Chapter One
There were three things in life I hated: my stepmother, apples, and the prison cells of my castle, where I currently resided. Oh, and my two best friends, who wouldn’t let me sleep.
“Liliath, wakey, wakey,” Driscoll said from the prison cell next to mine.
Okay, so, four things I hated.
Stone walls separated us, but I could hear his voice floating through the air. I peeked open an eye from where I lay on the cold, hard floor, then groaned and threw my arm over my head to block out the sound.
“Pretty please,” Jillian said from the cell on the other side of mine.
I ignored them both, not moving from my position in the middle of the floor. A cold breeze whistled through the bars of my cell, which faced the outside of the castle, looking down upon the courtyard. I shivered and curled my body into itself. Why these miscreants were awake at this time of night, I had no idea. All I knew was that I wanted them to shut up and let me sleep.
“Well, if she won’t wake up, this is going to be a huge waste of our time,” Driscoll said. “And I hate wasting my time.”
“Yes, because you have so little of it these days, trapped in a prison cell of Liliath’s castle.”
My former castle. This castle hadn’t belonged to me in two years. Not since my stepmother stole it away.
“Liliath!” Driscoll’s voice echoed through the silent night, and I heard a loud crack. “Oh. Ow. That hurt. Okay, note to self: do not punch stone walls.”
“Stop badgering her, Dris,” Jillian said in an annoyed tone. “She’s clearly ignoring us, probably because of your driveling.”
I smirked at that.
“Driveling?” Driscoll’s voice rose three octaves.
“Oh, here we go,” Jillian muttered.
“Driveling?” Driscoll said again. “Excuse you. I do not drivel.”
“Why did you have to do that?” I asked Jillian, unable to help myself. “You know he thinks all the words that come from his mouth are of the utmost importance.”
“Because they are,” Driscoll said, which made me smile. “And the princess finally awakens!” Driscoll announced.
I could imagine the wicked smile lighting up his face, the way his dark brown skin glowed and his tight b;ack curls bounced as he practically vibrated. Driscoll was always moving, could never stop. I missed that mischievous face more than I would ever admit to him—mainly because it would go to his head, and he did not need any reason to get a bigger head.
A scratching noise came from the wall between my cell and Jillian’s. A rat, maybe? I slowly sat up, rubbing at my eyes. “You two better have a very good reason for waking me up at this hour.” I gestured out the cell bars to the dark night sky, even though neither of them could see me. “It’s the middle of the night.”
“Trust me,” Driscoll said, “I’m aware.”
“Then why are we awake?” I gritted out.
“She’s grumpy,” Driscoll sang out. “I told you she’d be grumpy.”
“She won’t be grumpy once she sees what we’re doing,” Jillian said.
I perked up at that, suspicions rising. “What does that mean?” I looked at the wall separating me and Driscoll. “What does she mean? Please tell me you two aren’t doing something stupid.”
“We might be doing something stupid,” Driscoll responded.
The scratching noise continued, followed by hammering.
“Are you almost done?” Driscoll called.
“I’m working on it. I didn’t see you volunteering to do this.”
“That’s because I’m the brains in this operation.”
