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They took my sweater and my top, taking my bra too, leaving me completely naked.
But then they stopped.
My wrists were bound to a steel chain against the wall, and they tossed my clothes on the other side of the room, far out of my reach. I squatted down with my knees to my chest, covering my body the best I could.
The silence was deafening, and I sat there with hot tears burning my eyelids. I wanted to break down and cry, but my mother would never do that, and my father certainly wouldn’t. A future queen shouldn’t give in to the fear, no matter how bleak the future seemed. I closed my eyes for a bit, forced myself to calm down, forced myself to think about the next step.
When I opened my eyes again, all I saw was an empty room with bars over the window. The door might or might not be locked, but I was on a short leash, so I couldn’t exactly walk out of there. I needed something strong enough to break this chain free, but all I had was a mattress on the floor.
That meant I had to wait for someone to come for me—and kill them.
I rested my head against the wall and pictured the blue sky above me, the two dragons soaring overhead. “Why didn’t you hear me?”
Hours passed, and I was left to sit there alone, afraid of what would become of me. My father might save me—or we might both die. If only Pyre and Storm could return, they would be able to burn all these monsters alive and carry me to safety.
Then the door opened.
I flinched at the sound, my guard up and ready to execute my plan. If I could kill them, they might have a weapon I could use to cut myself free.
The door shut again, and I looked to see my attacker, hoping it wasn’t the man I’d spat on.
But it was Aurelias.
I tightened my body further, even though he’d already seen me buck naked plenty of times.
He stared at me for a moment, and as if he realized he shouldn’t, he quickly averted his gaze and walked to where my clothes lay in the corner. He gathered them up and returned them to me, setting them beside me.
I stared at them, unable to put them on because of the way my wrists were bound.
He moved for my underwear, like he was going to help me step inside them.
“You want to help me? Cut me free.” He was the one who’d put me in there, so that wasn’t likely to happen.
He stared at the steel secured around my wrists, as if contemplating it.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ll get you out of here.” He lowered his chin and looked at me again. “But you need to do something for me.”
A smartass comment came to mind, but it never came out of my mouth because survival was all that mattered. I would give anything to get out of there, even my right hand. “Name it.”
“I want a galleon with a crew to take me wherever I wish.”
I didn’t ask any questions. “Fine.”
“We have a deal?” He looked me in the eye, searching for a trace of a lie.
“A ship is a small price to get out of here. Now cut me free.”
He pulled out a dagger, the blade black like the rocks near the sea, and started to pick at the metal, trying to mimic a key that would open the lock. He kept at it for minutes, his blade slipping and scratching the surface of the metal.
“You don’t have a key?”
“If I did, you think I’d waste my time with this?”
“You’re stupid enough to hand me over to the Teeth and then free me, so—”
“I’ll be able to concentrate a lot better if you shut up.”
