Page 67 of Monster's Bride
“Go,” Liz says, distracting me from my thoughts. “I’ll stay here with them.”
We exchange glances and I let my gaze travel across the cell to Darsan’s body. He appears to be resting peacefully, his chest steadily rising and falling as he sleeps. There’s nothing more I can do here, so I take Lizette up on her offer.
“I’ll come back and check on them,” I promise. “But if you need to rest, you can go back to your room. You’ve done more than enough to help them, Liz. Thank you.”
She nods but waves away my worries. “I’m always at your service, Irissa.”
I want to snatch her off the floor and hug her, but I know I’ll probably start crying. I’m mentally exhausted, and it won’t take much more before I break.
With a final backwards glance, I slip out of the dungeon cell to search for Nor.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Nor
Backing up Irissa might have been the wrong decision.
If it winds up biting me in the ass, I’ll consider it a lesson learned, but I couldn’t bear the anguish in her voice as she pleaded with my father. Her desperation pierced straight through me, alighting my own despair, and I did what I had to do to comfort us both. It was stupid and rash, but a tiny part of me knows it was the right thing to do.
The guards can still be interrogated and sentenced accordingly if found guilty but letting them die from infected wounds in a dungeon cell without knowing the full story is worse than callous. It’s evil, and I’m glad to see that my father hasn’t sunk that low. I’m relieved that he listened to me, even though there was a beat where I thought he would ignore me entirely.
Leaving Irissa unattended with the guard she fought so hard to help might have also been the wrong decision, but I couldn’t stomach the sight of her near him. The way her fingers delicately checked for a pulse was bad enough, but when she leaned over and begged him to open his eyes, rage tore through me. I don’t understand how I can possess so much hate for a man I’ve never laid eyes on, but every fiber of my being burns with loathing.
The sooner he’s out of the kingdom, the better. I might have shown him mercy once, but if he gets too close to what’s mine, he won’t have to worry about an interrogation.
I’ll snap him in half without remorse.
As I turn to pace for at least the fiftieth time, someone knocks at my bedchamber door. I ignore it, having no more patience for entertaining anyone. My father is always the exception to that rule, being that ignoring him is seen as little less than treason in his opinion, but I doubt he’s come to track me down.
Whoever it is knocks again, and I come to a halt near the foot of my bed with a snarl.
“Who’s there?” I call, wanting to make sure it isn’t my father before I tell them to fuck off. If it’s Oryx, I’ll break his horns off and shove them up his ass.
My question goes unanswered, and I resume my steps, only to be interrupted by the doorknocker again. I grit my teeth, my self-control quickly evaporating to wherever my patience already went. It isn’t until the third knock that I storm across the room, fists balled at my sides, ready to swing at whoever is on the other side of the door.
I wrench it open, sending it crashing into the wall, and find Irissa’s wide blue eyes staring up at me in shock. Instantly, I regret my outburst, but the feeling is soon replaced by annoyance.
“What do you want?”
“I’m sorry if this isn’t a good time,” she says, taking half a step back. “I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
I huff a laugh. “Aren’t you supposed to be looking after a frail human guard? What’s his name? Dickhead, or something like that?”
“Darsan,” she snaps. “We’ve done everything we can for him. Lizette is staying with them while they rest.”
I quickly realize that it’s not just the sight of Irissa with the knight that bothers me. Hearing her speak about him stokes a jealous rage to life in my chest, and I reach for the door. “You’re right. It’s not a good time. You should probably come back later.”
“This can’t wait, Nor. The attacks on my kingdom should have ended when our marriage was decreed,” she says, her voice unusually authoritative. While useless on me, it’s still impressive, even though I have no idea what she’s talking about. “Hyatt can’t withstand much more of this.”
I stare down at her, brow furrowing deeper as I try to make sense of what she’s said. She’s clearly accusing someone of attacking her kingdom, and she’s convinced that our marriage has something to do with it, but beyond that, I’m at a loss.
“What are you talking about?”
Her cheeks flush and she steps bravely toward the doorway, shrinking the space between us. “For someone so smart, you’re very good at playing dumb. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“No one’s playing dumb, Princess,” I grit out, her accusation stinging like a hot iron. The urge to slam the door in her face grows strong, but I refrain. “I genuinely have no fucking idea what you’re accusing me of.”
“Theraids.” She adds emphasis, as if that will help me understand, but I’m still clueless as to what she thinks I’ve done. Before I can ask for a better explanation, she huffs with exasperation. “The minotaurs that come at night to steal our property and burn our buildings, the ones that have slaughtered half my people over the last several years. We formed this alliance with Ulleh to end them, to save what’s left of my home, and I’ve just been informed that a huge attack took place three days ago.”