“Well, well, if it isn’t the princess. I wasn’t aware you had business in Qar.” He stepped aside to let her in. “Please, do not stand at the door.”

  The stench inside the room was overwhelming. Her nose scrunched up as she noticed the pungent odor of vomit and a hint of the coppery smell of blood.

  Haitham’s friend was on the ground. His arms and face were littered with wounds and burns that bleed all over his tattered clothes. She stepped inside the room, and his head shifted towards her. She saw the recognition glint in his eyes She swallowed around the lump in her throat and turned to the general. She needed to distract him lest he noticed the prisoner’s gaze locked onto her.

  “Have you got anything out of him?” she asked.

  “Classified.” He clicked his tongue.

  “What?”

  “The emperor has yet to permit me to share any of my findings with you.” He grinned at her. “You’re just in time for another dosage.”

  He took a syringe from the pile on the table pushed to one corner of the room, and walked over to the prisoner. Arham’s eyes dulled as if resigning to his fate. The general jabbed the needle into his neck and injected the silver liquid inside his veins.

  Then, the convulsing started. Severe tremors shook Arham’s body. The general watched with rapt attention as if it wasn’t a human suffering but a rat in one of his perverse experiments.

  She stopped herself from stepping between the prisoner and the general. She unclenched her fists, ignoring the sting from where her nails had dug into the skin of her palm.

  “Killing him would be counterproductive, don’t you think?” she said through gritted teeth.

  The general snorted. “Such a minor wound is not much of a threat to these beasts’ lives.”

  Arham writhed on the ground, his body twisting from the pain, a red foam coating his lips. His pain-filled eyes locked with Daliya’s, an almost pleading note in them. The general took another syringe. He checked the liquid inside and took a step towards the fallen man. The terrorized look he sent her was enough to send her feet into motion.

  She stepped in front of Arham and grasped the general’s hand. A thin coating of ice covered the point of contact.

  “Enough.” She met his unimpressed look with a stare of her own. “Your irrational actions would lead to the loss of the only lead we have to capture these filthy bastards. I will not stand aside and watch you destroy our chances to finally ride the empire of its enemies.”

  He leveled her with a look. Then, he wrenched his hand from her grasp. “Fine. I’ll continue the interrogation another time.”

  He handed the syringe to a guard and instructed them to return the prisoner to his cell. The old man walked ahead of them, leading them away from the torture chamber.

  The general wiped his hand from the grim and turned to her. “So, princess. What brings you to my humble abode.” He extended his hands on each side of him, proudly displaying the various bloody chains and nails.

  Daliya ignored his attempt to rile her up.

  “Perhaps you and I can work together instead of this mouse and cat dance we’ve been doing. I’m sure the empire would benefit if its two powerful vessels weren’t constantly at each other’s throat.”

  He looked at her, eyebrow raised. “Indeed. And what does Your Highness suggest?”

  Your Highness was spoken with such derision that Daliya half expected him to unsheath his sword and drive it through her chest. This underground prison would be the perfect place to hide her body with its constant changing.

  “Tell me. What do you desire? If it’s within my power, I’ll grant it to you.” Daliya forced a smile on her lips.

  Honestly, she didn’t care whether he believed her or not. She merely needed a reason to get access to the dungeon. If she had enough time, she could have come up with something more… plausible.

  Beggars can’t be choosers.

  He threw his head back and laughed, the sound so jarring and grating on her nerves. She fought down the grimace as the sound reverberated against the walls, their smooth surface amplifying it.

  “Is Your Highness ready to step down from the line of succession? You represent the very thing the empire is trying to destroy. Having someone as adequate as me as the successor would be more beneficial than the constant reminder that no matter how we rid this earth of the filth, there will still be one remaining.”

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  Ice spread from underneath Daliya’s feet and struck the table with the bloody torture equipment. It froze, then split into a million shards.

  The general shot her a self-satisfied grin. “Exactly what I said.”

  “If I were you general, I would be more mindful of my words.”

  “Or what? What will your excuse be to the emperor? He must already have gotten word of your presence here.” He shrugged. “If there’s nothing else to say, I suggest you get on your way. Some of us have duties they should get back to.”

  Daliya glowered at him.

  “You should have taken my offer, general. Pray you don’t regret it later.”

  She tramped outside. The old man stood a few feet from the door, his hunched figure leaning on the wall, eyes downcast. The guards paid her no mind as she headed towards him. The old man’s head jerked up as she neared him.

