– Well, you've made your choice. A couple days in the dungeon will bring you back to your senses. Take me away! – He pushed me away from him, disgust written all over his handsome face, and the man turned and headed toward the tall, stone gate that led to a huge, sky-high white palace with what must have been a thousand colorful carved windows, while Evans and I were taken under his arms and led in an unknown direction.
As we were led into the dungeon, I looked at the people around us and tried to memorize the way. Evans was remarkably calm, as if he'd never been arrested in a dungeon before, because he didn't need directions; he walked there as if it were his home and smiled mysteriously. I, on the other hand, made a great effort to save face and not give away my origin during the scandalous speeches.
Previously, no one would have ever dared to treat me in such a vile manner. Princess of Flammehav is in the dungeon? Queen Kaldwinda? Absurd. It's a good thing my parents can't see me now, or they'd leave no stone unturned. The weapons of men, depriving us demons of our powers, were far away, and it was unlikely that the king of Emmerlend had the same, because now I could clearly feel the ebb and flow of my demonic powers. I could have freed myself, but the mages' magical chains still blocked all my abilities, so all I had to do was obediently play my part and walk to the dungeon.
Emmerlend is certainly beautiful. There are fanciful buildings, an impossibly tall, slender palace with hundreds of towers, and a huge amount of vegetation that greedily burrows into the walls of the houses and grows wherever it pleases. Huge caps of trees literally cover the sky, covering the city. Even sunlight struggles to penetrate through the thick crowns and illuminate the streets, adding a touch of magic to the huge, half-human-sized gems. The mages are fabulously wealthy, but despite this, are extremely hardworking and try to increase their wealth, and the more they earn, the more they spend on building their rich huge houses, workshops and magic schools. My healer friend told me about the schools and some of the greed, and I took him at his word.
We were led into the very bowels of the palace, then into a glass chamber lit with a blue glow, though I thought we would be put in some filthy penates next to the rats. This lighted glass box would be spacious enough for one prisoner, but too cramped for two. The bed, quite wide, with linens and even a nice soft plaid, was in one corner. It wouldn't have been so bad if the bed hadn't been alone. Oh, and where was there a fixture where one could quench one's physical needs? There was only a bed, and nothing else.
I began to realize that we could stay here for years, but then we would never get the antidote, and Derek, my dear husband, would die. The thought brought unsolicited tears to my eyes, but I reminded myself that tears never helped anyone, and I blinked hastily, pushing away the unnecessary moisture of helplessness.
We were prisoners, left with no weapons, our hands still bound with magical chains. Everything was against us.
– Sylvia, I can explain," Evans said quietly.
He was sitting on the floor by the bed, leaning back against it.
– You'd better," I said with an involuntary grin. – Admit it: you've been here before, haven't you?
