“Your father’s a dick,” Zaya said bluntly.
Narissa merely shrugged. “He’s a king driven by a need for power and by a daughter who longs to follow in his footsteps to greatness. I don’t see them as family, really. Although, I would have liked to say goodbye to my mother.”
“So those dragons were programmed to bring you here to die?” I asked, arching a brow. “Seems rather harsh considering your royal status.”
“Neptune is not what it once was.” Her gaze returned to the mud. “No one fights my father’s rule. No one questions his laws. Everyone just… complies. So yes, he sent me here to die. And no one will think much of it.”
“Because you left a room,” I replied.
“I betrayed his orders,” she corrected, glancing at me with a note of defiance in her gaze. “Many times,” she clarified. “He set up strict rules in his absence, Prince Grigory. I was instructed not to cross the threshold. I knew what would happen, which is why I told you not to take me.?
??
“You didn’t exactly fight for your freedom,” I pointed out.
“I could say you startled me.” Her lips curled. “But it’d probably be a lie. Defying my father is a game of mine.”
“Then you have a plan for escaping this hellhole?” I asked, standing up with Zaya at my side.
Narissa shook her head and pushed up off the ground as well. “All I do is survive. Which I’ve proven rather resilient at.” She lifted her face to the dark sky. “We should probably start moving. The sun will be up soon, and it’s my understanding that Noxia demons prefer the night for a reason.”
I followed her gaze upward. “A little sunlight won’t kill me.” It would just make it hard to see. My kind was weakened by brightness, our eyes sharpened for the dark, not the light. It would also likely redden my pale complexion.
I’ll protect you, Zaya said, reaching for my hand.
I know, I replied, giving her fingers a squeeze. “So which way should we go?” Falling from the sky had screwed up my sense of direction, and every angle appeared the same.
Narissa shifted her focus around us, spinning in a slow circle. “Perhaps that way?” she suggested.
“You don’t know your way out of here?” I phrased it as a question, but I could read in her expression that she didn’t. Which wasn’t a great sign for us.
“This is admittedly my first trip to the barren lands,” she replied. “So I don’t have a built-in map quite yet.”
Her comment had me glancing at Zaya. What about you?
She gazed up at me. You think I have a map in my head?
Maybe. You knew your way around the city.
Zaya’s throat worked, her cheeks losing a touch of color. Right. Puzzle in my brain.
It’s a beautiful puzzle, I whispered to her, my lips curling on one side.
Even if I have a map, I’m not sure we can trust it.
I’d prefer to rely on your mind over a suggested direction, I replied. Give it a try, Zay. See what you find.
She stared at me for a long moment before dipping her head in a nod.
“What’s happening?” Narissa asked.
I held up a finger, silencing her for a moment. “We’re conferring.”
Zaya ignored our comments and knelt, placing her palm on the solid rock we stood upon. She shut her eyes, focusing inside her mind. I followed her train of thought, watching the magic unfold inside her as a wisp of information led her to the details she sought.
My lips parted in fascination as her hand tensed inside mine.
How do I know this? she asked, a note of confusion underlying her tone. This isn’t possible, Grigory.