Page 27 of The Princess of Nothing
“Saved me?” I snickered and looked at him. “How gallant of you.”
“I mean, I thought, I...”
“Yes?” My eyes bulged. “Spit it out,” I mocked.
“You’re impossible to talk to.”
“You locked me in a cage, tortured me, and expect me to what, bow to you for saving me from the brink of death? Well, you’re welcome to hold your breath for an apology, the outcome of which I’d greatly desire.”
He wrinkled his nose, his eyebrows rising up his forehead. I could tell the uncertainty behind his eyes. “You’re very rude. I’ve never been spoken to this way before. I am a prince, may I remind you.”
I swallowed laughter. My lips clamped together. “You’re more arrogant than half the men back at Ash Court, and that says a lot.”
He leaned against the cream-colored wall, drumming his fingers on the side of his leg. “Fine. I’ll get straight to the point then, shall I?”
“Finally.” I walked back to my bed but stepped wrong before I reached the feather-down duvet. I winced when a sharp pain ran up my leg. “Ow!”
He shot me a pained look as he watched me drop onto the bed. “How, um, how are you feeling? Is the medicine helping?”
“I wouldn’t mind more opioid for the pain.”
He nodded curtly. “I will have Edna take care of that as soon as we are done.” He relaxed his shoulders, then maneuvered himself until he was leaning back against the countertop with the basin. “We’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.”
“Understatement of the year.”
He inhaled deeply. “We are willing to offer a deal in exchange for your life.”
I sat forward. My fingers curled into the sheets. “Tell me.”
“You must abdicate the throne and relinquish any power you have to your cousin. If you agree and sign your claim to the crown away, then we will spare your life and eventually look into releasing you out of our custody, into Berovian society.”
Seconds ticked into minutes. I could not believe what I was hearing. My brain fuzzed. “We? You mean your father.”
“King Xenos wanted you killed. I thought this more humane.”
“I’m not a dog.” I groaned. “You can’t just kill me because I won’t obey. My people will revolt.”
“No one knows you’re alive,” he explained. “We have kept your identity hidden.”
Cedric knows, I thought, but he wouldn’t tell. Not when he was focused on getting me out of here. Fulfilling his promise to me. My lips parted. Sadness crept down my chest and tightened around my heart. “Then you’ll quietly kill me, and it will be as if I died in Niferum.”
“Yes.” He pulled on his earlobe.
I watched him carefully. His stance was restless. He looked as if he’d barely gotten any sleep. The gears in my mind clicked into place. “You said you believed this was more humane, that you saved me.”
He nodded but wouldn’t look at me.
I understood now. “It’s warped, but this was your plan, right? Now it’s failing. You tried to find a way to save me. Why not let me die? What do you have to gain from my life?”
He swallowed hard. “You’re smart.”
“Flattery won’t distract me. The truth, now.” Oh how I missed the fae and their inability to lie.
“I’m not trying to,” he said quickly. “I need you to trust me.”
“There’s a better chance of it snowing.” I laughed and looked over at the brightly lit sky through the window.
“I pitied you,” he admitted. “I couldn’t watch someone treated like that, especially a woman.”
