My heart sank. What could I say to that without sounding rude and ungrateful? The last thing I wanted to do was anger Queen Trina at this stage. If she became suspicious that I was wary of her, no doubt my freedom to roam the castle would be restricted, and I’d never get to the bottom of Queen Trina’s true nature.
“Okay, thanks,” I replied, trying to return her smile as genuinely as I could. It was difficult.
The carriage came to a halt, and I pulled on the reins of the bull-horse. It resisted at first, huffing and snorting out of its massive nostrils, rearing away from the carriage.
I know how you feel, buddy, I thought.
Eventually the beast settled down, and one of the ministers took the reins from me as I disembarked. Queen Trina opened the door of the carriage and moved over so I could come and sit beside her. A few moments later we were off.
“You know, I find you and your companions so very fascinating.” Queen Trina turned to me, her intense gaze seeking out mine.
“Do you?” I smiled weakly.
“You and Hazel in particular. Both of you seem to be very drawn to sentry men…a rather unusual development, is it not?”
“I guess I haven’t really thought about it much.”
This was awkward. I really wasn’t up for a gossipy relationship chat with Queen Trina, but that was what it sounded like she was angling for.
“Ah. Perhaps it seems normal to you then?”
“Um, yes—I guess so.”
She nodded slowly.
“But of course, as soon as the Nevertide border opens, you’ll be wanting to get back home—back to your normal, rather ordinary lives, I suspect?” She smirked and I wanted to punch her for the thinly veiled insult.
“Yes, very much so. Back to my ordinary, boring life.” I smiled brightly.
If the queen wanted to play a game of passive-aggressive, then she had picked the wrong opponent. She covered up a disgruntled frown, and I smiled all the more radiantly.
“Though of course, Ash will be devastated,” she continued. “Apparently you have quite the powerful mental agility—you and Hazel both.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say.”
“I must confess, I’ve been so desperate to experience it for myself. Every mind has a flavor of its own, and I imagine yours is simply delightful.”
I wanted to get out of the carriage. Queen Trina’s expression had gone from mock-pleasant to something far more sinister. She looked…hungry.
“Um, well…I don’t think it’s anything particularly s-special,” I stuttered.
“Hmm, don’t you?”
“No, Ash never thought so,” I lied.
She smiled, reminding me of a wolf—the slow smirk of a predator that was toying with its prey.
She cocked her head to one side, and I screamed.
An intense burst of pain shot through my frontal lobes, like someone was dragging a blade though the inside of my skull and squeezing my brain matter till I thought my head would explode. Grey dots started to dance in front of my eyes. Queen Trina’s smiling, smug face drew closer toward me, her eyes becoming larger till the deep caverns of her pupils were all that I could see. The blackness of them consumed me, swallowing my entire being until I was floating in a huge abyss, and then finally even that started to fade from view.
I woke up in darkness. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I shuffled backward. The gloating figure of Queen Trina stood behind bars.
“I’m glad you’re awake for this,” she announced. “It’s so boring making someone suffer but not being able to see their pain for yourself. Sadly, as queen, that is so often the way. One must keep up appearances, you see—and so often I have to send other, more lowly beings to do my work.”
“Where am I?” I rasped, my mind still reeling from the pain that she’d inflicted on it—and I still couldn’t quite understand my surroundings, other than everything felt damp and cold.
“You’re where you wanted to be—in my palace. You’re just not in the more lavish of my guest suites.” She laughed at her own joke, and I glanced around again, fighting off an intense nausea. The ground beneath me was hard stone, and as my eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, I could make out how small the room was.
Idiot—it’s not a room, it’s a cell.
The bars in front of the queen…the dampness… she had locked me up in a dungeon somewhere. I started to scream Ash’s name.
“Now, now,” she cajoled, “he won’t be able to hear you when you’re down here. I’ve also put a border up, so there will be no reaching out with your mind…and might I add, what a truly delicious mind it was. Ash is no fool, is he?”