My tears had stopped somewhere after we had entered the castle, but once the soldiers dragged me down to the dungeons, they threatened to start again.

I could see through my watery haze that I wasn’t the only one down here. Each cell we passed had at least one or two occupants, sometimes more. Young and old, male and female. Some of the prisoners were mumbling to themselves, while others sat or lay on the ground and stared at the walls. I was shocked to recognize one or two nobles in the cells; I had been informed, months ago, that they had left for their country estates and would be gone for a while. And yet, here they were in the palace dungeons. With me.

One boy started screaming as we passed. I longed to put my hands to my ears to drown out the noise, but since two soldiers had a firm grip on my arms, I didn’t try. Instead, I stared at him as we passed, overcome by some morbid fascination. The screaming boy was in the same cell as a young girl who was staring sightlessly out into the corridor. They had similar features. In fact, they were twins. The girl was—

“Sava?” I gasped, and stopped walking to get a better look. It was her, the blueberry-loving kitchen maid that Taryn and I had discussed oh-so-long ago.

“Sava, are you okay? Why are you in here?” I spoke a little louder, trying to drown out her screaming brother and get her attention. Sava didn’t respond when I called her name. She just kept staring, dead-eyed, at something beyond me.

One of the soldiers holding my arm shook me a little, tightening his grip. “Keep moving.”

Reluctantly, I started walking again. We passed two more cells before the guards unlocked a door and shoved me into a cell. My tears started falling in earnest.

Sniffling, I blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears and adjust to the dim light coming from a small, barred window near the ceiling.

I stared despondently at the magic-blocking band one of the soldiers had clamped around my wrist before shoving me into the cell. The dark metal bracelet glared back at me, as if daring me to try my abilities. I tried to cast a calling spell; my magic sputtered and recoiled back on me, shocking my hand and causing my heart to beat erratically. I sat down hard, breathless and scared. It was a good thing I hadn’t tried a bigger or more complex spell. Who knows what the repercussions might have been? But it also meant I would not be able to contact Joichan or anyone else through my magic.

I heard rustling somewhere to my left. I gasped and lifted my skirts. Rats?

“Jennica? Is that you?”

My eyes had adjusted enough to see a shadowy figure on the floor. A slim woman with tangled blond curls, whose voice sounded like …

“Taryn?”

She barreled into me, giving me an enormous hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” She stiffened and stepped back, eyes downcast. “I mean … forgive me, Your Highness, for being so familiar.”

I reached out and pulled her back into an embrace. “Taryn, you ninny. Titles don’t matter down here. Especially not between friends. I’m so glad to see you safe.”

My face was wet again, but I was laughing. Taryn was laughing and crying as well. For several minutes, we let it all out, the tension and hysteria and relief and uncertainty. When we had finally controlled ourselves, Taryn sat down on the stone floor and patted the area next to her. Gingerly, I joined her, gathering my skirts around me and keeping a lookout for rats, roaches, and other vermin.

“I guess you could say I’m safe, in a manner of speaking.” Taryn ran her fingers through her hair, which was a dusty mess from sleeping on the floor. “The guards took me while I was waiting for you. I had just closed the secret door when they came for me. I hope they didn’t find the passage.”

“Not to my knowledge. We did find your ribbon, though.” I handed back the bit of blue cloth that I still carried in my dress pocket.

Taryn took it back gratefully and tied it around her hair. “It must have gotten caught in the door. Thank you for bringing it back to me.”

“Of course. I’m just happy to find you again. What happened after the guards took you?”

“They brought me before the king. He questioned me about you, how long you had been gone, where you went and why. He seemed to know a lot about your leaving already; it felt like he just wanted me to fill in some of the missing pieces.”

“Mother said he used magic on her to force her to give him information.”

“I didn’t know the king could do magic. I thought he didn’t like magic.”

“He doesn’t. Which makes me wonder how he is able to do any magic in the first place, let alone become so powerful. It takes a certain amount of skill and power to force information out of someone without breaking their mind. Did he do that to you?”

“No. He didn’t use magic on me.” Taryn paused, looking confused as if trying to recall something just beyond her memory’s reach. “At least, I don’t think so. Maybe he felt, as a lowly servant, I wasn’t worth it. And I don’t think I added too much to his knowledge; once he started having me watched, I made sure you and I weren’t in contact as much. I’m sorry for that, but often it just didn’t feel safe to answer your summons.”

