"Huh!" Grim gasped awake, freezing cold and drenched in water.
Felicia's voice oozing sugary sweetness. "Good morning, Grim."
Rolling his head, Grim tried to figure out where he was. Metal chains clanked around his wrists and ankles, sharp stone stabbed into his back, and the smell of mold and dried blood infiltrated his nostrils.
The sensations and smells were painful for Grim; everything was heightened to an almost unbearable degree, and he had to wonder if this was how Nina felt all the time.
"Come now, my king, raise that handsome head of yours." Felicia stuck her finger underneath his chin and tilted his head up.
The events of the last few hours came back to him slowly, in bits and pieces. Grim remembered being in bed with Nina, waking up without her, being drugged by Felicia, and finally being dragged away.
Grim slowly rotated his head, fighting the pain swimming in his vision and clouding his mind. It looked like a dungeon. Looking up at the ceiling, Grim saw the Castoff insignia: sixteen daggers of varying size positioned in a circle, pointing outwards in every cardinal direction.
Grim knew the symbolism; it was meant to show that no matter where Castoff enemies went they would always be found and killed. It was also a reference to the past, to demonstrate that the Castoff kingdom was always prepared for an attack.
But for Grim, it was the symbol of a kingdom full of traitors.
"Oh, good," Sarcasm dripped off her saccharin sweet words, "you're awake."
Grim finally forced his eyes to focus on Felicia. The Castoff Princess couldn't be missed in her lime green dress, trimmed in black lace. It was the same length as all the rest of the dresses she'd worn, just above her knees. It also had the same long sleeves, gloves, and stockings, the only exposed flesh being her face and neck.
Grim's voice was raspy and his throat sore. "You'll have to forgive my appearance, sweetheart, I wasn't expecting company."
Felicia smoothed her skirt and scratched at her knees. "Are you hungry, Grim? I had our chef make you something. Your body is more like a human's now, and will need food to sustain itself."
Grim narrowed his eyes, as his stomach seemed to agree with Felicia. For the first time in almost millennium, Grim felt hunger clawing at his gut. Before the shedding, before he'd come into his power, he'd been like most humans, feeling varying degrees of hunger and pain... But Grim couldn't remember the hunger ever being like this.
"I'm fine, thank you." Grim responded through gritted teeth, using formalities as his only weapon.
The formalities allowed him a measure of comfort, a measure of control that he didn't possess just then. It also allowed him to distance himself from the pain in his heart and his uncertainty over his wife's, and his family's fate.
Felicia flicked her black curls back and delicately scratched at her neck before snapping her fingers loudly. "No, I'm sure you're quite hungry."
A cart was wheeled in, and a table and two chairs were set up on the other side of his cell. Grim watched as the maid ignored him and set the table, working as if she came down to the dungeon and set up meals for prisoners on a daily basis. The maid took out two covered dishes and placed them in front of either chair.
Grim watched as the maid curtsied to Felicia, never meeting her eyes, and exited the cell. "Are you hungry yet?" Felicia asked as she went and sat at the table, unwrapped her napkin, and placed it over her lap.
As if on cue, Grim's stomach let out a very loud and long groan. Felicia's tinkling laughter aggravated him, but he was starving. Aside from poisoning or drugging him again there wasn't much she could do to the food.
Grim could see her poisoning him, but only mildly. She'd already drugged him, and he didn't think she'd do it again. Carefully, Grim weighed his options, not sure if he should trust that she had not tampered with the food, or eat the meal knowing that it could burn his stomach and kill him slowly.
"There is no poison in it, if that is what you're wondering," Felicia scoffed, as she removed the lid from the plate and revealed an almond-colored soup. "I will swear it on my mother, if that is what you want."
Grim wanted to cut that smile right off her face, but he knew with his distinct lack of power he probably couldn't even lift a knife to try.
So then what are my options?
his consciousness asked pointedly.
Starve or eat.
Unable to stop himself, Grim watched Felicia pick up a spoon and begin to eat her soup. He was so hungry, the feeling burned like acid through his middle.
"How can I eat if I'm chained?" Grim asked angrily, too tired to even rattle the chains.
A snap of Felicia's fingers had a guard coming to Grim and unlocking him. Immediately Grim collapsed onto the ground, and only after several attempts was he able to get up and stumble over to the table. Every step felt like a mile, and the cold was still mind-numbingly painful, but he was trying not to pay too much attention to it.
Collapsing into the chair, Grim stared at Felicia as she took another bite and delicately patted the corner of her lips. "Please, Grim." She reached forward and uncovered his dish. "Eat."
Suspiciously, Grim sniffed at the meal, still not positive it wasn't poisoned. He could have been wrong and she could want to drug him again. Then again, what was the point of either of those things besides pain? Grim didn't doubt that she wanted to torture him before killing him, but poisoning him in the state he was in was pointless.
So then what was wrong with the soup?
Grim refused to believe it was simply soup. Felicia wouldn't have corrupted his guards, dragged him from his bedroom, drugged him, and locked him in a dungeon just to feed him.
"Since you say that I should be more afraid of you than the kingdom, what is it that you want, Felicia?" Grim asked as he carefully picked up a spoon and began to sift it through the dish.
Residual spices or powder lay at the bottom, darkened the color, but Grim couldn't smell a change in the soup, or see any kind of glaring problem with it.
She could just be toying with me, messing with my mind
. He wouldn't put it past her.
"What everyone wants, Grim," she said simply, continuing to eat her soup as if they were in a formal dining room instead of a prison cell.
Carefully, he took a sip of the soup, preparing for the worst. When pain didn't immediately seize his body, Grim knew she was probably just messing with his mind. There probably wasn't really anything wrong with the meal; Felicia had just wanted him to think there was.
"What is that?" Grim asked with strained politeness as he took another bite.
"I want it all, Grim. The control, the power—everything," she whispered.
Grim paused and looked up at her. Cerulean blue eyes danced with mirth and a mocking smile graced her perfectly pink lips. "How do you propose to get this power, by taking over my kingdom?"
