He was already up in the window before I could finish talking and wiggled his way out through the bars just as some guards entered. Their faces were grim. One jerked my hands forward while another bound them with chains.

“Her Majesty wants you. Now.”

For a moment, I thought the time I’d been dreading had come. Varia was going to give me some terrible ultimatum. Yet, something about her and her flair for the dramatic told me there would have been a lot of setup and fanfare. This had a hurried feel. An urgency, like something was wrong.

The feeling further intensified when I wasn’t marched to the throne room. Instead, I was taken to Varia’s own chambers, shoved roughly inside a posh sitting room done entirely in periwinkle velvet. Varia was there, lounging on a divan, looking as though she’d gotten out of bed in the last hour. She wore a robe that matched the room, as well as some furry slippers. Her brown hair was worn down but didn’t look like it had been brushed. She stayed in that reclined position, as though trying to present an unconcerned air, but the anger in her voice betrayed her when she saw me.

“Where are they?” she demanded. The dogs were at her feet and began yipping. She silenced them with some treats.

I glanced around, looking for some kind of assistance or context for her question. “Um, where are what?”

“The people you traveled here with.” She sat up and fixed me with a glare so icy that it was easy to see her as the blight’s creator. “Where are they, and how in the world did you break them out?”

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I said the first thing that came to mind.

“Sooo ... you lost them?”

Varia glared, not nearly as serene and commanding as she’d been yesterday. “This is not a game! Tell me how you accomplished it. You are still in possession of your powers. How did you escape and set them free?”

I put my hands on my hips. “I may still have my powers, but I’m also being kept in a locked room surrounded by guards and magic users! The kind of magic I’d need to escape would involve me blowing out the door, and I think someone would’ve probably noticed that. Besides, why the hell would I then go back to my cell? I would’ve walked out with my friends.”

“I don’t believe you,” said Varia. “No one can escape those dungeons. They must have had assistance.” The dogs started their racket again. More treats.

I shrugged and tried not to look too smug. “My friends are pretty resourceful. Maybe your security’s not as good as you think.”