The Forsaken King

I was hungry and thirsty, but I didn’t dare ask for anything. Had too much pride for that.

I closed my eyes and decided to ignore my empty stomach and my parched mouth as best I could and just get some sleep.

Something thumped on the ground and then rolled in my direction.

I opened my eyes and saw a canteen stop just inches in front of my face. I studied it for a moment then looked at him again—as if it were a trap.

He was still drinking out of his smaller canteen.

I sat up and twisted the cap. “Holding out on me, huh?” I opened the lid and took a deep drink, the water coating my dry throat and healing the cracks that had formed in the skin of my lips.

He continued to drink.

I took another drink because I was just so thirsty. It’d been a long trek to the bottom, and if I didn’t get some water in my body soon, I’d develop a headache. I returned the lid to the top and rolled it back.

He opened his bag, ripped a piece of bread off the loaf, and then threw it at me.

I caught it with a single hand and immediately devoured it. It was a bit tough, like it was a day old, but it was delicious under the circumstances. If I were home right now, I’d probably have a roast chicken with buttered potatoes and a whole loaf of bread to myself. “Do you normally fatten the pig before you slaughter it?”

His eyes shifted to the opening in the cavern and ignored me.

“We’re in the middle of…I don’t even know. Who do you need to watch out for?”

Silence.

I wasn’t sure why I bothered.

“Where are we?”

“The only thing I should hear from your mouth is thank you and goodnight.”

“You’re saying I should feel gratitude toward the man who’s vowed to kill me for something I didn’t do just because he gave me a piece of bread?” I asked incredulously. “I’m not weak-minded like most women you know.”

His eyes shifted back to me. “Choose your battles and conserve your energy.”

“The battle for my life is the one I choose.”

“Your best chance of survival is by not pissing me off, yet you don’t hesitate to do that.”

“Because I’m not a kiss-ass. I’m not going to spend the final days of my life begging for something I shouldn’t have to beg for. I’m not thankful for the bread or the water. I’m not thankful that you saved me from falling to my death. The reason I’m even here in the first place is because of you, because your need for revenge blinds you to everything else that matters.”

He rested the back of his head against the wall, his two short blades in the sheaths on either side of his hips, his armor molding to the movements of his body like a second skin. He stared for a while, as if provoked by my words, but then his following words were nothing but a disappointment. “Sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”

It seemed like my eyes had only been closed for a couple minutes before I was jolted awake by a boot.

“Up.” It gave me a gentle nudge in the arm.

“Get your disgusting foot out of my face.” I smacked the guy away, seeing that it was Ian.

He looked down at me with a hard stare then did it again—but this time harder. “Rise and shine, Princess.”

“Fuck off.” I forced myself up, and the second I moved, my whole body screamed with stiffness. All the joints of my body tightened in soreness, and my muscles felt solidified in place. “Wow…that’s new.” I had to stretch a bit before I got to my feet—and that was a first.

Mastodon watched me from across the cavern, his eyes showing his impatience. “Come on.”

“Sorry…never slept on solid rock before,” I said sarcastically.

“You should have been sleeping on it all your life.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He stepped through the opening and disappeared.

I looked up the ladder the way we came, which was unguarded at the moment, but the thrill of escape was very short-lived. Even if my entire body weren’t stiff and sore, I had no chance at outclimbing these guys. They were all strong. All fast. Especially their leader—the man who sprinted like a goddamn horse.

I joined the men, Mastodon waiting just on the other side, tall and muscular, almost like a sculpture in the palace.

I took my place in front of him and followed the guys as they moved through the dark tunnel. The air was stale like it’d been trapped there for thousands of years, and there was a mist to the air as if water seeped through the walls from a lake somewhere up above. We were slanted at an incline, going farther down.

There was one torch at the front and one at the back.