Surrogate for the Alpha Prince in a Coma novel Chapter 27

Chapter 27

I had been further wounded in the journey, and my legs were weakened again. I stumbled and collapsed into a pile of damp straw. The cell itself had no furniture, only a bucket in the corner. I didn’t want to think too hard about what was inside that bucket, but seeing no toilet, I could only imagine.

The soldiers closed and locked the cell, then turned and left, laughing as they disappeared down the hallway. When the sounds of their laughter and footsteps dissipated, the dungeons were eerily quiet.

Somewhere, something dripped. The flames of the torches crackled. A man farther in struggled for breath. No one said a word. No one acknowledged me at all. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad.

I shivered, the air chill down here, especially when I was in nothing but my nightie. I wrapped it around me as best I could, but my arms were bare and my legs only partially covered by the thin, airy fabric./

Maybe I would freeze down here before my trial even began.

How greedy I had been, sleeping beside the Prince not even ten minutes ago. I allowed myself to be comfortable, to think that I might be allowed to rest. I should have known better. I should have moved to the floor, or hidden away in a closet.

Good things never lasted. Everything was an illusion. Any sense of victory only led to more suffering.

“Lillian?” whispered a female voice in the dark. “Lillian? Are you hear?”

Maybe I should have ignored it, but any call in the dark was better than the eerie silence. Pushing myself up to my frozen feet, I stumbled forward toward the cell door.

There, Clara was waiting. She already seemed nervous, but when she spotted me, she paled.

“Goddess, I heard they took you from the Prince’s bed, but I didn’t realize they wouldn’t even give you a coat,”

she said.

“They were eager to bring me here,” I said. “They said it was for Piers. But I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to him.”

“Ophelia doesn’t care,” Clara said. “She was so angry about the hunt. You stole her prize and her glory, she said. So she pushed the scandal to the public, forced the King’s hand. Piers was more than happy to go along with it, of course.”

“What is he saying?” I asked, against my better judgement.

“That after you failed to seduce him, you had him assaulted out of spite.”

“Surely, no one would believe that,” I said.

“People will believe what they want,” Clara said. “They’ve been turning a blind eye to Piers for a long time. Poor Josie. If Prince Grayson was awake, he would never allow her continued humiliation, but…”

“Why does anyone else?” I asked. “Why do you?”

“I’m only one person,” she said, but hung her head in shame. “And I can’t bring dishonor to my father. Anything I do to step out of line, he will suffer for.”

“Then why are you here?” I asked.

She glanced around, then passed me a bag. Inside were thick socks, sweatpants, and a sweatshirt.

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“If I had known they didn’t let you change, I would have brought more. For now, this is all I have.”

“This is… this helps… thank you.”

I moved at once to pull on the warm clothing, sighing in relief as soon as I was warm.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Clara said. “But you have to be prepared. They are going to fix it so that you -”

Gruff voices sounded from the stairwell.

“I have to go,” Clara said at once, fear in her eyes.

“But -”

“I’m sorry. Good luck!” she dimmed her own torch and scurried out of view, just as the soldiers came into the hallway.

“Get up, little surrogate. It’s time for you to face the King.”

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