overhears us. Snatching my wrist, she drags me to a storage room where we keep the brooms and buckets. Now panic is crawling up my spine because she's never done this before.
"You're scaring me," I say.
"Whatever you did, it's caught the prince's attention. He’s called for you. I've told you so many times to keep your head low and not be noticed. Nothing good ever comes from being summoned by him." She's talking at lightning speed, and all I can feel is sweat dripping down my back.
"H-he wants to see me?" I clasp my arms around my middle, and I can barely take a breath into my lungs. It has to be those fucking guards. No way would the prince bother himself with the theft of a loaf of bread. The more I think about last night’s hobgoblin attack, the more I am convinced no one saw me using power. But what if they did? My stomach sinks into my toes. No, that isn’t possible. I made sure no one was around after the attack, and guards would have busted down my door before now if someone had seen me.
So that leaves those scoundrels in the stables. My mind is racing with excuses, and I intend to remind the prince how I almost crashed into him yesterday as I ran for my life. How the guard struck me, and I have the bruised lip to prove it. My heart beats rapidly because I don't want to do this. I like washing dishes and keeping to myself so no one asks me questions. It’s easier to hide my feelings that way.
Veren squeezes my arm. "Tell me what you did?"
I shake my head. "I don't know."
"How can I help you if you won’t talk to me?" she hisses with anger.
My mouth falls open, and I tell her about the incident with the guards at the stables, and even point to my cut lip. I leave out the part about using my power to get away from them. “I barely escaped.”
"Fucking pigs," she growls. "I'll speak with Warrick and deal with that."
"What if the prince doesn’t believe me? I'm a nobody, only a servant. The guards are worshipped." Fear slides into my veins, and I'm chewing on my inner cheek. Pain flares at the corner of my mouth from the cut, so I lick it.
"Listen to me. This is what you will do.” She stares at me intently. “You don't say anything. When the prince asks you a question, say you don't know what he's referring to until he tells you. If he pushes you, cry. Fake the tears and tell them the guards forced themselves against you until you managed to escape and you ran."
"W-what if he doesn't care about me? All I really did was maim those assholes’ egos."
"The prince may be cold-hearted, but he once had a mother he still misses. And men like that hold a soft spot for females assaulted by males."
I feel like I might throw up. "I don't think I can cry. But I am good at shivering."
She grabs my arms. "You have no choice. Don't let the prince believe you are at fault in any way, or he'll toss you into his dungeons for years, and that’s if you’re lucky."
My mouth dries, and I hug myself tighter.
She opens the door when I reach for her arm. "Thank you," I say.
Her forehead furrows when she looks at me, and I drop my hand from her. "Come, I will walk you to His Royal Highness."
She talks with no emotions, but that's alright, as I have enough feelings for both of us to drown in.
One glance along the hallway, and I catch Warrick watching us as he carries a basket of vegetables toward the kitchen.
I lower my head and keep up with Veren, my heartbeat racing. I can do this, I think, and rub the goosebumps out of my arms. I have no choice, and it’s not like I did anything wrong.
We travel down hallways I've never been permitted to enter, and the bare walls soon become highly decorated with paintings of the royal family, of horses, of guards, of war, of the castle... they tell a story, and if I wasn't rushing along, I'd love to study them and uncover their tale. Except, now it feels like I'm descending into a pit I can never climb out of.
We pass open areas with no walls, only columns and a ceiling. There are benches here to sit and relax.