Page 86 of Hidden Kingdoms

Would this be where he passed the sentence for me attacking his guard, and be put into the real dungeon? It was a possibility I needed to be ready for.

Taking it in my hand, I frowned at the dress that flowed to the floor—a curtain of sleek red silk falling through my fingers.

“Andthisis what I’ll be wearing?” I eyed it with unveiled suspicion; this wasn’t the sort of clothing to wear if you were preparing to be locked in a dungeon.

“It was Alouette’s idea. But if you’re not comfortable wearing that, I can get you something else,” she said, her eyes sweeping over me from head to toe.

I recognised that look. It was the way Nanna Alba had looked at me sometimes when she was trying to get a read on me. At that, Alouette’s freckled face swung round the door frame, a brow raised in a silent challenge.

“No, it’s fine.” The silk was soft and cool in my fingers.

Why hadn’t Kaius picked my clothes?

“You will be taken down before lunch.”

“Another delightful meal with Prince Asshole is what I needed today,” I muttered, one hundred percent not looking forward to this.

She laughed before saying her goodbyes, and I sat at the table, the hunger a heavy ache as I reached for the food in front of me. My stomach was grateful for the warmth, but the food held no flavour as I methodically chewed, my mind far away.

Once it was gone, I found myself sitting back on the bed, the red silk clutched in my fingers reminding me of the guard’s bloody mark on the stones.

I contemplated crawling back into the cocoon of the blankets. If they wanted me, they could come and take me, as I wasn’t sure I had it in me to willingly walk to my own trial. To try and defend actions I felt little remorse in taking.

Was I supposed to be sorry? Throw myself at their mercy and hope they took pity on me?

The thought alone made magik vibrate in my fingertips like I was holding a handful of angry bees, and I let the dress fall onto the sheets, the silk creased from my grip.

I scrubbed my hand over my face as it slid away, the smooth fabric gliding over a bump of rumpled blankets before it came to a stop. A corner of something I really wasn’t in the mood to find peeking out from underneath.

I stared. And stared and stared.

Hoping that with every blink it would be gone, just a trick of the light—or my overworked mind—but as the minutes ticked away, orchestrated by that gods damned clock, I knew that hoping was getting me nowhere.

Unsurprised at the sliver of familiar energy that passed through me as I pinched the corner, I pulled it out.

A marked wheel painted in delicate brush strokes, its symbols as precise as the snake that curved around one side, and the god of death that mirrored it on the other. Four wingedcreatures decorated its corners, and a sphinx sat superior at the top of the wheel.

I liked sphinxes, but as this one stared at me with judgment painted into her feline eyes, I had a feeling that was going to change.

The Wheel of Fortune.

A turning point—destiny.

I need a fucking turning point right now, I just don’t know which direction it will head in.

I chucked it into the drawer with the other two, no longer wanting to look at the cards that used to hold such sentiment. I couldn’t even find it in me to care how it got here.

If the card was right, my luck was about to change, though for better or worse who could say.

Prince Asshole can say, that’s who.

Time was running away from me, which was new, since it usually dragged in this little room. The hours seemed to grow longer with each day. But right now, I needed to get ready. I needed to put on my brave girl face and walk out there confident in what I’d done.

My thoughts were swinging between the idea that I should be coming to terms with the fact I was about to find myself in a much worse situation, or coming up with escape plans that, realistically, had zero chance of working.

The Wheel of Fortune was heavy on karma, and I wondered how much it would kick my ass after yesterday. Would I be let off? He had attacked me… or would I be punished for the resulting act I committed?

The clock ticked obnoxiously loud as I tried to corral my scattering thoughts—finding that card hadn’t made things easier. I stripped before I could second-guess myself. Pulling the slinky dress up my body, I couldn’t deny it felt heavenly against my skin. Fitting to perfection, it wrapped me from head to toein a caress of scarlet silk, every inch of skin covered in a way that seemed more provocative than if I had been offered to them naked.

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