𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 | 𝟏𝟖+

𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘 | 𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇'𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑

ততততত

𝐓 𝐎 𝐁 𝐈 𝐍

The sun doesn't reach these cruel spaces beneath the surface of the castle. Suffocating stone walls surround me, and it smells like rat shit. It probably is the horrid smell of rat shit, if I'm being honest. It doesn't surprise me that the Lagulonian castle dungeons are empty of prisoners. Lagulon doesn't strike me as a high-crime kingdom, with the exception of me.

They chained shackles around my wrists so I can't make it far. Iron bars line the door, preventing anyone from getting close without a proper key. Lately, it's been Leighton's men making their rounds—mostly Brock, but sometimes Gareth, although not for awhile now. When Gareth's blue eyes met mine, I caught the regret baked inside of him. He should feel guilty about what he's done. He's followed a monster straight into the belly of the beast, and now he's stabbed me in the leg, for fuck's sake.

Even now, moving my leg causes the muscles to seize, shooting pains through every nerve in my body. It paralyzes me so I can't move a damn inch. Gareth bandaged it up once I was contained, but the guy ain't a medic. Clearly. If I wasn't chained, I could do better. At least the bleeding has subsided, for now. I know it's only a matter of time before it becomes infected. The only thing that dims the pain of being down here is the thought of Imogen.

I sound like a hopeless romantic just dreaming of her in my times of peril. I tried to spare my moonbeam, but fate played a cruel trick and it brought me to this prison cell.

As long as she's safe, even when she's about to marry an ass of a man.

I pass out against the cold ground, reality dimming in and out until the luminance of a torch breaks the shadows around me. I reckon it must be the middle of the night. Through the iron bar, the silhouette of a man hovers before the entrance. I assume he's the usual guard making his rounds, or one of Leighton's goons making sure I'm still alive. Those are King Orion's orders, I guess, although that's only until I'm ready for execution.

Instead, the man lingers, and he lowers the torch in his hands so it glows against his features. I take in the weathered crevasses of his face, a man who's faced the battles of tragedy before in his lifetime. His grey eyes close as he releases a heavy sigh.

I cower on the ground, too weak to even attempt to bow in his honour.

King Orion unlocks the door to the cell, stepping inside before setting the torch on a sconce. The orange fire flickers against the damp walls, causing an eerie gleam on the chains that bind my wrists to the wall.

"I always knew you were in my kingdom," Orion's voice breaks in nothing more than a whisper. "I just could never find you."

He knew. All these years, and he knew that I was Berin's son, wandering the lands like a lost sheep looking for his shepherd. I just wanted my family back, but we were scattered and killed, and I was left alone. That was until I discovered a princess just as lost as I was.

I swallow, never letting my attention waver from the King of Lagulon as he approaches where I lay against the damp stone floor. He reaches into the inner pocket of his royal garb, pulling out another slew of fresh bandages.

"Is it true that you did this all for my daughter?" Orion questions.

He reaches for my injured leg, and I kick the King of Lagulon in the arm. He may be king, but there's so much he could've done to avoid this for Imogen.

"I did what no one else in this castle would." Or at least attempted.

And failed.

Orion's features twist in brief anger as he brushes off the dirt on his clothes. "If you would've let me find you sooner, I would've ensured you safety within my castle, but you kept outsmarting my men. Berin had my word, Tobin, and that meant that you did too."