  “Lead me outside,” she instructed, voice not unkind.

  He nodded, this time not startling when her hand gently grasped his arm.

  They threaded in silence. Daliya waited till she could neither see nor hear the guards, then squeezed the old man’s arm to get his attention.

  “Can anyone hear us here?” she whispered.

  The old man hesitated. “No.” He shook his head.

  They stayed quiet for a moment, then Daliya asked him, “Tell me, dungeon keeper, do you go by any other name?”

  “I’m not a dungeon keeper, Your Highness. I’m merely a servant of His Majesty. I do not deserve a name.” He bowed, his back creaking with the effort. Daliya rushed him upward.

  “Please, stand up,” she said awkwardly. No matter how long she spent here, she still couldn’t get used to people bowing to her, especially not out of fear.

  He hesitated. “I was once known as Adnan.”

  “Since when have you worked here, Adnan?”

  His head tilted up. “I don’t remember. The years tend to blend at some point.”

  Daliya looked at him. Pity and outrage battled for her emotions.

  “It must have been hard,” she said softly.

  Adnan looked at her, silent for a while. “It was as expected. We are nothing but monsters in human form. We deserve no better.”

  “Does that include me, Adnan?”

  Adnan startled. His eyes widened with shock as if he had just noticed he had insulted the princess. “Of course not, Your Highness. I was talking about people like me. Your Highness is above such accusations.”

  Daliya laughed softly. She patted his arm. “You and I are as different as two drops of water from the same ocean. If I am above such accusations, then so are you and everyone else.”

  “Your Highness! I wouldn’t dare–” he started protesting.

  “Nonsense! Should I make it a royal decree then?” she laughed at the incredulous look he sent her.

  She halted in her tracks. Adnan took half a step before he was forced to stop. He waited for her, his brows furrowing as she used her powers. She opened her hand and watched as an intricate pattern materialized at the center of her palm. No matter how many times she used her powers, it never failed to amaze her how far she had gotten. Her ice now answered her very thoughts. A fond smile traced at the corner of her lips. His methods might be unorthodox, but she doubted she could have done better without Haitham.

  She upturned Adnan’s hand and put the icy symbol on his palm. He startled.

  “This symbol.” She paused. “in the upcoming days, a man will come to you bearing the same symbol. I want you to help him.”

  “With what, Your Highness?”

  Daliya debated whether to tell him what they had planned to do. He might turn on them the second she left and tell the general everything. But then…

  She looked at him, really looked at him. His thin figure spoke of malnourishment. Fear and terror were etched into his skin, into his very bones. Despite not seeing, his eyes wouldn’t dare look up toward the guards he guided through this maze that he alone knew the way around. How could someone be loyal to his very tormentors?

  Still, some people have been oppressed for so long that the mere thought of freedom was preposterous, not even worth wasting a second over.

  “This man, he’ll be here to free his friend. I want you to do as he says.” She settled on. Haitham would have to take care of everything else.

  “Your Highness, I–I…I can’t…my granddaughter, I have to protect her.” He sounded miserable, as if he was seeing his world crumble before him.

  So that was the leverage the emperor had over him.

  “I’ll make sure she’s safe, I promise. I’ll get you both out of the capital and the emperor’s grasp.”

  “I…I…” He shook his head, brows knitted.

  Daliya grasped his shaking hands. “How long till he loses use of you? Do you think he’ll keep you around after? You know about his disdain for people like us. If he could, he would have us breathe our last today before tomorrow.” She paused, watching horror and despair play over his face. “Your granddaughter has no future here. She’ll be executed the second she’s of no benefit to him. Is this what you want for her? To live in constant fear, awaiting the day he will order her death?” He trembled before her. Daliya’s eyes softened. “How old is she?”

  He swallowed thickly. “She’ll be nine in a few weeks.” Moisture gathered at the corner of his milky eyes.

  “The best thing to gift her is her freedom. To wake up and not worry whether it’s your last day. Don’t you think?”

  He paused, head turned to the side, his unseeing eyes lost in thought. Then he turned to her, his unfocused stare locked on her face. It was a bit eerie how he knew exactly where everything was despite his blindness. Was it due to his earthly powers?

  “Can Your Highness really protect her?”

  She nodded, then said yes, mentally rebuking herself for her mistake.

  “Alright.” The word seemed to take something out of him. He closed his palm around the icy symbol, his fists turning white from the force. “Her name is Narin. You’ll find her in the lower town.” He then proceeded to tell her the directions to his house.