Page 66 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

He didn’t care if I was a true princess, only that I looked like one.

He clapped his hands twice and a rush of footsteps followed. His mute servants carried trays of food to each of our doors. From the cacophony, I assumed all the other prisoners were to be offered the same. When the aromas reached me, I could have wept, but I didn’t expect to get a bite of it. Surely, this was a bribe of some kind, and I fully intended to refuse it.

Ciro didn’t care for the look on my face. “Come now, Asper. This is no trick. What fun will tomorrow be if my guests of honor can barely crawl up the stairs? No. You will need your strength. For some of you, it will be a long day. For others, less so.” When he laughed, his guards laughed with him.

He waved me back from the door so the servant could deliver the tray. The door was closed, and I was alone once more.

I scoffed. “Is this another DeNoy game? You see which of us will be first to choose the poisoned dish?”

With a sharp move, Ciro flipped his blond hair from his forehead and laughed. “What a wonderful idea. But alas, not this time.” A smirk slid seamlessly into place. “Poison is not our way. Go ahead. Eat every bite and you’ll suffer nothing more serious than an extended belly. And sleep, don’t forget you’ll need your rest.” He shouted down the corridor. “You willallneed your rest! Especially your plucked moon stalker!”

Only then did he look directly at Lennon. “You’ll be civil too, my dear, or I’ll add another set of wings to my collection.”

It was my turn to console Lennon. “Listen to me,” I whispered, “He won’t hurt Kivi. He wants her for his own, remember? He called herourblue dragon, didn’t he? And he won’t want her drugged tomorrow when he shows her off. And if she’s not drugged?—”

“Then she can fly.”

“And she can hear you.”

“And we can get out of here.”

I finally dug into the tray of food and a full belly lifted my spirits even further. Ciro had said he wanted us all strong, all rested, so I assumed the men were given food as well. The thought of us all fighting with empty stomachs had worried me. Now all we had to worry about was dying…

When I laid down to sleep, I felt the weight of the key more keenly than usual. I couldn’t align my memory of Demius and with a man who had stolen the dragon key. Whom had he robbed? What other things had he taken? Did the books buried in the Redstone Canyon belong to someone else?

Impossible. The old man hoarded books for over a thousand years or more, then nested on them like a dragon nesting on eggs. They had to be his. And Zelan had to be thinking of another man who’d actually participated in the world.

Then again, he had known about the key. Was it just happenstance that I hid a key on my person? Or had my Demius never been the peaceful, patience-touting man he’d led me to believe he was?

As I willed sleep to take me, I was grateful Zelan had at least given me something to think about besides the arena…

* * *

I woketo find a new tray of food on the end of my pallet. A pitcher of water, a cup of hot tea, fresh bread, and a horn full of potent wine. My stomach was still full from the night before, but not knowing how long before I was offered another meal, I sampled it all. The wine, however, I left on the tray untouched but for that first sip.

I didn’t intend to face these schemers without a clear head.

Hooked on the inside of the door was the purple gown and crown, along with a pretty pair of slippers that I would not be wearing. If I was to fight, I wanted my boots with my dagger tucked inside.

While I ate, I tried to imagine what would be expected of me.

You will be civil.

Fine, so he wanted me to behave. As long as behaving didn’t have a cost, I would mind my manners.

He expected me to sit near him. A shiny new toy for his friends to covet.

Fine. I could shine. But that was all I would do. I would sit by and wait for the right moment. I would watch, and I would smile, and when it was time, I would strike. I still had two precious things in my boots—the drawing of Demius and my dagger. The fool hadn’t thought to have me searched. Maybe he dismissed all women as weak—except for those ferocious females among his chosen DeNoy.

His mistake.

31

A DRUID’S PRICE

Iwas the first to be collected from my cell. A guard I’d never seen before took me up the stairs, out of the Recovery, and across to the large amphitheater. The snow had melted, so most of my attention was spent on lifting my hem above the mud and watching my step, trying to keep to the tiny stones that lay slightly higher than the puddles.

Inside the building, we wove through a maze of hallways before we emerged in the arena midway between the center of the floor and the top that was open to the sky. I was taken to a large box with dry, cushioned seating with my back to the watery sun. Though the air had a slight chill, it was blessedly still. And though I might die before the day was out, at least I wouldn’t freeze to death.

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