I WAS ALMOST to my bedchamber door when steps sounded behind us. I turned, my heart racing, treacherous hope stirring inside me that it was Fowler, that he had turned away from his princess and come after me. Pathetic, especially knowing he was clearly invested in a relationship with Princess Maris, but I couldn’t force my heart to feel any differently.
“Leave us,” Prince Chasan’s voice bit out to the guard beside me.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I opened my mouth to protest as the guard left me, but warm fingers circled my wrist and tugged me inside my chamber.
“Prince Chasan,” I gasped. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be here. This isn’t seemly.”
The door clicked shut behind us, sealing us in, and a bolt of alarm slithered down my spine. “What were you doing at the pits?”
“I heard the screams.”
“And you followed the sound? How could you have thought that a good idea?”
I inhaled sharply. “You know we’re avoiding the more important matter.”
“And what is that?” he challenged, still holding my arm. I gave it several yanks and he finally released me.
“Why?” I demanded, rubbing my arm where he had gripped me. “How can you stand there and cheer and place bets as a person is torn to pieces in front of you? And then you just let your father execute that girl—Riana! What’s wrong with you? With all of you?” I knew bad people and horribleness existed on the Outside, but in here it should have been different. It was that belief that had started breaking me down and convincing me that I could do this. Stay here. Be a wife to someone I didn’t know. Forget Fowler . . . as he had apparently forgotten me.
Chasan didn’t reply. I heard nothing beyond the hard rhythm of his breath.
Emotion welled up in my throat as I thought about the man who had died tonight, the sound of his cries, the noise his bones made as the dwellers tore him apart. And the thud of Riana’s head. Her father’s scream.
“Say nothing.” I nodded fiercely. “There is not an excuse, not a defense you can offer.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I can’t marry such a person.”
“No?” he quickly retorted, his voice ruthless as a whip. “And who might you marry, Luna?” His voice twisted into something hard and mean. “Your precious Fowler? I just passed him in the hall with my sister. I’m sure you saw them, too. Quite the cozy pair.”
He knew exactly where I was the most tender and bruised and he struck me there with a well-aimed blow. “I needn’t marry anyone,” I flung out.
“If you think that, then you really are a fool. You think you can go against my father? He will never let you leave this place, and if you don’t do what he asks you’ll be spending the rest of your days as a guest in our dungeon. Or worse.”
His words bubbled like toxin in my veins. I cranked back my arm and struck him in the chest with my balled-up fist. “Is that why you hunt dwellers? Because your father demands it? Is that why you capture them and bring them back here? You do it because he tells you to? What else do you do that he demands? Oh, that’s right! You marry lost princesses.”
“Luna, stop.”
“Tell me, Chasan, who are those people that have to die for your amusements? What have they done to deserve that?”
“They’ve made an enemy of my father . . . of Lagonia.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want this. I don’t want to be here. I’m not a part of this world where you butcher people. You’re a coward.” I turned away, but he grabbed me and hauled me back to face him.
He gave me a small shake, snapping my head back to focus on him. “You are a part of it. No matter what you want. You’re going to be a part of it and you’ll say nothing to the contrary unless you want to bring the wrath of my father down on you, and trust me, that’s not something you want. Understand?”
My breath fell in hard pants.
“Say you understand me, Luna.” There was an edge of panic that I had never heard before in his liquid-smooth voice. “Say it,” he insisted, chasing the words with another shake. “I won’t have you hurt. I can’t.”
His words, as much unsaid as said, deflated my anger. “You’re afraid of him,” I whispered.
“He’s a monster,” he admitted, dropping his hands from my arms, and for the first time I considered that. I considered him. I thought about what it must be like to be brought up by such a man . . . how trapped you must feel when your own father was a nightmare you had to face each and every day. Not that different from Fowler.
We stood in silence for a long moment, only our breaths between us. He closed the space, his bigger body radiating heat and vitality as it crept toward me. “We don’t have to live in fear forever. We just need to hold on, Luna.” His forehead dropped to mine, fingers flexing on my arms. “We just have to wait it out.”