Page 135 of Keeper of the Word

Chapter

Fifty-One

ELANNA

“You’ll never be rid of her, Your Majesty. And she is but a peasant. Hardly anyone to give pause over. Her death is the only thing that will cement the prince’s resolve.”

Elanna sat up, the satin covers falling from her shoulders. Her hand to her chest, she breathed in and out slowly.

’Twas dawn again.

Merely another nightmare.

A nightmare. Like yesterday had been. A day filled with what felt like kicking and screaming. When Elanna and Hux had made it to the prince’s rooms, where she assumed he would be escorted, they found them empty. No one was in the Royal Solar, either. They dared creep to the unknown corridors lined with velvet, but that strange space appeared as though it had always been abandoned.

“This cannot be good,” Hux said.

“You know the castle. Where would they take him if they did not want anyone to know he was returned? Or returned in the manner that he was?”

“Lady, I hate to think. The dungeons?”

“The dungeons? They would not dare place the prince there.”

Hux shrugged. “Why not?”

He was proved right when they made their dank descent down into the depths of Castle Sidra. Elanna told herself that this dungeon, with its mildewy odor, flickering shadows, and chilled aura, was not the dungeon she’d Seen on the Dasei Moors. Because that would mean the end—the absolute end. She had Seen it carving its way through the stepping stones of time despite her attempts to stop it.

And she had not realized, when she glimpsed the dungeon, that ’twould beherwho would, in reality,be submerged in the middle of this path. But then, why not? She had placed herself here.

Betrayed. Foolish. Angry. This was Elanna. And for the first time in her life, Elanna gave over these emotions to the stars.

Why did I come?

“There.” Hux had liberated her from her thoughts. He peered around the corner at the bottom of the stairs to scan the short passageway. “He’s definitely here. His new guard is here. And a few of the Warins, it appears. I wonder if your brother is amongst them.”

“You still have yet to tell me what you argued about.”

Hux swept his eyes around the area. “I was reminding him that starlit blood is thicker than a silver uniform.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that this is a conversation for later. You have any ideas?”

Elanna pursed her lips. Then it came to her. “Aye. Come.”

The guards shouted out, “Who goes there?” as she approached. They bowed when they realized who she was.

“Lady StarSeer, I beg your pardon, but you cannot be down here,” one of them spoke.

Despite how fatigued she was from the mere walk to arrive here, she threw her shoulders back. “Aye, I can. The prince has invoked his right to the Audience of Psocorroh. Is that not right, Your Highness?” Elanna spoke to Dashiell, who leaned against the bars in front of her.

Stars. The prince of the Capella Realm. In a dungeon.

A few guards gave brief arguments, to no avail. The Audience of Psocorroh was sacred. She was gladdened no one pointed out ’twas far past sunrise. Mayhap they did not know. ’Twas clear one could lose time down here.

The cell door was opened, and Elanna stepped in, leaving Hux to wait just outside. The slamming of the door reverberated through her. The guards shuffled away to give them their five-minute leave.

“Your Highness, how may I help?” Elanna said, leading them to the wooden bench.