Gleam: The dark fantasy romance TikTok sensation that’s sold over a million copies (Plated Prisoner Book 3)

The problem with my mind being so frantic is that I forget just how late it is. I make it to the saddles’ wing, only to be barred from entry. There are two guards sitting there, both of whom I recognize as the usual ones watching over the saddles’ door. The gray-haired grumpy one and the younger blond with the patchy beard, who I’ve just permanently decided to call Grump and Patch in my head.

Grump shakes his head as I approach. “Can’t let you in, my lady.”

“I know it’s late, I just need to speak with—”

“None of the saddles are here anyway, Miss,” Patch tells me.

All my bluster blows out of me in a puff of disappointment. “Where are they?”

Patch scratches his jaw absently, his golden armor gleaming despite the darkness of the corridor. “In town. King’s orders. They were sent to…entertain some of Third Kingdom’s visiting dignitaries.”

My shoulders crumple in misfortune. “Okay. Sorry to disturb,” I murmur before turning away.

Behind me, the guards have an exchange, and when I hear shuffled footsteps, I look over my shoulder to find that Grump is following me. When I frown at him, he says, “You shouldn’t be walking at this time of night alone. I’m surprised the king doesn’t have a whole legion with you at all times.”

My smile is tight. “He’s happy to give me a bit more freedom these days,” I say before I turn back around, hoping like hell he won’t report this to Midas and find out just how badly I’m lying. However, I’m not actually breaking the rule. It’s still dark out, which means I’m allowed out of my rooms so long as I have a guard…which I now do. Sneaking out part notwithstanding.

“Shall I bring you back to your rooms?”

I shake my head. “I need to speak with someone.”

“At this hour?” he asks.

“The king asked me to tell her something.”

That shuts him up, which is good, because my nerves are frazzled enough as it is. I was hoping I could’ve spoken with Rissa about this, but since she’s not here, I have no choice but to go directly to Mist.

Keeping my steps quiet, I try to tamp down my driving need to run. I don’t like this castle at night. It makes the glassed-in walls cast off a dark reflection of my silhouette, like a specter to mirror my movements in sinister intent. No matter how much I try to brush it off, I swear I can still hear the disembodied voices of Lu and me replaying in my head.

Remembering the way to Mist’s rooms is a little bit difficult, but I somehow manage it without getting lost. It’s just my luck too, considering I’m dreading the confrontation.

There’s one guard walking his rounds on her corridor, but he doesn’t try to intercept us once he notices me. Stopping in front of her door, I take a deep breath and try to steel my spine. I’m not sure it works.

Not wanting to prolong this, I raise my hand and rap on the wooden door. Once. Twice. By the third time, the guards are looking at me like I’m crazy, but I don’t stop. I just keep knocking persistently, louder and louder, my mind racing.noveldrama

When I’m practically pounding on it with my fist and Mist still doesn’t answer the door, I start to really panic.

Did Queen Kaila already do something to her? Is she lying in there right now, body already growing cold?

The door suddenly wrenches open. “Mist,” I breathe out, relief like a crashing wave that surges past me.

“What the hell are you doing?” she snarls, hastily closing her robe as she ties a knot at the front, clearly disheveled.

“I need to speak with you.”

Her eyes have dark circles beneath them, and I’ve obviously pulled her right out of her bed, a fact which has not softened her toward me at all. “Get away from my door! It’s the middle of the damn night, and even if it wasn’t, you’re the last person I’d ever want to see.”

Grump clears his throat at the awkward exchange, but I can’t let her deter me.

“Look, I know you don’t like me, but I have to talk to you, it’s important.”

She looks over my shoulder to the men. “Get her away from me. These are my personal chambers that the king gave me, and I don’t want her here.”

Her guard steps forward, not close enough to touch me, but he gives me a beseeching look. “My lady…”

Nope. I didn’t get this far just to get scolded away. Gritting my teeth, I grip Mist’s arm and push myself inside, dragging her with me before anyone can react. I slam the door shut on the guards, throw the lock in place, and then lean against the wood with my arms crossed.

“Who do you think you are?” Mist shouts in my face with outrage.

She tries to get past me to unlock the door, but I shift over to block it. “Just listen for two minutes and I’ll leave.”

“Fuck you, cunt!” she yells furiously, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

Panic spikes in my gut, and I look around, as if Queen Kaila is lurking somewhere, ready to steal more words. “Keep your voice down!”

Mist must hear the frenzy jumping in my tone, because she actually shuts up with her screaming. “Why should I?”

“Because these walls have ears, and trust me when I say, you don’t want the queen to hear you.”

A frown hooks her lips downward, the shadows of the dark room broken up only by the low-burning fire. Taking advantage of the way I’ve caught her off guard, I decide to just blurt out what I have to say, though I keep my voice quiet. I don’t want the guards to hear, and I have no idea how far the queen’s powers can reach. “Your life is in danger, Mist. Queen Kaila is going to have you killed.”

