“I hate you.”
I figured it needed to be said.
“Nice,” he mumbled.
I thought about sitting up. Didn’t.
“It’s supposed to be dirty, you shit-eating fuckstain.”
It might take me a moment to manage rational communication that didn’t involve intense profanity.
I tried again.
“It’s a dungeon. What were you expecting?” I took a deep breath. Then, because I just couldn’t stop myself, I added, “Fart-box licker.”
Someone barked out laughter down the way.
“You never did have any class,” he grumbled.
I gritted my teeth so hard I worried I’d chip a tooth.
Just kill him, my dragon thought. You’re healed enough to kill him. It won’t be hard.
“You’re part of the stink,” he said, pushing closer to the bars on the other side of our fifteen-by-ten cell. It seemed quite a bit larger than all the others. Then again, the others didn’t house Jedrek and all his drama, so mine was probably smaller by comparison. “I can’t believe the demon king allowed that…beast to claim you when you’re promised to me.”
“That beast is your prince and uncrowned king, and I can’t believe you think a woman can be given to you like a commodity.”
“Obviously they can, or are you confused as to why you’re here?”
My rage was an endless red sea. It was hard to even think. To form words.
“I know why I’m here.” I thought about sitting up again. Didn’t. “What’s absurd is you don’t know why you’re here. You’re delusional if you think all of this happened because you wanted to mate me.”
He scoffed, and I couldn’t tell whether I’d gotten through to him. “There’s not even a proper toilet.”
I barely stopped myself from looking at the single bucket in the corner that I had not used yet. I’d never wanted to stay dehydrated so much in my life.
“What are you going to say next, that there isn’t a proper bed? It’s a dungeon. You are in a dungeon, Jedrek. Why is any of this a surprise to you? What the fuck were you expecting?”
“I cooperated!” He stood in a rush, pointing at the ground for some reason. “I made a deal, and I cooperated. I shouldn’t be here. This place wasn’t in the deal!”
“You didn’t make a deal, Jedrek. You’re along for the ride. The sooner you realize that, the better.”
He stared at me with a red face, confusion shimmering in the depths of his brown eyes. “What are you talking about? You were promised to me. You are going to mate me. He said he’d make you mate me.”
“My deal was to marry you—not mate you. Marriage is a demon custom, and it isn’t forever, unlike my actual mating with the guy whose smell I wear. You’re a pawn, Jedrek. Your ‘deal’ is superficial. You didn’t actually agree to anything. You offered something, and he turned it into a way to torment me. That’s it.” I thought about it for a moment. “I have to hand it to that demon king. It is a really effective torment. You are the absolute fucking worst. Literally the worst. I hate you more than ever, if that is even possible.”
He shook his head and looked away, staring at the wall beyond our cell.
A moment of blessed silence passed, and I hoped that was the end of the argument. Or his complaining. Or even just his desire to talk to me. I really didn’t think I could handle any more of his chatter.
“Hey, Strange Lady…”
I frowned at the singsong male voice. Silence rode the wake of his words.
Jedrek turned his head, looking out over the dungeon. His brow furrowed.
“Strange Lady…” the man repeated.
“A man in the cell near the stairs is looking down this way,” Jedrek murmured, his gaze flicking to me for a moment.
“You there, in the last cell. I’m talking to you.”
Feet scraped stone. Fabric rustled. People were moving around.
I thought about sitting up. Nearly did this time.
“Yeah?” I said instead.
I angled my head that way. A few pieces of straw marred some of my vision, too near my face, but the big forearms were jutting out of the bars again, leaning on a crossbar of iron. A few bars down the way had fingers wrapped around them, people up close and looking out or listening.
“I was intently eavesdropping on your conversation just now,” the man said, “and I have a few questions.”
I rolled to the side and finally sat up, looking through the bars and down the way. Movement caught my eye, a figure waving to me from the other end of the chamber, somewhat spotlit from above. He sat along the bars with his shoulder leaning against one and his back to the far wall. Our gazes met, and while I couldn’t tell his eye color from the distance, I could tell he had dark eyebrows over deep-set eyes and dark brown skin.
“Hello, Strange Lady,” he said with a smile, and pulled his arm back in, draping it over the top of his knee. “It is both lovely and sad to see a new face.”
“Are they…” I glanced at the stairs. “Are they listening?”
“Nah. They don’t lurk down here.” He shifted a little, his face closer to the bars now. “They come for specific purposes and leave shortly thereafter. Your hope is that they don’t leave with you.”
I grimaced.
He wrapped long fingers around a bar. “Let’s start with that creature in the cell with you. Did I hear that—”
“Out of everything, that’s where you are starting?” a woman cut in. She stood opposite the person with outstretched forearms. She had wide-set eyes in a tan face. Her dark hair was pulled back, and clothes hung off her thin frame—she was starved from her time in here, no doubt.
“All good things come to those who wait, Tamara,” the man at the far end said. “We have to set the stage first. It makes for a more pleasing picture.”
She peeled her gaze off me to turn and look his way. I was sure her expression wasn’t a kind or patient one, though I doubted he could see it from his vantage point.
He stuck out a finger. “Strange Lady, did I hear you correctly that you are promised to…marry the creature sharing a cell with you?”
“Yes.”
“But you are mated to another?”
“Yes. Claimed by another, promised to marry this guy. They marry instead of mate—demons, I mean. It’s a different custom.”
“And your mate is okay with this…arranged marriage?”
“Yes. I mean…no, but… It’s complicated.”
“My goodness,” someone murmured.
“Yes, Jade,” Mr. Eavesdropper said, “my goodness, indeed. I am confused already. Okay, let’s back up.” He paused. “I don’t even know where to back up to.”
“Where are you from?” the woman opposite Forearms asked. Tamara, Mr. Eavesdropper had called her.
“Ah yes, good question. That’s a good starting place,” Mr. Eavesdropper said.
“Wyvern,” I replied.
“Aaaaah. The mysterious Wyvern that no one can seem to remember.”
“Vemar, we’ve gone over this.” Tamara’s frustration was evident. “It’s not mysterious to most of the people in this room. Right? Three-quarters of the people in this room are from Wyvern.” My heart beat faster. “It is only mysterious to those of you who have magically forgotten its existence, and you’re the only one who won’t admit that the place is real.”