CHAPTER 13

"Hey, Strange Lady…"

I frowned at the singsong male voice. Silence rode the wake of his words.

Jandry 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," Jandry 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, Tina," 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, Juli," Mr. Evan 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. Tina, Mr. Evan had called her.

"Ah yes, good question. That's a good starting place," Mr. Evan said.

"Wyvern," I replied.

"Aaaaah. The mysterious Wyvern that no one can seem to remember."

"Vemar, we've gone over this." Tina'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."

"Just last blackout you told me about a huge worm creature that eats children. Everyone played along, and you all had tales…and come to find out you were making it all up. I know I am slipping into madness, Tina. You don't need to hurry me along."

"We were joking that other time. This is real," she said.

"How should I know the difference?" he replied.

"Will you stop with this?" A woman's disembodied voice floated along the cells. I couldn't tell where she resided. "You aren't mad. You're just too gullible. You're fun to mess with."

"No, no." His hand dropped down to the ground outside his cell. "I'm pretty sure I went mad somewhere along the way. I haven't broken yet, though. You know how I know that? Because they don't dare send me off to the fine parties without a cage. They keep me caged and chained until they want to use me, and then they goose me with magic before they get me naked. It's fun when it's happening, may the goddess slap my heinie. I feel dirty when I'm done, though, and filthy for having enjoyed it, but damn it all if it isn't fun in the moment. You all know what I mean, don't say you don't. But one day their magic won't work so well, and that is the day when they will all die. That is how I know I'm not broken."

"It's called shame fucking," I murmured. "There was an awful lot of shame fucking where I came from. The demons ruled the nights. Not many fine folks left by now. Mostly mediocre, if you hear them tell it…"

"Maybe you have gone mad, too," he replied in the singsong voice before I could ask about those from my kingdom.

"If you're from Wyvern, why did I never see you in the court?" Tina asked. "I knew all the dragons of the court, especially the females. I would've noticed you."

"I wasn't in the court. I'm common. Time didn't stop for me. I was seven when the curse struck. I only recently learned I was a dragon. I've never shifted."

A shocked silence descended. Forearms pushed a little closer to the bars, and his pointed nose peeked through them.

"Then how do you know you're a dragon?" someone asked down the way. A woman, but I couldn't tell which one.

I opened my mouth to respond but froze when I heard footsteps scrape against the steps.

All other sound ceased as everyone's focus snapped to who was coming.

Shiny black boots over tight black pants came into view, their steps slow and sure. Another set came right after, descending.

"Ah, fuck," Vemar said, rolling his head. "Here come the dignity thieves."