crown prince carried Wren back into the castle, Wren gave up. She let go of the hope she had cradled and nurtured and released it back into the godforsaken world.
The crown prince must have registered her defeat as he slowly lowered her, her feet meeting plush red carpet and her back leaning against stone. Wren closed her eyes as if she could hide from him and this fate which had laid claim to her. Neither of them said anything, only the flickering of the lights that illuminated the long hallway gave off any sound.
“Are you reasonable enough to walk back to your room without trying to run away?” He broke the silence.
Forcing her eyes open, Wren glared at the prince who watched her as if she were likely to spew venom at any moment. “Do I have any other choice?”
Prince Malaki gave her a smile that was full of malice. “I can carry you there if you insist upon it.”
Wren wished she had something to throw at him, but she wouldn’t even be granted that luxury. In answer, Wren turned and began walking down the hall that she knew well enough to be the opposite direction of her salvation. Fighting back tears that threatened to break with each errant thought she tucked them away. Prince Malaki was at her side, hands folded behind his back as if this were nothing more than a leisurely evening stroll.
When they made it to her room, the prince opened the door and she fought back the urge to kick him once more. How easily he opened the door to her prison, content to see her locked away once more. She was saved having to see if she would comply with her instinct or not, by blond hair rushing towards her. Barely having enough time to brace herself against the force of the small woman catapulting towards her, Wren sucked in a breath as Sophie collided into her.
“Oh my gods! He got to you in time. Thank the gods. Wren, I’m so sorry. I should have known when Richard was acting so smug and you were saying things that sounded like good bye. I shouldn’t have left you!”
Despite the warmth that crept in at the other woman’s affection, Wren peeled herself away from Sophie and walked into her rooms. Sophie and the prince shared a silent conversation that ended with a nod from Sophie towards the exit. Curiously, the prince heeded her silent command and shut the door behind him. As much as Wren was grateful to be free of the man, it felt as if the final nail of her coffin was being hammered in.
“I’m sorry, Wren. I can only imagine what Richard said to you, but you can never trust him. He—”
“I don’t care, Sophie,” Wren interrupted. “I just want to go to bed.”
