Page 23

In the middle of the room, though it is more like a stone cave carved out of the bedrock, stands a huge silver cage. It reminds me of a far larger version of the kind one might keep a brightly colored parrot in, or perhaps several budgerigars.

But it’s not a bird that sits in the middle of the cage, but a man.

He is naked.

He sits on the floor of the cage, curled into himself, so all that is visible is the top of his dark head, his shoulders, and his shins and feet.

Slowly, he raises his head. Dark eyes—eyes I’ve looked into before—lock with mine.

“Hello, Princess.”

I blink, almost unable to believe what I’m seeing. “P-Prince Ruarok?”

“I wondered when someone would find me.Ifsomeone would find me. I’ve had times I’ve believed this would be the end of me.”

Moving cautiously, as though he hasn’t used his limbs in some time, he unfurls and gets to his feet. The cage is large enough for him to stand straight. He makes no move to cover himself, and I find my gaze landing on his semi-erect cock and the thatch of black curls around it. I wonder if he has no modesty at all, but then I realize he can’t cover himself, even if he’d wanted. His hands are cuffed behind his back.

“I thought you’d been banished,” I blurt.

My cheeks are hot at the sight of my naked stepbrother. Really, it should be the least of my concerns, but, despite my age, I’ve never been with a man. Seeing one completely naked at such proximity has affected me.

He takes a couple of paces closer and stops to press his forehead against the bars. “I guess this was a kind of banishment.”

“How long have you been down here?”

“Ten years, I believe, though it’s been difficult to mark the passage of time.”

I gape. “Ten years? That’s not possible.”

That’s the same length he’s been banished. Surely, he can’t have been down here all this time? From the moment he was escorted from the Great Hall. I don’t want to believe it.

I picture us all living our lives above him, eating good food, and dancing, and listening to music, when all the while he was down here, wasting away. And my stepfather knew about this? He gave me no indication that he had any idea this was where his son resided now. What aboutmy mother—surely, she didn’t know as well? No, I’m sure she couldn’t have. My mother was a good, kindhearted woman. I find it impossible to imagine her being all right with Ruarok locked away down here while we continued as though nothing was wrong.

“Who has been looking after you?” I ask. “Who has been feeding you?”

“No one. You’re the first face I’ve seen in all this time.”

“Impossible. You’d be dead.”

He lifts his chin to gesture around the cage. “Magic. You are Fae, are you not? I don’t have to explain that to you.”

I try to imagine how it must have been for him to spend ten years trapped inside a cage with no one to speak to and nothing to do. His hands cuffed behind his back. It must have been utter torture.

I take in the sharp planes of his face, the angular cheekbones. The full lips and dark eyes. The thick, dark brows, and messy, almost-black hair. It hits me that my stepbrother is beautiful, enough to steal my breath. His skin is pale from the lack of sunshine, but it doesn’t detract from his beauty. If anything, it only makes him more striking.

I try to coax my memory of the dance with him into the forefront of my mind. Had I been aware of his looks back then? I had only been young, but yes, I had. Wasn’t that the reason I’d thought of him so often over the years?

There’s something else. Ruarok doesn’t know about his father’s death.

Is that why I’ve been able to find him? Assuming his father was the one responsible for imprisoning the prince,is his magic waning now that he’s dead? Does Ruarok know this? Can he sense it?

He nods down at the key in my hand. “Are you going to release me?”

I glance down at it. I’d forgotten I was even holding it. I twist to look back over my shoulder at the door I’ve just come through.

“But isn’t this the key to the door? How will it open the cage as well?”

He smiles at me. “Princess, you are Fae, but yet you seem clueless as to the ways of magic.”