Page 102 of Shifter King

"When did this happen? Why didn't you say something?"

"It was when I was working on my shields and mindreading. The morning the Bealorns took me." She leaned against the stone wearily, wishing she could just drift into sleep. The voices and thoughts outside were starting to get louder again. "The books never covered this."

"No. I don't imagine they did." He drew his hands over his face, then smiled. "Well. One thing at a time, dear heart. Now. Why don't you tell me who hit you in the face?"

"The prince." She rubbed her cheek. The sting of the suphrite eased the ache. She scooped up a palm full and continued to bathe it. Her right arm was starting to move a little more freely, and her left felt as if the bone had returned mostly to one piece. "He was drunk."

"Unacceptable regardless." WroOth tilted her cheek to the side. "He hit you more than once it would seem."

"He was very angry."

"Is he the one who broke your arm?"

"No." She dropped her gaze to the cracked stone floor. The torchlight made the shadows flicker and dance across it. "No. I did it myself."

"What?"

"She said I could drink the wine or break my arm. Every day I didn't drink the wine, I had to break my own arm."

He reached for her arm and drew it up out of the suphrite. She winced, reaching up to cradle her elbow. His gaze grew hard. There were still three deep bruises present.

"I don't think I could have done it again," she whispered. "Before you came…I was almost ready to. But I wasn't sure how I was going to."

"Amelia, how long do you think you've been here?"

"Three days. Well, four, I guess. It's been hard to keep track. It's just…it's so loud. And everything is screaming if I don't hold it back. And I can't hold it all back. When I was alone in that cell, it was like being back in Dry Deep." She bit her tongue, willing back the tears. "I'm afraid that the psychic wine will take me somewhere even worse. But I'd rather deal with that than hurt someone else. And that includes Naatos."

"Well. We have until morning. So you finish soaking, and I am going to see if I can cause some—"

The door swung open. Three guards stood at attention as one stepped forward and tossed some clothes in. "Her Majesty requires that the Neyeb and skinchanger attend as directed in one hour. The perfume is for the skinchanger. For the smell."

PRESENTED

That self-righteous little megalomaniac. Lice-infested minnow child! So self-important. So capricious.

"It is not morning yet," he growled after the door slammed shut.

Amelia shrugged from within the pool, her eyes sliding shut. "It's impossible to keep track of time in here. The darkness doesn't help it."

"No." He started to remind her about time disorientation and torture techniques but stopped. Not necessary at the moment. "You stay in the suphrite as long as you can."

"If you throw me the clothes, I can get dressed in here."

"That works." He sorted through the clothes and then tossed them to her. These were decent pieces at least, though unpleasantly thin for his tastes. The two dresses were pale pink and light lavender with delicate stitching and embroidery in lines down the skirt and in a broad panel over the bust, depicting a series of triangles, lines, and rectangles, all interconnected in bolder brighter shades. The perfume was a gel that smelled overpoweringly of lilacs.

"What did she mean for the smell? Is it—are you all right, WroOth?"

He waved her off and then opened the door. "Excuse me." He clutched the dress to his chest. The two guards fell back a step almost at once, blinking with confusion. "Perhaps I might be permitted an audience with the queen as my sister finalizes her preparations. It is vital I speak with her about the Neyeb alone. I will take full responsibility. The Neyeb is going to require a few more minutes to finish getting ready. I promise, the queen will be most furious if she does not receive this information immediately."

"A moment." The guard pulled the door shut.

WroOth stepped back and cracked his knuckles.

Amelia started to climb out of the suphrite. It dried immediately though she staggered a little as she tried to pull herself out. "WroOth, please be careful. These people, they’re so cruel. The things—"

"Amelia, you need to listen to me." He gripped her face with one hand. "You should not be worrying about me. There’s nothing they can do to me that I won’t survive except maybe kill me, and even that is exceptionally difficult and I doubt they could do it in three days. Maybe five if they were exceptionally determined. If you knew half the things I’ve endured, you’d—no, don’t look at me like that. Do not go into my mind and start looking for them, all right?"

"What if they hurt you? They have manticore and cabiza venom!"