“I’m not going to fall,” I ground out from between clenched teeth, “and neither are you!”
Suddenly a grind of metal followed by a loud clank cut over Chasan’s shouts. Feeble lantern light glowed down at us from the jagged opening. A kitchen maid’s wide eyes peered down at us, her flour-dusted face maybe the sweetest sight I ever beheld.
Luna gasped and started up, pulling herself through the hole with the help of the maid. I was fast behind her, dropping down on the storeroom floor with an exhausted sigh. Chasan pulled himself through, slammed the grate shut, and bolted it. He turned on the maid then, one finger lifted. “No one knows you saw us here. Understood?”
The maid nodded and bobbed a curtsy. “Yes, Your Highness. Not a word.” With an uncertain look at each of us, she hastened out of the storeroom, grabbing a sack on the way out.
Chasan dropped back on the ground, tossing an arm over his forehead. A ragged sigh spilled from his lips. After a long moment, he said, “No one will know about tonight.”
For several moments, the three of us didn’t move or speak.
I moistened my dry lips. “What do you mean?” I finally asked.
“My father . . . if he were to learn of your escape attempt, he’d see you both as traitors. I want Luna as my wife, not wasting away in a dungeon.”
I thought about that for a moment, rolling my head to look at her, still catching her breath beside me. Bright splotches of color splashed her cheeks. I didn’t want to see her wasting away in a dungeon either. “He’s not going to hear about it from us,” I volunteered.
As for Luna marrying Chasan, that wasn’t going to happen. I reached for her hand near mine and gave it a squeeze, silently communicating that. Considering our escape attempt had just been foiled, we’d have to come up with a new strategy.
I wasn’t giving up.
Fortunately, we didn’t pass anyone in the hall as we returned to our rooms. Firelight flickered from the sconces lining the corridor, casting long, crawling shadows as we walked. We deposited Luna at her chamber first.
I longed to stay, talk to her, hold her, but with Chasan hovering and morning looming close when everyone would wake, it was too risky. Instead, I hugged her close before letting her go, inhaling her, pressing my mouth into her hair and whispering, “I’ll come to you. Don’t worry. We’ll figure another way out of here.”
She nodded once, her face downcast, the dark short spikes of her hair angling at a slant that obscured her cheeks. She slipped inside her chamber. The door clicked shut after her, and I felt that small sound resound inside me.
With a single hard glance at Chasan, I continued on toward my chamber. I knew his room was in the opposite direction, but he fell in step beside me. “You’re not being fair to her.”
I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
“Let her go.”
I snorted. “So you can have her?”
“If you let her go, she could be happy with me.”
“You think so?” I released a short, harsh laugh. “You don’t know the first thing about her.”
“I know Luna.” He nodded so knowingly, so smugly, that I wanted to take another swing at his face.
“Apparently not, or you would know she could never be happy here.” I motioned around us. “This place isn’t for her.”
“And out there is? How many times has she nearly died out there with you? In here she would never have to see another dweller again.”
“She’d just have to marry you to have all of that.”
“And that’s what’s really bothering you. Luna with me.”
I stopped and faced him. “Oh, it’s bothering her, too. Trust in that.” I jerked my chin once. “Knowing it’s me she wants, me she thinks about every time you’re with her? That’s something you could live with?”
Chasan crossed his arms, that smug smile back in place. “I can make her forget you. I can make her happy. Eventually.”
Fear stirred in my heart. Fear that he was right. I opened and closed my hands at my sides. “Not happening,” I said with far more conviction than I felt.
“You might try not being such a selfish bastard. Start thinking about her. I know you don’t give a damn about Lagonia, but you should care about Relhok. Think about your country. According to Breslen, things aren’t so great back there.” His sigh rattled on the air. “Our fathers won’t rule forever. If Luna marries me and you marry my sister, the two kingdoms unite. We present a stronger front.”
I wanted to say I didn’t give a damn about Relhok, but then I saw Bethan’s face. Her parents and little brother. All the people I had known in Relhok who weren’t terrible. Those people deserved better. Luna would agree with that, too. She always put others before herself.