*Zara*
Groaning, I started regaining my senses, feeling myself co to and rubbing my head. At that point, I should be used to waking up in a fog like that.
The scent of musty hay filled my nostrils as I sat up, taking in the room. We were lying on piles of the stuff, in a small area with bars over a high, narrow window.
I looked over to check on Lorelei, who was still asleep. Deciding that we may be in a bad situation, I leaned over and began to shake her.
“Hm?” she murmured.
“Lorelei? It’s Zara. We’re sowhere else.”
Lorelei blinked her eyes open, sitting up and rubbing her head. “Sowhere else? Where?” she muttered.
“I don’t know.”
I looked around so more, spotting a heavy wooden door. Without waiting, I got up, stumbling before righting myself. Managing to get steady on my feet, I made my way there.
I tried the handle, but it was locked.
Great.
I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Letting out a sigh, I took a few steps back and collapsed into the piles of hay, staring up at the ceiling. “There’s no way out of this. I guess we’ll find out what happened soon.”
“They couldn’t have given us actual beds?” Lorelei muttered.
“We don’t even know who ‘they’ are.”
I tried to think about what exactly had happened, and I wondered why we had woken up alive rather than, well, entirely dead. I furrowed my brow, trying to piece together what had happened.
“We were planning on shifting and running the rest of the way through the Dark Forest,” I said.
“I rember that, yeah. We stopped to eat.”
“And while we were eating, we got very, very tired.”
“Yeah, you were going to tell how complicated things were,” she said.
“Right. And then they got infinitely more complicated,” I said, trying to keep the mood sowhat light, even though I had a sinking feeling inside.
Lorelei managed a chuckle. “Understatent.”
I gasped as a mory hit . “Wolves. I saw wolves coming out of the woods before I passed out.” I looked around, then furrowed my brow. “Whoever has us didn’t leave us with our provisions.”
Lorelei had just opened her mouth to respond when suddenly the sound of a click filled my ears, and the door handle jiggled. Lorelei and I stared at the wooden door as it proceeded to swing open.
We both gasped at the sa ti when we saw who ca in.
It was the servant woman who’d helped us escape Silver Fang....
“What’s going on?! Can you help us out of here?” I asked imdiately, trying to stand up but staggering again.
The woman smirked, and I had a sinking feeling that the answer was definitely no. “Poor, Zara. I regret to inform you that you’re in a compound. Normally rogues aren’t the easiest to work with, but this transaction went well,” she said in a mocking tone.
I narrowed my eyes, my entire body tense as the realization hit that our trust in this woman was going to lead to horrible repercussions.
Lorelei growled. “How could you? I thought we were close.”
“We were,” the servant girl said with a shrug. “But this was an offer I couldn’t refuse. You see, the priestess here is very interested in Zara’s lily operation.”
As if on cue, another woman I recognized walked into the room, staring us down with a cold gaze. My heart clenched in fear as my eyes fixed upon the priestess who’d given the initial warnings about the lilies.
I thought things had been worked out and that the rogues had been stopped by the packs around the Dark Realm so the lilies could be shared.
Clearly, I was wrong.
The priestess placed a pouch of gold coins into the servant woman’s hand, sending her away. “Thank you, your work is much appreciated,” she said in a low tone. Then, her eyes fixed on us.
Lorelei was shaking with rage, but she held her tongue, her eyes falling on . It was clear I’d need to be the one to get us out of there. I was the one the priestess wanted to speak with.
The priestess stared at in silence for a mont before saying, “Apologies for your inconvenient detour. But it was necessary.”
“Inconvenient detour? We were drugged and dragged out to who the hell knows where!” I said in an exasperated tone. “What happened to diplomacy?”
“Diplomacy didn’t work,” the priestess said. “And I said sorry.”
I let out a sigh, wanting to ntion that the ‘sorry’ was clearly superficial and she could shove it right up where realm was the darkest, so to speak.
But I held my tongue, waiting for her to continue.
After another pause, she said, “This is about your Lily cultivation, as you probably suspected.”
“Yes, I suspected as much, from the monologue your accomplice gave,” I said.
“Good, so you understand the gravity of the situation, and how I am going out of my way to do this to emphasize the dangers of your Luna Lily cultivation.”
“The ssage is loud and clear.”
“I hope that is true,” she muttered. “I want all production and distribution to cease imdiately. You need to comply, and Egoren should agree. Your little trick to get them against my group will not work out in the end.”
I thought about arguing my case with her, but there were so battles I just couldn’t fight. As with Alpha Daven, I knew it would be unwise in general to keep pushing.
