Two Thousand Years | The Empire Saga #1

Chapter Forty-Four

Alex was still in bed when Bria brought the afternoon meal, and the suns had begun their descent when she finally felt rested enough to move. She didn't go very far, bringing the tray of food back to the bed with her, and there she remained until Treyan came to call.

"And where have you been?" she inquired while biting off a piece of cheese.

He looked about as worn out as she had earlier, with his dark hair hanging loose and disheveled at his shoulders while his blue eyes lacked the fire they normally possessed.

"The dungeons," he responded curtly as he sat himself on the opposite side of the bed.

"Have you been down there all night?"

"There and the Councillor's chambers, yes." He nodded as he worked on removing his boots.

She watched in silence, chewing on an apple slice while he swung his legs up, lying back on the bed.

"Did he tell you anything?" she had to ask once she was finished with her piece of apple, then reaching for a piece of bread.

He opened one eye and peered at her.

"Shouldn't that be bandaged?" Treyan asked, nodding to her hand, sounding more repulsed at the sight than worried.

She looked down to her injured hand, almost forgetting about it while she satiated her appetite. She had removed its wrappings while she ate since the thought of a soiled bandage against her fresh food made her stomach turn.

"It looks worse than it really is," she assured him as she winced while flexing the skin over the knuckles. "Sometimes these things just need to air out a bit."

"Apparently. Did it make you feel any better?"

"Absolutely!" She smiled.

He chuckled.

She returned to her meal, offering him a pear-like fruit that he declined with a wave of his hand. He again closed his eyes, but Alex was nowhere near ready to cease her interrogation.

"What are we going to do now?"

"Now we shall live in perfect harmony while my brother rots in a cell," he responded while his eyes remained closed.

"You know you can't do that."

"Can't I? I am the Crown Prince, after all."

She glared at him, knowing he couldn't see her, but now that she had a moment to reflect, she discovered something was gnawing at her.

"Do you think it was too easy?"

He opened his eyes and met her gaze. "You brought him back here. Do you think that was an easy task?"

She shook her head. "That's not what I meant. It was almost like he was waiting for me, as if he knew I was coming, looking for a way inside. They never bothered to question me, or search me, or...shit."

"What?" he leaned up on his elbow.

"Nothing," she grumbled as she glanced around the room. "I'm just remembering my knife. I had it in my hand when we went through the Key."

"Maybe someone gathered it up in all of the confusion," he consoled her as he lay back down, again closing his eyes. "We can inquire after it later."

Despite her husband's obvious attempt at sleep, she was no longer in the mood for further idleness. Moving the food tray aside, she stood slowly and soon felt as though she put on ten pounds overnight.

"What are your plans for the day?" he asked, half-asleep.

"Me? Oh, I'm going to visit the prisoner."

Treyan's eyes shot open as he leaned up into a sitting position. "Alex, I was just down there! Being anywhere near him is only going to make you upset! It's not worth it."