Page 39 of Bride to the Fiend Prince
“Come,” I said, swiveling my fingers from his wrist to his hand. “Let’s call the servants and dress for dinner. We’ve got a Dreadlord to fool and an insurrection to plan.”
33
Dinner with the Dreadlord was a sweaty-palmed, tight-fisted affair. I had to bite my tongue a few dozen times to keep from lashing out with some mocking words or rebellious comments. The Dreadlord had the audacity to ask how I was feeling, with a smirk that was clearly discernible beneath his half-mask, and I gave him a prim, polite answer.
We skirted the topic of my punishment, and he did not mention how the Prince and I had been caught in the secret library passage. Maybe the guards hadn’t told on us. Maybe they were afraid that if they mentioned it, they would get into trouble somehow. The entire Cursed Palace seemed to exist in a constant state of fear.
As we walked back to the Prince’s suite after dinner, trailed by a couple of bodyguards, I whispered, “So all these guards and servants take the ichor?”
“Most of them,” he whispered back. “But rarely. They are led to believe that the ‘cure’ is in short supply and must be rationed. The soldiers are given more frequent doses. But look.” He pointed to a guard standing at the intersection of a passage. Her muscles swelled and her fingers sparked purple as she fingered the hilt of her sword. “She’s had a dose recently. Probably because she’s guarding the hallway leading to the treasury. She’ll enjoy the effects for a few days before they wear off, and then she’ll crash.”
“I don’t understand why these people don’t grasp what’s really happening. It seems obvious.”
“People can be brainwashed to believe almost anything,” the Prince said. “And some of my father’s sorcerers have a persuasive influence that softens the mind, makes it more susceptible to unquestioning belief.”
“All the more reason to take the sorcerers out.” I spoke a little louder than I meant to, and he squeezed my arm with an anxious glance behind us.
“Hush, Princess,” he said quietly.
I glanced back too. One of the guards following us was Betta, the strong, stocky woman I’d sparred with, the one who’d requested a healer for me after my whipping. Her presence, and the memory of her kindness, triggered an idea.
When we arrived at the Prince’s chambers, I said, “Betta, I’d like to speak with you.”
“Me, Your Highness?”
“Yes. Come in here for a moment, will you?”
The Fiend Prince frowned at me, as if wondering what I was up to, but he didn’t protest, and when he and Betta and I stepped into the room, he went to the bathing area and left us alone.
I closed the bedroom door and pulled her close to the fireplace. “Betta, you seem compassionate as well as strong. Do you guard the Prince often?”
“It’s one of my primary duties, Your Highness.”
“Wonderful. So you’re loyal to him?”
“Of course.”
“Take off the helmet, please, Betta. I’d like to see your face, unobstructed.”
Betta obeyed, her forehead seamed with concern. “I’m flattered, Your Highness, but I have a husband—”
“Gods, no.” I laughed. “I’m not looking for another bedmate. What I’m proposing is far more dangerous.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Go on.”
“What if you knew that someone was threatening the Prince’s health, his wellbeing, his very life? How far would you go to defend him?”
She squared her shoulders, her mouth grim. “I would remove the threat.”
“Very good.” I moistened my dry lips and went in for the kill. “And what if the person threatening him were important, and highly placed?” I stared intently into Betta’s eyes. “What would you do then?”
Awareness flared in her gaze. “If that person were threatening the well-being of my beloved Terelaus as well as the Prince’s life, I would be even more motivated to remove the threat. But I could not do it alone.”
“None of us can,” I agreed. “Which is why you and I are having this little chat.”
She nodded. “There are others who would lay down their lives for Terelaus and thePrince.” She emphasized his name, an unspoken exclusion of the Dreadlord. “More than you would think. The people are desperate, and confused.” She glanced quickly at the bedroom door. “I must return to my post, but I will send someone to you who can speak further of this.”
“Good. Thank you.”
