Time passes slowly in the dungeon, or maybe it doesn’t pass at all. I can’t really tell. I try screaming for help for awhile, but Star finally grows tired of my yelling and tells me to stop. It’s just going to hurt my voice, she says, but I think she’s more worried about her hearing than my throat.
I thought that someone would bring us food or water or let us use the bathroom, but no one comes for us. After hours, I start to cry because I have to pee so bad. I think Star knows what I’m feeling because she finally sighs and whispers to me.
“Just do it. It’ll be okay.”
Humiliated and exhausted, I finally allow my body to release, and the trickling sound of it seeping down my leg horrifies me. Soon the smell of urine fills the air and there’s no doubt that Star, with her dragon nose, can smell it.
“I had to do it, too, Riley. It’ll be okay.”
She’s so much calmer than me, but I don’t know how. After awhile, I finally laugh because things can’t get any more fucked up.
“Here I am, a stupid human on a planet full of dragons, and I’m peeing in front of the dragon princess.”
Even Star laughs at that.
“Who would have thought, right?”
“Star?”
“Yeah, Riley?”
“Do you want to mate Lee?”
“Yes,” she says quickly, quietly. She doesn’t hesitate to answer. “I hope no one knows. They’ll try to kill him. Or worse.” Her words remind me of what Zeke whispered to me. Apparently being royal is a lot tougher than it looks. There are so many different things to consider. You can’t just find someone, fall in love, and live happily ever after.
You have to make sure you find someone to love, but don’t like them too much.
“What could be worse than killing him?”
“Don’t be naïve, Riley.”
Torture. The people who took us might torture Lee if they can catch him, but Lee is a dragon. Who can catch a dragon? That’s when it hits me: how did these guys capture Star? Why didn’t she just shift?
“Why didn’t you shift when they took you? Why don’t you shift now?” I say, my voice rising louder than it should.
“Shhh,” she hisses. “Don’t let them know we’re awake if they don’t already know. We don’t want them coming in any sooner than they have to.”
“Sorry.” It’s so uncomfortable on the floor. I’m cold, wet, and smelly. I’m disgusting. I’m hungry.
The longer we’re in the basement, or the dungeon, or wherever the hell they’re keeping us, the more I think we’ll never be saved.
“They gave me something,” Star says. “I don’t know what. Some sort of injection, but I can’t shift. I’m sure it’s only temporary. I hope it is. There’s a chance they’ll need to come give me another dose, though. We aren’t going to be left down here forever, Riley. I can smell your fear. That means they can too, so you need to try to calm down.”
“I know.”
“I know you were trained on the ship, right?”
“Yeah, but I was trained for sex, Star.” It sounds slutty when I put it like that. It makes me sound like a floozy. Somehow, I’m still embarrassed. Nothing should embarrass me anymore, sitting in this dark holding cell with Star, but it does. “I wasn’t trained to deal with being kidnapped.”
“When they come back, try to go to your happy place. Mentally, you know? If you can focus on something besides whatever they say, it’s going to be better for you. If they don’t scent your fear, it’ll confuse them, and they’ll wonder what’s going on. It’ll make them nervous and uncomfortable.”
“I’ll do my best,” I whisper. It’s basically all I can promise. I’m nervous about what I’ll do when these assholes come back. Star seems convinced it’s only a matter of time, but I’m not so sure. What if they leave us to starve to death?
What if they want us to suffer for awhile before they come for Star?
I’m sure they only took me because I was too close to the situation. They took me because I was going to warn her. I’m no one special. I’m not valuable. Part of me hopes that means they’ll let me go, but I know that realistically, it just means they’ll kill me first.
I don’t know if they’ll plan to kill Star or not, but we’re locked in a dungeon. There’s nothing else to think about.
“Star, tell me about your childhood.”
Distract me.
Give me something to think about other than my impending doom.
“On Taneyemm? There’s not much to tell.” Her voice is quiet and I wonder if she’s feeling as worn out as I am. Is she hopeless? Does she imagine we’ll be rescued? Is she thinking about what her future is going to look like when she’s mated to someone she hates?
“Did you know Zeke growing up?” I shouldn’t ask about him, but I can’t help it. I know he’ll be looking for me, for us. If Star and I can hold on long enough, he’ll come for us. There’s no way we could be inside the castle and not have him find us.
There’s just no way.
“He’s best friends with Dane. We spent a lot of time together. We even went to the same school.”
“The Taneyemm School for the Gifted Royal Dragon People?”
“Ha! Something like that.” She chuckles, but her laugh still sounds sad. I know she’s worried. Maybe I can get her mind off of everything. The more she talks about her past, the less she’ll be thinking about her future.
“Tell me about it,” I say. For a moment, I don’t think she’s going to answer. For a moment, everything is quiet. Then Star begins to talk.
“We were inseparable until high school. Then we were forced to separate. Our little group split off because I had to learn how to run a country, Zeke had to learn how to run a kingdom, and Dane…well, Dane just needed to learn to be in control of himself.”
“He seems pretty self-controlled to me.” I think of the way he controlled my body at my first ball, but I don’t tell her that. Star laughs quietly, though, and I wonder if she knows what I’m thinking. There’s no way she could know about what happened between us, but maybe that’s her brother’s favorite thing.
Maybe he likes to be naughty.
“Dane has certain proclivities. He’s kind of like Zeke that way. He likes control in the bedroom. He likes to coerce his women, make them play with him. He likes to toy with them. He did a lot of that in high school and continued after graduation. Our parents found out and weren’t pleased.”
Part of me is surprised Star knows about this side of her brother. I’m a little shocked she’s talking about it so casually. Maybe sex isn’t a big deal to her or maybe she’s just too tired to care. I’m not sure. She doesn’t sound like she’s judging him for what he likes. She just sounds sad that her parents couldn’t accept him.
“But they didn’t disown him,” I point out, as if it matters now.
“They never would. It’s not a dragon’s way.” Suddenly, her voice stills and she whispers, “They’re coming. Quiet. No fighting them. Remember, Riley: be nonthreatening.”
I take a deep breath, but don’t move. I’m still in the same awkward position on the floor. I rolled a bit earlier, but after I relieved myself, I just held still. It wasn’t worth trying to move anymore. My arms are stiff and my legs are asleep, but at least when they come in, I can pretend to be asleep.
Voices sound as the footsteps approach. They’re quiet, but echo in the long hallways.
“…need to move quickly…before they find…”
“…move the princess…mating ceremony before…”
It’s nothing useful. It’s things I already knew, but now have confirmed. They stole Star to mate her and try to take her throne.
Only, as the voices continue, I realize that I’m not just a servant who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The last thing I hear before the footsteps reach the door comes through loud and clear.
“Tell the King we have his human. Send the message now. If he wants to see her alive again, he’ll give us what we want.”