She blinks and backs up a step, confusion warring with the anger that mottles her face. “What?”

“It’s true,” I say, taking a step away from the door. “Malina is dead, and Midas is planning on remarrying the queen of Third Kingdom so that he can have control over yet another kingdom. Queen Kaila doesn’t like competition, and she definitely doesn’t like the idea of you bearing his child.”

Mist places her hand on her slightly rounded belly, though her dark eyes narrow in suspicion, their almond shape tightening. “You woke me up to spew lies?”

“I’m not lying,” I insist, begging her to see the truth of my words right there on my open expression. “The queen spoke to me tonight, threatened me, and told me in not so many words that she’s going to make sure you aren’t an issue.”

Mist scoffs before her hand comes up to fiddle with the tie of her robe. “Sure she did.”

“It’s the truth. You need to leave.”

A look of pure contempt crosses her face. “So that’s your play? Trying to scare me into leaving?” She shakes her head, the fury returning in twin patches of red on her cheeks. “Well, it’s not going to work. You’re so caught up in your jealousy, hating that I have special treatment, that I have the king’s heir, that you’re willing to try and trick a pregnant woman?” She sneers, looking me up and down with hatred. “You’re pathetic.”

“I’m trying to save your life,” I hiss.

She laughs, but the sound isn’t humorous or even pleasant. It grates against the cold air of her sitting room, dark claws of catty dislike to leave me in stung shreds.

“Get out.”

“Mist—”

“I said, get out!” she screams, the violent lash making me jolt backward, and the guards start to knock heavily on the door behind me. Great Divine, I really hope Queen Kaila and her power is nowhere nearby.

“Fine, I’ll go,” I say placatingly, hands raised.

Mist is shaking all over, the color on her cheeks now moved down to her neck and chest. I don’t want to cause her distress, and I’m obviously not getting through to her.

But I don’t care how much she loathes me, I don’t want her or her baby to be killed. If it were anyone else telling her this, she might listen, but she’s too blinded by her hatred of me.

With a defeated sigh, I turn around and grip the lock, but before I turn it, I speak quietly, hoping for one more chance at getting through to her. “I know you hate me, and that’s okay. But I swear to you, Mist, I’m telling the truth. I don’t want you or your baby to be hurt. Talk to Rissa. She’ll tell you that you can trust me. I can get you out where you’ll be safe, but I’ll need your answer at the ball.”

I glance over my shoulder at her, and I catch the tail-end of doubt flashing through her expression.

“A new queen isn’t going to tolerate a bastard born from another woman, Mist,” I say gently. “Just…please. Talk to Rissa. Consider it for your baby’s sake.”

“Even if it were true, which I don’t believe it is, Midas would never—”

“You can’t trust Midas,” I snap vehemently. “He’s always going to choose the best option for himself to get ahead, and with a new wife, you’re no longer it.”

She knots her arms in front of her defensively, but despite the aggravated posture, I can see the anxiety in the tightness of her eyes, in the way her toes dig into the flooring. “Why would you even tell me this?”

My shoulder lifts in a shrug. “We saddles should stick together, right?” I say it lightly, but inside, it’s a deep-seated, melancholic thought. If only we could stop competing, stop the petty jealousies, stop letting men pit us against one another. Imagine what women could do if we started being loyal to each other?

Mist’s lips press into a thin line, and an indiscernible look crosses her face before she jerks her chin up. “Leave.”

Giving her a stiff nod, I turn around and flip the lock. I have no idea if she’s actually going to talk to Rissa, but if I managed to put even a sliver of doubt in her mind, then it was worth it. At the very least, I hope that she looks over her shoulder.

With the click of the lock, the door is swung open, and I walk out past the guards, ignoring their disapproving looks.

On the way back to my rooms, emotional and mental exhaustion crushes me from the inside out, until my spinning mind and curdling heart have made my temples throb and my eyes burn. The jarring impact of this night is like being stuck under the brutish steps of a burden, heels driven down to squash me under its weight.

When we get to my corridor, Scofield and Lowe are the ones stationed outside my door, and their eyes widen at the sight of me.

“My lady! How… You were in your rooms all day and night,” Scofield says with clear distress, pulling at his light brown hair in a nervous gesture.

I can’t answer him. I don’t have the mental capacity right now to try to come up with a plausible lie, nor the emotional availability to care to.

Instead, I move past him without a word and close the door, locking it behind me, and then I fall into the bed, the forbidding disquiet in my chest taking up too much space.

I need sleep, and then first thing in the morning, I need to speak to Rissa. Then I can meet Slade at the library and tell him everything. Together, we can get a handle on the situation with Mist, on Queen Kaila, and hopefully, Lu will also have found Digby.

Despite those rational thoughts though, anxiety flutters through my system like provoked wasps stinging up my insides, because I’m not sure if I’ve done enough.

I fall into a troubled sleep, praying to the goddesses, but it’s a silent voice to a starless sky, and when have they ever listened to me, anyway?