Resigned, I nodded. “Alright,” I said. “You’ve made your point loud and clear. Cultivation and distribution of the Luna Lilies will stop imdiately.”
“Good,” the priestess said, sighing in relief. I raised a brow, hoping this would be the end of it and we’d be released.
Unfortunately, that was not what happened.
“But with how stubborn your lot is with us, I do not believe it will be upheld. More must be done before you can be set free.”
“She agreed to your demands,” Lorelei said in a soft voice.
She wasn’t as outspoken as I was, and I felt a pang of appreciation for her trying to stick up for .
The priestess fixed her eyes on Lorelei and shrugged. “And she got everyone else in this ss involved,” she said with a snarl. “I don’t believe for a damn second that her word will fix all.”
“If I’m able to communicate my situation and the dangers of the Luna Lily, they will,” I said. “Can you tell specifically what–”
“Does it matter?” she asked, her eyes snapping back to .
I gulped, then shook my head. “No. You said your terms are to stop it due to it being dangerous. Therefore, we will. What more do you want from us?”
“From you? Nothing more. I have what I want from you. You are not the ones with your fates in your hands now.”
She was being cryptic as hell again.
“Do you ever say anything clearly?” I asked her.
She glowered at , then continued. “Until I get the sa agreent from the Alpha of Drogomor and the palace of Egoren, you are to stay here. Clear enough?”
“Yes,” I said, putting a hand on my forehead.
Now we were in a hostage situation, and once again, I was captured against my will. I wondered when I would ever be able to return ho.
“To ensure cooperation while awaiting formal agreents—and trust , word has been sent out by now—you and Lorelei of Silver Fang will remain imprisoned as leverage,” she stated.
Lorelei winced, no doubt hating this situation and being described as a Silver Fang mber as well. I had no doubt that she wanted to get as far from her pack as possible.
“When we are set free, I would like to join Zara, not any Silver Fang pack mbers that may co here.”
“Fine,” the priestess said. “For now, you two will need to make yourselves useful.”’
I wondered what she ant by that.
I got my answer seconds later when a few rogues poured into the room, seizing us and dragging us out of the slly chamber.
We were taken down a stone hallway, the rudintary building dark and foreboding. Eventually, we were dropped into a musty room with piles upon piles of clothing.
“You’ve got to be kidding ,” I muttered.
“Wash,” ordered one of the rogues gruffly. “Cook. We are behind. You’re going to fix that.”
With that, we were set to work on the laundry for the damn rogues. At first, I tried to make light of the situation. It could be worse, I thought.
“What do rogues do that they have so much laundry?” I muttered, glancing over to Lorelei.
“Roll in mud? Have a contest as to who can dirty up their clothing the most?” she muttered, wrinkling her nose at so piles of laundry. “I don’t want to know why the stains there are that color.”
I gave a half-hearted chuckle and got to work, the amount of dirty clothing there staggering. Lorelei and I tried to make conversation and joke back and forth for a while as we got to work.
We got about halfway through the exhausting laundry work when one of the rogues ca in, growling, “We’re hungry. Get to work in the kitchen. Now.”
Pots and pans clanged as we worked, rushing back and forth to prepare so stew, then the main course, then so extra helpings, then additional appetizers, then....
“Are they bottomless pits?!” Lorelei exclaid. Exhaustion was radiating from her, emphasized by the deep frown she wore.
“At this point, it feels like it.”
“Honestly, I regret leaving Silver Fang.” Her tone was so bitter that I paused in my food preparations, looking over at her with misery in my gaze.
We’d been working for hours and hours with no breaks. When we tried to take a rest, the rogues didn’t appreciate the silence and barged in, demanding that we get back to work.
I wanted to think that Silver Fang was worse than that, but I knew I’d be kidding myself. I couldn’t bla Lorelei. She would be stressed being near Gray, but at least she wouldn’t be slaving away for rogues.
My thoughts turned to Noah, and I closed my eyes, feeling a tear trickle down my cheek. Any attempt for humor or making light of the situation died, and I continued on in silence.
This nightmare just kept getting worse, with no end in sight... no relief.
Well, there had been relief offered to , but I had turned it down. I cursed myself inwardly, despair swirling in the very pit of my soul at this point.
I knew that I should have gone with Noah when I had the chance. My feelings had been so negative, so heartbroken, that I’d foolishly thought Alpha Daven would keep his word.
It was obvious that Silver Fang was twisted and terrible, but ever the optimist, I had thought things could work out and I’d just be able to go ho after the wedding.
I wished things had worked out between Noah and . And I desperately wished I’d gone with him to at least give it more of a chance.
But it was too late for that.
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