When my vision finally cleared, I still didn’t understand what I was seeing. The floor appeared to be dirt, and the walls were brown and gray stones, looking damp and weathered. It reminded me of an old cellar … or a dungeon.
Rhys paced the other side of the room, fresh bruises on his face. I tried to sit up, but my entire body hurt and my head felt woozy.
“Hey, take it easy,” Matt said, putting his hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t listen.
I pushed myself up until I was sitting, which took a lot more effort than it normally required. I grimaced and leaned against the wall next to him.
“You’re awake!” Rhys grinned. He was probably the only person in the world who could look happy in this situation.
“How are you feeling?” Matt asked. For his part, he didn’t have any visible bruises, but he was a better fighter than Rhys and me.
“Great.” I had to lie through gritted teeth because it hurt to breathe. Based on the intense shooting pain in my diaphragm, I guessed I had a cracked rib, but I didn’t want to worry Matt. “What’s going on? Where are we?”
“I was hoping you could shed some light on that,” Matt said.
“I already told him, but he won’t believe me,” Rhys said.
“Where are we, then?” I asked Rhys, and Matt scoffed.
“I’m not sure exactly.” Rhys shook his head. “I think we’re in the Vittra palace in Ondarike.”
“Ondarike?” I asked.
“The Vittra capital,” Rhys explained. “But I don’t know exactly how far it is from F?rening.”
“I figured as much,” I said, sighing. “I recognized the Vittra who attacked the house. Kyra went after me before.”
“What?” Matt’s eyes were wide and disbelieving. “These people went after you before?”
“Yeah, that’s why I had to leave.” I closed my eyes because it hurt too much to keep them open. The world wanted to spin out from under me.
“Told you,” Rhys said to Matt. “I’m not lying about this stuff. After what happened, you would think you’d cut me a little slack.”
“Rhys isn’t lying,” I said, wincing. It was getting harder to breathe, and I had to take very shallow breaths, which only made me more light-headed. “He knows more about all of this than I do. I wasn’t there very long.”
“Why are these Vittra people coming after you?” Matt asked. “Why do they want you?”
I shook my head, unwilling to risk the pain of speaking.
“I don’t know,” Rhys answered when I didn’t. “I’ve never seen them go after anyone this way before. Then again, she’s the first Princess I’ve been around, and they’ve foretold of her for a while.”
I’d wanted to know what they were foretelling, but everyone gave me vague responses, so all I knew was that I’d be powerful someday. But I didn’t feel very powerful, especially right now. It hurt too much to speak, and I was locked up in a dungeon.
And even worse, not only had I failed to save myself, but I’d gotten Rhys and Matt dragged into this mess along with me.
“Wendy, are you okay?” Matt asked.
“Yeah,” I lied.
“You don’t look okay,” Rhys said.
“All your color is gone, and you’re barely even breathing,” Matt said, and I heard him getting to his feet next to me. “You need a doctor or something.”
“What are you doing?” Rhys asked.
I opened my eyes to see what Matt was up to. His plan was simple and obvious—he went to the locked door and pounded on it.
“Help! Somebody! Wendy needs a doctor!”
“What makes you think they’d even want to help her?” Rhys asked, echoing my exact thoughts. Kyra had gone out of her way to hurt me when she captured me.
“They haven’t killed her yet, so they probably don’t want her dead.” Matt had stopped pounding long enough to answer Rhys, then went back to hitting the door and yelling for help.
The sound of it echoed through the room, and I couldn’t take it anymore. My head throbbed too much already. I was about to tell Matt to knock it off when the door opened.
This was the perfect time for Matt and Rhys to launch a counterattack, but it didn’t occur to either of them. They both just moved away.
The Vittra from the house walked into the room, the one who had rendered me unconscious, and I dimly remembered Kyra calling him Loki. His shaggy hair was surprisingly light for a Vittra, almost blond.
Walking next to him was a troll, like an actual troll. All short and gobliny. His features were humanoid, but his skin was slimy and brown. He wore a hat, and tufts of grayish hair stuck out around the edge. He barely came up to Loki’s hip, but the fact that he was an actual troll made him more intimidating somehow.
Rhys and Matt both gaped at the hobgoblin, and I probably would’ve too, if I’d been capable of gaping. I could barely keep my head up.
“You say the girl is in need of a doctor?” Loki asked, his eyes resting on me. He regarded me with the same mild curiosity he had before.