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Yes!“So, now all I need to do is a pick a door lock. I’ve handled harder things.” My voice sounds more hopeful than I feel, but whatever, I can do this.
Setting down the box, I go to the door, carefully holding the brooch. Straightening my shoulders, I shove the pin into the lock, jimmy it this way and that way, but that lock has to be made of some sort of super titanium unpickable metal alloy because nothing happens.
Or maybe lock picking isn’t as easy as I’d hoped.
But I’m not one to give up. I pull the pin out, take a deep breath, and try shoving it in from another angle, twisting and shifting. I listen at the keyhole, hoping for some kind of sound to indicate I’m free. Again, nothing happens.
Frustrated, I sit back on my heel, glaring at the lock.This has to work. What am I doing wrong? Is this even possible?Suddenly, the lock clicks and I spring back in surprise.
Fuck! I didn’t do it. I’m not alone here.
Leaping to my feet, I drop the brooch and assume a battle stance, hands fisted, feet spread apart, one to the front, one slightly behind me. I’m prepared and ready to shift my weight to make my punch more lethal, just like Onyx taught me. Then, I’ll run. I’ll run as far and as fast as I can to reach my men before it’s too late.
But when the door swings open to a woman with long, white-blond hair, so pale it might as well be transparent, I don’t attack. Even though the woman screamswarriorthrough every inch of her leather-clad body. Because, frankly, I’m surprised. And because I’m not sure if she’s a friend or foe.
Not that I’m putting my hands down until I know who she is and why she’s here.
Her head tilts as she studies me, her hazel eyes strangely bright. “You must be Ann.”
I don’t want to tell her anything, but it’s clear she already knows this. So… there’s really no point in lying. “Yes.”
Her expression isn’t gentle, but it’s not cruel either as she says, “I’m Shenra.”
Oh.
Shenra. My men’s first love. The woman who their father took, thinking she was the one in the prophecy that would lead him to great power. The woman everyone thinks drowned in the moat, or died on the way to it, is standing in my room.
So, either she’s a ghost, or she’s still alive.
What this means… I don’t know.
She stands up straighter, so that I realize just how much taller she is than I am, and we just stare at each other for a minute. I can tell she’s assessing me, so I assess her too. She has a dagger at her waist on a silver belt, and she’s wearing… a long, black, leather dress-thing, although it’s not exactly a dress, because in front it cuts all the way up to her belly, revealing black pants underneath. Her face is dirty, as are her clothes, and she’s so thin it looks like she’s missed more meals than I thought possible.
And yet there’s no denying she looks strong. A warrior. That I’m sure of.
This ghost of a woman. This person who disappeared and let my men think she was dead.Where has she been? And is she a friend or foe?Part of me can imagine that she’s been a prisoner in this castle all this time, and the other part wonders if she’s just been quietly working for the Shadow King.
At last, those brilliant hazel eyes of hers meet mine again. “So, you’re the woman of prophecy?”
I stiffen. Once upon a time the king thought she was. “I don’t know.”
She smirks. “Yes, you do. It was never me, and for some reason I feel like this would be the Moon Goddess’s sense of humor… to bring some earthing, some fae, to save our world instead of me.”
Okay…“Does that mean you’re not working for the Shadow King?”
Fire leaps into her eyes. “I’d sooner carve out my own heart than help that cruel bastard. He took everything from me… starting with my freedom, my choice in a husband, then my men.” She pauses, and some of the fire dims, but not as much as I might have hoped from a woman talking about my men like they’re hers. “But nothing was worse than destroying this world, than enslaving my people. Do you know that his powers spread across the lands? Not just taking the people here but my own? Everyone I ever knew. My siblings. My parents. Every person I’d ever spoken to. They’re all his slaves.”
I don’t want to be cruel, but I have to ask. Have to know. “I thought you died in the moat.”
She lifts a brow. “I almost did. Rather than waiting to be rescued from this same room, I leapt. Broke my legs. Hurt myself. But I managed to crawl to safety only to see my maid throw herself too. I guess she decided that rather than face the wrath of the king, she’d die. The top of her body hit the ground, then slid into the water. It was… unpleasant to watch, but her body gave me the cover I needed to disappear.”
Well, fuck, that’s dark.
“That seems lucky for you and unlucky for her…”
“Or I had no choice.” She gives me a pointed look. “Not all of us are willing to wait and hope to be rescued.”
Pompous much?“Well, I guess it’s good I didn’t throw myself out the window, because if I did, your great woman of prophecy would either be dead or too broken to help anyone.”
