A square of dim light groaned out of the dark.
The prince pushed open another hatch; the abrupt air was fresh, and all was quiet save for small nesting birds somewhere overhead. He clambered out and offered his hand, and Meilyr took it.
A small cloistered courtyard lay before them, lined with worn grey pillars.
It was not far: halfway around the courtyard, down one of several twisting corridors, through a door the prince opened with a key. There, two crownsblood stood watch in a short hall. Meilyr halted reflexively, but they only tensed to attention.
‘We will not be long,’ the prince told them, leading on to a sturdy wooden door. To Meilyr he said, ‘I will wait here.’
Meilyr nodded, still in shock, and stepped inside. The prince quietly closed the door behind him.
The rooms were far more comfortable than the barren cell he had imagined: a nest of chairs by a tended fireplace, a comfortable bed against the wall, even a high narrow window.Books.A washroom beyond. He took them all in as periphery and focused on Celyn, who rose sharply from a chair.
‘Meilyr!’
Meilyr embraced him. Pulled back to grasp his hands, to look at him. ‘Are you all right?’
Celyn’s fury was jagged. ‘Are you hurt? If he’s touched you—’
‘No,’ Meilyr soothed. It took incredible effort to swallow the tremor in his voice. ‘I’m fine. Areyouhurt?’
‘Swear it to me, swear…’
Celyn spotted the braids. Confusion and shock crawled across him, and he grasped Meilyr’s hands anew, turning them, taking them in alongside the white tunics. His agony welled. His focus snapped over Meilyr’s shoulder, steel-edged, towards the closed door. ‘I’ll kill him. I’m going to kill him!’
‘Celyn!’
‘Do you hear me,prince! I don’t care what your game is, I am going to kill you!’
Meilyr grabbed his face and forced him back to his eyes. ‘Stop it or you will get us both killed, do you understand?’
‘Youmarriedhim.’ Celyn’s voice cracked.
‘It could be worse. I could be dead in that street, and you with me. This was our only choice.’
‘No, you could have let them kill me, Meilyr, for the love of—’
Meilyr clipped him lightly over the side of the head, just enough to shock him. ‘As though I could live with myself if I did that. Listen, this is temporary. The prince has elevated us to the royal household, so if anything goes wrong with the investigation, we are kept safe.’
‘Is that the lie he spun for you?’
Meilyr’s own doubt reared. He pushed it down for Celyn’s sake. ‘He needed to marry. He wanted to make a political statement and figured we could help each other. We can annul it when the coronation is complete.’
‘And you think he’ll honour that? Out of the goodness of his heart?’ The words were vicious, as Celyn’s hurt shivered through the rage. ‘How could you do this? Heownsyou, and I’m the one who…’
Meilyr cupped his face, as though he were still a boy. ‘It’s done. I need you to be calm, because I need you alive.’
Celyn pressed his hand over Meilyr’s and pushed his warm face into the touch. The short bristle of growth since his last shave was rough against Meilyr’s palm. ‘I let this happen, I did this. Meilyr, you know he’ll… he will…’ He could not say it.
‘This was our best chance, your only chance. Whatever comes now is better than what could have been.’
‘Meilyr.’ Celyn pressed his head against his, treasonous voice barely above a whisper. ‘You have to get out of here.I know you can.They wouldn’t be able to stop you – just leave me, save yourself.’
The notion raised sourness into Meilyr’s mouth. ‘You know I cannot do that,’ he said. For so many reasons.
‘You could.’ Celyn’s grip tightened. ‘I know you could. Just once. Justhim.Then we could all be free, we could—’
‘Please do not ask me to do that.’ Meilyr shook his head, drawing into himself.