Bound by Curse

Silence

Rebecca's POV

The room was suddenly full of people.

Marta came in first, her keys clinking, one hand pressed to her chest. Garrick filled the doorway behind her, huge and grim. Last came Mira, pale as paper. When she saw my face, she cried out.

"My lady! Your cheek..."

"Stay back," Draven said.

Mira stopped. Her eyes went from the red mark on my cheek to the test on the floor, and her whole body shook.

My face burned. I stood against the wall with my arms wrapped around myself, and I saw them all looking at me. Marta's soft face had fallen. Garrick would not meet my eyes. The maids at the door whispered and turned away.

Disappointment. Disgust.

I knew that look. I had seen it all my life. I had thought I would never see it here.

"Tell me who the father is," Draven said.

His voice was low and calm, and that made it worse. He stood in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back. His jaw was shaking.

I stared at him. The sharp jaw. The golden eyes. The silver wolf ring on his hand.

Who is the father?

"Did you marry me for this?" He stepped closer. "Did you marry me so you could pin another man's child on me?"

A hot wave of anger rose through my pain. I had given myself to him in that lodge, with one candle burning and his mouth on my neck, and he had walked out before dawn. Now he stood over me and asked who.

Either he did not remember, or I meant so little to him that he could forget me in a day. I did not know which was worse.

"Answer me, Rebecca."

"No."

The room went still. "What did you say?"

"I will not tell you." My voice shook, but I lifted my chin. "You already know the answer."

"I know nothing!" His voice cracked through the room. Marta flinched. "I know that I have not touched you since the wedding. I know you carry a child that is not mine!"

Tears ran down my face. I did not wipe them.

If you want to act like a stranger, then be one. I will not beg you to remember.

"Take her to the throne room."

Two guards stepped forward. They took my arms, not roughly, but I felt every eye on me. They walked me past servants who stopped and stared, past the stone wolves with their cold eyes. Behind me, Mira was sobbing.

I kept my back straight. It was all I had left.

The throne room was dark and cold. Draven did not sit. He walked back and forth in front of the throne like a beast in a cage. Garrick stood by the wall. Marta and Mira stood near the door with their heads down.

And Isabella stood beside a pillar with her hands folded and a face full of sorrow. I looked at her once. Her eyes were bright. Her mouth was tight from trying not to smile.

"Tell me now," Draven said. "In front of everyone."

I said nothing.

"Who was it? A guard? A servant? Some lord at your father's table?" He leaned down, and his voice dropped. "How dare you disgrace me, in my own house?"

"I did not..."

"You are a liar. You are a cheat." His voice shook. "You came here with your sad eyes and let my people bow to you. And all this time you carried this."

"Oh, sister." She shook her head and wiped a tear that was not there. "Even now, you cannot tell the truth. I am ashamed to call you my sister."

"Rebecca." It was Marta. Her round face was wet, and her hands were shaking. She did not look at the king. She looked only at me.

"Tell me this is not true, my dear."

My throat closed.

I looked into her eyes. I wanted to shout the truth.. But he stood there cold as stone pretending.

If he wanted to forget that night, I would not drag it out for him.

"I have nothing to say," I whispered.

Marta's face crumpled.

The silence was terrible. Garrick let out a long breath. A maid turned her face away. I knew what they were thinking. I had given them no answer, so they chose their own.

Guilty.

"She does not even deny it," Draven said. His voice broke. He turned his back to me. "I gave her a crown. I gave her a name. And she gave me this."

He called me names. He said I had shamed his whole kingdom. I stood in that hall and cried silently, my hands shaking at my sides. His voice sounded away like wind on a window.

Then he turned and looked at me one last time. His eyes were red.

"Guards," he said. "Take her to the dungeon. No food. No water. She stays there until she speaks the truth."

•••

The guards pulled me down a stair that went deeper and deeper. The air became cold and wet. The torches grew fewer. At the bottom, a door of rusted iron groaned open.

They pushed me in.

The door slammed. A key scraped. Heavy boots walked away, and then there was nothing.

Darkness.

I stood still. The smell hit me, water, rot and something worse. The floor was slippery under my shoes. Somewhere in the dark a drop fell again and again.

"Hello?" My voice shook. "Is anyone there?"

No one answered.

I felt my way along the wall. The stone was damp and cold. My fingers touched something soft and slimy. I pulled my hand back. A small shape ran across my foot. I screamed.

I ran to the door. Pounded on it with both hands.

"Let me out! Please! I am the Queen! Please, let me out!"

The sound echoed back and died. I hit the door until my palms stung. I begged until my voice became a cracked whisper.

"Please... please..."

No one came.

I slid down the door to the wet floor and pressed my forehead to my knees. They had left me here. Marta, Garrick, even Mira, who loved me. Nobody had stopped him.

I thought of Draven's red eyes. I thought of the cold way he said dungeon. My heart hurt so much I could not breathe.

Why did you not say it? I thought. Why did you never speak about that night? Why did you stand there like it never happened? Maybe he remembered. Maybe he did it on purpose. Maybe he hated me so much that he would rather call me a liar in front of his kingdom than tell the truth.

My chest shook. How could you do this to me?

The dungeon smell crept into my nose and my mouth. My stomach turned. I swallowed hard. It was no use. The sourness rose in my throat. I crawled to the corner and threw up on the stone.

It was not enough. I heaved again. My body shook. My eyes streamed. I pressed one hand against the wall and the other against my belly. I was sick again and again until there was nothing left but burning and tears.

When it stopped I lay on my side on the floor. My hair stuck to my face.

My lips tasted of bile. I was shaking over.

In the dark my hand slid down to my stomach. Stayed there.

I did not know if anyone would ever come for me.

I only knew that I was alone, in a place where no one could hear me and that Draven had said I would stay here until I spoke the truth.