“I understand. So then what happened?”

Taryn massaged her temples, as if her head hurt. “I … I’m not sure. He questioned me, then the next thing I remember is being in this cell. But when the guards took me, it was nighttime. When I was in here, it was noon. Or maybe early afternoon, from the slant of the sun. I didn’t fall asleep; if anything I was exhausted, as if I had been up all night. But I can’t recall what happened between meeting the king and coming in here. I’ve tried and tried to remember, and every time my head aches and I draw a blank.”

She squeezed her eyes shut against the pain, digging the heels of her hands into her head. I reached out and touched her shoulder. “It’s okay, Taryn. Don’t push yourself to remember if it hurts too much.”

Taryn relaxed, but only a little. “It frightens me, not knowing.”

I wished I could reassure my friend, but we both knew there was nothing I could say or do that wouldn’t ring false. Instead I changed the subject, hoping Taryn might have information.

“Did you know Sava is in here? And her brother as well? They’re a few cells down from us.”

“I didn’t know that,” Taryn said. “I tried talking to whoever is locked up next door, but they seem to have lost their mind.”

“That seems to be true for everyone in here.” I told Taryn what I had seen in the other cells.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Taryn said. “But it sounds an awful lot like all those people they keep finding in the town.”

“Whatever Hendon’s doing, I’m going to find out. And I’m going to stop him,” I declared.

Taryn didn’t say anything. I think we both knew that my bravado was just my way of trying to make us feel better. So we just sat in silence, leaning against each other more for human connection than for support.

Time passed in a slow, mind-numbing crawl. How many hours had passed since the guards had thrown me in here? It was hard to tell.

Taryn didn’t have any more news, so I told her mine—finding my father, developing my shapeshifting abilities. When I mentioned I could change into a dragon, Taryn perked up, wondering if I could transform and then break us out of the cell.

I perked up as well, looking around our prison with renewed interest. After a thorough investigation, I shook my head sadly.

“I don’t think it would be wise,” I said. “I’m not as big as my father when I transform, but a dragon is still way bigger than any human. I could transform and break the walls. Or I could transform and be too big for this space, cramped and unable to move or do anything useful.”

Taryn blew out her breath, disappointed. “I suppose you’re right; now’s not the time to experiment. But maybe as a last resort …?”

“I’ll definitely keep it in mind.”

I finished filling Taryn in on the rest of my story. “And then Beyan, that liar, brought back a bunch of soldiers to our camp! We didn’t stand a chance. They grabbed me and took me away, and that’s how I ended up here.”

Taryn clicked her tongue in sympathy. “I can’t tell if you’re more upset over being captured or over leaving Beyan behind.”

“Excuse me?”

“Okay, fine. Beyan—and the others—behind.”

“I could care less what happens to that two-timing Seeker! I trusted him.”

“And he trusted you, and look what happened. His charge taken by a dragon, his mission in ruins … I think if you two didn’t care so much it wouldn’t have mattered so much.”

“He only cared about killing my father!” I said indignantly. Taryn just raised an eyebrow at me. “Well, it’s true!”

She shook her head, trying to hide her smile. But I could hear it in her voice. “Of course, Princess. Whatever you say.”

I wanted to keep arguing, but I wasn’t even sure what we were arguing about. Plus, I knew I wouldn’t be able to win the argument. Not when Taryn was in that mood.

It put me into a mood. And why was I so flustered about this, anyway?

We fell into a companionable silence. Eventually I dozed off, since there wasn’t much else to do.

In my half-hazy state, I heard the heavy tread of boots in the hallway. I instantly came awake. Looking out into the dim torch-lit hallway, I could see two long shadows on the ground. The footsteps stopped right outside our door, and then metal grated on metal as a key turned in the lock.

Taryn and I jumped to our feet, trying to press into the wall.

The cell door swung in and a guard appeared, stepping to the side to allow someone in. The newcomer sniffed in disdain as he looked around our dirty prison, making a pretense of trying to keep his pristine robe from dragging in the dirt. His all-white tunic and breeches were already dusty from the trek down into the dungeons. I had a fleeting, idle moment of sympathy for the servants who would have to clean such an outfit.

Taryn’s fingers dug into my arm as the man turned to appraise us. Contempt dripped from his expression even as the jewels dripping from his body dazzled in the dim light.

It was King Hendon.